KOTA KINABALU – New faces have taken over Sabah Umno as it embarks on a new future and makes amends for its controversial past.
The entry of the Malay-based party 30 years ago is a contentious one and their existence almost ended in the 2018 general election.
Just months after losing power in Sabah, most state Umno leaders abandoned the party, leaving only a handful, many of whom are still untested at the ballot boxes.
When controversial MP Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin took over the helm as Sabah Umno chief, many were sceptical.
But the outspoken leader from Sabah’s Kinabatangan district has already led the party to small election victories, as well as the win in the Sabah elections in September last year, which brought Gabungan Rakyat Sabah to power in the state.
The biggest test, however, is yet to come – winning big in the upcoming 15th general election.
Looking back on Sabah Umno’s beginnings, its entry into Sabah in 1990 came when the state lagged woefully behind much of the country in many areas.
Sabah Umno communications director Ghazalie Ansing recalled living in a logging camp in Tawau as a 7-year-old boy, lacking proper access to roads, water and electricity.
“If I were to make a comparison, Kota Kinabalu was 20 years behind Kuala Lumpur in terms of development.
“Two years after Barisan Nasional took over the state, we began to see improvements in development of these basic necessities.
“Although the roads are not yet perfect, still, the development has started to roll in,” he told The Vibes.
Indeed, Umno, which is the dominant party in Barisan Nasional, has accelerated development in Sabah, he said.
By today’s comparison, Ghazalie said the only thing lacking in Sabah compared with Kuala Lumpur is that the state capital does not yet have its own train services like the federal capital’s Rapid Transit service.
Nonetheless, Ghazalie said Bung had already made proposals to rectify this.
He said the Sabah Umno chief has plans for the creation of Sabah’s own skytrain – as well as the expansion of a train route linking Kudat, Sabah’s furthest northern tip, to Tawau, its southeasternmost district.
Former Berjaya leader Tan Sri Harris Salleh is often referred to as the father of Sabah’s development, and it was during the reign of BN that the wheels of the state’s modernisation began turning.
Perhaps much of the credit should go to former Sabah Umno liaison chief Tan Sri Musa Aman, who was Sabah chief minister from 2003 until 2017.
Despite rapid development, resentment grew
A sense of eroding state rights, allegations of corruption, as well as self-enriching politicians and aloof leaders, have been frequently cited as reasons for the party’s fall from grace in 2018.
For some, Sabah Umno was no longer the same party that had been set up at the start of the 1990s.
For Ghazalie, not all was lost when Sabah Umno went through the devastating party crisis after 2018.
For instance, he said the departure of many key party leaders to Bersatu between December 2018 and April 2019 saw the emergence of new blood assuming leadership.
He said the exodus was a blessing in disguise, giving the party the ultimate gift of autonomy and, with it, the power to decide the party direction in many areas, including selecting election candidates.
Ghazalie said this allowed the party to free itself of the legacy of previous party leaders, opening up new possibilities.
Musa’s time saw the establishment of much of the oil and gas infrastructure there today, and Sabah Umno was also seen as firm defenders of the state’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
He added that now, it’s just a matter of tying up some loose ends before the state, with Sabah Umno at its head, stakes its claims.
“We need to do this one step at a time. It can’t be overnight. Right now, all of the revenue from Sabah is collected by Putrajaya.
“If all our plans to develop Sabah’s oil and gas sector reaches its full potential, (maybe) there will no longer be the need for the federal government to collect oil and gas revenues.
“Conversely, the state government should collect its own revenues and give what is due to the federal government.
“Also maybe, we can also sell our own resources to other gas companies,” said Ghazalie.
He, however, stressed that the most important thing is to nourish and maintain politically alignment with Putrajaya.
He said the development of Sabah seen over the last 30 years would not have been possible without such ties to the federal government.
Ghazalie also said that this history between Sabah Umno and BN also allowed Sabahans to develop politically, adding that many Sabahans are now politically aware.
Ghazalie noted that, prior to BN rule in Sabah, only a small minority could recognise their elected representatives.
“But all this changed ever since BN assumed power; the elders know who their elected reps and grassroots leaders are.
Even the youth have developed some political awareness, he said.
He said that this has in turn brought about another of Umno’s legacies in Sabah, which is greater access to education and, as a result, a rise in the number of intellectuals.
“It used to be only the rich or the really smart who got to go to universities and become graduates.
“Today, you can go to any kampung or residential area and you will find that half the people there are graduates or have become skilled or trained individuals.”
For Ghazalie, the Sabah Umno story is worth getting excited about, and he predicts it will be a long and fruitful one.
“Umno is born based on the aspiration of Malaysians who want development and their rights protected.
“So, Sabah Umno will continue to (help realise) these aspirations.” – The Vibes, February 20, 2021
