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16 July 1975: A day after launching Berjaya, party president Datuk Harris Salleh wasted no time. He got cracking, and got the ball rolling by visiting his hometown and constituency, Labuan island off the west coast of Sabah. "23 Labuan branches enter anti-Mustapha party - 4,975 USNO members join BERJAYA" screamed the frontpage of Daily Express the following day. (Please see reproduction above. For a larger view, click on the images.)
The Daily Express report claimed that the 4,975 Usno members from 23 branches in Labuan and Menumbok agreed to resign enbloc from the ruling party and join the infant Berjaya; converting Usno branches into that of Berjaya's in the process. (Note: The Labuan constituency then included the tiny township of Menumbok on mainland Sabah to make up the number of voters. Menumbok which comes under the Kuala Penyu district administratively is home to the ferry service which links Labuan with the mainland till today. A proposal to build a bridge linking the two points has been floating for more than a decade and more recently is being studied by Universiti Malaysia Sabah.)
Harris, accompanied by Berjaya secretary-general Mohd Noor Mansoor, while addressing the huge crowd at the Labuan community centre took the opportunity to reply to charges made by the State Cabinet which appeared in the Kinabalu Sabah Times of 16 July. (Please see story above under heading: "Harris hits back Cabinet's charges" and refer to my earlier article, The ALLIANCE Hits Back, posted last week.)
Meanwhile, also on the frontpage of Daily Express (17.7.75) was the report that Social Welfare Minister Datuk Yassin Hashim had also resigned from Usno to join Berjaya, following the footsteps of his Cabinet colleague Datuk Salleh Sulong who quit a few days earlier. Thus, Datuk Yassin (then Sipitang Assemblyman, his brother Datuk Kassim was the State Legislative Assembly Speaker) became the third Usno Minister to be involved in Berjaya, after Harris and Salleh. (Note: Harris had quit much earlier, even before the plot to form Berjaya was hatched, citing differences with the Chief Minister, the late Tun Mustapha. But he remained State Assemblyman for Labuan.)
Also quitting Usno to join Berjaya on the same day with Yassin was "Usno strongman and businessman" Haji Halik K. Zaman, Daily Express said. (Note: What the Daily Express report did not say was that Halik was the one who enticed Upko Assemblyman for Kiulu, (the late) Datuk Payar Juman to switch to Usno after the 1967 election. When Payar was made a Minister, Halik was appointed his Political Secretary as a reward. Halik was in turn enticed by Harris to join Berjaya in 1975. After Berjaya formed the government in 1976, Halik became Chairman of the Sabah Electricity Board and one of his first acts was to disconnect power supply to houses of Usno leaders who had unpaid bills including his former boss. Anyway, it didn't take long for Halik to fall out of favour with Harris; whom he challenged as an independent candidate when Harris (by now Chief Minister) stood on a Berjaya ticket in a parliamentary by-election so that he could become an MP in addition to being an Assemblyman just like his Sarawak counterpart. During the by-election campaign, Halik distributed salted fish to the villagers, saying he could not afford projects or money like Harris. What was the last straw for Halik? Harris had recommended to the Governor to withdraw his Datukship. After the withdrawal, Halik went to the National Registration Department to have his name changed to Haji Datuk Halik Zaman, taking advantage of loopholes in the National Registration Act those days. Now I don't think one can do that anymore. As you can see from the report above, Halik was practically cursing then CM the late Tun Mustapha, calling him a dictator among other names. But after he fell out of favour with Harris, Halik was among those who walked alongside the Tun (as the old man was affectionately referred to by Sabahans) to the nomination centre in Semporna in the early 1980s, accompanying the Usno candidate for the Kunak by-election caused by the 'resignation' of Datu Hamid (now the late), Mustapha's son, who was also present though he did not seek re-election. Just like Halik and Harris, what a reversal of fortunes as before his 'resignation' as Kunak Assemblyman , Hamid had himself deserted his father's Usno party to become a Berjaya Minister after an manipulative offer made by Harris. Coming back to Halik in Semporna, the young Sikmading was at the scene accompanying his boss, then a Berjaya leader. I can't recall exactly what Halik was yelling about or whom he was cursing when the two opposing teams passed each other during procession to the nomination centre, but for sure this time it wasn't Mustapha! Talking about reversal of fortunes, no wonder they say that in politics there is no permanent friend and no permanent enemy!
That's all for this installment, please come back for more. Thank you.
(Footnote: I just realised that there are Sabahan bloggers also using Aramaiti, so with immediate effect I'm changing my signature tune to Yoku Boti.)
The Daily Express report claimed that the 4,975 Usno members from 23 branches in Labuan and Menumbok agreed to resign enbloc from the ruling party and join the infant Berjaya; converting Usno branches into that of Berjaya's in the process. (Note: The Labuan constituency then included the tiny township of Menumbok on mainland Sabah to make up the number of voters. Menumbok which comes under the Kuala Penyu district administratively is home to the ferry service which links Labuan with the mainland till today. A proposal to build a bridge linking the two points has been floating for more than a decade and more recently is being studied by Universiti Malaysia Sabah.)
Harris, accompanied by Berjaya secretary-general Mohd Noor Mansoor, while addressing the huge crowd at the Labuan community centre took the opportunity to reply to charges made by the State Cabinet which appeared in the Kinabalu Sabah Times of 16 July. (Please see story above under heading: "Harris hits back Cabinet's charges" and refer to my earlier article, The ALLIANCE Hits Back, posted last week.)
Meanwhile, also on the frontpage of Daily Express (17.7.75) was the report that Social Welfare Minister Datuk Yassin Hashim had also resigned from Usno to join Berjaya, following the footsteps of his Cabinet colleague Datuk Salleh Sulong who quit a few days earlier. Thus, Datuk Yassin (then Sipitang Assemblyman, his brother Datuk Kassim was the State Legislative Assembly Speaker) became the third Usno Minister to be involved in Berjaya, after Harris and Salleh. (Note: Harris had quit much earlier, even before the plot to form Berjaya was hatched, citing differences with the Chief Minister, the late Tun Mustapha. But he remained State Assemblyman for Labuan.)
Also quitting Usno to join Berjaya on the same day with Yassin was "Usno strongman and businessman" Haji Halik K. Zaman, Daily Express said. (Note: What the Daily Express report did not say was that Halik was the one who enticed Upko Assemblyman for Kiulu, (the late) Datuk Payar Juman to switch to Usno after the 1967 election. When Payar was made a Minister, Halik was appointed his Political Secretary as a reward. Halik was in turn enticed by Harris to join Berjaya in 1975. After Berjaya formed the government in 1976, Halik became Chairman of the Sabah Electricity Board and one of his first acts was to disconnect power supply to houses of Usno leaders who had unpaid bills including his former boss. Anyway, it didn't take long for Halik to fall out of favour with Harris; whom he challenged as an independent candidate when Harris (by now Chief Minister) stood on a Berjaya ticket in a parliamentary by-election so that he could become an MP in addition to being an Assemblyman just like his Sarawak counterpart. During the by-election campaign, Halik distributed salted fish to the villagers, saying he could not afford projects or money like Harris. What was the last straw for Halik? Harris had recommended to the Governor to withdraw his Datukship. After the withdrawal, Halik went to the National Registration Department to have his name changed to Haji Datuk Halik Zaman, taking advantage of loopholes in the National Registration Act those days. Now I don't think one can do that anymore. As you can see from the report above, Halik was practically cursing then CM the late Tun Mustapha, calling him a dictator among other names. But after he fell out of favour with Harris, Halik was among those who walked alongside the Tun (as the old man was affectionately referred to by Sabahans) to the nomination centre in Semporna in the early 1980s, accompanying the Usno candidate for the Kunak by-election caused by the 'resignation' of Datu Hamid (now the late), Mustapha's son, who was also present though he did not seek re-election. Just like Halik and Harris, what a reversal of fortunes as before his 'resignation' as Kunak Assemblyman , Hamid had himself deserted his father's Usno party to become a Berjaya Minister after an manipulative offer made by Harris. Coming back to Halik in Semporna, the young Sikmading was at the scene accompanying his boss, then a Berjaya leader. I can't recall exactly what Halik was yelling about or whom he was cursing when the two opposing teams passed each other during procession to the nomination centre, but for sure this time it wasn't Mustapha! Talking about reversal of fortunes, no wonder they say that in politics there is no permanent friend and no permanent enemy!
That's all for this installment, please come back for more. Thank you.
(Footnote: I just realised that there are Sabahan bloggers also using Aramaiti, so with immediate effect I'm changing my signature tune to Yoku Boti.)
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