Just Rumours?

It's back to politics folks. As promised, I will continue with the story of what happened to the newly-formed Berjaya party and the reaction of its rival, the ruling Alliance party in 1975. As reported earlier, Berjaya was launched in Kota Kinabalu (at the now defunct Borneo Hotel by the Tanjung Aru beach which was then 'the hotel' in town) on July 15 although it was registered in Kuala Lumpur days earlier. But the irony was that on the eve of that launch, the Daily Express which was to become Berjaya's mouthpiece carried a frontpage headline story with the heading "New political party? Just rumours: C.M." and thus the title of my article today. In other words, those involved were still hoping to keep it a secret even right up to the last minute. The fact that a three-sentence statement from the Chief Minister's office can also make the headline testified to this. Another way of looking at it is that it was perhaps to hoodwink the Alliance leaders and supporters into thinking that everything was still OK and that whatever they heard were just RUMOURS. Infact, having lived in fear (of arrest ) for years, most Sabahans would understandably think that way. Little did they realize that their fear was no longer necessary as the power of detention without trial had been withdrawn. Yet another way of looking at it would be that the Daily Express (or rather Berjaya) was just being sarcastic, knowing the truth. To read the full statement please enlarge the image by clicking on it. Meanwhile, joined to the short statement was a Bernama report from Kuala Lumpur saying that one of Malaysia's then top opposition parties, Pekemas, had resolved to go all out to contest in the coming election in Sabah. Its popular president, Dr Tan Chee Khoon said the party would give all assistance to members and branches in Sabah for the coming election. Dr Tan's statement, coming on the eve of Berjaya's launch, certainly made the political scene in Sabah more colourful. Suddenly the political and election mood was there, although most Sabahans still lived in fear of being sent to 'Kepayan University'. For the information of younger Sabahans, Dr Tan was the opposition leader in the Malaysian Parliament then and was dubbed 'Mr Opposition'. A medical doctor, he was well-known for giving free medical treatment to his poor constituents in his clinic at Kepong in KL. Infact, the present 'Mr Opposition', Lim Kit Siang of DAP only rose to prominence after Dr Tan retired due to his age and health. In the absence of a viable opposition in Sabah in the early 1970s, Pekemas saw the opportunity to make an in-road into the State, oblivious to the fact that the majority of Sabahans, much as they might want to support the opposition, dared not do so, not openly anyway. Although Pekemas never did win any seat and soon closed shop in Sabah as people later opted for the much more influential Berjaya instead, it had the distinction of being the only opposition party (independents included) to actually succeed in fielding a candidate against the then mighty Alliance in the 1974 parliamentary election in Sabah; with the remaining 15 seats 'won' by Alliance due to 'no contest' on nomination day. Pekemas candidate, MA Rahman polled a respectable number of votes against Buja Gumbilai of Usno in Tuaran and did not lose his deposit, despite being handicapped due to lack of financial resource and campaign machinery. Infact, thoroughout most of the campaign period he was hiding in a remote village for fear of arrest. However, Dr Tan who came to Sabah to campaign managed to give a mini rally (rather just an open-air talk, Hyde Park Corner style, using only a loudhailer) at the Tuaran tamu (bazaar) ground, taking advantage of the tamu crowd. After all, they wouldn't arrest Mr Opposition of Malaysia as it would affect the image of the country. I was 20 years old then, just started working and had a chance to listen to his speech. He said, among other things, and I quote: "If you go to any government office in KL, you would find names on doors with the prefixes Datuk and Tan Sri. I don't need any Tan Sriship, my name is already Tan." Anyway, for the record, when he retired the Malaysian government offered him a Tan Sriship in recognition of his long service as the Opposition leader. He accepted, perhaps out of respect for the King and the Prime Minister. To end my posting on a lighter note, on the frontpage you would also find a caption story with the heading "Sedco deputy GM weds" which is self-explanatory. However, the caption did not explain why the Governor or Yang di Pertua Negara hosted a reception for the newly-weds at the Istana, the State Palace. The reason was that the bride, the former Miss Patricia Sinidol was a niece of Tun Haji Mohd Fuad Stephens as the Negara's consort and the bride's mother were sisters. By the way, the bridegroom, Awang Hussein eventually rose to became Sedco general manager and was later made a Datuk. The bride's father, the late Datuk Fred Sinidol, a former Kadazan broadcaster and former Kinabalu Sabah Times general manager became the Berjaya Assemblyman (Legislator) for Kawang after the 1976 election, defeating the Alliance candidate. That's all for today and thank you for your patience. I know I have been long-winded but I can't tell just half-a-story. Till then, Aramaiti!