The race to join BN

After the 1969 Malaysian general elections which ended tragically with the May 13 racial riots that saw first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman stepping down in favour of Tun Abdul Razak, the Alliance Party, a coalition of UMNO, MCA and MIC which governed Peninsular Malaysia was expanded to become the National Front (BN) in order to accommodate the Gerakan party which had won and formed the state govenment in Penang and People's Progressive Party which made substantial in-roads into Perak state. In line with this, the ruling parties or coalitions in Sabah and Sarawak were asked to join BN so that one single coalition ruled the whole nation. But Sabah's Usno led by Tun Datu Mustapha was in no hurry to join as the 'old man' (as he was sometimes referred to by Sabahans) saw this as a ploy by Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia's capital) to clip his wings and control him. This further angered Tun Razak, who was already unhappy with him in the first place due to rumours that he was planing to take Sabah out of Malaysia; not to mention his extravagant ways and frequent trips overseas without Kuala Lumpur's approval.

However, after the birth of Berjaya which was formed with the blessings of Kuala Lumpur, Tun Mustapha started changing his tune. He denied that he was taking Sabah out of Malaysia and said Usno was always a part of the BN, or at least applying to. Berjaya, understandably, would use whatever influence it had in Kuala Lumpur to block Usno's entry into the BN; while at the same time urging BN headquarters to expedite the approval of its own (Berjaya's) application.

Thus, on July 19, 1975 the frontpage headline of Daily Express read: "USNO not a member of Barisan" with a sub-heading: "Barisan Denies USNO's Claim of Membership". The Daily Express' "Special Correspondent" in Kuala Lumpur was quoting a report from the Malay Mail, the national capital's first and only English afternoon daily newspaper. There is no need for me to repeat the report. (To see a larger view, please click on the image.)

The DE frontpage also carried a report with the heading "Nosob Pekemas members decide to be with Berjaya". The Berjaya leaders who attended the function at Nosob were led by party treasurer and Penampang division chief Datuk Peter Mojuntin. The fact that Mojuntin deemed it fit to 'conquer' Nosob which is only a village at a time when he should be busy visiting other districts or Usno divisions showed the importance of Nosob politically. This was because Nosob was a stronghold of Pekemas which at that time was 'the opposition' in Sabah until Berjaya's birth. (Sikmading says: The correct spelling of Nosob should be Nosoob which in Kadazan means "burnt". However, it s not clear what was burnt so that the village was named that way, the padi fields or the houses? Any reader can shed some light on this please?)

You will also notice in the frontpage that 'the Khalik' claimed that Tun Mustapha was in London and not Mecca at that time of the launch of Berjaya. I leave it to readers to make their own judgement.

At the left bottom of the frontpage (2nd image), there is a small advertisment put up by the 'Last Chance" bar about its Saturday Nite Dance. For the information of the younger readers, the Last Chance Bar was 'the place to be seen' and was those days' equivalent of today's Shenanigan or the pubs in KK's other tops hotels. Those days 5-star hotels were unheard of in KK, may be not even 4-star; the first international-standard hotel, the Kinabalu International Hotel (KIH) commenced business only about the same time Berjaya became the government in 1976. The KIH is now the Hyatt Kinabalu. I was only 21 years old then, just started working with a low salary and therefore could not afford to frequent the Last Chance despite its 'attractions'.

One of my readers has complained that I took too long to continue the ' history lessons on Sabah politics'. I took rest due to work pressure. Besides, I needed to go back to the archives for more materials. I'll try not to rest for too long from now on. My apologies though.

Yoku Boiti!