Posts
Horay! It's a holiday in Sabah today, Monday 17 Sept 2007. This is to replace yesterday's public holiday which falls on a Sunday. According to the official State public holiday list for 2007 as gazetted and published in the official diary for civil servants in Sabah, 16 Sept was a holiday both because it was Hari Malaysia (Malaysia Day) and official birthday of the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Sabah (Governor). I see this as an encouraging sign for it shows that the Sabah Government at least has the decency not to ignore 16 Sept as Malaysia Day. It is a good start, although the ultimate goal is to get the Federal Government to also declare it as a holiday.
Sabahans and Sarawakians have Penang Chief Minister, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon to thank for towards this end. Yesterday, the Gerakan party president said the Federal Government should seriously consider celebrating 16 Sept as Malaysia Day to the extent of even declaring it a public holiday. Gerakan is a component party of Malaysia's ruling coalition, the National Front. Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) which ruled Sabah from 1985 to 1994 had made frequent similar calls, but these were quickly branded by Kuala Lumpur as yet another of PBS' anti-federal moves.
Dr Goh's unexpected and bold statement came shortly after the statement by Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud who said a few days ago that the east Malaysian state will celebrate the 45th anniversary of Malaysia in a big way next year, widely speculated as election year. Yesterday, PBS led by former Sabah Chief Minster Datuk Joseph Pairi took out full-page advertisements in local newspapers wishing Sabahans a Happy Malaysia Day.
Dr Goh's statement immediately gave Sabahans and Sarawakians a new ray of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel. But alas, his proposal was quickly shot down by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Najib Tun Razak who Monday told reporters that "16 Sept is an important date but the government had decided that there should be only one independence date which is 31 August. This is to show that we are together..."
Sabah and Sarawak gained self-rule from Britain on 31 August 1963 but could officially join Malaya and Singapore to form Malaysia only on 16 Sept. The delay was caused by the arrival of a UN team sent to ascertain the wishes of the local people, prompted by protests lodged by both the Philippines and Indonesia. Malaya had earlier gained independence also from the British on 31 Aug 1957.
So what's next? It remains to b seen but one thing is for sure - the Opposition in Sabah (perhaps in Sarawak too) will keep on harping on this issue, with the election expected anytime. One of the Sabah opposition leaders, ironically, is Pairin's own brother, Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who is a Vice-President of the Kuala Lumpur-based Keadilan party. Yesterday in Kuching, Sarawak's state capital, Dr Jeffrey was invited to recite the Malaysian declaration similar to the one read out by Sarawak's first Chief Minister on 16 September 1963. The function was organised by Keadilan Sarawak which made a breakthrough in last year's Sarawak election by winning a seat in the State Assembly while fellow opposition party DAP won several.
Will this issue, among others, affect the election outcome? Only time can tell but Dr Jeffrey is already saying that Keadilan will form the next Sabah Government, something Sabah BN leaders describe as dreaming. Dream or reality, only God knows.
Sabahans and Sarawakians have Penang Chief Minister, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon to thank for towards this end. Yesterday, the Gerakan party president said the Federal Government should seriously consider celebrating 16 Sept as Malaysia Day to the extent of even declaring it a public holiday. Gerakan is a component party of Malaysia's ruling coalition, the National Front. Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) which ruled Sabah from 1985 to 1994 had made frequent similar calls, but these were quickly branded by Kuala Lumpur as yet another of PBS' anti-federal moves.
Dr Goh's unexpected and bold statement came shortly after the statement by Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud who said a few days ago that the east Malaysian state will celebrate the 45th anniversary of Malaysia in a big way next year, widely speculated as election year. Yesterday, PBS led by former Sabah Chief Minster Datuk Joseph Pairi took out full-page advertisements in local newspapers wishing Sabahans a Happy Malaysia Day.
Dr Goh's statement immediately gave Sabahans and Sarawakians a new ray of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel. But alas, his proposal was quickly shot down by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Najib Tun Razak who Monday told reporters that "16 Sept is an important date but the government had decided that there should be only one independence date which is 31 August. This is to show that we are together..."
Sabah and Sarawak gained self-rule from Britain on 31 August 1963 but could officially join Malaya and Singapore to form Malaysia only on 16 Sept. The delay was caused by the arrival of a UN team sent to ascertain the wishes of the local people, prompted by protests lodged by both the Philippines and Indonesia. Malaya had earlier gained independence also from the British on 31 Aug 1957.
So what's next? It remains to b seen but one thing is for sure - the Opposition in Sabah (perhaps in Sarawak too) will keep on harping on this issue, with the election expected anytime. One of the Sabah opposition leaders, ironically, is Pairin's own brother, Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who is a Vice-President of the Kuala Lumpur-based Keadilan party. Yesterday in Kuching, Sarawak's state capital, Dr Jeffrey was invited to recite the Malaysian declaration similar to the one read out by Sarawak's first Chief Minister on 16 September 1963. The function was organised by Keadilan Sarawak which made a breakthrough in last year's Sarawak election by winning a seat in the State Assembly while fellow opposition party DAP won several.
Will this issue, among others, affect the election outcome? Only time can tell but Dr Jeffrey is already saying that Keadilan will form the next Sabah Government, something Sabah BN leaders describe as dreaming. Dream or reality, only God knows.
2 comments:
Now than DPM Najib had said `No' to Sept 16 a national public holiday, Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and other political parties opposed to Barisan Nasional have more `bullets' to use in the coming general elections.
Thanks, JB, but it remains to be seen if this issue will actually cause the BN any seat/s. After all, Sept 16 is already a holiday in Sabah and the Gov't Gazette says it's both Malaysia Day and TYT's birthday. To me, it's not as serious as the Berjaya Government's cancellation of the Easter and Boxing holidays. (Good Friday was later reinstated, but not enough to make Sabahans, especially Christians, change their mind in voting Berjaya out.) Oh, how I miss the good old Easter holidays which stretched from Friday to Monday, long enough to hold the Borneo Games which eventually stopped after the holidays were scrapped. But now the good old days are gone, probably forever, NO thanks to Berjaya who deservedly lost the election in 1985.
Post a Comment