You Have Won My Respect, Anifah

Yes, you have won my respect, Datuk. I am referring to Datuk Anifah Aman (picture), the Malaysian Member of Parliament for Kimanis in Sabah.

The former Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities (1999-2008) made news after the March 8 election when he declined the Prime Minister's offer to be made the new Transport Minister.

Yesterday he made news again when he delivered a speech in Parliament. To cut the long story short, he made a very good speech which should please his fellow Sabahans. He fought for their rights when he spoke on a variety of issues ranging from asking for more oil royalty for Sabah to better job opportunities for Sabahans in the federal administration and government-linked companies.

Nothing wrong with that. After all, it is the job of an MP to fight for his constituency and his home State. But what was 'wrong' was that he is a government backbencher and, more importantly, a brother of Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman who is also the Chairman of both Sabah BN and UMNO which is the ruling party in Malaysia.

"While there is nothing wrong for an MP to fight for his area and state, certain things that Anifah said were certainly not what one would normally expect to have come from the brother of the UMNO Supreme Council member (Musa)," a political observer pointed out.

The observer was apparently referring to Anifah's reported statement in Parliament that there was no harm in BN MPs in Sabah defecting to the Opposition. He even said it was not wrong to "vacate a bungalow and move into a terraced house if we are not given sufficient room in the bungalow."

"Let it be, even if it were a terraced house. We will all enjoy the same facilities. Even when we live in a bungalow, we still live by the toilet," he stressed.

The "bungalow, terraced house" phrase was used by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi when he asked Anifah, who is a 3rd term MP, whether he agreed it was pointless to move out of a bungalow (BN), and move into a terraced house (Opposition).

Anifah retorted: "I agree. What is the use of switching from a big house to a small house? But, if there is no room for us in the big house, what's wrong with it (moving to small house)? Therefore, certain people must take the appropriate action because we have contributed many seats (in the election) for many terms. Do not marginalise us."

Apart from the provocation by Zahid, Anifah must have been irked by what he said he couldn't unerstand why Sabah elected representatives were targeted each time the issue of party crossovers were raised by the Opposition or the BN.

And he gave Zahid a taste of his own medicine when he said sacastically : "We are only a handful of people in Sabah. Why the concern when a few people want to cross over when, in the Peninsular (Malaysia), tens of thousands of people have switched camps?," he asked, referring to Kelantan, Penang, Kedah, Perak and Selangor which are now under Opposition rule.

As if for the record, however, Anifah concluded: "Before the Opposition gets excited, I myself have no intention to cross over."

My Say:
Congratulations, Datuk! As a Sabahan, I am proud of you. Keep up the good work. Sabah needs brave leaders like you to speak up for them in Parliament, and not 'yes men' or cowards. You have just won my respect. This is not to say that I did not respect you before, but now I respect you even more.

You did the right thing (including declining the deputy ministership for a 3rd term), despite being the Chief Minister's brother. To illustrate my point, even the Johore Menteri Besar Datuk Ghani Othman today supported your statement.

Ghani, who is also UMNO Supreme Council member, described your statement as "a manifestation of what needs to be done to meet the expectations of Sabahans." He added: "I think he (Anifah) is speaking on behalf of the people of Sabah on the need to fulfill the expectations of the people of Sabah."

Let us hope that there will be more Sabah leaders like Anifah in Kuala Lumpur.

(For more reports of Anifah's speech, please visit the on-line Malaysian or Sabah newspapers as listed on the left.)