Sikmading's Sabah, Malaysian Borneo: Borneo's SAPP's Bombshell

Psalm of the Day - Evening Prayer for Help

Answer Me When I pray, O God, my defender! When I was in trouble, you helped me. Be kind to me now and hear my prayer. How long will you people insult me? How long will you love what is worthless and go after what is false? Remember that the Lord has chosen the righteous for his own, and he hears me when I call to him. Tremble with fear and stop sinning; think deeply about this, when you lie in silence on your beds. Offer the right sacrifices to the Lord, and put your trust in him. There are many who pray: "Give me more blessings, O Lord. Look on us with kindness!" But the joy that you have given me is more than they will ever have with all their grain and wine. When I lie down, I go to sleep in peace; you alone, O Lord, keep me perfectly safe.

- Psalm 4, Book One taken from the Good News Bible, Today's English Version.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Borneo's SAPP's Bombshell

Tawau Member of Parliament Datuk Dr Chua Soon Bui (2nd right) was the star of the press conference today rather than her party boss. She is flanked by SAPP president Yong Teck Lee on her right and party secretary-general Richard Yong on her left.

The press conference was fully-packed with reporters and cameramen not only from the local press based in Kota Kinabalu but also the national press and international news agencies from Kuala Lumpur. "Even the Chief Minister's press conference would not normally attract such a large crowd of newsmen," commented an observer. The unexpected large number of newsmen prompted Yong to order his boys to photostat more copies of the statements. In asking the reporters how many more copies needed, the press-savvy former Chief Minister jokingly remarked: " For the Special Branch one copy enough lah oh..." He was reacting to the presence of police political intelligence officers who had been seen hanging around the SAPP headquarters area since last night. Police intelligence reports are known to go right up to the Prime Minister, Home Minister and the Inspector of Police as well as, of course, the Sabah Police Commissioner.

The man (or rather lady) of the hour....Dr Chua being welcomed by Yong at the start of the press conference. This is a rare moment for Chua, protocol-wise, as normally she would have to wait for her party president to arrive at any function. But today Yong, a former Sabah Chief Minister, had to wait for her! This was because SAPP would be banking on her and fellow-MP Eric Majimbun in Parliament next week when a vote of no confidence is tabled against the Prime Minister. Yong said at the press conference that the duo will vote for the motion.

Yong in a jovial mood while waiting for Dr Chua's arrival. He even asked the reporters: "Are we ready? If we are ready then we'll call our MP, referring to Dr Chua who was waiting next door. The other SAPP MP, Datuk Eric Majimbun, is overseas on official duty. Yong said he has a signed statement from Eric saying that he too will vote for the motion agains the PM.

SAPP's headquarters at Luyang, Kota Kinabalu. Pix taken 2 hours before press conference.

A billboard near SAPP's headquarters....Party's action today is preparing Sabahans for the future?

Yong's statement with his initials underneath. The surname of the Tawau MP was wrongly typed. It should be Dr Chua and not Chu.

Dr Chua's statement with her signature underneath.

(For larger views of the images, click on them.)

More write-up later. Taking a break. Sorry for the delay of this one as I promised it would come within a few minutes of my News Flash earlier. I over-estimated the efficiency of the free public wireless Internet or Wifi service at Coffee Beans at Damai. It was slightly better than the one at KFC at nearby Bornion Center though, which was hopeless. I had hoped to blog from there both before and after the press conference as it is nearer to the SAPP headquarters.