“THOUSANDS OF MALAYS HAVE DESERTED UMNO AND THAT THIS WAS VERY TELLING.”– SIMON

Umno-BN has lost ‘common sense’

Raymond Tombung

According to former Sabah state secretary Simon Sipaun, if 'thousands of Malays have deserted Umno' in the peninsular, why not the KDMs quit BN, which has failed the state.

PENAMPANG April 27, 2013: In a rare clash of political confrontation between senior-level dignitaries in social media, Facebook, the wife of Upko president Bernard Dompok yesterday asked former Suhakam commissioner Simon Sipaun why he was “bent on bringing down Upko” and Dompok who was a friend.

Dompok’s wife Diana had posted a message on former state secretary Sipaun’s FB page. The message read: “Dear Tan Sri Simon Sipaun. I held you in the highest of regards. What I don’t understand is WHY ARE YOU SO BENT ON BRINGING UPKO DOWN?”

Diana apparently was irked by Sipaun’s participation in Penampang PKR candidate Darrel Leiking’s campaign which hit out at Dompok. Dompok is the Penampang parliamentary seat incumbent.

In a polite but firm reply to Diana, Sipaun who is also the chairman of Desah (Democracy Sabah) an NGO working to achieve a one-to-one fights between BN and the opposition in all constituencies in Sabah, said the former had ‘misconstrued’ his position.

“Dear (Puan Sri) Diana, I think you have misconstrued my position. I am not a politician. At no time did I ever have the intention of bringing down any political party. Even if I wanted to I will not be able to do it.

“… Sabah has known only one federal government for the last 50 years. It may be called BN but it is basically Umno calling the shots.

He said that thousands of Malays have deserted Umno and that this was very telling.

“A Malay taxi driver told me ‘Ini Umno tahu jaga kuncu-kuncu sahaja’ (this Umno only knows how to look after cronies). After 50 years what have we got in Sabah?

“There is a litany of them. But let me name a few.

“Sabah is inundated with illegals to the extent that the KDM used to be 43% of the state population 50 years ago now that figure is hardly 15%. The KDM is at the risk disappearing altogether from the face of the earth,” he said.

He added that the World Bank and UNDP data showed that Sabah was the poorest state in the country in terms of per capita income yet rich in natural resources.

“Employment opportunities are so limited that thousands of our youths had to leave for other places to find a living,” he said.

What happen to common sense?

He added that gas was found in Sabah yet it had to be transported through a gas pipe line 512 km long and costing in the billions of ringgit.

Common sense and conventional business wisdom dictate that the processing plant should be located as near as possible to the source of raw material, he added.

“I have seen houses of poor villagers which had been burnt by enforcement personnel. They lost their padi, gongs, documents, etc.

“What sort of uncaring government is this? Corruption is rampant and getting worse. Many rural people have no access to health, medical and educational facilities,” he said.

He added that Singapore which was kicked out in 1965 should be thankful that it was ejected from Malaysia and noted that Brunei was wise for opting out.

“BN which has never known what it is like to be out of power will do everything and anything to remain in power.

“I can go on and on but time does not permit. In short, small parties supporting BN are contributing to the continuing sufferings of Malaysians,” he wrote.

Meanwhile State Reform Party’s deputy chairman, Daniel John Jambun, said, “Had Sipaun been more firm, he could have asked Diana why Dompok is so bent on bringing his own people down by associating himself and Upko with Umno.”