Vote-Buying in Sabah by PR Reaches a New High

When most Malaysians were celebrating Malaysia's nationhood and unity on Malaysia Day, PR politicians were preaching something else. As can be seen from the screen capture of the Borneo Post's website, these PR politicians promised Sabahans full autonomy, whereby "Sabah affairs will be determined by Sabah."

It begs the question, why should Sabah get special treatment? Why not give other states that are relatively resource rich the same offer? And why make such an offer on Malaysia Day, the day when Sabahans made the conscious decision to join the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia?

Anwar Ibrahim says, it is "a demand that Malaysians in Sabah have relentlessly been making since gaining independence 47 years ago in 1963." (see http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=68357)

A clever play of words, considering that those opposed to joining Malaysia without Sabah being given full autonomy back then were indeed Malaysians, but not the many more Malaysians who formed the majority, who were indeed happy for Sabah to join Malaysia as a federate state.

Whatever the case for or against Sabah being given more attention in terms of development funding, Anwar's full-autonomy rhetoric stinks of vote-buying. Such a promise does not address how Sabah is to handle its own affairs, especially how it intends to finance those affairs.

Worse, if successful, Sabah's full-autonomy lays the precedent for other resource rich states like Sarawak, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang to press for full autonomy as well, leaving other, less resource-rich states, especially Kedah and Perlis in a lurch.

This is indeed why Malaysia has not been formed as a nation of confederate states. Resources are to be pooled for mutual benefit, the success or failure of that endeavour in certain states notwithstanding.

At a time when the Federal Government needs to work harder to transform Malaysia into a high income nation, PR appears to be working hard towards the disintegration of Malaysia as we know it, with little or no regard for ensuring that Malaysia as a whole breaks out of the middle income trap.

And it is for this very reason, among many other reasons, that I will cast a protest vote against PR in Selangor in the coming general elections.