Everyone in Peninsular Malaysia has heard the slogans.
“Malaysia Madani.” “Malaysian Malaysia.” “Anak Cina, anak India, anak
saya.” “Bapa Reformasi.” “Bapa Perpaduan.” “Bapa Kemanusiaan Sedunia.”
Beautiful words. Endless speeches. Countless tears on stage.
Yet when you cross the South China Sea, you discover something
astonishing: the Malaysia that Anwar Ibrahim and DAP have been promising
for decades already exists, quietly, practically, and sincerely, in
Sabah and Sarawak.
And the best part? It was built without DAP’s sermons and without Anwar’s poetry.
1. Funding for Non-Muslim Houses of Worship
(Where sincerity beats slogans every time)
Federal Government 2025 (Anwar Ibrahim, 40+ DAP ministers, RM421
billion budget, 32 million people): → RM50 million for all non-Muslim
places of worship nationwide That is RM1.56 per non-Muslim Malaysian.
Sabah 2025 (CM Hajiji Noor, population 3.8 million, state budget
RM6.4 billion): → RM70 million this year, RM90 million next year More
than the entire country combined, from a state labelled “poor.”
Sarawak 2024 (Premier Abang Johari, GPS government): → RM110 million
in a single year 2.2 times what the federal government gives to 13
states + 3 federal territories put together.
They are not richer. They are just sincere.
Meanwhile, JAKIM gets RM2.6 billion every year from the same federal budget.
2. Chinese Education and UEC Recognition
(Promises vs Delivery)
Federal PH-DAP government (elected twice with 95–97 % Chinese
support): → 15 years of promises, still zero official UEC recognition in
2025.
Sabah:
→ CM Hajiji Noor (GRS) and previous CM Shafie Apdal (Warisan) openly
recognise UEC. → GRS is disbursing RM5 million special scholarship fund
this year for UEC students.
Sarawak: → Full state recognition since GPS took power. → Additional millions in annual grants to Chinese independent schools.
Federal government for Chinese and mission schools nationwide (1,300+ schools): RM20 million.
Sabah for its 9 Chinese primary schools alone: RM56.75 million.
Sarawak for Chinese-aided schools alone: RM22 million and rising.
3. Colour-Blind Higher Education Aid
(No race quotas required)
Sarawak: → Bantuan Kewangan Khas (BKK): RM1,200 per year for every
Sarawakian student in public universities, regardless of race or
religion. → Yayasan Sarawak scholarships and even the China Ambassador
Scholarship at UNIMAS are awarded on merit, nothing else.
Sabah: → Rapidly moving toward the same colour-blind policies under GRS.
Federal Malaysia: → RM6 billion every year to MARA, Yayasan Peneraju,
and UiTM, institutions that non-Bumiputera students are
constitutionally barred from entering.
4. Real Education Reform vs Lowering the Bar
Federal Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek (PKR, backed by DAP): →
Abolished UPSR and PMR with no proper replacement, effectively lowering
national standards.
Sarawak Premier Abang Johari: → Introduced a Cambridge-standard Dual
Language Programme examination for ALL Year 6 students in the state, in
partnership with Cambridge University, raising the bar for everyone,
regardless of mother tongue.
5. Inclusivity in Everyday Public Space
Kuala Lumpur (DBKL, federal-aligned): → Actively removing Chinese-language signboards.
Sarawak: → Street signs in Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin, Iban,
Bidayuh, and other native languages, proudly promoting tourism and
genuine inclusivity.
6. What Leaders Actually Talk About
In Peninsular Malaysia, politicians and the public are still fighting over:
- KK Mart socks
- Halal trolleys
- Dress codes
- Vernacular-school existence
- Bon Odori “danger”
In Sabah and Sarawak, leaders talk about:
Digital infrastructure and high-income jobs
Carbon trading and green energy
Hydrogen economy
Attracting semiconductor and data-centre investments
World-class education
The Most Telling Statistic of All
In Sabah and Sarawak, Chinese votes are statistically almost
irrelevant. The governments are overwhelmingly led by Muslim Bumiputera
parties (GPS and GRS).
Yet these Muslim-majority state governments deliver more funding,
more respect, and more dignity to non-Muslim communities than a federal
government that owes its very survival to Chinese votes and has more
than 40 DAP MPs.
They don’t do it for votes. They do it because it is the right thing to do.
The Borneo Reality
In Sabah and Sarawak today:
- A Muslim Chief Minister increases church and temple funding faster than any “multiracial” federal government ever has.
- A Kadazan, Iban, Chinese, or Malay child competes on pure merit, and any of them can win state scholarships.
- No one asks your race or religion before helping you.
- As long as you are Sabahan, you are taken care of.
- As long as you are Sarawakian, you are family.
That is the real Malaysia Madani. That is the true Malaysian Malaysia.
It is not a campaign rhetoric. It is everyday life on the island of Borneo.
So Why Do Non-Muslims in Sabah and Sarawak Still Need DAP?
They don’t.
And they certainly don’t need a Prime Minister who wants to be “Bapa
Kemanusiaan Sedunia” while giving RM200 million of Malaysian taxpayer
money overseas for headlines, yet only RM100 million to MITRA for the
development of the Indian community at home.
Let Anwar keep his beautiful slogans and his international photo-ops.
Let DAP keep promising the moon from opposition benches for another
fifty years.
Sabah and Sarawak have stopped listening.
They are too busy living the Malaysia Madani, building a future where
every citizen, regardless of race or religion, is treated as real anak,
not as voting tools.
The rest of Malaysia is still stuck fighting over socks and signboards. Borneo has moved on. That is the Borneo way. And it works.
