Deepening resentment in the east after 60 years together By Joe Samad

FMT : Malaysia is becoming more sectarian in outlook. It’s a bitter pill for the central government to swallow but you reap what you sow.

Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor has announced that the state will celebrate its inaugural Sabah Day in Tambunan to honour and commemorate the day which marked the end of British colonial rule in 1963, signifying our journey of coming together to establish self-rule.

It will be held annually rotating among the various districts. Sarawak has already celebrated their independence day for many years now.   The Borneo states are getting closer in asserting their “independence” from Malaya.

Up north in the Peninsula, the proposal for Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu to use different National Day logos and themes for state-level celebrations instead of those announced at the federal level has ruffled many feathers. As I espoused in my previous article, Malaysia is becoming more sectarian in outlook.

This new development is expected when the central government is weakened by political strife and years of neglect in developing the poorer states, with education policies focusing on religion rather than the real world, amid rampant corruption and cronyism.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow but it’s a price the central government is paying now for race and religion baiting instead of focusing on the economy and the wellbeing of the people. You reap what you sow.

Ignoring history

Our federal leaders are still ignorant that Malaysia is 60 years old this year and not 66. They still continue to ignore history and can’t do simple arithmetic. This is why the country is in such a mess. After 60 years as partners of Malaysia, Sabah is still the poorest state in Malaysia despite being rich in oil resources.

On average Sabah has been getting RM1.1 billion cash payments since 2008, while the federal government gets RM50 billion dividends from Petronas in 2022 alone, not including other oil and corporate taxes. According to minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said, based on Petronas records as at Jan 1, 2022, Sarawak’s 2P reserves represent 60.87% of Malaysia’s total reserves, whereas Sabah’s portion makes up 18.84%.

Reserves in Peninsular waters make up the balance of 1.4 billion boe (20.29%), using back-of-the-envelope calculations. Generally, 2P reserves have a more than 50% chance of being technically and economically possible to be produced. The projected reserves are expected to last 15 years.

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