SUPPORT OF CHINESE COMMUNITY VITAL

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman has called on the Chinese community in Sabah to keep on supporting the government in order for all to collectively become part of a stable, progressive and prosperous nation in the future.

Musa said he was a businessman prior to becoming a politician and Chief Minister of the State, and he has learnt from many local Chinese businessmen that support was vital to create a stable government, and in turn, a stable economy.

With the support of local Chinese business community, the State would be able to attract more investments, said Musa when gracing the 10th installation ceremony of the Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) here on Sunday.

The State Government also contributed RM100,000 to the function.

Musa stressed that the people must not take the stability that they were enjoying for granted, as there were always those, on the pretext of democracy and narrow minded parochialism, would continue to ignite the fire of disunity among them.

“There are opportunists from the opposition who will continue to smear the image of the State in giving wrong information and fanning hatred towards the government.

“They have become desperate as they have no real issues to bring to the table, expect for personal agendas of coming into power,” he said.

In his speech, Musa acknowledged education as the key to Sabah’s growth and pledged to continue focus on education development.

He also emphasised that the State Government would continue to support the needs of Chinese schools, including through funding.

In the past, Musa said allocation to schools and religion groups was only RM1 million to RM2 million.

Since Musa became the Chief Minister, he said the allocation to Chinese schools and religious groups increased every year to the present RM37 million.

For this to happen, Musa said there must be political stability and support from all the communities so that the government could administer the State without being distracted by too much politicking.

“Political stability is an important factor for attracting investments and allowing businesses to flourish.

“I must also say that when businesses do well, people tend to be more generous, including Chinese people who will contribute to schools, religious bodies and charitable organisations. So everyone benefits,” he stressed.

Musa said Sabah had become progressive, prosperous, peaceful and stable under the approaches taken by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

The government under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was not only capable in carrying out its duties but also paid serious attention towards the interest of the people and the nation, which has allowed Sabah to be on track towards becoming a sustainably developed State.

“The State’s economic development in recent years has remained resilient and as most of you know we now have a strong reserve.

“This is testimony of our commitment to promote human capital growth together with economic and infrastructure development for the benefit of the people,” Musa said, and cited the efforts taken by the government to strengthen the economic climate and livelihood, including the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and Sabah Development Corridor (SDC).

The government is also aware of the need to provide and create a conducive climate for businesses to flourish, and one that attracts investors and countless other economic spin-offs.

He said the good relationship that Sabah enjoyed with the Federal Government has seen billions allocated to the State for infrastructure projects that would support the economy.

“However, I must stress here that we can no longer depend on our primary resources to generate an income in a globalised economy.

“We must increase value, adding to our resources including our human resource,” he said.

Also present were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai, acting president of FCAS, Datuk TC Goh, organising chairperson cum FCAS vice president Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen, and FCAS members. (BP)