THAM, COMRADE IN ARMS IN MANY WAYS

By: DATUK YONG TECK LEE

THAM Nyip Shen was my closest cabinet and party colleague for all the time that I was in Cabinet. He was a friend, colleague and comrade in arms in many ways. He has had countless occasions before, during and after Cabinet meetings to raise any issue, including FMU, with me.

We were together so often that I cannot even remember whether he might have raised the issue of FMU outside Cabinet. I now assume that he did not. I had so much confidence in him and Raymond Tan that I recommended them both to remain in Cabinet against the protestations of other party colleagues. I was warned but I trusted them. Today, I blame only myself.

On the FMU issue, since there was no loot at all, I can confirm that Tham did not get any loot. Nobody had talked about any loot. If anybody wanted to loot Sabah’s forest resources, then the best way was to continue the “cluster bombing” practices of clear fell logging. That old practice produced maximum profits to logging concessionaires with little responsibility to reforest. The SFMLAs attempted to put a stop to the rape of our timber resources.

Tan Sri Dr. Lim Keng Yeik, the then federal Minister of Primary Industries, had protested that the SFMLAs were commercially not viable. This shows that the FMUS were not meant to profit the companies but a desperate attempt at reforestation using sustainable forest management principles under the ITTO (International Tropical Timber Organisation) which Sabah was obliged to comply with by 2000.

SFMLAs are only for long term stake holders. If the Cabinet at the time had not embarked on the SFMLAs, then by now, the same cabinet could have been accused of not doing anything to save our forests. There might have been no trees left standing today in our Class II commercial forest reserves.

Timing of Tham’s attacks on me

My only logical conclusion why Tham has now surfaced to do the dirty work of UMNO to attack me is to lobby to be the BN candidate for Batu Sapi. Tham had wanted to be candidate for Batu Sapi in the 2004 general elections. He was promised by somebody, but not me. But he was asked to sacrifice Elopura to MCA. He rightly refused because he had already promised the seat to Au Kam Wah.

He declared that, “a good horse does not eat return grass.” Now it seems every day this horse eats green grass. In the 2004 elections, the end result was PBS got Batu Sapi, MCA got Kapayan, LDP got Merotai and SAPP got Luyang. Tham got the Science Advisor post.

PBS and UMNO leaders are now celebrating Tham’s attacks on me. Political circles said Tham is the closest confidante of current Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman. From Hulu Selangor to Sibu (by-elections), Tham was by Musa’side. One day, Musa will be bitten by Tham like he is doing to me now.