By : DANIEL JOHN JAMBUN
THE RECENT report made by
Rozza Rothman against people from the Peninsula insulting Sabah in Facebook
postings reminds us again of the long and unceasing attitude of Malayans
looking down on Sabah and Sabahans.
This is due mainly to the
misconception created by the failure of the efforts of national integration and
national unity made under the National Unity and Integration Department (NUID)
which has been operating since 1969 (after the May 13 riots), spending hundreds
of millions of ringgits trying to Malaysians in the Peninsula and those in
Borneo.
The Malaysian blog reported
in July 2006 that “Probably 99% of Malaysians have not even heard of the very
existence of the national unity and integration department. Ironically, as its
name suggests, it is the one entrusted to 'integrate' and 'unite' the people and
therefore should have been very familiar to the public!” the writer even
commented, “"What the devil have you been doing all these years except
collect your monthly pay?"
The biggest problem with the
NUID is plain ineptness, lack of creativy and drive, as well as the
over-dominance of Peninsular officers who have the attitude that in the whole
process, it is the Borneons that need to be rehabilitated from the wild, to be
civilized so they can be on par with the more civilized Malayans. There is less
thought about rehabilitating the Peninsular Malaysians into learning about
Borneo which to them is unimportant and not even part of the real Malaysia.
Ever since the beginning
people in the Peninsula had always looked upon Sabah and Sarawak as the
nation’s wild side, areas covered with trees occupied by monkeys, pythons, crocodiles and even wild men living
on treetops.
The Facebook insults
reported by Rozza included comments saying Sabahans still live on trees. In the
past Peninsular teachers coming to teach in Sabah used to shop for Panadols and
toothpastes in large amounts in their hometowns before they boarded the planes
to Kota Kinabalu because they believed those items can’t be found here.
In one TV live interview
Datuk Dr. Maximus Ongkili was called by a girl from Penang who asked what
monetary currency was used in Sabah. Sabahans coming to KL are asked, “Bila
sampai Malaysia?” or worse, “When is Sabah going to join Malaysia?” I have
friends who had been asked to please go ahead and enjoy the fish-head curry
because “You people don’t have this in Sabah”.
The list of blatant
ignorance runs long and wide, proving how ignorant people are in the Peninsula.
Even in the age of the Internet when surfers can easily see tens of thousands
of pictures of Sabah online, they still really, really believe we live on
trees.
Other the 43-year failure of
the NUID, this intolerable ignorance is also caused by the timidity and
cowardice of our Members of Parliament who act like wet mice in Kuala Lumpur,
bowing and smiling to the Malayans as if to admit they are actually less
civilized. They allow themselves to be looked down upon to curry favours.
They forget that one of
their duties as the representatives of Sabahans is to educate the ignorant
people of the Peninsular that Sabah is a beautiful and a more peaceful place
where Peninsular teachers and civil servants come to get married and settle
down because of the beauty of the state.
They need to shout in
parliament every now and then to remind the people there that they owe Sabah
and Sarawak for the wealth and prosperity being enjoyed by them. The fine
highways, airports and buildings (including the Petronas Towers) are there
because of oil from the Borneo states!
This is so ironic because
Sabah, the producer of this precious black gold is mired in poverty, having
terribly bad roads while they have four-lane highways even to gambling haven,
Genting Highlands. Our MPs need to shout in Parliament, “Jangan lupa orang
Sabah yang kasi makan kamu!” to shame them into recognising our contribution to
their prosperity there which is like 20 years ahead of us.
I urge the police to take
serious action on Rozza’s report and inform us of their progress. Soon, someone
need to make a police report on the gigantic failure of the NUD, even to sue
it, or at least to audit its performance and penalize it for decades of failure
to unite Malaysians.
It needs to explain why
Malaysians today are more polarized than ever before and why it is not taking
any action against those causing racial and religious disunity, especially
people like Ibrahim Ali who is record for threatening to kill Christians and
calling for a ban on Christians from teaching in schools. If they can’t do the
job the NUID should be closed down to save precious money.
Whatever Sabah now not like before. Sabah more development and will compete soon for other state in Malaysia.
ReplyDeleteSabah akan dapat membangun seiring dengan negeri2 yang lain.
DeleteOrang-orang Semenanjung perlu la datang melawat Sabah. Jauh perjalanan luas pemandangan. Kalau tidak memang jadi katak dalam balang kaca saja la.
ReplyDeleteyup.. mereka sendiri perlu datang ke Sabah untuk melihat sendiri situasi sebenar.. bukannya bergantung dengan kempen pembangkang yang asyik mempopularkan pengenalan Sabah sebagai negeri termiskin dan sebagainya..
DeleteDorang tu tak pernah datang Sabah, thats why lah dorang look down on us.
ReplyDeleteataupun semua yang memandang rendah Sabah itu telah diupah oleh pembangkang untuk berbuat demikian bagi menggambarkan kegagalan pelaksanaan 1Malaysia oleh Najib..
DeleteTapi bukan semualah. Saya ramai kawan Semenanjung, bila datang Sabah, mereka pasti akan jatuh cinta dengan keharmonian di negeri ini.
ReplyDeletecuma segelintir sahaja yang pandang serong dengan Sabah.. itupun mungkin atas sebab hal peribadi..
Deletebagaimana orang semenanjung tidak memandang rendah kepada orang Sabah jika orang sabah sendiri memandang rendah orang semenanjung yang bekerja di Sabah..
ReplyDeletesetiap kali ada orang semenanjung yang bekerja di Sabah, mesti kena pandang serong.. malah tidak kurang juga pihak yang mempertikaikan komitmen kerja penjawat awam dari semenanjung yang bekerja di negeri ini.. kalau berterusan begini, macam mana mahu wujud perpaduan?
ReplyDeletejika pembangkang memerintah negara ini, lagi teruk la hubungan antara rakyat di negara ini.. sebabnya ialah, pembangkang akan pisahkan rakyat sabah dengan semenanjung dengan merealisasikan sabah untuk orang sabah, dan semenanjung untuk orang semenanjung..
ReplyDeletesepatutnya isu2 seperti ini tidak perlulah dipolitikkan.. kalau selesai tak pa juga,, makin keruh ada la..
ReplyDeleteanggap sahaja kenyataan facebook itu sebagai sebahagian daripada risiko bagi sebuah negara yang mengamalkan kebebasan bersuara.. kalau Daniel John Jambun jadi PM sekalipun, jangan harap dia boleh tutup mulut 29 juta rakyat Malaysia..
ReplyDelete