Lina Soo
MIRI (Sept 10): Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) has chastised former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad over his statement that Sabah and Sarawak are better off being part of Malaysia and that both Borneo states became richer after the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
Saying that the party was aggrieved by Dr Mahathir’s statement as reported in a national news portal, Aspirasi president Lina Soo called on him to apologise to the people of Sarawak and Sabah for looking down on their capacity to be as progressive as the neighbouring countries in the post-colonial era.
“Dr Mahathir’s statement is akin to sticking the dagger into the heart and twisting it, after rubbing salt into the wound. Who he is kidding?” she said.
In an interview with Great People Television on Facebook Live, titled ‘Leadership Reflections and Perceptions with Dr Mahathir Mohamad’, the two-time former premier said Malaysia Day should be celebrated on Sept 16 with the knowledge of sacrifices made for the sake of unity.
He said the country’s official name of ‘Tanah Melayu’ had to be given up and changed to Malaysia, but the identity of the Malays was still strong.
He also expressed regret that some people had brought up ideas like ‘Sarawak for Sarawakians’ and ‘Sabah for Sabahans’, and said they need to think of themselves as Malaysians first.
Soo pointed to the contrast in fortunes of both Borneo states compared to the fabulous wealth and standards of living enjoyed by Sarawak’s neighbours – Brunei which had rejected the merger with Malaysia, and Singapore which separated from Malaysia after a short-lived two-year union in 1965.
Sarawak had no external debt and held fixed deposits parked in European banks before the formation of Malaysia in 1963 but the state now has to share the burden of Malaysia’s external debt which had risen to RM1 trillion this year.
Comparatively, the tiny sultanate of Brunei sandwiched between Sarawak and Sabah with an area of 2,226 square miles is the fifth richest country in the world according to Global Finance Magazine in 2020, while Singapore has the world’s 11th largest foreign reserves with a sovereign wealth fund of US$488 billion and an impeccable AAA credit rating.
By not joining Malaysia which it was supposed to have done in 1963, Bruneians have a high quality of life and enjoy free healthcare, free education, cheap housing, tax-free luxury cars with low-priced petrol, Soo said.
Brunei’s wealth is dependent upon its oil and gas resources, averaging about 180,000 barrels per day, which pales in comparison to Sarawak’s 850,000 barrels a day as disclosed by Petronas, she added.
Singapore, which exited from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965, is a tiny dot with an area of merely 281.3 sq. miles but has the world’s highest percentage of millionaires and is the world’s sixth largest financial centre and third largest oil-refining centre without a drop of oil and her citizens enjoy free education, free medical care at government hospitals and up to S$166,000 as ‘baby bonus’ for new parents.
The World Bank classifications classified Singapore as richest nation in the region with an income per capita of US$58,902 in 2020; Brunei is second highest with an income per capita of US$26,089 whilst Sarawak being a large oil and gas producer has an income per capita hovering around US$10,000, the statement added.
Aspirasi blamed Dr Mahathir for draining Sarawak’s and Sabah’s oil revenue to fund the development of the peninsula states and allowing corruption and dirty politics to happen in the country and in Sarawak.
Soo said “Sarawakians are not country bumpkins” and blind to the poverty in the state, and that Dr Mahathir should apologise to Sarawak and Sabah for failing to develop the Borneo states during his tenures as prime minister when he could have made amends to the broken promises of Malaysia Agreement 1963.
A referendum for the people of the Borneo states to substantiate their satisfaction and happiness level after almost 60 years in Malaysia as claimed by Dr Mahathir will provide the answer through universal suffrage, she added.