KOTA KINABALU: The deafening silence of the Sabah Chief Minister on the issue of the Philippines/Sulu claim to Sabah has raised concerns among the people over the failure of the Sabah government to counter the propaganda from the Philippines and the Kiram family.
In recent months, Philippines government officials and media have aggressively raised the issue of their Sabah claim. The latest incident was when the Philippines foreign minister, Teodore Locsin Jr., on 27 July 2020 told off the US Embassy for saying that Sabah is part of Malaysia. Even the Japanese media (Nikkei) has picked up the matter. How can it be that the Sabah government be blind and deaf to such a crucial issue that has been reported in the international media?
Immediately after the Locsin statement, it is on public record that the Malaysian Foreign Minister (Dato Hishammuddin), the ex-Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman, the Sabah ex-Chief Minister (Tan Sri Musa Aman) have openly rebutted the Philippines. But there was not even a murmur from the Sabah Chief Minister. The silence of the Sabah government was noticeable. What is there to hide?
In June, I had repeatedly challenged Datuk Shafie Aqdal and the ex-federal Minister for Law, Datuk Liew Vui Keong, to answer some questions about the Kiram family claim which they filed at the Madrid Arbitration Court (in Spain) in 2019. An international court case of this nature in a foreign country costs at least RM2 million. The Kiram family is known to be poor. So, from where did they get the money to fund their court case in Spain?
The concern now is why the current Sabah government has failed to defend and to openly rebut the Philippines/Sulu claim to Sabah?
In fact, Party Warisan media had given the flimsy excuse that the Philippines/Sulu claim to Sabah is a federal matter. This is another irresponsible way of abandoning their responsibility to protect Sabah.
I recall also that on 14 October 2019, the Philippines, a foreign government, was about to issue travel documents to its citizens at the Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah. After noticing the huge gathering crowd at the Luyang Community Hall the night before, on October 13, I had alerted the authorities. At the time, apparently, none of the Sabah government officials knew about the Philippines Embassy activity at Kota Kinabalu. Even the local Assemblyman, who is a full cabinet minister, did not know about the move by the Philippines Embassy from Kuala Lumpur. Is there no government in Sabah?
Datuk Yong Teck Lee
Ex-Chief Minister, SAPP President
