COMMENT Recently, the release of details of the Hansard detailing what transpired during the debate on Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution which downgraded the status of Sarawak and Sabah from regions within Malaysia to states, broke the local news sphere and was the talk of town until now.

Many reacted with anger out of betrayal to what transpired, and they have every right to be. All of us in the state are the ‘beneficiary’ of the decision and feel the effects and consequences of the decision up to today.

This shows how decisions made by our ‘elected leaders’ have huge consequences on our own well-being and future and this further fortify the need to vote and choose our government responsibly.

As important as to know who are the parties responsible, what concerns me more as a Sarawakian of course is how should we move on from here? How can we right the wrong that was done and most importantly not allow any other factors to exacerbate what is already wrong in our current framework?

First thing I personally would love to see, is for us to move on and progress from the whole ‘regionalist’ notion that only a local party can take care of the interest of the local people.

This whole revelation basically proves that it was DAP lead by Lim Kit Siang who is a west Malaysian who objected to the amendments and stood up for the rights of Sabahan and Sarawakians. The ones that betrayed our own people were actually the ‘enemies within’; the so-called local parties, not the ‘outsiders’, the so-called ‘Malaya-based parties’.

I have consistently voiced out the fact that the competency of a political party should never be judged based on its base demographic, but rather on its ideology, framework and track record.

So these local parties should stop hiding behind these ‘regionalist’ sentiments and only throw blame on Malaya for their own failings. They should be more matured and not blame a party’s demographic but rather focus and debate on policies, frameworks and issues of public interest.

Stop painting the picture of a divide between Malaya and Sabah and Sarawak and misleading people as if issues happening in the west do not affect us. It is frustrating to see how these local parties’ only defence against national issues like taxes, subsidy cuts, widespread corruption, and of course the 1MDB mismanagement, is that it is a ‘Malaya’ issue and it somehow doesn’t concern us.

It is clear deflection, and somewhat delusional.

They should really come out and face the music, and not hide behind the veil of regionalism.

The other thing that I strongly would love to see, is something I perceived to be somewhat ‘overshadowed’ or pushed aside due to the rising need to right the wrong that was done in 1976.

The whole issue of good governance

Not down-playing the importance of us restoring our rightful standing and status, but through this struggle, let us not miss out on what I believe to be fundamental and equally important, which is the whole issue of good governance.

They are two sides of a coin and one cannot co-exist without the other.

The predicament our state is in, with the lack of proper basic development as well as the growing disparity between Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia, may be down to inadequate federal funding, but it has also has everything to do with improper management and governance of our resources.

Even if our status was restored and given more allocation, but if the government continues to squander it irresponsibly, what good will it then bring to the state?

Symptoms of such mismanagement of course can be seen through the growing disparity between the rich and the poor of the state. While certain quarters struggle and are in dire need for very basic infrastructure like clean piped water, electricity, access roads, and proper healthcare and educational facilities, there are certain quarters who seem to be enriching themselves more and more with the riches of the state.

With the recent ‘water-gate’ case in Sabah, where it was alleged that the two senior officers pocketed a total of 60 percent of the funds earmarked by the federal government to improve water supply to the residents including those in remote villages, clearly highlights how corruption and bad governance is such a bane to the state and so deeply ingrained within the current BN government.

Imagine how much more the state could have benefited if all 100 percent went to the people?

Can Adenan Satem himself, who has been a member of the state legislative assembly since 1978, and held multiple ministerial portfolios, say with a clear conscious that within our state, there is no such wastage or unlawful personal enrichment within the ruling Barisan Nasional government?

Last year itself, Sabah and Sarawak were allocated a total of RM29.2 billion specifically to intensify development in the two states. Whether or not the allocation is enough is of course open to debate, but whether the total sum of it reaches the people in need is another question.

The emotive disagreements over the whole amendments should not take our focus away from the government’s misdeeds and incompetence in managing the economy generally.

In our zeal to fight back for the restoration of our rightfully status, let us not forget our fight for systemic reformation as well as the push for good governance.

When the story broke, many sympathisers of these so-called local parties came out defending them, saying that it was the mistake of the past, let bygones be bygones, giving the excuses that perhaps they weren’t aware or educated enough to realise the implications of their decision.

Whether these local political parties should be hold responsible for their indiscretions in the past is a whole other issue altogether. However they are equally as guilty if not more guilty of being part of the government that has ransacked our states riches and resources as well as empowering the very regime that took away our rights in the first place.

The thing is, the local parties did not just betray us by downgrading us from our status, and they betrayed us even more by mismanaging our resources to further enrich themselves, rather than responsibly distributing it to the people of the state.

No simple apology can just build back the trust of a generation that was betrayed, and definitely no simple apology can excuse all the mismanagement of our resources and the forsaking of the interests of our people.

KELVIN YII is a parliamentary assistant to Stampin MP Julian Tan.