Federal ministers from Sabah are urged to bring the state to be on par with our West Malaysian counterparts in developments and economy.
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| Datuk Seri Panglima Wong Khen Thau |
He said Sabahan ministers were appointed important portfolios, such as Minister of Rural and regional Development Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, Minister of Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Ewon Ebin, Deputy Minister of Works Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin and Deputy Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap.
“They are well-positioned in the federal cabinet to implement the transformation programmes.
“The question is whether they can deliver and perform in meeting the expectations of the people from Sabah, especially the industries,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Nonetheless, Wong said the federal cabinet has achieved a historical record by having the largest number of ministers from East Malaysia, including six full ministers from Sabah and seven from Sarawak.
He hoped Sabahan ministers would bring the state to be on par with West Malaysia, in terms of development and economy.
Wong added that he hoped Sabahan ministers would bring up two major issues in Sabah to the federal cabinet, namely the high cost of living and the high cost of doing business in Sabah.
In addition, Wong said the new cabinet lineup saw many ministers and deputy ministers from the corporate and private sectors, young and old as well as from different racial backgrounds.
“We have Senator Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan from the industries who will help to clean up government corruption and the tarnished international view of Malaysia.”
On the other hand, Wong pointed out the issue of Chinese representatives in the federal cabinet and that MCA’s refusal to take up any government posts did not augur well.
He said MCA was responsible in representing the Chinese and national reconciliation could not be achieved if MCA refused to come in (to the federal cabinet).
Stressing that it was his personal view, Wong said it was ‘ridiculous’ that the Chinese (MCA) wanted to punish the Chinese, as well as irresponsible for the former to refuse cabinet positions.
“Since you do not want to be representatives, will the Chinese support MCA next time round?”
He said Chinese political parties should re-examine themselves.
“By right, they should be there (federal cabinet).”
Wong added that there were still Chinese who voted for MCA through BN and they should not be punished.
“Without MCA representation in the government, the Chinese still have to go on with their lives,” he said.
Wong said Malay, Chinese and Indian leaders should represent all communities and make it their priority.
Furthermore, Wong said an important question was why the Chinese were unhappy and it could be the case that Chinese felt they were unwanted.
“Chinese never objected to the New Economic Model (NEM), bumiputra status, they never questioned that.
“At the end of the day, it is whether the Chinese perceived themselves to be wanted. Chinese perceive that they are not wanted in this country,” he said, stressing that Malaysia should do away with racial politics.
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