Master-servant attitude towards Borneo Bloc must go

Daily Express

3 days ago

Published on: Sunday, August 10, 2025
Published on: Sun, Aug 10, 2025
By: Datuk Teddy Chin Text Size: 'The Master is here. Master is not there.' With these words, Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (PGRS) president Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Hj Noor stirred up the mood for election 'battle' in his closing speech at the PGRS Congress in Kota Kinabalu recently. The few thousand-strong crowd comprising PGRS members from all over Sabah, went wild upon hearing these words. Some applauded non-stop. Some shouted enthusiastically and uncontrollably, cementing their support for Hajiji who also chairs Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) the 8-component coalition spearheaded by PGRS.
Advertisement But what did Hajiji who is also Sabah Chief Minister mean? He was obviously referring to what a former national leader said to him when the question of Borneo Bloc was brought up soon after the last election and before the next Federal Government was installed. Towards the 2020 election, Sabah was working on a closer political relationship with East Malaysian neighbour Sarawak, then referred to as the Borneo Bloc which Sarawak was also keen. It is basically a unity between Sabah and Sarawak so that East Malaysia could speak with a louder voice when dealing with Kuala Lumpur including asking for more Parliamentary seats and what was promised in the Malaysia Agreement or now popularly known as MA63. 1963, the year Malaysia was formed. As former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok once pointed out, Sabah did not join Malaysia. Instead, Sabah helped form Malaysia. Without Sabah and Sarawak, there is no Malaysia.
Advertisement But it seems that during a meeting in Kuala Lumpur with the then Federal leader, he was obviously not pleased with Sabah trying to push the Borneo Bloc idea. 'I don't want to hear about you mentioning Borneo Bloc again,' he stated, adding that 'the Master is here'; meaning Kuala Lumpur and not East Malaysia called the shots. When the national leader uttered these words, Hajiji was accompanied by his Cabinet colleagues Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun. Dr Jeffrey is DCM and president of Star while Masidi is Finance Minister and PGRS deputy president. Jeffery is also GRS deputy chairman while Masidi is GRS Secretary-General. Needless to say, the Sabah leaders were taken aback by what the federal leader said and from then on were waiting for a chance to get even. That chance came when PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was chosen by the King to become Prime Minister after the 2022 national election. Within days of Anwar having been sworn-in, Hajiji declared his support for Anwar through a phone call followed by a visit to Putrajaya. GRS was following the footsteps by Sarawak's GPS who made he move about a day earlier. So, to the former national leader who said 'Master is here', it's 'Bye Bye Gaman' as the Kadazans in Sabah would say. Revenge finally came. To the best of my memory, the leader never said such things to our Sarawak counterpart, the Premier (then still CM), Why? Because of the number of government MPs that Sarawak had, then and now. GPS has about two dozen MPs, a number that KL could not ignore for otherwise the federal government would be asking for trouble. Apart from that, it has solid control of their State Assembly seats, almost sweeping all 82 seats in the last State election. In the case of Sabah, the former federal leader dares to bully us just because we have fewer MP and State seats and was less a threat to KL compared to Sarawak. So the moral of the story here is – Sabahans, wake up and be united. Back GRS in the forthcoming State election to send a strong message to KL. We don't want to be bullied again. Once is enough. Once bitten, twice shy. Granted, GRS may team up with PH as rumoured. But never mind. As long as GRS calls the shot and contest the majority of the 73 seats. PH has hinted that they would be happy with 23 seats. That gives GRS 50 seats. Fair enough. After all, the magic number needed is form the State government with a simple majority is only 38. I don't believe that GRS on its own cannot win 38 seats and together with PH cannot win at least 50 seats. This is a conservative calculation in order not to be seen as arrogant. It is an open secret that a few of the GRS component parties are not happy if the coalition doesn't go 'Solo' in the election. Those who are unhappy should not forget that the present State government is a GRS+ one. The + referred to is PH whereby both PKR and DAP have a Minister and an Assistant Minister each. Those who keep on pushing for 'Solo' should not forget that Hajiji is still CM and GRS is still government due to PH's help in 2023. Without PH, they would be in the opposition now. It could have been a BN+Warisan+PH State government since 2023. But PH in early 2023 chose Hajiji and GRS instead. Partly thanks to a Warisan leader who after the 2020 State election declared publicly that 'Now no ore Warisan Plus, only Warisan Minus'. Also, partly due to the fact that by early 2023 Sabah PH leaders has seen Hajiji's capability and sincerity in wanting to develop Sabah and make it a progressive State. A good example is the Sabah Maju Jaya initiative launched by Hajiji within less than a year of his administration. Through the mass media, Sabahans have seen what the SMJ has done for them including increased scholarships and more free houses for the poor. Only 2 examples. By the way, the Sabah PH leaders were not blind or deaf. Soon after the failed coup in early 2023, PM Anwar flew into KK. He affirmed his support for Hajiji to continue to be the CM and asked his nemesis to leave him alone. 'If you want to fight, wait for the election. But for now, let Hajiji do his job,' he had said then. What does that tell us? Whom did Anwar want as CM? There were two main characters or plotters in the failed coup. Did Anwar name them as the new CM? Anwar had then described Hajiji's success in defending his CM seat as due to 'Silat Moves'. Anwar did not say what the Silat Moves were but I suppose that included the inclusion of his PKR Assemblyman as a Minister plus an Assistant Minister. Also, the inclusion of a DAP Assemblyman as Minister and another as Assistant Minister. Both PKR and DAP are the main pillars of the national ruling coalition PH. At a function in Hajiji's native Tuaran early this year, Anwar once again praised Hajiji. As I was saying, Hajiji survived the coup partly due to PH's rescue. Would he then be so unappreciative? What kind of a human would be if so forgetful? The least he could do now is to show some appreciation to PH. After all, Anwar is the chairman of PH and PKR is his own party. What kind of a politician would ignore this fact? Granted, if PH doesn't want to work with GRS, then what to do lah. But there is no indication that PH doesn't want to work with GRS. In fact, after Hajiji's speech or statement at SICC recently, Sabah PKR chief Datuk Mustapha Sakmud expressed gratitude to Hajiji for choosing to work with PH. He even described it as 'Good News' for Sabahans. But things are not as simple as it seems. It is an open secret that from Day 1, Anwar would prefer a PH-GRS-BN coalition. He is just trying to show Malaysians including the Opposition (PN) that his Madani or Unity Government works. In fact, a Unity Government involving all major parties was what the former Agong (the present Pahang Sultan) wanted after the 2022 election. But someone disagreed, arguing that his party had the numbers or majority. This someone refused to sign (agree) and left the Istana Negara abruptly. That someone's 'loss' was Anwar's 'gain' as the King then invited him to form the government, inviting as many parties as possible, which Anwar did. In accordance with the King's advice, Anwar even invited BN to join the government. That was despite Umno's pre-election stand (2022) of 'No Anwar, No DAP'. This then. Ladies and gentlemen, is politics. No wonder they say that politics is the art of the possible and Anwar did it beautifully. No permanent enemy and no permanent friends. But in the case of Sabah, the situation is slightly different. Anwar cannot and must not force Hajiji to accept Umno. I mean, Umno almost 'dethroned' him in 2023. Hajiji is a human being with feelings. What do you take him for? A fool or someone you can 'Gertak'? Hajiji is a veteran politician who has been a YB since 1990. For the first few years, he was an Opposition YB. You can't 'Gertak' him. If it's just PGRS alone, it would be easier for Hajiji to make the decision for he is party president. But we are talking about a 8-component coalition here and to get everybody to agree is easier said than done – not with people like Pandikar, Yong and Jeffrey around. Imagine there are 8 family members, sure got quarrel one. From Day One, the trio (Pandikar, Jeffrey, Yong) have been known to prefer GRS going solo and they did not hide this fact. In fact, Pandikar once even threatened to take his Usno out of GRS if fellow component parties continued to belittle his party. Once again, the seasoned Hajiji came to the rescue and sorted things out to Pandikar's satisfaction. When asked by reporters after the PGRS Congress opening, Hajiji said GRS would work with PH in the coming election. To further questions from the Press, Hajiji said the coalition leaders had agreed, verbally at least. Then the next day, a national English tabloid reported that not all leaders of component parties had agreed with GRS working with PH. A component party leader also gave a statement to the tabloid the following day that the matter has yet to be officially discussed in a GRS supreme council meeting. But he was merely clarifying. I don't think he had any other motive. A couple of days after, the PBS political bureau led by acting party president Datuk Seri Panglima Joachim Gunsalam paid a courtesy call on CM Hajiji. The PBS secretary general later issued a statement saying that the party had no problem with GRS working with PH. Another couple of days later, Usno president Pandikar issued a statement saying the same thing – that Usno had no problem with GRS cooperating with PH. Something completely unexpected. Obviously this was an 'About Turn' on the part of Pandikar who has since Day One been vocal in wanting GRS to go solo in the election. But what makes it 'intriguing' is that Pandikar explained that he was merely amplifying the voice Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan in wanting GRS to go solo. Why the need to mention or implicate Jeffrey? I don't understand. It can mean a lot of things which only Pandikar can explain, if he cares to. So far (since the PGRS Congress), Jeffrey had kept quiet, at the time of my writing at least. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about this. For someone who was detained under the ISA for more than two years, we don't know what is in his mind now. We just have to wait. Anything can happen between now and dissolution of the Assembly or Nomination Day. Politics is the art of the possible. It's part of the game and excitement. But in the meantime Star deputy president Datuk Kenny Chua has issued a statement saying the preference for GRS to go Solo. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to interpret Chua's statement and the statement of the PBS secretary-general earlier. In the meantime too, another 'player' of the pro-solo trio, Datuk Seri Panglima Yong Teck Lee too has not said much; apart from 'confirming' the national paper's report that the GRS supreme council has not discussed the matter officially. All this, to me, is very intriguing. I hope it's not a sign that all is not well within GRS. With election approaching, any coalition, GRS included, can ill-afford to have internal problems. No matter how many times they deny it, it is an open secret that the Sabah Umno head is not in good terms with his No.2. His deputy, related to Hajiji, is holding the chairmanship of an important GLC involved in oil and gas. Earlier this year, the deputy, Datuk Rahman Dahlan invited Hajiji to attend the AGM of his Tuaran Umno Division which Hajiji accepted. Hajiji is after all a former head of the Tuaran Umno Division. Rahman invited Hajiji despite knowing that his party boss Bung Moktar would not be happy. Bung did not attend, citing excuses. The AGM was officiated by Umno president and DPM Datuk Ahmad Zahid. In his speech, Zahid said he was advised by certain people to not attend as Hajiji would be there. Zahid said 'If you (Bung) have any differences with anyone (Hajiji), that's your problem. I chose to attend because everybody is a friend.' Indeed, Zahid had displayed true sportsmanship. Salute. Hallmark of a good leader. But still, the hurt caused by Sabah Umno (Bung) is too deep to be forgiven. I mean, had the coup succeeded, then what? Be fair to Hajiji. He is also human. I appreciate Zahid's gesture though. Coming back to the KL 'Taiko' who said: 'Master is here' and said he did not want to hear about Borneo Bloc again, Hajiji did not mention any name. He just said a former national or federal leader, without naming him. But PN chairman and former PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, speaking in Tawau, recently hinted that it was him, But, as expected, denied what Hajiji said. In the first place, nobody mentioned his name. Guilty conscience? Politicians. The Bersatu president was in a series of roadshows in Sabah for his party and PN in general. He had recently been to Sandakan, accompanied by his deputy party president who is also the Opposition Leader in Parliament. The theme of the PN roadshow is 'Kasih Bagus Sabah' or Repair Sabah. What is there to repair? Sabah has won accolade after accolade recently for its fiscal and economic performance. Kasih Bagus Sabah? One of the PN speakers during their roadshow is former Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah. When Saifuddin was Foreign Minister under the PN/Bersatu government, he cut short the appointment of Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, the first Sabahan to be Malaysia's Resident Ambassador to the Vatican or Holy See in Rome. Saifuddin did not even have the courtesy to inform Dompok, a Kadazan and a Catholic, personally or let him finish his term. Repair Sabah? An insult to Sabahans/Kadazans/Christians. I hate to think what would happen to Sabahans if, by a stroke of luck, PN/Bersatu becomes the State government, Kasih bagus or Kasih Rosak? Rumah kita, Kita Jaga. Concluding, Hajiji once again stirred up the battle mood at the Congress by saying the following: 'Ini masa dan ketikanya. Ini lah detik dan waktunya. (The time has come. Now is the time) 'Kerana kalau bukan sekarang, bila lagi? (If not now, then when?) 'Kalau bukan kita, siapa lagi? (If not us, then who else?) 'Ini kali lah! (Now is the time) 'Sabah Tanahair Ku! (Sabah, my homeland) 'Master is here, Master is not there!'. The crowd went wild. The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express. If you have something to share, write to us at: [email protected]