Abdul Rahman hitting a gong as a symbolic launch of the Borneo Indigenous People Development Conference 2024.
KOTA KINABALU (May 23): Policies on the development and uplifting of Orang Asal or natives should be included in the manifestos of all political parties in Sabah, said Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
Abdul Rahman said such a move would help unite all ethnic groups in the state, in the sincerest meaning of the word unity instead of just rethorics.
He stressed that it would be timely as now is the window of opportunity for Sabah to have a bigger political voice in the country as in his experience, even though the word collaboration gets thrown around a lot in politics, sometimes parties will make decisions based on what will benefit them the most.
“So that’s why I’m saying that if we want political parties to champion this issue, elements to develop and protect the rights of natives should be included in the manifestos of all political parties contesting in the elections.
“Especially with elections looming, I think it would be wonderful for all the contesting parties to include an exclusive aspect on the uplifting of Sabah natives that is clearly explained in their respective manifestos.
“Once it is included in their manifestos, the people can hold the political parties to task since it would no longer be lip service but is stated in the official document of the political party of their promises on related initiatives.
“I feel like this would be the next step in the fight to defend the fate of Sabah natives,” he said.
Abdul Rahman said this when officiating the Borneo Indigenous People Development Conference 2024 at Universiti Malaysia Sabah here today, which is held from May 23 to 24, involving 33 academic and 20 postgraduate speakers and 97 participants, covering various topics regarding issues faced by natives in Borneo.
It is jointly organised by the Borneo Institute for Indigenous Studies (BorIIS) UMS together with the Indonesia National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Borneo Studies Network (BSN), University College Sabah Foundation (UCSF), Sabah Cultural Board (LKNS) and Sabah Customary Practitioners Association (Sunduan Nabalu).
“While I appreciate the impressive topics laid out in this conference, I hope that it is not only aimed at documenting the results for reference. Otherwise, it might just collect dust in a library and next year we would repeat the same thing in another conference.
“For example, whatever the outcome of this conference, why not we make it a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for all political parties in the state? We collect all the necessary information, then we tell each party that every one of the major points reached through the conference must be in their manifestos, and then we can hold them responsible to fulfill them.
“Not only should this then be forwarded to our Chief Minister, Unity Minister, Prime Minister or all political parties, but we should also have a system to track their KPI in fulfilling the outcomes of this conference, so there must be a dashboard and a KPI so that the politicians can be benchmarked – including myself if I were to be one of the leaders in the political sphere in Sabah,” he said.
Abdul Rahman, who is also former Kota Belud Member of Parliament (MP) for two terms, also wondered if, through his own observation, there is “superficial unity” between ethnic groups in Sabah, specifically between their associations or non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as during cultural festivals like Kaamatan or Hari Raya.
He said this is because it is a reality that there is division in each ethnicity in the state, even in the large Kadazan, Dusun, Murut and Rungus (KDMR) community, and he called on them to find the lowest common denominator which can benefit all of them as a whole, as it will allow Sabah to have a greater voice in the country in demanding its rights and wants.
“In my opinion, the natives of Sabah – myself included – face different challenges and problems compared to the rest of the world when we talk about indigenous people. In Australia for example, they are talking about the real survival of their culture, language, etc.
“However, in Malaysia, especially in Sabah, we natives are the majority. Not only are we the majority, but we hold almost all of the important positions in the government. Our TYT, Chief Minister and many ministers are all natives. We are in the position to make policies that matter, policies that will ensure our survival.
“So what are the problems we are facing? First, I think that while Sabah natives work hard to ensure their respective groups are preserved, there is not much cooperation at the grassroots level between one ethnic group and another.
“At the state level, we are going to have the Kaamatan festival soon, which is not only celebrated by the Kadazan Dusun and Murut but also Bajau. But whether or not this kind of spirit or unity is superficial or not is something we need to look into.
“Or course our ministers in the Cabinet are of various ethnicities and it looks like they can work together, but I can sense that even though we are native Sabahans with our own objectives, it is as if we are not speaking to one another,” he said.
Abdul Rahman said the biggest problem in this matter is that the associations and NGOs of ethnic groups in Sabah are competing with one another for funding, attention and development, as even though this is good in the sense of specialisation, it provides a different challenge for overall unity.
He said the ethnic groups are not only facing rivalry in the said aspects, but this ultimately becomes a competition to conquer the political arena, pointing out the numerous cooperations at the level of NGOs and associations.
Even the issue of the Kadazan and Dusun titles has become a big polemic, he said.
So in reality, he said while all the ethnic groups work within their own areas of expertise, it is time that they all band together for a cooperation that is actually genuine and not superficially shown only during cultural festivals.
“When I was the Kota Belud MP, even though I am a Bajau and a Muslim, I made sure to attend the programmes held by other groups, not because I was an MP, but because I genuinely think they are my brothers and I will defend them, their values and culture.
“Even though they might be Dusun or from other groups, I don’t care. Why? Because we in Sabah are currently at an interesting political phase where the strength of the Bornean states, Sabah and Sarawak, is becoming more apparent but this political strength might not last forever, so we have to be strategic and seize this opportunity now,” he said.
However, in the fight for the state of Sabah and all the aforementioned values, he said the first thing to do is to have one voice, which Sarawak has achieved to a certain degree.
Abdul Rahman said Sabah having such unity between its ethnic groups will not only bring everyone together but it will also give the state a strong political voice in the country.
He hopes that someone can be at the forefront of this to tell everyone to break down their differences and maintain a united voice, regardless whether they are from which ethnicity.
“So that’s what I intend to do because to me, the future or Sabah cannot be always placed in the hands of politicians.
“These politicians – myself included – tend to be a little bit self serving and only look around what’s best for us.
“Politics in our country has changed. What was once a power that could unite the people has become one that divides them, and that’s the sad thing about politics in Malaysia at the moment.
“So it’s about time that the associations and NGOs to not only think about the sustainability of their respective groups, but to reach out to others and provide a united front in facing all related troubles in our state,” he said.
Abdul Rahman, who is also UMS board of directors chairman, also suggested for ethnic communities in rural areas who are sidelined to be grouped together in one area to facilitate the delivering of assistance.
In the early age of the country, he recalled that there existed Kampung Baru, where village communities spread apart from each other are grouped in one place to make it easier for the government to channel development and aid.
“Can you imagine if there are two houses in one area and two more 10 kilometres away, how much money that needs to be spent just to access them through roads and such? To cater to all of them is almost impossible, regardless of who is the Chief Minister or government of the day.
“If, and only if they agree – we cannot force it – but we must give them an opportunity and option if they want to be grouped in one place so that development can be delivered faster, more effective and efficient. Why not?
“Because to me, our natives are not so behind the times as many of them have access to internet and schools. Some of them want better lives by amalgamation of some villages, so to me, we have to think how we go about beyond the normal thinking in solving fundamental issues facing natives,” he said.
Also present were UMS vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Kasim Mansor, BorIIS director Prof Madya Dr Normah Abdul Latip, IDS chief executive officer Prof Madya Ts Datuk Dr Ramzah Dambul and Sunduan Nabalu president Shalmon Sanangan.