KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Women movement chief Melanie Chia has urged its members not to let the outcome of last year’s general election affect them.
In her speech at the opening of SAPP 2014 Congress here yesterday, the former Luyang assemblywoman said the result of the general election last year was only the beginning of new challenges for the party.
“We may have lost but we did not lose our dignity and that is why we can still hold our heads up high and continue our struggle for Sabah. Yes, our work is not done yet. Look at what is going on at this moment.
“Parties infighting in Barisan National as well as in Pakatan Rakyat. Has the rakyat’s well-being and welfare improved? These leaders are more concerned about their own personal agenda and personal priorities,” she claimed.
Chia also reminded SAPP members why it left Barisan National in September 2008.
“The reason was because the coalition did not heed the party’s Eight Point Declarations in the interest of the people of Sabah.
“We left BN because we submitted the Eight Point Declarations in the interest of the people of Sabah which included asking for Sabah autonomy, increase the oil royalty to 20 per cent, solve the illegal immigrant problems in Sabah, implement the Borneonisation concept and redress the economic and social imbalances faced by Sabah, amongst others.
“The BN government did not heed SAPP’s request then, and until today, the same issues are still confronting our beloved state.
“So we have to continue where we started, to uphold autonomy for Sabah and ensure that we Malaysians in Sabah are no more the poorest in the country, despite being the richest in resources, that we will get what we duly deserve from the exploitation of our oil and gas, that our people, especially our young people, get jobs, our girls get decent jobs, our children get better schools and our standard and quality of life improves, that our families and our businesses are safe,” she stressed.
Chia also called on SAPP members to put right what is not, including putting right the history of Malaysia.
Malaysia, she said, was born on 16 September 1963 and pointed out that history was supposed to record facts and present the truth.
“What is the intention to want to distort and present the wrong facts to the people?” she questioned, adding: “51 years into the formation of the country, Malaysia and the government still wanted to distort the records and teach our children the wrong facts.
“Documents and evidence are now made available to the public and nothing can be hidden any more,” she stressed.
Chia also said SAPP Women movement upheld its aim to empower women as it believed that this was important in bringing about improvement in the well-being of the members and their families, with the eventual aim of bringing about better social well-being of the society, and therefore the country.
The abilities of women to provide for their families, especially through economic activities had been demonstrated repeatedly and had proven to improve the livelihood of the family and household, she stressed.
The Women wing in fulfilling this objective, had organized motivational, public speaking courses and activities to help the women in gaining more confidence, to assist to alleviate the quality and standard of living of our beloved fellow Sabahans, Chia said.
“We have never given up hope in discharging our responsibilities to our party and to our country despite the challenges we face during this period. The Women wing of the party had continued to disseminate information of the party’s struggle for a fair and better future for our younger generation.