Dear fellow Sarawakians,
Yes, I am a Sarawakian and a Malaysian. That is what I see when I look at my identity card or passport. I know about the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the 18/20-point which is a rights unique and guaranteed for Sabah and Sarawak.
And I know that Sabah and Sarawak are equal partners with Peninsular Malaysia and special autonomy powers are vested in us.
This is why Sarawak can use its rights to ban peninsular politicians and activists from both BN and Pakatan Harapan who are known troublemakers intent on inciting hatred and/or exploiting race/religious issues in their politics.
We treasure our peace and harmony and we know that Sarawak elections are for Sarawakians. Both Pakatan and BN have more than enough local representatives who can campaign and we do not need known troublemakers from the peninsula to help in the campaigning.
Yes, like all of Malaysians and 95 per cent of the rest of the world, we pay taxes including the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
As part of the deliberate strategies of reforming our taxation system, Malaysia has gone on to use a modern system practised by the vast majority of the world.
If Malaysia is to become a developed country, we must practise modern systems and not outdated ones. Do you want Malaysia to be modern or backward?
As part of the GST rollout, personal income taxes and corporate taxes are reduced while the sales tax and service tax are completely abolished. This is something that Pakatan leaders never mentioned when they harped on the GST.
At the same time, a social safety net was established by introducing minimum wage and a direct cash transfer system called BR1M to ensure the lower-income groups benefit more than they are taxed.
The GST solves a variety of problems including tax evasion, illicit money outflow and helps us mitigate over-dependence on commodity prices that are exposed to wild fluctuations. It gives resilience to our economy and this has been proven true in the past year when the rest of the world experienced uncertainty while Malaysia’s economy remained resilient.
And yes, the GST is a tax by the federal government – which is why I am very angry at PKR and DAP for promising to abolish GST in their manifesto for the Sarawak Elections of 2016.
Do PKR and DAP think Sarawakians are stupid to believe that if they win Sarawak they can abolish GST? They cannot and this empty promise is an attempt to hoodwink Sarawakians.
PKR and DAP should also explain to us that if GST is such a bad thing then why do 95 per cent of countries in the world have the same?
Another irresponsible move by Pakatan is to allege that GST will increase if BN wins the Sarawak elections. Our prime minister has already rubbished the claim.
It cannot be denied that since 2008, the focus of the federal government on development in Sarawak has been huge. More than ever, a larger percentage of the federal budget is spent on development in Sarawak and Sabah.
The long-awaited Pan Borneo Highway already in construction is proof of this.
As for 1MDB, so far there has not been any bail-out of 1MDB. In fact, 1MDB has paid off the RM950 million credit line from the federal government last year, and the RM7 billion other debts over the past month.
1MDB right now has no more short term loans and a cash balance of RM2.3 billion to develop its two remaining projects in Bandar Malaysia and TRX – which will provide more than enough cash-flow to service the remaining bonds and loans.
The IPIC-Aabar dispute is of course a concern but 1MDB is confident it has enough documented proof to win a dispute – which is why 1MDB refused to pay the US$50 million interest on the IPIC bonds under dispute even though it has the cash to do so.
Despite the scare-mongering attempts of Pakatan leaders, the stability of our ringgit and our bond rates is proof that the financial markets understand that the 1MDB dispute is not a major concern.
Therefore, the question of bailing out 1MDB does not even arise.
Yes, Sarawak owes RM2.5 billion to the federal government due to various loans extended by it for development projects.
But did they mention how much Sarawak has in its reserves? It was RM27 billion as at end of 2014.
Yes, Penang owes the least after shaving off nearly 90 per cent of its federal debt, from almost RM700 million to only RM69.3 million but did DAP tell you how this was done?
In 2010, it was the federal government that helped Penang repay an outstanding RM655 million loan by taking over certain Penang state water assets.
But in return for abolishing this debt, the Penang government signed to pay an annual lease rental of RM14.56mil over 45 years to the federal government – essentially Penang changing the loan to a lease. An accounting trick as the end result is the same in that you must pay.
The Penang government also likes to boast that it has RM1 billion in reserves but DAP has failed to mention that the same Auditor-General’s report also shows that Sarawak has a reserve of RM27.03 billion as at end 2014 – an increase of RM3.67 billion from 2013.
DAP also used to boast that it has the highest investments in the country?
Well, that is only true for the years 2010 and 2011. Since then, Sarawak under the leadership of Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem has long overtaken them.
According to MIDA, in 2014 Penang was third and attracted RM8.16 billion in investments – behind Sarawak’s RM9.64 billion.
In 2015, Sarawak attracted RM11.82 billion compared to Penang with only RM6.72 billion.
In Sarawak, we are blessed that we do not have race and religious conflicts and it is because of the good leadership and autonomy of the Sarawak BN government that such harmony is preserved.
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Adenan Satem has done an excellent job – from preserving the peace and harmony, winning greater autonomy powers from the federal government, increasing investments, reducing electricity rates, reducing or abolishing assessment rates, implementing development projects, preserving the environment and checking illegal timber-felling, reducing ferry rates, completely abolishing all highway tolls.
The list goes on – that is why Sarawakians love Adenan.
Pakatan themselves can learn from Adenan as they are not even able to unite DAP and PKR who are now fighting among themselves out of pure greed for seats and power. And you want us to vote for you in this state election?
They should count themselves lucky if we don’t punish them for their back-stabbing and greed for seats.
Adenan has stated that he only wants five more years to complete what he has started and will not stand for elections again. He wants us to give him his full support to enable him to negotiate with the federal government even harder to further improve Sarawak.
Should we deny him this and punish Adenan for his many successes?
Should we deny ourselves the one and only chance ever to show full support for Adenan as there will no longer be any chance to vote for Team Adenan in future?
And precisely because I am Malaysian, I know that this Sarawak election is a state election. This has nothing to do with the general election just two years away where I can then exercise my vote in choosing the federal government.
Sarawakians are not easily fooled into confusing a state election with a general election.
Don’t try to fool us. For this election, I will reward my dear chief minister and his team.
I am doing this because he has proven himself and done well. I am eager to give him five more years to complete his job and fulfill his promises.
Kulow Minos,
a Bidayuh lawyer from Bau