Masidi (second left) and George (left) at the book launch yesterday.
KOTA KINABALU: Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun yesterday expressed his confidence that Barisan Nasional (BN) will win the 14th general election.
“BN can. We don’t know the majority, but I believe we will win,” he told reporters at a book launch ceremony at a hotel near here.
He also said the usage of the word “Malay tsunami” in Peninsular Malaysia was merely to make it sound more impressive than it really was.
“I don’t think there is a tsunami; not even in Sabah. I spent two weeks in the kampung and I think it is less than what people make it out to be,” he said.
He added that Sabahans were matured and smart voters who are not easily swayed despite the many derogatory remarks concerning the state in Peninsular Malaysia.
Masidi also denied claims that Umno Sabah has been torn into two.
“Who has split it into two? Warisan is Warisan and Umno is Umno. I don’t think there are that many members from Umno (going to Warisan). In our records, only eight people had joined Warisan,” he said.
Nevertheless, he stressed that BN and Umno took the strength of every opposition party seriously.
“Any opposition is a worthy opponent. We never take things for granted,” he said.
Earlier, Masidi launched ‘Finding Jesselton’ which was authored by George Jessel, the great grandson of Sir Charles Jessel.
Kota Kinabalu, which was once known as Jesselton, was named after him.
“I welcome the book as it contains historical values concerning our city and it also allows us to connect with the Jesselton family. I hope this tie will help us in promoting KK (Kota Kinabalu) to England,” he said.
Also present at the launch was the author of the book and Datuk C. L. Chan from OPUS Publication.