Wong (third from left) poses with some of the guests who attended the reception with Sabahans at Le Meridien Hotel on Wednesday night.
KOTA KINABALU (June 29): Sabah-born Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has described her trip to Kota Kinabalu as ‘balik kampung’.
“It is an act of homecoming, but it is more than that,” said Wong.
“It is an act of hope and an act of respect,” she added at a reception with Sabahans at Le Meridien Hotel here on Wednesday night.
Wong elaborated that it was an act of hope because her story and her family’s story could contribute to the relationship between the nation where she was born and the nation which she belonged to.
Wong added that the story of personal relationships could strengthen the relationship between Australia and Malaysia.
As for the act of respect, she said that homecoming was to accord respect to the place and to the people of Sabah.
It was also to bestow her respects to her family who had enabled her to be who she was and to be able to stand as Australia’s Foreign Minister.
“It is an act of respect to my grandmother, popo or ama, whose courage and strength has always inspired all of us. It is an act of respect for my father whose determination and ambition has enabled so many opportunities that I had enjoyed,” she said.
“It is also an act of affection for this place, for its people and its rhythms, for the Sabahan childhood, Tg Aru beach, Pulau Mamutik, Gunung Kinabalu, Tamparuli, the river at Tambunan, popo’s mushroom chicken and my fresh fish and prawns for lunch. These memories and so many are in my heart.”
She went on that while the story was a Sabahan story, and a Malaysian story, it was also an Australian story.
“The experience of migration is one so many Australians share. Half of us were born overseas or have parents who were born overseas.
“When you walk down the streets in an Australian city, you see half of us here today,” she said.
“This is modern Australia, this is today’s Australia, it is an Australia that understands that our prosperity, our security and our future is shared with yours,” Wong said.
Among the guests at the reception were Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun, Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya, Luyang assemblyman Phoong Jin Zhe, Kepayan assemblywoman Jannie Lasimbang and Tanjung Aru assemblyman Junz Wong.