Too much time wasted on politics – Masidi

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Masidi

KOTA KINABALU (July 4): Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun has urged politicians to leave politics aside and work for Sabah instead.

He said the State Government is focused on developing Sabah because Sabah is lagging far behind.
“I call upon politicians to put politics aside.

“We have wasted enough time on politics, let’s work for a change.”

He pointed out that politicians were elected to serve the people, not to play politics.

“Politics (election) comes once every five years. For four years and 11 months, all of us should work hard to develop Sabah,” he said when gracing the Huazong Education Fund Presidency Red Wine (Sabah) Gala Dinner here on Sunday.

On another note, he said the best Malaysians live in Sabah because Sabahans do not view each other in terms of race or religion.

In fact, Masidi said many a times when the government wanted to implement programmes to enhance racial harmony, he had suggested bringing people to live in Sabah for three months to experience the racial amity here.

He said there are lots of intermarriages in Sabah, including his wife who is a Sino Kadazan and keeps her Chinese surname.

“I have many cousins who are Chinese. My family celebrates Hari Raya, Christmas and Chinese New Year. But I am still a Muslim.”

Despite having lived in many parts of the world, Masidi still feels that the best place to stay is in Sabah.
“We are the best Malaysians. The best Malaysians live in Sabah.”

On the gala dinner, Masidi commended Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) president Tan Sri Dr T.C. Goh, JP for coming up with a creative way to raise RM2.5 million for the schools in Sabah, including SJK(C) Pai Wen, Ranau.

He said Ranau is a KadazanDusun district with only 2,500 Chinese population, yet the Chinese primary school has over 75 per cent of bumiputera pupils.

He said many bumiputera students are actually studying in Chinese schools in Sabah.

“That is why the State Government gives millions (of ringgit) to Chinese schools every year because we believe that education, whether it is in Malay, English or Mandarin, is still education.”