Datuk Karim Bujang
KOTA KINABALU (Sept 20): Sabah has lost a veteran political leader with the passing of Datuk Karim Bujang, a former five-term Bongawan assemblyman.
He passed away at his residence in Kampung Sipanggil, Putatan, around noon on Sunday.
He was 73.
Family members and friends, when contacted, confirmed his passing.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor, in a Facebook post, expressed his sympathies to the family.
“My deepest condolences to Datin Maimun Pg Bagul and the entire family of the late Datuk Haji Karim Haji Bujang, who passed away today (Sunday).
“The late Karim was a Sabah political leader who served as Bongawan assemblyman for five terms, from 1990 to 2013.
“May his family be granted strength and patience as they face this loss and difficult time,” said Hajiji in the post.
Former chief minister Datuk Seri Panglima Yong Teck Lee said he was ‘personally very saddened’ by the sudden passing of ‘an old friend’.
Yong said he had learned much about the bird’s nest industry from Karim, whom he de-scribed as ‘an active and successful businessman in the sector’.
Recalling their time working together in the late 1990s, Yong said Karim had served diligently and efficiently as Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary, helping to organise programmes aimed at strengthening Sabahans’ self-confidence through the ‘Sabah Boleh’ campaign.
“I was chairman of BN Sabah at the time,” said Yong.
Karim was among the young Usno leaders brought into the party by the late Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun in 1990.
Following Usno’s dissolution and its merger with Umno when the party expanded into Sabah in 1991, Karim became a member of the latter.
He later served as Sabah BN secretary and held several assistant ministerial positions in the BN-led state government.
Despite being listed to be sworn in as a state minister on one occasion, Karim had to make way for another political leader due to the political circumstances at the time.
“It’s not meant to be for me,” he once told reporters.
In the 2013 general election, BN dropped Karim as its Bongawan candidate, replacing him with Datuk Mohamad Alamin.
Karim subsequently joined Parti Warisan and contested in Kimanis in the 2018 general election, narrowly losing to then-foreign minister Tan Sri Anifah Aman by 156 votes.
Following Karim’s challenge, the election results were nullified by the Election Court and a by-election was held in January 2020.
Karim contested again, but lost to Mohamad.
Karim later left Warisan and joined Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah in March 2024.