Upko forms Libaran, reactivates S’kan branch
SANDAKAN: The Kadazandusun Murut (KDM) people want to be relevant and their voices heard, said United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) secretary general Datuk Donald P Mojuntin
“We (KDM) want to be seen as equal to other races in Malaysia. We do not want (other races in) Malaysia to consider us lower than them. That’s all we want. We don’t want to be considered irrelevant. We want Malaysia to recognize us as a race that can contribute equally in national building,” he said.
Donald said this at the reunion dinner of Upko Libaran here on Sunday night. The dinner was attended by over 250 people led by organising chairman Dr Peter Jr Maintin, who had voiced to Upko Central to form an Upko Libaran branch to add support to Barisan Nasional in the coming election alongside the existing Upko Sandakan.
Peter said he is currently gathering more members and is close to getting enough members to set up the Libaran branch.
In his opening speech, he mentioned that the KDMs in Libaran chose to support Upko because they want their voices to be heard and to be relevant as a race.
In response to Peter’s statement, Donald said that he flew to Sandakan to attend the dinner to show the people in Libaran that Upko acknowledges the needs of the KDMs here.
“You want to be relevant and you want your voices to be heard. We have come here to acknowledge this. We recognize this and we want to set up Upko Libaran so that together with Upko Sandakan you could support each other. Upko’s fight is the same as PBS and PBRS. Although we have not been able to merge, we can work on the same agenda towards the same goal, which is, to be relevant and to have a place in the eyes of the leaders,” he said.
“Upko is one of the most consistent parties presently. We will not move to any other party. We are a political family that is truly sincere in our fight. We will continue to be committed and consistent,” Peter stressed.
He also said that he had attended the dinner to activate Upko Sandakan again after having been accused of not supporting BN during the last election.
Upko vice president Datuk Marcus Mojigo, said Upko Sandakan’s role during the last election was questioned as if Upko Sandakan did not care about BN thereby causing BN to lose its Sandakan parliamentary seat to DAP with over 200 votes majority.
“People made the perception as if we (KDMs in Sandakan) had voted for the opposition only simply because Upko Sandakan was not active. We deny this! This is why we want to activate Upko Sandakan again. The setting up of Upko Libaran will assist in the activation of Upko Sandakan. I will be working with Datuk Juslie Ajirol (Libaran member of parliament) and Datuk Zakaria Mohd Edris (Gum Gum assemblyman) to get their support for Upko Sandakan and Upko Libaran,” he said.
Speaking about opposition parties, Marcus said: “The opposition parties are not united. Look at Gabungan (Sabah). Everyone wants to be a candidate. If they win, can they rule? PAS is fighting for Hudud law, which we reject. DAP is fighting for an equal Malaysia, which will make us lose our Bumiputera privileges, such as our children’s scholarships. (Parti) Warisan Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal is my close friend. He said he is fighting for Sabah, but who isn’t? He is fighting for his own interest. His politics is that he is angry with Umno. The people who follow him are the people who do not stand a chance to be a candidate when they were in Umno,” Marcus said, adding that Upko will be voicing out for the KDMs and will eliminate all statements that could affect the sensitivity of the KDMs.
Also present at the dinner was UPKO vice president Tan Sri Wences Angang. The dinner ended withPeter receiving 400 Upko membership forms from Donald.