Action taken against mountain guides apt – Masidi

KOTA KINABALU: Mountain guides should respect their profession and not bring politics into the workplace, said Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun.

He said there is no rule against persons who are not mountain guides to unfurl a flag on Mount Kinabalu. However, Masidi said, the three Mount Kinabalu guides who were suspended were working when they unfurled the flag of Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) on the mountain.

He said this when asked to comment on the three Mount Kinabalu guides who have been suspended from work until the end of May, following a photograph of the guides posing with the Warisan flag that had gone viral on social media.

Sabah Parks director, Dr. Jamili Nais, in his statement, said that action was taken not because the guides supported an opposition party but that they had failed to differentiate between work and politics.

Dr. Jamili said that it was not right to bring political sentiments into the workplace for Sabah Parks staff and mountain guides, who are freelancers given licences by the park, especially where tourists were involved.

Masidi said, the issue of whether the suspension was too harsh was not important.

“There are rules to be followed,” he said.

He said, Dr. Jamili's statement was self-explanatory in which he indicated that action would be taken against anyone irrespective of whether the flag was supporting the government or otherwise.

“What he said is that they should not bring politics into the workplace."

Asked if there is a rule against anyone unfurling a flag on Mount Kinabalu, Masidi replied: "If you are not a guide, obviously there is no rule. If you are a guide at work and you start unfurling a flag (they were working when they did it) then the rule applies. That's the point," he explained to the media after launching the new office of the Sabah Tourist Guides Association (STGA) at Lintas Square here yesterday.