Think before casting your vote in GE14

THE people in Sabah may still remember the situation in the State during (Tun Dr) Mahathir’s era, of the many things he did or may not have done to Sabah that were said to have caused hardships to Sabahans.

Today, he leads the noble act of wanting to save the country despite his advanced age.

Sabahans are sensible people and may be wise enough to remember treatment the State received during his term as Prime Minister in Malaysia.

A good example is the treatment of PBS after it was elected and given the mandate to form the State government.

The treatment appeared to punish all Sabahans for supporting PBS. After many years, Sabah began falling behind the other states in Malaysia as the federal funding for Sabah had reportedly dwindled.

For 22 years from 1981 to 2003, the Mahathir administration did not appear to take care of Sabah well, and Sabahans were hampered in many ways through lack of initiatives for infrastructure development, economic upliftment, development of industries, agriculture, education and health facilities.

Sabah literally fell from being the richest state to the poorest state with a high poverty rate.

As the prime minister during that period, Mahathir, if he had wanted to help Sabah, he could have done it without much difficulty.

So the question is: Was it fair to Sabahans?

When Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak became Prime Minister in April 2009, he was seen to begin putting emphasis on helping Sabah.

We then saw promises, pledges of fast development and upgrading of various sectors in Sabah, which include new hospitals, infrastructure development, new schools, and most importantly the promises of more federal allocations flowing into Sabah.

With the introduction of GST, the handing out of BR1M is seen to have helped some segment of the people in Sabah.

The commitment and determination of Dato’ Seri Najib appear to save Sabah from an era of no water, no electricity and bad roads.

Looking at this in a simple way, any layman should be able to discern who is the better Prime Minister. History cannot be changed and only proven performance can win the hearts of the people.

Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib’s commitment to assist Sabah is commendable and should be appreciated, albeit with some shortcomings.

We now hope BN and Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib will deliver on all their promises. We may possibly see a better future under the BN administration based on its past record.

As for the opposition, like any government in waiting, there are no proven track records and performance to fall back on, except the promise of a better deal for all in their bid to save Malaysia from corruption and wastages.

We therefore should consider carefully the records and performance of the politicians contesting in the coming general election, and the parties they are associated with before we cast our votes for a better Sabah and Malaysia.

Edward Ewol Mujie