Shafie: MA63 is about nation building

KOTA KINABALU: The realisation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 is important towards strengthening Malaysia as one nation, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said.

“Malaysia is our country. What is important is touching the hearts of Malaysians. The agreement has to be fulfilled. That is what Sabahans want,” he said during a dialogue session on G25 and understanding Sabah’s issues relating to government reforms, federal relations and the extent of Islamisation in Sabah at the Institute for Development Studies forum.

Shafie spoke on the need to learn from events that occurred in the former Soviet Union and other countries, and recently the United Kingdom with Brexit.

“We need to work together to understand each other and it should not be based on race and religion,” he said.

“As Malaysians, we must not be working in silo. I have been working for the country (serving in various ministerial capacities in the federal government) for more than 30 years.

“I wanted to return to my hometown. I want Sabah to be part of Malaysia. That is my intention because I love Malaysia,” he said.

On a lighter note, he noted that his wife was from Kedah and his grandchildren from Selangor, Kelantan and Sarawak.

He said that highlighting the need to realise the Malaysia Agreement does not mean that the people are against Malaysia or wanted to leave the federation.

“When we highlight this, it doesn’t mean that we want everything for ourselves. This is the voice of 1963, which we have yet to realise.

“I think when we ask for more funds, it’s for our development.

“We have been sharing our wealth all this while. I think we don’t mind that. Petronas is drilling in Sabah and Sarawak, too. We don’t mind that. What we are not happy about is that our (royalty) payment has been locked in since 1974 and now it’s already 2019 and the payment is still at 5%,” he said.

He said he had told Petronas to consider doing away with corporate social responsibility projects and put the money aside for the state’s newly formed education ministry which needed help to refurbish 587 dilapidated schools.

Many of these schools, he said, lacked teachers and the proper infrastructure.

He said that Sabahans’ aspiration to realise the Malaysia Agreement saw them voting in a new government as a way forward in realising the their wishes for the country.

“It is not that we want to take ourselves out of Malaysia,” he said.