THE disbursement of revenue derived from the newly implemented tourism tax has yet to reach Sabah but it will be more than the 10% share proposed by the federal government, said Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun. 

“The 10% is just the minimum that should go back to the state. It will be more, for example, if Sabah needs more funds for tourism promotion, we can request additional funds, and Sabah will get more. 

“However, the funds will not necessarily be disbursed as tourism tax, but under different names,” he said in Kota Kinabalu today. 

The tax was set to be enforced on July 1 last year, but was deferred to August 1 instead. 

Federal Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz had proposed that Sabah and Sarawak get 10% from the collection, while East Malaysia demanded a more fair distribution.   

Masidi’s Sarawak counterpart, state Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, had insisted it should be shared equally between Sabah, Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia. 

Equal distribution was also sought by both the East Malaysian state governments through a joint memorandum handed to Putrajaya in July last year. 

Sabah initially rejected the federal move to introduce any form of levy to the state’s tourism sector in September 2016, as it was recovering from the 2013 Tanduo incursion and deadly 5.9-magnitude Ranau earthquake in 2015. 

On another development, Masidi shot down suggestions for Sabah to have its own Chinese heritage museum, saying this would set a precedent for other ethnic groups to demand their own museums, too. 

“We (Sabahans) have often been the model of tolerance and harmony in Malaysia, but I have discussed the matter with others… it would be much better if there are sections dedicated to Chinese communities as well as sections for the other ethnic groups in Sabah in the museums we already have.  

“I prefer this to a whole museum,” said Masidi, adding, however, that the Sabah government remained willing to assist Chinese communities if they went ahead with their museum idea. – January 7, 2018.