OUR nation was found to be RM1.5 trillion in debt after Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional formed the new unity government. It seems Malaysia has been running on a deficit for the past 25 years. 

To understand this predicament better, we need to look at our history beginning from 1998 up to 2022. The classic approach will be to identify the root causes and determine who had run the country into the ground. The elephant in the room is the Bornean elephant that is representative of Sabah.

Let me explain. Corruption is the source of leakages in this country starting with the thievery of monies that should have gone to the country, but was not.

Sabah as a member state of Malaysia holds a special position within the Federation. The state of Sabah is supposed to have an additional income from its revenue reverted back to it from the federal government. But this has yet to be realised since Malaysia’s formation on 16 September 1963. In fact, past governments suppressed it with 42 years of the emergency ordinance by treating Sabah as a vassal State.

Sabah is entitled to receive special grants of 40% of the revenue collected from the State. This is clearly stated in the Constitution under Malaysia Act no 26. The federal government and its members of parliament are duty-bound by the Constitution to revert this allocation back to Sabah. The Sabah Law Society has filed a judicial review on the matter, and Sabahans await its announcement set for 2 February 2023.

Sabah should also be getting 30% of the revenue accumulated from the Royal Malaysian Customs as stated in the Federal Constitution. Sabah should have gotten the lions-share of the defunct GST mooted by jailed former prime minister Najib Razak and the current SST. But it never did. Consequently, this revenue accumulated within the previous government’s coffers, ripe for the taking by the corrupt elites.

In a recent development, Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof had mooted a new plan for Sabah and Sarawak. It undoubtedly created mixed feelings and apprehension among the people of Borneo, notably in Sabah. The question looms, will the unity government uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, or did we just trade one tyrannical government for another?

Remy Majangkim reads The Malaysian Insight
 

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.