No Need For Pairin To Regret

he Huguan Siou Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan has expressed regret that his party the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) had pulled out of the Federal ruling coalition in 1990. His statement of regret was later praised by Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Going back to 1990, we should remember that despite having the backing of all the ethnic groups, PBS a member of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition was treated with suspicion. This is clear that even former prime minister Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad wrote in his memoir that visiting Sabah at that time was like visiting an opposition state. The Tun apparently forgot what Sabahans arriving in Malaya thought of Malaya at that time.

Even when PBS had pulled out of BN, the Tun remarked that it was for the best as PBS was like a thorn in the flesh. If any of you remembered well enough, TV Sabah which was on air since 1969 was pulled out of service in 1985. That was the same year PBS won the first election. Even after rejoining BN, the television station was never reinstated.

The Huguan Siou is probably the only Chief Minister at that time who was not appointed as chairman of the state security council by the Federal government.

In 1990 at a rally in Merdeka Padang, Pairin asked for the Federal government to give Sabah a university and a television station. The Tun who took to the podium after Pairin did not respond as positively to these demands.

And this was at a time when the Tun was about to face a do-or-die battle against Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, an opposition strongman who had just earlier been with the Tun in the same party.

PBS had won 36 of the 48 seats in Sabah. Now, with such a bleak future facing him, and with the PBS as a strong ally, the Tun still did not endear himself to PBS.

Therefore, it is only natural that PBS pulled out of BN. If it had pulled out of BN when the opposition won, it would truly be like a stab in the back. At least PBS pulled out earlier. This gave the pro-government side to paint Tengku Razaleigh as a Christian sympathiser. As a result, the Tun's party won.

There should be no reason for the Huguan Siou to regret. If he says he regretted his decision, the majority of Sabahans in 1994 had made the wrong decision. But no, PBS pulled out as a matter of principle. Sabahans regardless of race and religion backed PBS as a matter of principle.

Even the late Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun backed PBS. In fact he said that the Federal government was behaving like a colonialist.

We did what was right. Pairin did the right thing. Pairin pulling out of BN only showed Sabahans the true colour of Tun Dr.Mahathir. Utusan Malaysia, the Malayan newspaper owned by the Tun's party had no shame accusing the Tun's co-religionist as "Menjunjung Salib" (carrying the Christian cross).

This goes to show the great lengths the Tun would go to rule Sabah. In the period 1990-1999 the Project IC* issuance reached a frenzy. There were reports here and there of illegal immigrants lining up to get citizenship. Even the High Court in Kota Kinabalu ruled that one of BN's victory in the 1999 state elections was illegal as foreigners had voted.

So, Pairin pulling out exposed to us the true evil. Pairin as the Huguan Siou and four-time Chief Minister of Sabah need not regret. Neither do the people who believed in his struggle and voted for him.

Yes, Pairin fell in the end. But it was evident that he did not fall in a fair competition. His opponents had used dirty tactics against him.

PBS' struggle in the period 1990-2002 might have failed. But the struggle itself is not dead. It will resurface and only time will tell us when.

As for the Huguan Siou, the North Borneo Herald would like to say congratulations for pulling out of the BN for he exposed the devil.

*issuance of citizenship cards to illegal immigrants in Sabah