Wednesday, 22 October 2025
When Barisan Nasional (BN) was formed in 1974, something else quietly happened — the 40% revenue entitlement to Sabah was stopped. That was the year the Federal Government began systematically stripping Sabah of her rightful share under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Now, decades later, BN leaders like Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and his puppet master Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have the audacity to claim that Barisan Nasional has been fighting for Sabah’s rights. Nothing could be further from the truth.
These are not heroes — they are the robbers and oppressors who have, for half a century, denied Sabah what rightfully belongs to her people.
When Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey G. Kitingan stood up to expose these injustices, they tried to silence him. They accused him of corruption — a charge fabricated to tarnish his reputation. When that failed, then–Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad used the Internal Security Act (ISA) to imprison him without trial. All because Dr Jeffrey dared to speak the truth — that Sabah had been cheated, and Malaya was benefiting from our stolen wealth.
The persecution didn’t stop there. They toppled Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) — the people’s choice — through undemocratic manoeuvres and installed Malaya-friendly puppet governments. From that day onward, Sabah’s political destiny was dictated not by the will of the people, but by the interests of those in Putrajaya.
And now, BN’s machinery is once again hard at work spreading propaganda. They say we should be grateful to Malaya, because development funds come from the Federal Government. But they hide the truth — that those funds come from Sabah’s own resources, siphoned off through years of exploitation and bureaucratic control.
Even worse, Malayan politicians and their lapdogs like Bung Moktar now say that giving Sabah back her 40% revenue will bankrupt Malaysia. What arrogance! The reality is that Sabah has been financing at least 60% of the Federal Government’s expenditure through our oil, gas, timber, and other resources.
If the Federal leaders fear bankruptcy, perhaps they should learn to live less lavishly — not continue enriching themselves at the expense of Sabahans.
It’s a Machiavellian game they have perfected:
Starve Sabahans of their rights, then feed them just enough to appear as saviours.
Let us not repeat the same mistake.
It was Dr Jeffrey G. Kitingan who first brought MA63 into our national consciousness — long before it became a political buzzword. For decades, he has fought — often alone — to awaken Sabahans to our constitutional and economic rights.
Now, it is our turn to stand with him.
Let us help Dr Jeffrey realise his dream — a dream of justice, autonomy, and dignity for the Land Below the Wind.
Let us demand what is rightfully ours.
Justice for Sabah. Sabah for Sabahans.
