Sabah poverty: Don’t point fingers, all are to be blamed

It is often said that there are more immigrants than Sabahans in the state. Even in the late 80s, this was evident. It was very glaring in the streets of Kota Kinabalu. Pockets of poverty were also visible.

By Paul Sir (Borneo Post)

IN ITS 2010 Malaysia Economic Monitor (MEM) report released last week, the World Bank stated that Sabah is not only the nation’s poorest state but is expected to stay in that position for quite a while due to the state’s economic planning, which does not promote ‘inclusive growth’.

World Bank human development sector director (East Asia and Pacific region) Emmanuel Jimenez said, while the government has made efforts that have “somewhat lessened poverty”, more needs to be done.

“The MEM shows that Sabahans continue to struggle to make ends meet,” added Jimenez.

The World Bank report did not jolt me one bit. If seeing is believing, then I have witnessed chronic poverty in The Land Below The Wind with my own eyes.

I lived in Sabah for two years in the late 80s. I worked and resided in the heart of Kota Kinabalu. My office was in Kampung Air and my home, just across the busy street in Sinsuran.

I have to say that I witnessed Kota Kinabalu at its worst even at that time. It is often said that there are more immigrants than Sabahans in the state. Even in the late 80s, this was evident. It was very glaring in the streets of Kota Kinabalu. Pockets of poverty were also visible.

Almost everywhere, you would find immigrants, many of whom were possibly illegal. During my sojourn there, they were mostly Filipinos. Today, Indonesians have added more woes to the already poverty-stricken inhabitants in the state capital.

These immigrants would be involved in all kinds of businesses in KK — from pirate van operators to petty traders to roadside shoe-shining.

Many were also homeless. Families with children and babies could be seen sleeping on five-foot ways, markets or any available space which could be turned into their shelter for the night.

I remember how difficult it was to have my meals in the many open-air stalls or food courts in KK. You would lose your appetite in the surrounding of women and children waiting for you to offer them a meal. Many child beggars would also hang around you and they would not leave your table until you gave them a ringgit or two.

I’ve forgotten how I actually felt at that time but it must have been a sense of sadness and pity to see human suffering and misery in the heart of the city. At times, you would feel very disturbed at how this could be happening and what the authorities were doing about this very public display of stricken poverty.

Whenever I returned to my good old home town during those years, I really felt that Kuching was truly blessed. Sure, there were also hard pressed folk in Kuching but you would not witness what you saw in Kota Kinabalu.

Now, I’m just talking about what I saw in Kota Kinabalu. While there were many poor immigrants in the city, what about the poor Sabahans in the rural areas of the state? The World Bank report pointed to those living in the outskirts of the cities.

This week, I found it rather amusing when Sabah politicians started pointing fingers at each other over the World Bank report. It seems that some leaders in the state refuse to accept that there are indeed poverty-stricken people in their midst.

Sabah opposition party SAPP launched a salvo at Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, accusing the state chief executive of “washing his hands” of the state’s chronic poverty.

SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee said by assigning a state government officer to deny Sabah’s status, Musa was evading responsibility for Sabah’s unenviable position as the poorest state in Malaysia, as quoted by the World Bank’s MEM report.

“The media statement by (state) economic planning unit director Ismail Abdullah on Monday clearly shows Musa is trying to wash his hands of the poverty problem that has long effected Sabah,” Yong said.

Ismail, in a media statement published in local papers last Monday, said recent media reports stating that Sabah is the poorest state in the country were because “certain sections of the local media and groups with vested interests had taken it upon themselves to sensationalise (the incidence of poverty in Sabah) with wanton disregard for the facts and truth”.

He said the MEM report was grossly misinterpreted, stressing that the World Bank had in fact described Sabah’s efforts in bringing down the state’s poverty rate from over 50 per cent in 1976 to 24.2 per cent in 2004 as an “excellent achievement”.

Ismail added that poverty levels dropped to 16.4 per cent in 2007 as indicated by the state’s Household Income Survey (HIS) carried out by the statistics department, which recorded a 5.3 per cent increase in household income from RM2,593 in 2004 to RM3,102 in 2009.

Yong, who was Sabah chief minister for two years in the late 1990s, panned Ismail’s statement, saying that poverty is not gauged by the HIS alone.

“It also covers educational development, access to clean water supply, electricity supply, road access, the doctor to population ratio, and many other things,” he said.

“Everyone, including the public, knows that Sabah is the poorest state in Malaysia.”

So a former chief minister cannot agree with the present chief minister over poverty in the state.

But why point fingers at each other? As far as I’m concerned, it’s true that there are many poor people in Sabah with the situation made worse by immigrants.

Musa Aman and Yong Teck Lee and the other chief ministers before them are to be blamed for the miserable state of affairs in Sabah. They are equally responsible because they lacked the political will to do the right thing for their state.

Let me conclude by sharing these thoughts of a wise man about the poor.

“Make it a norm that no banquet be lavish with more than what is needed. I know it is a free world for you have your rights to what you have earned. But that should not stop you from sharing your thoughts for the poor.

“For when the tsunami comes, it does not discriminate you from the meek. All will go to the grave whether you are the mighty king or a meek mouse.

“Just feed the poor and teach him to catch his own fish for his own survival tomorrow. Send a signal to the conscience that all will have enough for the day.

“Millions by the law of attraction will get billions from the law of abundance. We need to do more; we need to feed more; we need to pray more.

“Let’s address the imbalance to balance for all the world to survive and for all to thrive.”