Proposed new seven Sabah seats ill-conceived, says politician

By Ezra Haganez

KOTA KINABALU: The recently-announced proposal to create seven more new state constituencies in Sabah to make it 67, will further reduce the Christian-majority seats in the already muslim-dominated State Assembly, claims a leader of a local political party.

Parti Kerjasama Rakyat Sabah (PAKAR) deputy president, Paulus Gani, said as such the exercise is not a noble and clean exercise let alone reflect the true spirit of partnership in the country.

The balance between the major communities is lost, he said, explaining that the last time an exercise by the Federal-controlled SPR to increase the seats from 48 to current 60, the 20-20-8 sharing formula between non-muslim bumiputeras, muslim bumiputras and chinese, was changed to 34-18-8.

Anwar Lawat Mangsa Banjir di Kota Belud 13 Jan 2015

GST should be postponed, says Sabah activist

By Ezra Haganez

KOTA KINABALU: The Federal Government should consider calls to postpone the implemention of Goods and Service Tax (GST) this April, as more than half of  eligible businesses in Sabah appeared not yet ready for it.

A consumer activist who is also a trader, Donny Yapp, in a statement today said many businesses especially in Sabah have yet to register with the Royal Custom Department and that many more have not acquired or installed GST-compliance accounting software.

Brunei bans public Christmas celebrations to ‘protect’ Islamic faith

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — Oil-rich Brunei has banned public celebrations of Christmas for fear of Muslims being led astray, its religious affairs ministry said today, in a country that last year controversially instituted tough Islamic sharia penalties.

The ban, instituted after Christmas last month when local children and adults were seen wearing clothes “that resemble Santa Claus”, raises fresh concerns of religious restrictions after last April’s announcement of the introduction of a penal code that will eventually include penalties such as the severing of limbs and death by stoning.

Practise True Federation – Dr. Jeffrey

Kota Kinabalu:     “The federal government need to decentralize to empower the States and reduce power concentration at its centre and practice true federation not only to reflect the basis of the formation of Malaysia but to ensure the Federation continue to exist with stable federal-state relations” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, commenting on the spat between Penang MP Zairil and Utusan on federalism.

The federal government should stop its agenda of turning the Malaysian federation into a unitary state with concentration of power and money at Putrajaya.