Water remain a big issue on World Habitat Day in Sabah

By Ezra Haganez

KOTA BELUD : Supply of treated piped water remains one of the biggest issues faced by many Sabahans, 50 years after it freed itself from the clutches of British colonialism and enjoyed "prosperity" within a federation of states called Malaysia.

World Habitat Day at Kg Sumbilingon, Kota Belud

Ezra Haganez

KOTA BELUD : A local NGO, Gindol Initiative for Civil Society Borneo, will host a simple World Habitat Day gathering at a remote kampung in Sabah this Monday, Oct 7, 2013.

Spokesman of the NGO, Kanul Gindol, said the half-an hour observation of the world-wide United Nations' sanctioned day would start at 4pm beneath an old durian tree in the Dusun kampung near here.

"We have invited local leaders like our assemblyman Jeremmy Ukoh Malajad and Sabah's human right and consumer activist Patrick Sindu to deliver relevant messages on that day.

Malaysia Day Joke

Seorang gadis jelita yang mempunyai kelulusan “Ijazah Kewartawanan” dari sebuah universiti  tempatan baru sahaja mendapat pekerjaan sebagai pemberita di sebuah syarikat akhbar tempatan. Dia diberi tugas pertama iaitu menemu-rama seorang petani yang sudah berumur pertengahan abad. Perbualan mereka adalah seperti berikut:

Mahasiswa dihalang hantar memorandum pada TPM

Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Se-Malaysia (GAMIS) Sabah bersama Pro-Mahasiswa pada hari ini telah menghantar memorandum menuntut Pilihanraya Kampus yang adil dan bersih. Memorandum ini diajukan kepada Timbalan Perdana Menteri, YAB Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Hj. Muhyiddin Bin Hj.Mohd  Yassin, yang juga merangkap Menteri Pelajaran Malaysia dalam satu Majlis Ramah Mesra Siswa Siswi beliau.

Antara tuntutan tegas yang dikemukakan dalam memorandum ini adalah seperti berikut:

Empower Sabah Natives, Implement Article 41 Sabah Constitution - Jeffrey

Kota Kinabalu:  “The federal and Sabah governments are trampling the Sabah Constitution and not honouring native rights and privileges by wrongly enforcing bumiputra policies in Sabah” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, in response to announcements by the DPM and Chief Minister on Sabah bumiputra empowerment.

Not all bumiputra are natives although all natives are necessarily bumiputra.  Similarly, not all Malays are natives.  However, non-Muslim bumiputra in Sabah lose everything when the governments divide the Sabah and Sarawak bumiputra into “bumiputra Islam” and “bumiputra bukan Islam” and the former get better treatment and privileges compared to the latter.