KUCHING: Sarawak and Sabah must be on par with peninsular Malaysia,
Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said Monday.
“In the Cobbold Commission report, Sarawakians said they wanted to
form Malaysia because they wanted to change their ways of living. They
had seen the kind of rural development that had taken place in
peninsular Malaysia,” Taib said in the opening speech of the 50th
Malaysia Day anniversary parade.
Referencing the British Commission of Enquiry that sealed the fate of
Malaysia 50 years ago, Taib said Sarawakians and Sabahans still yearned
for infrastructure development.
“Today, we are building on the foundations laid before us. Today, we
continue to strive for a better future. Our agenda remains development
with a view towards developed nation status.”
In the Chief Minister’s 15-minute speech, he spoke at length about
nationalism from the perspective of Malaysians living in Borneo.
He highlighted July 22 as Sarawak’s independence day, August 31 as
Malaya’s and the significance of September 16 as the birth of
Malaysia.
He said the pace of development for some Sarawakians and Sabahans was
measured by water and electricity supply, while for others it was
business opportunities and investment amounts.
“Our destination (to be developed) is near. But we will not stop there
because we have a golden dream of Sarawak ‘gemilang’ (glory) by 2030.
Whatever challenges the Federal and state governments might encounter,
we will strive to solve them.”
Taib highlighted Sarawak and Sabah’s contribution to nation building.
Citing Samalaju, an newly developing industrial park in central
Sarawak, Taib said it had attracted RM24bil worth of investments from
15 multinational companies.
“These are examples of development undertaken to realise Sarawakians’
hope for a progressive state. More and more, we feel we are part of
Malaysia and we want to contribute more. Today, the federation (of
Malaysia) is strong.”
In 50 years of nationhood, Sarawak’s economy had grown about 100 times
and the poverty rate has reduced significantly to 2%.
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