Kitingan signing his autograph on a Sabah Day book.
KOTA KINABALU: With two days to go before Sabah Day, which is being officially celebrated for the first time in 60 years on Aug 31, Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan calls on Sabahans not to relent in their pursuit of what is best for their state and country.
The Deputy Chief Minister I also hoped the people would make it a point to learn more about their beloved Sabah and be informed about how the state gained independence.
However, he reminded the people not to dwell too much on Sabah’s past but instead use the lessons learned from her history to build a better and stronger state.
He hoped that those who come to take part in the Sabah Day ceremony at Padang Merdeka here from 6pm this Saturday (Aug 31) will take home something more valuable than just a normal celebration.
“I hope that they will come home with the hope that they will be more confident in future,” said Kitingan, after attending the Ceramah Perdana Hari Sabah at Menara Kinabalu here on Thursday (Aug 29).
“We as a country, as a people, actually have all the things that we need.
“We have political power and economic potential in Sabah that we can develop and we have history to go with us.
“We need not worry about what happened in the past but use what happened then to bring us forward to where we want to go,” he said.
Kitingan hoped that Sabahans would treat Sabah Day as an auspicious and important celebration; one that they would look forward to celebrating annually from this year.
The Sabah government gazetted Aug 31 as Sabah Day in June this year.
The state-level Merdeka Day celebrations will be held earlier in the morning of Aug 31 with a parade planned at Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens here.
