Running a country such as Malaysia with its multiplicity of ethnicities and split into two distinct halves by the South China Sea was never easy at the best of times. It seems to get that much harder now that Malaysia resembles more of a “normal” democracy with practically each and every minority group demanding its due, especially if the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) is as big a tent politically as it is, with more than a dozen parties in it.
Gone are the days when Putrajaya’s dictate was regarded as “the law” and states and individual Malaysians either accepted it or else, more or less. All this means that the Malaysian prime minister today needs to be more accustomed to listening rather than simply issuing directives from the relative isolation of the Federal capital. Which was why Datuk Seri Najib Razak flew the distance to Kota Kinabalu over the last weekend to personally open the triennial convention of Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS).
Such formal party affairs have become less stilted endorsements of party matters hammered out and agreed to earlier behind closed doors and more substantive dialogues where political leaders and the rank and file interacted.
It must have reassured the party faithful that the prime minister made it clear to them what his personal presence meant. That what counts is not the size of a BN component party but its loyalty to a coalition, especially in the face of testing political and economic times.
In short, that even the smallest of BN component parties is assured of the prime ministerial ear and undivided attention on important occasions such as party conventions.
And, an earful Najib certainly got while in the Sabah capital. PBRS president Tan Sri Joseph Kurup went through a laundry list of grievances, most of which of fairly long standing and therefore quite intractable and not lending themselves to easy or quick resolutions.
Increasingly, it has become evident that the Federal government under Najib has been the most “friendly” towards concerns dear to the people in Sabah and Sarawak. The latest national budget, for example, has been quite heavily skewed towards the Borneo states, with its emphasis on rural development of which the two largest states cannot seem to get enough of.
But, of course greater balance in spreading material benefits to the furthest reaches of Sabah and Sarawak is only part of the equation and the easier part at that. This cannot hide the fact that Sabah’s many grievances run deeper than mere material development or the lack thereof. These grievances are unfortunate “legacy” issues such as the matter over “Projek IC” which is as controversial as it is emotive.
To his credit, Najib has set up a royal commission to look into the issue and its findings and recommendations are still being sifted and worked through by a committee headed by Sabah deputy chief minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan.
Untying the knots over the matter will be tricky and may bring in its own wake even greater controversies. Certain things done may never get undone, no matter how exercised and riled they may have caused some Sabahans. Their anger must be tempered with a dose of practical reality and a sense of humanity over adverse impacts on innocent lives if past actions are undone.
On such matters, the prime minister might have been refreshingly honest in asserting that Putrajaya has probably gone as far as it can in addressing them. The ball, as it were, is now back in Sabah’s side of the court. Things may be greatly helped towards finding practical solutions if Sabahans themselves could arrive at a political consensus on what exactly needs to be done next.
As Najib himself had told his PBRS audience: “If we can reduce this problem, guarantee the security in the state and reduce politicking, we will be able to move forward.”
In effect, the prime minister is lending his weight behind Sabah’s quest for greater political space. Sabah’s problems require, above all, solutions from Sabahans themselves. This should not be taken as convenient abdication of Federal responsibility, of course.
Federal imposition of any solution that does not first obtain a broad Sabah consensus will only lead to more of a familiar charge against Putrajaya: that it is heavy-handed in dealing with the state.
In the final analysis, changing times do not change the bedrock reality that making Malaysia work requires the same collective give-and-take that has long been our distinguishing hallmark.
The writer, John Teo, is a Kuching-based journalist
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