.jpg "The Muslim vote has become a crucial vote bank for both DAP and PBS in the last days of the Sandakan by-election. u00e2u20acu201d Picture courtesy of Parti Bersatu Sabah")
SANDAKAN, May 10 — Umno may not have fielded a candidate for the Sandakan parliamentary by-election, but they did not hold back when firing shots at DAP for being “the most racist party” in the country.
Its acting president Datuk Mohamad Hasan told a ceramah in Bandar Letat Jaya here Wednesday night that DAP’s policies have threatened the natives in the country like never before.
DAP candidate Vivian Wong was held up as an example of such a threat when she visited a local Muslim cemetary and joined in its clean-up. Her picture was also altered in a recent Facebook poster that showed the 30-year-old wearing a tudung with greetings for the Muslim fasting month. The Facebook account is believed to belong to former Johor mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
Several Sabahans Malay Mail interviewed agreed that Umno’s campaigning style may be the norm in the peninsula, where the Malay nationalist party is based.
“I’m not surprised. Whenever Umno is threatened or on the brink of collapse they will always revert to race to create fear. The party that is dividing the Malays and fanning racial sentiments is Umno themselves. Look at the unstable relations in Selangor,” said Hamzah Abdullah.
Hamzah, who is running as an independent in the upcoming poll, said such a brand of politicking will be unlikely to have much traction in Borneo, let alone the Sandakan by-election.
“People here will reject it, like they reject PAS. When I was in PAS, the leadership was very anti-Chinese, I told them it won’t work here and I did not want to talk about hudud or Islamic laws here.
“People are more concerned about security and money issues, why would you bring up race when all this while people have shown to reject that kind of rhetoric,” said the former PAS man who quit the Islamist party for Amanah and later became the Pakatan Harapan component party’s state chairman but left recently.
Housewife Halimah Atan was taken aback when asked what she thought of the acting Umno president Mohamad’s comments against DAP.
“He really said that? I don’t think this is something normally done here. We don’t like to talk about race like that. I don’t think this is good to start this here... mana bagus kan?” she told Malay Mail.
Her husband Ahmad who was nearby rolled his eyes. The fisherman declined to comment initially but later relented and said he had heard the remarks touted as “Malaya style politics”, adding that he disagreed with it.
“We in Sabah don’t want to create trouble. We have been good all this time. Why change now?” he said.
In Sandakan’s Muslim heart
Kampung Sim Sim, a water village just beside Sandakan city centre, is known for two things — a restaurant serving fresh seafood at reasonable prices, and being home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the Sabah east coast.
The restaurant here is owned and run by Chinese, but surrounded by Bugis, Suluk, Bajau and other Muslim Bumputera. Blank stares often greet outsiders who ask what it’s like being neighbours with people of another ethnicity.
“I don’t think we have any problem with racial relations here. Even if you take the end of the spectrum, the locals and the illegal immigrants can still live and work together. Don’t disturb the peace and we’ll be fine,” said Nicholas Tan, a bar owner here.
Wayne Pang, an architect who works with labourers of all backgrounds, agreed.
“I come into contact with all backgrounds on a daily basis and there is no problem,” he said.
A shop manager who only wanted to be known as Ali said that he had been a Barisan Nasional member before and even now supported Umno, but that did not mean he subscribed to their thinking.
“Yes, they might be different there. And yes, we are not happy with the current government. There are so many things wrong. But I don’t think that has anything to do with race. Let’s not bring race into it. We have so many other things to worry about,” he said.
Asked if the remark by Mohamad — or Tok Mat, as the Umno leader is popularly called — changed his mind, Ali paused.
“It’s not easy to say. It does not mean Umno is racist here. But I hope this race politics does not start here with these Malaya people. I have friends in DAP. They have not done anything racist,” he said.
Umno and PAS here have been openly stumping for the PBS candidate in the Sandakan race, even though the Sabah party was among those that quit BN after its shock defeat in the 14th general elections in May last year.
Campaigning must end by 11.59pm today. Both Umno and PAS have been concentrating on ensuring as many Muslim voters turn up tomorrow as the ethnic Chinese voter turnout is expected to be low for the by-election.
