UMNO/BN NO LONGER RELEVANT IN SABAH?

Sabah will never be short of disillusioned politicians out to parade their unscrupulous parroting and exalting their political masters just to stay in power, at any cost.

While the state is being plagued with massive unresolved issues such as issuance of MyKads to 'controversial and dubious individuals', the constant robbing of native lands, the unwarranted silence over historical facts relating to the formation of Malaysia and the prolonged hardship of the people of Sabah on the rising cost of essential goods,yet Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman seems to be floating on dream clouds calling Sabahans to subscribe to the 1Malaysia concept.

What 1Malaysia is he talking about? How can there be a 1Malaysia when serious issues remain unresolved and swept under the carpet?

In his Hari Raya message recently,Musa advised certain quarters "stirring religious and racial sentiments to take a step back and stop actions that could cause unrest". He further added that "it cannot be denied that there had been some issues cropping up in the country in recent months".

I'm stunned that Musa has kept himself in a chicken coop, as it's no secret that the serious issues that are taking place in the country all boil down to the mismanagement and abuse of powers of the government.

Musa's advise appears to be stoking racial sentiments, which is never an issue among peace loving Sabahans. I strongly urge the Chief Minister to be cautious when making such statements.

May I remind Musa that Sabahans are culturally, religiously and racially matured and do not fancy the concept of "Ketuanan Melayu" as demonstrated by UMNO.

The only "Sabahans" who may subscribe to this outdated racist call are the "New Malays" - people of all races and anything but Malay - such as from neighboring countries, The Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, India & the Arab and -stan countries. These people are willing to re brand themselves as "Malays", just to enjoy the special privileges and in the process deprive true ethnic Sabahans of much needed government assistance.

What more that the natives who depend on their lands for survival are losing it to corporations and the "New Malays" (bumiputras).

Are the people in power devoid of grey matters that would enable them to distinguish a true native from a migrant who has obtained a Mykad whether legally or through special projects?

As sure as the sun rises from the east, the current PKFZ scandle revelation which the government has yet to deny, other then swinging into action to investigate who leaked the document, one now wonders if there are such practices in Sabah.

The adamant stand and swiftness of the entire State Cabinet in pursuing the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) Project should be probed further. Are there worms waiting to be uncanned? Will 'SDC' end up as an acronym for 'Sabah Door for Corruption'?

I urge Pakatan Rakyat in Sabah to close ranks and prove to the people that you are truly championing the rights of all Malaysians in Sabah.

Sabah Government Continues Hoodwinking Natives?

Sabahans today celebrated Malaysia Day with disgust and fuming that the UMNO/BN Government of Sabah have completely forgotten historical facts.While these 'misinformed politicians' may not have altered history,but their 'non-committal' in addressing and setting the record straight has further confirmed that UMNO/BN Sabah are mere stooges to their political masters.Actually I strongly suggest and urge UMNO/BN in Sabah to resign en-block as they have failed miserably in addressing an issue which have been going on for the last 46 years.

But today,I'm fuming on another important issue where the UMNO/BN Government of Sabah has played an active role in conspiring with the constant robbing of native ancestral land and in cahoots with huge plantation corporation.The natives of Sabah have been robbed and raped of their lands,and yet the government has not only turned their eye away but has down graded the natives to mere squatters.Ironically the three(3) Kadazan based political parties,PBS,UPKO and PBRS which claim to defend the rights of the Kadazan Murut community,have now shamelessly failed in their cause to protect their rights.

I had the opportunity to speak to Datuk Kong Hong Ming,a lawyer and Native Customary Rights(NCR) activist recently,with regards to native customary rights and this is what he had to say..........

Datuk Kong Hong Ming (left) today urged the State Government and Department of Lands & Surveys to give priority and act immediately to settle land ownership claimed by the natives of Sabah who are losing their ancestral land and land acquired by native customary rights (NCR) in stead of offering lip-service.

According to Kong, native customary right in the form of customary tenure, even without any document of title, confers a permanent heritable and transferable right over occupancy and use of land under our system of land law.

In his statement today, Kong disputed the statement of the Director of Lands & Surveys Sabah, Datuk Osman Jamal claiming that the State Government and Department of Lands & Surveys never neglected their duty to protect the rights and privileges of the native community in terms of land ownership.

“His statement was misleading and did not reflect the predicament encountered by the native community in Sabah claiming for land ownership. On the contrary, what is really happening is that the natives of Sabah have been and are losing their ancestral land rapidly to the extent that many natives are now landless people, whether knowingly or otherwise” Kong responded.

Kong said, “Either the Director did not know the present predicament and plight of the native community in Sabah or he intended to mislead the people and the BN political leaders in believing that all is well insofar as the land rights and ownership of the Sabah natives are concerned.”

“To understand the dire situation faced by the natives in Sabah in respect of their appeals for help due to encroachment and loss of ownership in land, the Director could verify with the State Attorney General Chambers and all District Land Offices where there are a large numbers of court cases and land disputes outstanding and accumulating.” Kong said.

“If the BN State Government and its leaders respect and protect the land rights and ownership of the indigenous people of Sabah, the State Government especially the Chief Minister as minister in charge should have the political will and immediately direct the Department of Lands & Surveys to conduct the settlement exercise to identify and settle all NCR lands in the State by issuing individual and communal land titles as provided in the Sabah Land Ordinance.” Kong suggested.

“The fact that the State Government and Lands & Surveys Department had now given a speedy approval letter for the land alienated for the Mazu statue and temple speaks for itself since it was only made possible by personal intervention by Sabah Chief Minister (right) himself in the unusual circumstances.” Kong said.

Kong disclosed, “The promising picture painted by the Director was merely a good public relation exercise by the Director which did not reflect the real sentiment of the natives of Sabah who are helplessly suffering from the massive loss of their ancestral land due to indiscriminate alienation of huge acreages of land by the Chief Minister Department and Lands & Surveys Department to many large corporations including government agencies, which subsequently entered into joint ventures with private corporations.”

“The painful truth is that the Sabah natives have been crying out loud for the past 10 years for the massive loss of their ancestral land and land acquired by native customary rights (NCR) which were continuously encroached, destroyed and taken away from them through alienations by the State Government.” Kong said

Kong said “The indigenous people of Sabah (left) had voiced out their plight and frustration to the State Government in many occasions. But their voices were never heard or respected.”

“Sometime in 2006 and again in February 2008, not less than 32,352 natives from 18 districts of Sabah had voiced out their grievances and came out appealing to the government to respect, defend and protect against encroachment of their ancestral land for a collective area of 339,984 acres in 18 kampungs in the State. More than 100 representatives from 18 districts led by Galus Ahtoi of PACOS (Partners of Community Organization) gathered at Kota Kinabalu and jointly submitted a memorandum to the Head of State of Sabah, Sabah chief minister, Suhakam, State Secretary, State Attorney General and the Director of Lands & Surveys himself.” Kong said.

“Despite their protests and appeals, nothing was done by the State Government in taking step to preserve, protect and respect their land rights and ownership. On the contrary, huge acreages of state land to the extent of 20,000 acres to 60,000 hectares per land title were alienated to powerful corporations without any due consideration to the existing rights in of the natives’ ancestral land and NCR land that they and their forefathers have occupied and cultivated for generations.”

“One of the major causes for the massive losses of ancestral land rightfully belonging to the natives was due to the excessive time-consuming process practiced by Lands & Surveys Department between land application and issuance of land title. In many cases, it could take as long as more than 30 years and still waiting. Another major cause of concerned is that natives have to compete with big corporations for land due to heavy demands for agricultural land for oil palm plantations. Due to the lack of financial resources, natives always lose out and give up at the end.” Kong said.

“Over the years, it is generally perceived by ordinary citizens especially natives of the remote villages that the State has been more readily to alienate large acreages of land to selected individuals or corporations whose primary or sole objective is out to amass land for wealth accumulation rather than for basic need or livelihood. At the same time, land applications and alienation can be such a complex procedure and lengthy process for natives who are in dire need of small acreages of farmland to support their basic livelihood and survival. It is rather common in Sabah that natives have been waiting for more than 30 years for document of title to the land that they applied. One of those many cases is the natives in Tongod of Kinabatangan.” Kong said.

“Some 24,000 acres were alienated to a company in 1998 in a single land application submitted in 1997 whereas Tongod natives had applied much earlier for 5 to 15 acres per family since 1975 and have been there as a village community comprising of 12 kampungs for not less than 7 generations. They and their forefathers were owners of the land by adat or custom long before the British Chartered Company or at least well before the formation of any state government. The State Government through Lands & Surveys Department in one single approval took away their land without any due regard to the people’s existing rights and their livelihood and survival.” Kong said.

“Never ignore the fact that natives of Sabah were often the victims of uncontrolled logging activities and indiscriminate land development schemes including by Government land agencies. Public officials so often seized opportunity to limit, delay, disregard and reject claims by native community based on NCR or their land applications submitted earlier in time but instead to facilitate by giving preferential treatments to applications later in time to selected powerful individuals and corporations.

“Depriving customary land of the natives can be construed as depriving their livelihood, which is unconstitutional in violation of Article 5 of the Federal Constitution that guarantees that no person shall be deprived of his life which includes the rights to livelihood except in accordance with law. Further, the taking away or extinguishments of customary land from native or alienation of customary land without compensation was discriminatory, unfair and unconstitutional thereby violated Article 8 of the Federal Constitution that guarantees equality before the law. Moreover, the taking away or extinguishments of customary land from natives or the alienation of customary land without compensation was unconstitutional on the ground that it is in violation of Article 13 which guarantees that no person shall be deprived of his property without adequate compensation and save according to law.

“The State and its administrators have a general fiduciary and constitutional obligation to protect the welfare of the natives and a specific obligation to protect and preserve the native customary and proprietary rights in land. In the premises, they must act for the benefits of the said native community as the beneficiaries. Any deprivation of customary land belonging to the native communities and their future generations is to deprive them of their sources of food, water, rivers, medicines, wildlife, other forest produce which the said native communities need and are dependant upon for their livelihood and daily sustenance.

“Now by his own admission, the Director has finally conceded after all these years that his Department and State Government are incapable of handling the many land applications submitted by natives with some 265,000 remaining outstanding, which is very alarming as the backlogs have accumulated since 1975 until now and continuing.

“Based on their working capacity of 16,000 applications per year, the future and prospect of obtaining native land rights and ownership is indeed very bleak for the Sabah natives.

“Street demonstration is never our culture, especially for Sabah indigenous people. The native community in Sabah clearly has a legitimate claim against the State Government for neglects and breach of duty in defending protecting and preserving the rights and interests of the native community in Sabah” Kong said.

“The natives of Sabah are running out of time. It is now or never. In reality, the natives are not only demanding respect for their land rights and ownership of property which were legally belonging to them, they are in fact preserving, defending and protecting their livelihood, survival as well as culture, tradition and custom.” Kong said.

Military Invasion Of The Highest Order!

The sovereignty of Sabah is being dangerously compromised with the involvement of the Armed forces in politics. In my last posting,Malaysia,a police state in the making?,I mentioned that it’s ashamed that the present regime has mobilized and abused all the public-funded institutions in this country whose fundamental roles and responsibilities are to safeguard the nation and the people’s interest.

The intrusion of fully armed army personnel in demanding a villager Datu Pengiran Ahmad Datu Ali Alam,who is a member of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to take down the party flag which he proudly hoisted in his house,simply because the Minister of Defence,Datuk Zahid Hamidi (below left) was making an "ops pasir" visit is not only tantamount to abuse of power but complete erosion and violation of his constitutional rights and freedom of association with the political party of his choice.

It has also been reliably learnt,that the police has forwarded the report made by Datu Pengiran Ahmad to the army for their further action.I was also informed by Datu Pengiran Ahmad that,he was also approached by a third party to withdraw his police report and negotiate the matter amicably.What was there to negotiate is absolutely mind-boggling.

I almost fell off my chair,upon hearing this,which to me is an effort to completely "cover-up" this entire episode and erase it from the face of the earth. This also further confirms my earlier post,that the said incident was a clear sign of immense fear of the present regime toward the opposition’s presence, and a desperate attempt to eliminate such fear or threat by suppressing the general masses’ show of support for the opposition.

I urge the Chief Minister of Sabah cum State Security Committee Chairman,Datuk Musa Aman (left),to refrain from being "confused" in his press statement that appeared in a local daily stating "DON'T FALL FOR BLOG TALK".The Chief Minister cannot be that ignorant,on the facts and events that took place in Semporna.The army must come clean and respond to their actions.

In a magnanimous stand,Supreme council member,Hj.Ansari Abdullah (below) and the state leadership of Parti Keadilan Rakyat(PKR) of Sabah called for the armed forces to keep out of the political realm of the country,at a press conference.The video clip on the press conference is presented to you here.

Malaysia, a police state in the making?

My dear fellow Malaysians and Sabahans, I’m writing this latest posting with an extremely heavy heart. This is because our beloved country is fast becoming a police state, if not one yet.

Before I present you with the evidence to substantiate my claim, let me give you the definition of a police state.

According to Wikipedia, the term police state describes a state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population. A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, and there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive.

The inhabitants of a police state experience restrictions on their mobility, and on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force which operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state.

Now, here’s the evidence of my claim. One month ago, on 3 August,army personnel's from the 7 RAMD (Gerak Khas) swooped on Pulau Pandanan Kecil, off Semporna and ordered the villagers there to take down all the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) flags hoisted at their houses. When the villagers declined to comply, the army personnel's brought the flags down for them.

When confronted by a disgruntled villager on who ordered them to do so, the army personnel replied that it was an instruction from their ‘boss’, without giving any name. But, I guess one does not have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out who the ‘boss’ is..

Outraged by the incident, one of the villagers later lodged a police report at the Semporna district police station. The outrageous episode was videoed and photographed by a courageous villager and sent to me. (click here to watch the video part 1) (click here to watch the video part 2)

The said incident was a clear sign of immense fear of the present regime toward the opposition’s presence, and a desperate attempt to eliminate such fear or threat by suppressing the general masses’ show of support for the opposition.

It’s ashamed that the present regime has mobilized and abused all the public-funded institutions in this country whose fundamental roles and responsibilities are to safeguard the nation and the people’s interest, to maintain their current positions, so that they can continue to siphon the wealth of this country to enrich themselves and their cronies.

But, let me say this, the present regime can go on to remove all the opposition flags that it comes across in the country, but it certainly cannot remove the ‘invisible’ one in the people’s heart.

This and the other dreadful and shameful incidents that had occurred in the country since the last general election and the internal fighting among the Barisan Nasional component parties like MCA, MIC, PPP could be a prelude to the downfall of the present regime.

Be an informed patriot!

“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.” This was the famous and inspiring quote by American author and essayist, Edward Paul Abbey, on patriotism.

This is one of my favourite patriotism quotes as it is so appropriate and inspiring. Unfortunately this was not instilled among us, our young generation especially, by our government since independence, for reasons best known to them.

This somehow reminded me of what Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said during his speech in a function at Atlantis Restaurant recently, on the advice once given to him by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammed when he was still the PM, that he (Dr Jeffrey) should not teach the people what they don’t know.

August 31 is a significant day for our country as it is the day she achieved independence 52 years ago.

And as usual, weeks before that, the government started a series of campaigns to whip up the people’s patriotism spirit especially to remind them to hoist the national flag or the Jalur Gemilang at their homes, kindergartens, schools, colleges, schools, universities, shops, hotels, mamak stalls, mini buses, cars, motorcycles, bicycles etc.

In the meantime, government leaders and politicians talked about the importance of patriotism, often with strong emphasis on loyalty to the ruling government.

Throughout the years, I’ve come to realize that while many people including my friends and relatives may talk about patriotism during this period of time, they may not really understand its true meaning, especially since they have been indoctrinated by the government-controlled media over the years besides such idiotic program like “Aku Janji” for the civil servants to pledge their undivided loyalty to the government of the day.

Hence, what really concerns me here is the misconception of patriotism. Let’s examine what patriotism means. The base of the word “patriotism” comes from the Latin word patria, meaning fatherland or homeland and the suffix “-ism” is Greek meaning belief in, practice of, or condition of. The literal definition is then belief in one’s country.

Patriotism goes beyond that definition. It must be displayed in both war and in peace, and more importantly when the country is being ruled by a corrupt and tyrannical regime.

It is shameful how all these years Malaysians been indoctrinated by the Barisan Nasional government and its leaders, that patriotism means unquestioning support for the government, which thus allows them to unjustly subdue right thinking-and-patriotic Malaysians from continuing to fight for justice, democracy and the rights of the people..

Therefore, an “informed patriotism” is what our beloved country really needs. It is neither the blind faith in the government nor blind opposition to the government. This patriotism is the informed love and appreciation for the government that truly upheld justice, democracy and transparency – the fundamental element of good governance, and not government that is shamelessly indulging in corrupt and undemocratic practices to benefit a privileged few.

A government is and should be founded on the principle of mandate of the people - that is the essence of democracy. Hence, it is vital that we constantly question the actions of the government. If not, then there is no limit to its power. When we remain silent and cease to take an active role in the conducts and operations of our nation’s leaders, we validate the ascendancy of an “invincible government” that has no qualms practicing absolute power. The cornerstone of our way of life will be fundamentally destroyed to the core.

I take this great opportunity to share with you the following inspiring patriotism quotes by some of the great Statesmen and civil activists in the world, with the hope that you too would be inspired to become an ‘informed patriot’. I wish you all a “Happy 52nd Merdeka Day”!

* To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.- Theodore Roosevelt

* The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher plain - George McGovern

* The government is merely a servant -- merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them. - Mark Twain
* Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. – Mark Twain

* My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its office-holders. - Mark Twain

* To oppose corruption in government is the highest obligation of patriotism. – G. Edward Griffin

* My Country! When right keep it right; when wrong, set it right! - Carl Schurz

* The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naïve and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair. - H. L. Mencken

* This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in. - Theodore Roosevelt

* Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong. - James Bryce

Stop being a devil in disguised

HERBERT Timbon Lagadan, the State Assemblyman for Kadamaian is an interesting character. This is because before joining politics, he was a pastor. According to his bio-data posted on his Website, he possesses a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Theology ( London ).


In Malaysia , there are probably only two pastors who had joined politics over the years. Herbert is one of them. The other one is Pastor Jeffrey Kumin of Sabah DAP, who joined the party just before the last general election and subsequently became its Inanam Division Chief.


Pastor Jeffrey once described his venture into the politics as answering the God’s calling to better serve Him and his children. As for Herbert, while i’m not sure what it was, I’m willing to give him the benefits of doubt that he too still and constantly has God in his mind.


Of late, Herbert who is a Vice President of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) was again in the limelight when he extended his invitation on behalf of his party to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Vice President, Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan to rejoin PBS.


To many, and as rightly pointed out by Dr Jeffrey in his response recently, Herbert’s gesture was merely a move aimed to cause a rift and instability in PKR Sabah. Dr Jeffrey even reciprocated Herbert’s invitation by counter inviting the entire PBS including his own brother, Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan to join him in his struggle for the people of Sabah .

I think Herbert and the entire PBS should seriously consider Dr Jeffrey’s counter offer if they sincerely have the people’s interest in their mind still.


As a former Pastor with a degree in Theology, Herbert should have the wisdom to differentiate between what is right and wrong, and what is good and bad for the people. Most importantly, he should be able to see the suffering of the people under the present regime.


Herbert and the entire PBS should conduct a serious soul searching to examine why the gap between the rich and the poor in this country is getting bigger, and why Sabah, despite its abundance of natural resources has gone from being the richest state in the country once, to the poorest state now.

When PBS rejoined Barisan Nasional (BN) in 2002, its leaders especially its deputy president, Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili had claimed that once PBS returned to Barisan, the illegal immigrant problem would be solved.

But its former leader cum anti-illegal immigrant activist Dr Chong Eng Leong last year revealed that Dr Maximus had been advising Pairin against PBS sending in memorandums to various groups as it was tantamount to stabbing Barisan in the back again. Disappointed with PBS’s deviation from its original course, Dr Chong later ditched the party and joined PKR Sabah.

Herbert should also realize that one of the perennial issues affecting the people of Sabah is the native land issue which PBS failed to address even when it was in power for nine years. Now, the natives of Sabah are fast becoming the landless people which will eventually reduce them to squatters in their own land.


And as the State Assistant Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister, Herbert should also realize that despite the current Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s sounds good slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.” and paying the same for the income tax, the people of Sabah are still paying a higher price for a majority of goods and services in the state, as compare to their West Malaysian counterparts. In the meantime, the per capita earnings of Sabahans are still the lowest in the country.


The number and magnitude of scandals under the BN rule were simply mind-boggling. They included the Mongolian model, Altantuya’s murder, deaths in custody which include A Kugan and Teoh Beng Hock, the manner the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) persecute the opposition leaders but chose to look the other way when it involves politicians of the ruling coalition like the former MB for Selangor, the Chief Ministers of Sabah and Sarawak, the president of MCA and the Chairman of the BN Backbenchers Club in the ongoing PKFZ scandal.


If despite all these glaring instances Herbert still consider BN a noble and credible political party to be associated with, then I would like to dedicate this evergreen oldies of the late Elvis (click and listen to the song) “Devil in Disguise” (see lyrics attached below) to him, plus this quote from the holly Bible – “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand.” – Matthew 4:77”.

I would also like to share with you an inspiring video clip sent to me by an avid reader of this blog. If Herbert or any of the PBS, UMNO, UPKO, PBRS, LDP, MCA, GERAKAN, and the other BN component parties leader happen to watch this video clip, I sincerely hope they too would be inspired to make a change.



Devil in Disguise

You look like an angel
Walk like an angel
Talk like an angel
But I got wise
You're the devil in disguise
Oh yes you are
The devil in disguise

You fooled me with your kisses
You cheated and you schemed
Heaven knows how you lied to me
You're not the way you seemed

You look like an angel
Walk like an angel
Talk like an angel
But I got wise

You're the devil in disguise
Oh yes you are
The devil in disguise

I thought that I was in heaven
But I was sure surprised
Heaven help me, I didn't see
The devil in your eyes

You look like an angel
Walk like an angel
Talk like an angel

But I got wise
You're the devil in disguise
Oh yes you are
The devil in disguise

Sabah UMNO puteri dies in illegal abortion?

IT APPEARS that nothing seemed to be alright with Malaysia politically, economically, socially and even health wise nowadays. Interestingly, everything seemed to be connected to the UMNO-led Barisan National (BN) government, whose reputation is now in its record low.

Among the appalling incidents that are still fresh in the minds of many Malaysians include the controversial deaths in custody which include 22-year-old A. Kugan, DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock, who died at the premises of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters, and now with the scores of deaths caused by A H1N1 virus epidemic which total number has now reached…..76? at the time this posting was uploaded.

This inevitably reminded me of an interesting comment by a golfing buddy of mine that all these could be due to the ‘curse of Altantuya’? He believed that as long as the real culprits behind Altantuya’s gruesome murder are not brought to justice, her soul will not rest in peace and she will continue to wreck havoc on those who ordered her despicable execution using the military grade ‘C4’.

Very recently, on 7 August, a 27-year-old woman from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah was reported to have died in Cakung, East Jakarta , in an untimely manner.

According to a news report by the Jakarta Post dated 8 August, 2009 (.....click link to news report) http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/08/08/midwife-arrested-malaysian-woman039s-death.html, the deceased had died after she underwent an abortion in an abortion clinic there, to get rid of her four-month-old fetus.

It was also reported that East Jakarta police arrested a midwife who allegedly ran the illegal practice, as well as her two assistants from the clinic.

What’s significant about the incident is that the deceased, Alimida binti Zakaria is said to be a member of UMNO Puteri Kota Kinabalu and the ‘biological father’ of her four-month old child, is an official of Kota Kinabalu UMNO Youth, currently working as a senior officer of the State-owned Sabah Urban Development Corporation (SUDC) while the father has a medical profession background specializing in treating women. The wife is said to be a close relative(1st cousin) to the current Chief Minister of Sabah , Datuk Musa Hj Aman (pic below).

According to reliable sources, Alimida’s body was brought back to Kota Kinabalu on the 13th August and was buried on the following day at the Likas Muslim cemetery. The funeral was attended by family members and close friends.

Alimida’s family was said to be now questioning her actual cause of death. They were earlier told by the two men who accompanied her to East Jakarta that she had died in a road mishap. The two men are said to be close buddies of her boyfriend cum ‘biological father’ to their now aborted child. Alimida’s family had no idea of the actual purpose of her trip.

Meanwhile,a specialist gynecologist in Sabah when contacted by me said that abortion is illegal in Sabah, and nobody should be doing it.An abortion will only be perform if the patients life is in jeopardy.When ask what could be the cause of a patients death if an abortion is done on a woman in her 4th month of pregnancy,the gynecologist said,lost of excessive blood,unequipped facilities and no medical experience.

Apparently, her boyfriend had requested the two to accompany her to East Jakarta as his own wife was going to give birth..

Alimida’s friends and colleagues in Puteri UMNO as well as in the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), were said to be outraged after reading the news about her untimely death in the Jakarta Post.

According to one of her close friends, Alimida was a nice and approachable person but certainly not the wild type. She also claimed that Alimida’s boyfriend had promised to divorce his current wife and to marry her after this.

“He even promised to buy her a house,” claimed Alimida’s friend.

This friend of Alimida and a few others plan to approach Alimida’s family after this, to try to convince them to seek justice for Alimida.

It was also reliably learned that Alimida's name had been mysteriously removed from the Kota Kinabalu UMNO Puteri's name list, probably an attempt to disassociate her from the organization in order to protect its good name and 'maruah' (dignity).

I wish to convey my heartfelt condolences to the family of Alimida Zakaria.May justice be served on her death.