ACTUAL TEXT

Sandakan, (Oct 28, 2008) Tuesday:

1. SAPP held its 114th Supreme Council meeting at the SAPP office at CLC Elopura Conference Room today. This is the third time that SAPP has held its Supreme Council meeting in Sandakan, the other times being on Jan 19, 1995 at Elopura office, and on June 25, 2006 at Sabah Hotel.

2. For one month, SAPP has been working on the rebuilding and strengthening of the Party in Sandakan due to the departure of leaders in the municipality after SAPP was no longer in BN coalition government. SAPP is greatly encouraged by the people in Sandakan who fervently urged SAPP to strive on and to rebuild SAPP. SAPP promises that the Party shall not let down the people of Sandakan.

3. SAPP is also extremely grateful to local leaders and members who have remained loyal to the Party. In spite of attempts by the departing leaders, especially in Tanjong Papat, to block Sandakan members from meeting SAPP leaders, SAPP is proud that many members have voluntarily contacted the Party HQ, Supreme Councilors and local leaders such as Poon Kee Yang and Tenny Chang Yee Chung to report that they will not leave the Party. Some members even traveled all the way to the Party HQ in Kota Kinabalu to enquire about their membership status after reading news reports of their “mass resignations” from the Party in Sandakan.

4. This proves that the September news rumours of “2000 members resigning from SAPP” and another “15,000 resignations” engineered by the departing leaders is a lie meant to deceive the people and the BN leadership.

New Appointments:

5. SAPP hereby announces the appointment of Tuan Hj Kassim Amir Hussein as new supreme councilor. Tuan Hj Kassim has served in various capacity in the Party since its formation in 1994.

6. Datuk Tain Fook En is the new chief for Sungei Sibuga CLC replacing Yap Vui Hun. Datuk Tain was the original chairman of this CLC from 1994 till 2004. He now reverts to this CLC in addition to his current chairmanship of CLC N43 Sekong.

7. The new CLC chairman for N.45 Elopura is Tenny Chang Yee Chiung replacing Au Kam Wah. TennyChang, aged 48, is a founder member of SAPP in 1994. He served as Supreme Councilor from 1994 till 1998 as Assistant Organising Secretary and later as Assistant Secretary General. He was the CLC chairman for Elopura from Jan 19, 1995 till June 29, 1998 before Datuk Tham Nyip Shen took over from there.

8. Chairman for N46 Tanjong Papat is Poon Kee Yang. Poon was first appointed chairman for this Constituency on August 30, 2008 to replace Raymond Tan in order to reactivate this CLC. The appointment today is to establish a team to help Poon build up SAPP in this constituency in order to recapture this seat back to SAPP. Poon was a founder member of SAPP. He has served continuously as Supreme Councilor from 1994 till now.

9. These newly energized CLCs shall now reorganize the branches and reactivate its members and recruit new members. Several gatherings have already been held in the last two weeks and more will be held in the coming month.

10. The Sandakan Zone Committee consisting of the state constituencies of N.41 Gum Gum, N.42 Sungei Sibuga, N.43 Sekong, N.44 Karamunting, N.45 Elopura and N.46 Tanjong Papat is currently headed by the party Secretary General, Datuk Richard Yong We Kong.

11. The meeting have drawn up new line-up for The Sandakan Zone
Committee, CLC Elopura and CLC Tanjong Papat.

Receiving new members

12. At two gatherings, one held at the party’s Elopura office on October 27 and another held in Sekong on October 28 received 526 new members joining SAPP. This group of new members have applied to join SAPP in Elopura, Tanjong Papat, Karamunting, Sekong and Sungei Sibuga constituencies. The applications forms were received by SAPP president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee.

SAPP entrenching in 25 districts, 45 constituencies

13. The Party HQ shall now proceed to other constituencies to form new branches and to strengthen the Party. From November to December, training programmes and new membership induction courses have been arranged in 15 districts consisting of 45 state constituencies. The Party targets to increase the membership from the current 40,000 to 60,000 by year 2010, spread over the 60 State constituencies in Sabah and one parliamentary seat of Labuan FT.

P.182 Pensiangan Parliamentrary by-election

14. The Supreme Council did not make any decision whether to take part in the Pensiangan by-election but decided to form branches in the N.38 Nabawan constituency and to expand the number of branches in the N 37 Sook constituency, which together form the Pensiangan parliamentary constituency.

Issued by SAPP HQ
28 October, 2008 in Sandakan, SAPP Elopura Office