State of disturbing records

Despite having raised many pressing issues in Parliament for more than 10 years, Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) parliamentarian Dr Chua Soon Bui said she is disappointed that she still needs to repeat the same issues.

"If the voices of the people are not heard and no changes are made then what Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said will happen: 'If we don’t have the courage and vision to change, the people will change us'," said the Tawau MP during the debate of the 2009 federal budget in Parliament yesterday.

With a degree of sarcasm, Chua said she would like to bring to the attention of her peers about the "many Malaysian records attained by Sabah and Tawau but unfortunately these records are nothing to be proud of."

Among these are:

1. The illegal immigrants or Pendatang Tanpa Izin (PTI).

Why was there such an out-of-proportion surplus of 1.9 million population in Sabah with a total of 3.3 million in 2004, as compared to similar population growth rate in Sarawak? Why do Sabahans have to suffer when foreigners were given better and preferential treatment?

2. Health service issues:
         
Why was the infant mortality rate in Sabah the highest in Malaysia, with 9.6 per 1,000 deliveries in 2007, nearly twice the national average rate of 5.61 per 1,000 deliveries?

Why is the maternal mortality rate in Sabah still one of the highest in Malaysia higher than the national average of 30 per 100,000 live births in 2005?

Why did Sabah record the highest incidence of Malaria in Malaysia, with 44,000 cases or 68 percent of the national total of 65,000 cases?

Why did Sabah record one of the highest incidence of Tuberculosis in Malaysia?
 
Why did HIV/Aids cases in Sabah record one of the highest incidence in Malaysia with Tawau topping Sabah in the new HIV/Aids cases among drug addicts?

3. Poverty Issues:

Why is Sabah still the second poorest state in Malaysia despite a lot of allocations given to the state for poverty eradication?

4. Infrastructure issues:

Why are electricity supply disruptions in Sabah still the most rampant in Malaysia?

Why is non-revenue water in Sabah still recorded as one of the highest in Malaysia with Tawau recording 72 percent?

Why are some roads in agricultural areas of Sabah still in poor condition?

5. Education Issues:

Why is Sabah top in Malaysia with primary one students in Sekolah Kebangsaan with 65.5 percent (28,700) and in Tawau with 58 percent (2,697) in the K1A2M test in 2008 who fail to read or write?

Why are the children of Sabah's natives deprived of education? Why are the drop out rates among primary and secondary school children very high, especially in rural schools?

6. Single parent families:

Why is the number of single parent families (mostly single mothers) in Sabah the highest in Malaysia, as surveyed by University Uppsala Sweden in 2007, the number slightly more than doubled from 444,000 in 1980 to 895,000 in 2001?

7. Why did cross-border illegal smuggling of subsidised diesel, 15 percent super rice and subsidised cooking oil in Sabah record one of the highest in Malaysia? At times poor families in Sabah are deprived of the subsidised rice and cooking oil while neighbouring countries are benefitting from Malaysian government.

Meanwhile, Chua said she is very sad and disturbed by the 'disgracing' records.

"The country is not doing justice to the people of Sabah and Tawau if they continue to be ignored," she added.

Tony Thien | Oct 21, 08 5:08pm