The chief minister says the government will need the cooperation of all to develop the ‘little Hong Kong’ of Sabah.
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KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Musa Aman has praised the Chinese community in Sabah’s east coast Sandakan district, paying tribute to their work ethics and their contributions.
He said the community was known to value education and their diligence had also made the Chinese strong in business.
“As we can see, it is a culture for the Chinese to place high importance on education and this is a good culture.
“We must learn from them as they are good in education as well as business,” he said during a get-together with leaders of the Chinese community in Sandakan here today.
Musa said the government was doing its best to bring development to Sandakan but it would not be successful unless they get the full backing from everyone, including the Chinese community.
“When I became the chief minister, I analysed and gave allocations to Chinese schools and kindergartens as well as mission schools and churches.
“We acknowledge the Chinese community because this is important but there must be a two-way traffic. We must help each other,” he said.
Musa said to develop Sandakan, which is known as “little Hong Kong”, into a bigger city was not easy.
He welcomed suggestions from the community on how to improve business, security and infrastructure development in the district.
Musa said Sandakan prospered during the height of the timber industry, making the district a popular destination, particularly among timber tycoons.
He said although those days were long gone, Sandakan would still need to move forward, with tourism, among others, set to be the next big thing for the district.
“We must think how to improve Sandakan. I have my halatuju (direction) on tourism, agriculture and human resource development,” he said.
Tourism is big business now, especially for Sabah, with tourists from mainland China frequenting Sabah’s capital, so much so that Kota Kinabalu is struggling to provide enough accommodation for tourists, Musa said.
“Half a million tourists from mainland China come to Sabah and, hopefully, it can go to one million. Now, we don’t have enough hotel rooms.
“There are about four to five million middle-income people in China but only half a million are coming to Sabah. Can you see the potential if they all come?”
Even Korean and Taiwanese guests prefer Sabah rather than Bali or Phuket, he said, adding there was massive potential to attract visitors to Sandakan and even Tawau.
“We must be prepared in Sandakan. First is our airport … the prime minister has approved the extension of the runway and this will be carried out soon.”
He also attributed the influx of Chinese tourists to the efforts of Najib Razak who had approved large sums of allocations for development in Sabah.
Besides the upgrading of the airport, the government had also approved an independent power producer (IPP) to boost power supply in Sandakan.
Musa said Sandakan had always been on the government’s plans for development, adding that the government was always consistent about helping the people.
At the same time, he questioned what the opposition had done for Sandakan since it took over the parliamentary seat in the last election.
“We must have political stability and security is also important in Sandakan.
“That is why we must work together and we need your support,” he said, adding that the support for Barisan Nasional would translate into many benefits for the people of Sandakan.
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