Sabah’s wealth to be shared irrespective of race and religion, says Hajiji

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s development agenda is for its wealth to be shared for the benefit of all communities regardless of race and religion, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said.

“We are trying hard to advance Sabah in terms of development and sharing its wealth to all Sabahans regardless of race and religion,” he said at the swearing in of the 24th central committee of the Federation of Sabah and Labuan Hokkien Associations.

Hajiji said that the state government always emphasises on the principle of justice and concern in all aspects to help Sabahans.

The Chief Minister said the state government under Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) with the solid support of all the communities including the Chinese has helped put the state on the right track in bringing development under the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) road map.

As such, he said the GRS government fully appreciates the continuous support of the Chinese community who stood together with the government as partners in every development sector.

“Our success is proven by the collection of large revenue and the state government, but the state government will continue to work towards bringing more investment to create more economic spin-offs,” he said in speech read by Industrial Development Minister Phoong Jin Tze at the installation dinner on Sunday (Sept 17).

Hajiji said the state government’s commitment towards ensuring fair distribution of wealth was reflected in its commitment to help schools and non-Muslim religious bodies.

This year alone, the state government allocated a grant of RM54.05mil to Chinese and mission schools as well as non-Muslim religious bodies in Sabah,” he said.

Hajiji wants the Chinese community in this state to continue working with the government to develop Sabah because many of them including those from the Hokkien clan have proven successful in businesses.

The Chief Minister said that continuous efforts were underway towards opening up business opportunities that can benefit various development sectors in Sabah.

Hajiji also hoped that the Hokkien community in Sabah under the leadership of Tan Sri TC Goh would also contribute to the economic development of the state of Sabah.

He then said that the Hokkien clan is the largest Chinese clan in Malaysia and is the second largest clan in Sabah after the Hakka clan.