Anifah backs SAPP chief

Tuesday June 24, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR: Kimanis MP Datuk Anifah Aman, one of the Sabah MPs who had turned down a deputy minister post in the federal government, has come to the defence of Datuk Yong Teck Lee.

Anifah said he disagreed with the Prime Minister’s view that Yong had acted out of greed.

“I share all of Yong’s sentiments and views, except for the vote of no-confidence against the Prime Minister.

“For me, Yong is acting out of desperation because the people (Sabahans) are uncomfortable. I have known Yong since my schooldays. This is not about posts. He did not have a post before and he did not make this move then. This is not about greed,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Anifah said Sabah was one of the richest states in natural resources yet it is the second poorest state in the country with poorer roads and facilities than other states.

“One of the reasons for this is that we (Sabah MPs) have not been vocal before. We did not air our grievances because we were either too loyal or too passive,” he said, adding that Parliament was the place to voice the needs of the people regardless of which party the MPs belonged to.

“That means I am a greedy man too. Am I greedy for voicing what is reality? Would it help perception in Sabah by saying that Yong is greedy and all that? Why discredit someone for saying something? You should listen to what he said,” said Anifah.

“How do you define greedy when you are voicing the needs of the people?”

Anifah, who is from Umno, stressed however it was “not proper” for Yong and SAPP to support a vote of no-confidence against Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, adding that he thought the SAPP president got “a bit carried away because of the people”.

“But that does not mean that the issues he raised were wrong. We understand each other but our approach is different. You don’t burn your own house,” he said.

He noted that Yong would be seen as a hero in the eyes of Sabahans as the people were fed up and it was pointless to give them economic explanations and jargon.

“At the end of the day, they want to know how they are going to bring food to the table for their children,” he said, adding that some people were even opting to keep their children at home instead of sending them to school because they could not afford a rise in schoolbus fares.