WELL RESPECTED: Paramount leader has served the Kadazandusun and Murut for more than 30 years
KENINGAU: TAN Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who is defending his Keningau parliamentary and Tambunan state constituencies, which he has held since 1986 and 1976 respectively, still commands attention from the Kadazandusun and Murut communities.
The 72-year-old Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president is, after all, their Huguan Siou (paramount leader).
As Tambunan resident Abd Ghaffar Affandi puts it, he has an aura that not many former chief ministers have. (Pairin helmed Sabah from April 1985 to March 1994.)
“Only two have it — Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun and him. While the rest have either faded away or joined the opposition, Pairin continues to be actively involved in serving the people.
“People in Tambunan know him so well as he has served after his more than 30 years of service here. Supporters of different parties still respect him as the Huguan Siou,” said the 45-year-old eatery owner from Kampung Tondulu.
Jamilah Mair, 40, from Bingkor, described Pairin as an approachable leader who is always concerned about issues onat the ground.
“He never fails to attend local events, such aslike the launching of Kaamatan celebrations or other agricultural programmes organised here. If we choose to go with his brother (Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan of State Reform Party Sabah), I am not as confident that development plans will be continued,” said the local cake seller.
Pairin will be facing his younger brother, who is now helming Star Sabah, for the Keningau parliamentary seat, a repeat of the 2008 general election where he beat Jeffrey and Peter Anthony Kodou of DAP by more than 4,000 a majority of 4,264 votes.
His fellow BN candidate for the Liawan state seat, incumbent Datuk Sairin Karno, has this to say about Pairin.
“People ask why he still wants to contest at this old age. That’s because he believes he has an social obligation to ensure that the people are not being misled by the wrong group or the opposition.” said Sairin.
Speaking at one of his campaign sessions in Kampung Kauran here, Sairin gave examples of strong leaders, like Ronald Reagan who took office at the age of 70.
Jeffrey still has a long way to go to get where his older brother is.
Pairin is already in a tag-team with Tan Sri Bernard Dompok’s United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) and Tan Sri Joseph Kurup’s Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS), rolling out what they call the Gelombang Tataba to create a united Kadazandusun Murut community.
--NST
Masyarakat Kadazandusun Murut (KDM) akan kehilangan kuasa dalam kerajaan jika mereka membuat perhitungan yang salah pada pilihan raya umum ke-13, kata seorang pensyarah.
ReplyDeleteHenry Bating dari Unit Bahasa Kadazandusun, Pusat Penataran Ilmu dan Bahasa, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, berkata ini kerana suara komuniti itu tidak diwakili pada peringkat tertinggi dalam parti pembangkang.
ReplyDeleteBerbanding dalam Barisan Nasional (BN) yang mempunyai pemimpin KDM pada peringkat tertinggi, tidak ada etnik KDM yang menjadi presiden parti dalam pakatan pembangkang dan ini akan merumitkan urusan penggubalan dasar berkaitan kepentingan komuniti KDM,
ReplyDeleteSemangat kekeluargaan BN yang didukung oleh pemimpin KDM dalam BN telah membawa pelbagai kebaikan dan kejayaan kepada masyarakat KDM,” katanya.
ReplyDeleteAntara kejayaan itu ialah penubuhan kolej KDM, pelaksanaan kurikulum pengajian Kadazandusun di sekolah, kolej, institut dan universiti serta peningkatan status Mahkamah Anak Negeri ke taraf mahkamah sivil, katanya.
ReplyDeleteIni adalah beberapa pencapaian tersirat yang pada hakikatknya diperoleh hasil kepimpinan kekeluargaan dalam BN, di mana pemimpin-pemimpin utama KDM dalam BN turut memainkan peranan.
ReplyDeleteMereka (pemimpin KDM dalam BN) bekerja umpama ‘diam-diam ubi berisi’ dan bukan seperti ‘ayam bertelur riuh sekampung’ atau ‘menang sorak, kampung tergadai’,” katanya.
ReplyDeleteSehubungan itu beliau berharap masyarakat KDM tidak terjebak dengan permainan emosi pemimpin KDM parti pembangkang yang membangkitkan pelbagai isu bagi “membakar” perasaan komuniti terbabit dan beralih kepada pembangkang.
ReplyDeleteTegasnya taraf hidup sebahagian besar masyarakat KDM, termasuk di kawasan luar bandar kini sudah jauh lebih baik dengan adanya pelbagai kemudahan peluang ekonomi yang diwujudkan kerajaan BN.
ReplyDeleteRata-rata pendapatan per kapita mereka jauh lebih baik 10 tahun kebelakangan ini hasil pembangunan kerajaan seperti inisiatif penanaman dan pemasaran getah di kawasan pedalaman,” katanya.
ReplyDelete