KUCHING: The formation of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) some five years ago marked a pivotal moment for Sarawak, following the departure of four local parties from the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian said had the four parties—Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP)—not broken away from BN, Sarawak would not have attained financial and political independence.
He described remaining in BN to “living with one’s parents,” where Sarawak would have been reliant on external support without the necessity to seek its financial independence.
“If we had never left, we would never have considered how to increase our state’s revenue,” he said during the SwinTalk Series #2 Leadership Fireside Talk, themed ‘Unlocking Leadership Potential Through Transformational Leadership,’ held here yesterday (Sept 15).
In other words, he said, Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg’s bold decision in 2018 compelled Sarawak to learn self-sufficiency, leading to its political and financial independence today.
Last year, Sarawak was able to achieve RM12 billion in revenue, the highest recorded among other states in Malaysia due to the good leadership of the GPS government under Abang Johari.
“If we don’t have a good leader to lead Sarawak, we will have various issues, quarrelling every day. Sarawak is blessed to have good leaders; thus, we are too busy moving forward and have no time to quarrel,” he added.
Regarding the erosion of rights over the years, Dr Sim acknowledged that this had occurred in the past beyond his control. Nevertheless, his current priority is unreservedly “Sarawak first,” putting the interests and well-being of Sarawak and its people at the forefront.
Dr Sim admitted that he had never been acquainted with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), a critical document that established Malaysia through the collaboration of four entities.
“I come from a political family and have known many politicians (father’s colleagues) since I was young, but I never heard about MA63… I don’t know why my father never taught me about the agreement as well.
“It was in 2014 when the late Tan Sri Adenan Satem became the chief minister of Sarawak that we started to talk about the agreement and demand the restoration of our lost rights,” he said.
Under the GPS leadership, he said Sarawak persistently pursued the restoration of rights outlined in MA63, eventually culminating in the unanimous passing of the Bill to amend the Federal Constitution relevant to the MA63 in the Dewan Rakyat in 2021.
The passing of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill will allow more rights belonging to Sarawak, intentionally or unintentionally eroded, to be restored in line with the amendment to Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution.
“In short, the major transformation in Sarawak in the past 10 years happened in three stages, including when Adenan took over Sarawak in 2014, the formation of GPS in 2018, and MA63 finally becoming part of the Federal Constitution in 2021,” he added.
However, he said that there is more that needs to be done, especially on autonomy in health and education matters.
“We are doing well, but we are not there yet… many things have yet to be fulfilled by Putrajaya. So we will keep fighting for all our anak-anak Sarawak (Sarawakian children),” he added.
