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Why Sabah is the least developed state in Malaysia

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  On 12 June, the Federal Government released RM600 million. The remaining RM900 million will only be paid once a new Special Grant Order is gazetted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution . But how exactly is this public money being spent on the ground? Here’s one example: a playground being built at Golf Garden, Penampang .

The Hidden Cost of Potholes: Reflections on Datuk Johnson Tee’s Wake-Up Call for Sabah’s Roads

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                                                                      Bottomless Pit In his latest column for The Borneo Post (19 July 2026), Datuk Johnson Tee pulls no punches. Titled “The cost of the pothole: Why Sabah’s crumbling roads are a national crisis,” the piece lays bare a problem many Sabahans live with daily: roads so damaged they’ve become a genuine public safety and economic emergency . Tee highlights a staggering official figure — over 73,000 potholes recorded on federal roads in Sabah between 2023 and 2024, with thousands more since. Read the article here. LINK

Why does History Repeat

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  Lions Club scandal In 2017 my complaints to the Lions Club of Kota Kinabalu Host were not taken seriously. The club maintained 3 secret bank accounts into which funds were deposited and misused. Money meant for the poor and needy was diverted by wealthy members. A simple solution would have been to declare that such acts would cease and to close those accounts. Instead, the members chose to expel me from the club. I approached senior members, but none were willing to take the bull by the horns. They mistakenly believed that once expelled, I could not act against the club. To cut the story short, ROS acted on my complaint and deregistered the club for over a year .   You may read the back cover of my simple narrative found at LINK Copies are available from my house at RM10.00 each. The book is now out of print.

Quixotic Quest for Accountability

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Challenging silence, demanding integrity Has my vision of a better Sabah — one properly managed by civil servants and politicians — been too idealistic, unrealistic, and impractical?   That is the question I have wrestled with for the past four years, ever since I began my fight against the developer of Vistana Heights . The houses there were built in blatant disregard of the development plan submitted to DBKK . A retaining wall was never constructed, though an engineer supposedly supervised it. An architect submitted an as ‑ built survey plan, then disclaimed responsibility for another professional’s work, despite being the principal submitting officer. DBKK issued an occupancy certificate despite serious discrepancies in the submitted documentation—discrepancies that remain unexplained to this day.

PDPA Is Not a Shield Against Judicial Transparency

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                                                                                                                     Public Sector Home Financing Board The Personal Data Protection Act 2010 ( PDPA ) was enacted to protect Malaysians from misuse of their personal information. It was never intended to become a convenient excuse for government agencies to avoid answering legitimate questions. Yet, in practice, agencies often hide behind PDPA to block even the most basic factual confirmations. A recent case illustrates this problem:   LPPSA ’s ( Lembaga Pembiayaan Perumahan Sektor Awam)  refusal to confirm the repayment date of a government housing loan, despite that date already being d...

Here is my email in reply to the Integrity Sector written in English.

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                                                            Luqman Michel <luqmanmichel@gmail.com> Jun 23, 2026, 3:16 PM (11 days ago) to SEKTOR, JABATAN, HAJAH, PENGARAH, ABDUL, MOHD, MOHD, MUHAMMED YBhg. Datin / Sektor Integriti, I refer to your reply dated 23 June 2026 regarding my complaint of 5 June 2026. With respect, your response appears to have misunderstood the substance of my complaint. My report did not allege that Puan Veni A/P Munusami is bankrupt or insolvent. The issue raised was her failure to comply with a High Court of Malaya Order dated 19 May 2023 (Case No: BA ‑ 24NCVC ‑ 740 ‑ 05/2022), which directed her to pay RM3,000.00 as costs of action to the Plaintiff. Despite repeated demands, she has failed, neglected, and refused to settle this judgment debt for more than three years. This constitutes “se...

Little Napoleons — Three Years On, Time for Change

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  Three years ago, I wrote about the “ Little Napoleons ” who thrive in our civil service — officers who ignore correspondence, flout the Piagam Pelanggan  requirement to reply within two weeks, and act with impunity. Today, the same arrogance continues unchecked, despite promises of reform. Rosemary AhPing of LPPB never replied to my emails then, and the silence remains. DBKK officers continue to disregard public correspondence. The Selangor Education Director has failed to respond to emails dated 5 and 6 June 2026. This is not incompetence; it is a culture of impunity.