Part 3: When Justice Requires a Lawsuit

                                                                 

 

Disclaimer: This article contains personal views and analysis on matters of public interest. It is not legal advice. Readers should consult a qualified lawyer for advice on their specific circumstances.

In Part 1, I wrote about silence. In Part 2, I wrote about technicalities. Both are ways institutions avoid responsibility. But there is a third, more troubling reality: that citizens are often left with no choice but to take matters to court.

 

This is not how justice should work. The courtroom should be a last resort, not the only resort. Yet time and again, ordinary Sabahans find that their letters, their appeals, their evidence — all fall on deaf ears until litigation begins.

 

Consider the case of Sabah Development Bank Berhad (SDB). The loan was fully settled in 2004. No interest has accrued since. And yet, more than two decades later, the charge remains registered, preventing the property owner from dealing with it freely. When the matter was raised, the Bank’s reply was not to resolve it, but to cite a sixty-year foreclosure right under the Limitation Ordinance.

 

What does this mean in practice? That a citizen who has repaid every cent must still live under encumbrance. That fairness and discretion are abandoned in favour of rigid technical shields. And that unless one is prepared to file suit, the matter remains unresolved.

 

This raises a larger question: Must every injustice be dragged through the courts before it is acknowledged?

 

State-linked entities like SDB are funded by public money. They exist to promote development and serve the people of Sabah. Their role is not merely to operate within the strict letter of the law, but to embody fairness, compassion, and public service. When citizens must resort to litigation to secure what is already theirs, the institution has failed in its duty.

 

The people of Sabah deserve better. They deserve institutions that listen, that act, and that resolve matters without forcing citizens into costly, time-consuming, and adversarial proceedings. Litigation should be the exception, not the rule.

 

If silence outlasts promises, and technicalities outlast justice, then lawsuits become the only language left. That is not the Sabah we should accept.