At Halftime Sabah Is Split By Two Very Different Conversations

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SABAH POLLS | As the Sabah state election campaign crosses the halfway mark, two distinct conversations have emerged across the state.
In the cities, the debate is dominated by anger over the 40 percent revenue entitlement. In the interior, voters speak less about court rulings and more about roads, housing, and keeping their children from leaving.
In urban seats like Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, and Tawau, the grievance resurfaced the moment campaigning began.
Many remain unhappy that Putrajaya chose to partially appeal the recent High Court judgment, even though federal leaders insist they are not challenging Sabah’s right to the 40 percent share.
ADSThe explanation has done little to soften the reaction.
Federal leaders still underestimate Sabah discontent
On Oct 17, the High Court ruled that the federal government had failed to pay Sabah from 1974 to 2018. That finding alone dominated online conversations well before nomination day.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to Sabah days before the nomination did little to shift the mood or turn the narrative in Pakatan Harapan’s favour.
A short clip from his Gaya Street walkabout on Sunday showed him telling a man, “Listen to me, listen to me,” while defending that Putrajaya had given “more than” the 40 percent share. The video spread quickly.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during his walkabout on Gaya Street, Kota KinabaluAlthough meant as clarification, many Sabahans felt it sounded impatient and reflected an inaccurate reading of the entitlement, especially as Anwar appeared to conflate the constitutional revenue share with federal development spending.
The moment fed a deeper sentiment - that federal leaders still underestimate the depth of Sabah’s frustration.
“We’ve been listening for 60 years,” one Facebook user wrote, a line that ricocheted across WhatsApp groups.
The unease was heightened by Upko’s sudden exit from Harapan, which unfolded in the same news cycle. Upko president Ewon Benedick’s resignation from the federal cabinet and his decision to pull Upko out of the coalition quickly became one of the most discussed developments of the week.
“It feels like a warning shot at Putrajaya,” one viral message read, while another framed Ewon’s move as “a stand for Sabah’s dignity”.
Together, the Gaya Street clip and Upko’s departure reinforced the view that Putrajaya still struggles to read the ground in Sabah, particularly on long-standing issues of state rights and the 40 percent entitlement.
Two different Sabahs
ADSIn the interior and East Coast, the tone is markedly different. Tambunan, Kinabatangan, Tawau and Sandakan remain focused on more immediate worries.
Voters talk about washed-out roads, stalled housing aid, poor rural infrastructure, and the steady migration of youth to the cities or to plantation jobs deep in Sabah’s interior.
There are simply too few jobs. Many young people turn to delivery or e-hailing work, often earning barely above low-income levels.
Keningau, however, stands out. As Sabah’s most developed interior township, many of its youth prefer working in small private rubber or palm oil estates, which they say pay better than town jobs.
“Better tap rubber than go KK. It’s cheaper to live here,” said Kautis Robert, a road sweeper and part-time rubber tapper in Keningau who supports nine children.
Similar frustrations emerge in Kinabatangan and Segama, where villagers describe being cut off during floods and waiting hours for ambulances that sometimes never arrive.
In Sandakan, once a bustling port shaped by timber and palm oil, life has slowed. Markets are still filled with older residents, but many young people have left.
“There’s nothing to come back to,” said 20-year-old Eusoofe Musrin, a Grab driver who once tried working on a plantation but quit due to the two-hour daily commute.
What politicians are facing
Candidates spent the week responding to a mix of old grievances and new tensions.
Caretaker chief minister Hajiji Noor told supporters that Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) has delivered tangible results over the past five years.
Sabah caretaker chief minister Hajiji NoorFrom rising state reserves to record education aid and increased oil and gas revenue from Petronas, GRS made sure its track record was widely communicated.
“This is success and the people must recognise it,” he said.
Hajiji also dismissed corruption allegations, including viral videos linking GRS to mining interests, calling them politically timed attacks.
“What corruption? All these allegations have malicious motives,” he said.
Warisan, meanwhile, found itself dealing with allegedly unusual scrutiny from the Election Commission.
Vice-president Junz Wong claimed EC officers have been “monitoring Warisan extra closely”, following candidates with cameras and issuing warnings at events that already had police approval.
Other contests brought their own tensions.
In Api-Api, Harapan’s Thonny Chee faced calls to clarify whether he is actually a lawyer after a news outlet questioned his legal credentials.
In Likas, SAPP president Yong Teck Lee accused caretaker minister and Sabah DAP chief Phoong Jin Zhe of neglecting the Sabah Trade Centre and allowing it to fall into vandalism.
The centre, opened in 1997 and once a major exhibition venue, was abandoned in the early years of the GRS administration in 2020.
In Pintasan, former GRS Youth chief Fairuz Renddan rejected claims of taking project commissions, calling the accusations “cheap issues” and “malicious.”
Alongside the controversies, candidates continued rolling out development pledges - from DAP’s RM260 million school complex in Pulau Gaya to tourism upgrades in Darau and infrastructure promises in Kunak, Bongawan, and Sungai Sibuga.
Voters now sceptical
Many welcomed the commitments, but voters are openly questioning whether Sabah’s long-standing problems can realistically be solved after years of delays.
Sabah continues to struggle with poor road quality, frequent water and electricity disruptions, and constant flooding and landslides - disasters that recently turned fatal. A total of 13 people died during the mid-September disaster.
With polling set for Nov 29, the central question remains: which narrative will take hold, and will it be strong enough to influence Sabahans’ vote on who should form the next government? - Mkini

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