Kota Kinabalu, Tuesday, 2 December 2025
All of today’s Chinese newspapers have splashed headlines “No Chinese in Cabinet.” This apparent concern of the Chinese community prompted me to issue this statement without fear or favour.
Like any other Chief Minister, the newly reappointed CM, Datuk Seri Hj Hajiji Hj Noor, has many political heavyweights and complex issues to juggle with. At the end of the day, the incumbent CM has to consider where his support came from and who can help stabilise his government. That explains the composition of today’s Cabinet, which by constitution and by convention, is the absolute discretion of the Chief Minister.
Warisan has brought the Chinese to the opposition AGAIN
The secret ballots have shown who the huge majority of Chinese voters wanted as Chief Minister. That choice of CM, the Warisan leader, boasted about his achievement in garnering unprecedented Chinese support. The harsh reality is that he has brought the Chinese community to the opposition AGAIN.
This harsh reality was hinted by the newly elected Likas Assemblyman yesterday when he expressed “mixed feelings” about being elected but, unfortunately, in an opposition party. Maybe he was expecting to become Sabah Minister of Education. The Likas Assemblyman has spent his entire working life as a government officer. But he is now no longer a boss in a government department. Life in the opposition is harsh, especially for a former government officer who is accustomed to government facilities where doors open and call are answered.
2020 also no Chinese in Cabinet but Hajiji inclusive
The complete absence of Chinese in the Cabinet had first happened after the September 2020 elections. The Chinese at the time were understandably angry about the defections that caused the fall of the then Warisan-PH government.
But, as Chinese community leaders know, CM DS Hajiji is an inclusive leader who acts as a leader of all Sabahans. The Chinese community was not left out of mainstream development. As for the next five years, I do not expect any change in his inclusive nature of the government.
Chinese vote bank is nobody’s fixed deposit
My advice to the Chinese community has always been to understand the political landscape of the whole of Sabah, not just our Chinese-majority urban areas.
Past elections have shown that the Chinese community is not bound by a rigid loyalty to any party. In the same way that the Chinese vote bank is not a DAP fixed-deposit, it is also not Warisan nor anybody’s fixed deposit.
Datuk Yong Teck Lee
SAPP President
Ex-Chief Minister
Caption: Yong with the day’s Chinese newspapers