1Malaysia, it sounds too good to be true. So what's 1Malaysia really means to all Malaysians? Let's take a look at the recent post on Facebook by our beloved PM.
Alright, according to Olliey, 1Malaysia should have a standardize minimum wage policy for both Peninsula Malaysia and Borneo(Sarawak & Sabah).
Based on the current policy, the minimum wage for Peninsula Malaysia is fixed at RM900 while RM800 for Borneo. Why is there a difference of RM100 between Peninsula Malaysia and Borneo?
According to the policymakers, it's because the living cost in Peninsula Malaysia is relatively higher compared to Borneo's. However, the real situation is always ugly:
"Supposedly Sabah & Sarawak to get higher minimum wage because the goods selling here are more expensive compared to Peninsula Malaysia's" - Arenist
"Undoubtedly, living cost in Peninsula Malaysia is higher especially in KL but citizens in Sabah & Sarawak are facing a higher cost on daily goods especially in rural area. Therefore, wage of RM800 - RM900 is not enough." - Majit
As we can see, Sarawak & Sabah are facing higher price in goods especially daily goods which is essential for surviving, they aren't asking for cheaper iPhone but cheaper daily goods. Anyway, pure talk has no point, let's compare the prices of goods and other needs between Peninsula Malaysia and Sarawak & Sabah:
According to http://www.1pengguna.com/ latest goods price, we compared the chicken prices with the cheapest source available in KL, Pulau Pinang, Sarawak & Sabah. Apparently, KL which said to have high living cost got the cheapest chicken price at RM5.89 following by P.Pinang - RM5.99, Sarawak - RM6.99 and the cheapest chicken source that is available in Sabah cost as high as RM8.49 each kilogram!
Well, I'm done with the "cheap" chicken price in Sarawak & Sabah. Now let's move on to housing price. I believe at this moment of reading, most citizens from Peninsula Malaysia will say Sarawak & Sabah have cheaper housing price. Yeah yeah, since we are living on trees, right? Anyway, take a look at the nicely illustrated index by TheMalaysianInsider:
Guess what? Again Sabah has the lowest capabilities in owning a house and following by Sarawak. Perhaps the houses in Sarawak & Sabah is cheaper but the wage is relatively lower. Let's compare the house prices sourced from Mudah.my for Puchong area and Kota Kinabalu area:
Based on the sources, the double-storey terrace house in Puchong with 1,390 - 1,421 sf is selling at RM405,000 while the same type of house with 1,600 sf is selling at RM650,000 in Kota Kinabalu. I doubt how could this made you think that houses in Sarawak & Sabah are cheaper than Peninsula Malaysia's? Or do you think we really live on trees? Ohh My Gawd....
"You get what you deserved because you people(Sarawak & Sabah) voted BN(Barisan National)!"
Oh please... I had enough of this, the typical Malaysians from Peninsula Malaysia always blame Sarawak & Sabah citizens for voting BN. However, none of you knows the frustration and the pain we are suffering since decades ago and still continuing until now and perhaps future.
Based on the source from Department of Statistics, Malaysia, the total number of non-Malaysian citizen is even higher than the number of bumiputra citizen! Can you imagine it? Among 10 ppl around you, there are 2 to 3 non-Malaysian citizens and those came without permits haven't included yet. So you still think those Bangla's in Peninsula Malaysia is a bad situation? Sabah is worse! Who's voted BN? The statistics is the answer. Opppss...and that's the statistics for 5 years ago, now it's probably more than 30%.
So what does 1Malaysia mean? It really means nothing to me perhaps to us(Sarawakian & Sabahan), we always have a strong bond between each other and we don't blame anyone. Do you ever see a lot of Malays or bumiputras having their meals in a Chinese restaurant? We did that here in Sarawak & Sabah because we respect each other, we don't serve anything that they can't eat or drink(if you know what I mean). We sit together in class, play together, study together, share food with each other and sometimes fight with each other but we are still friends after all. 1Malaysia isn't just a slogan for shouting, it's a practise and it's a bond between races!