COMMENT | Sabah will head to the polls on Saturday, Nov 29 2025, to choose 73 members of the state assembly. For many, this is another election, but it is personal for me.

I was born in Sandakan, at The Duchess of Kent Hospital. Lived in Batu 2/12, had a home there, and I still have relatives staying in Kampung Sim Sim.

My mother is from Karakit Island in Banggi and later lived in Matunggong before moving to Semporna. My late father was from Tawau before settling in Tanjung Aru, Kota Kinabalu.

We are a proud Bajau family with an Indian Muslim lineage. My grandfather once worked as an office helper under Sakaran Dandai during his tenure as chief minister. We shifted to Kuala Lumpur in 1996.

These roots shaped me. Although I now reside in Kuala Lumpur, my relatives and my identity remain tied to Sabah.

Perhaps that is why...