Forum to highlight plight of Sabahans in Klang Valley
Pakatan Rakyat is organising a forum on July 4 at the Petaling Jaya Community Library, to invite Sabahans living in the Klang Valley to come out and tell them their problems.
Pakatan Rakyat is organising a forum on July 4 at the Petaling Jaya Community Library, to invite Sabahans living in the Klang Valley to come out and tell them their problems.
An estimated 100,000 Sabahans are staying in the Klang Valley. However, many are living in a deplorable state.
According to Hiew King Cheu (DAP-Kota Kinabalu), some Sabahans staying in Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas are illiterate and living as beggars, and some young women are unfortunately involved in prostitution.
"We are hoping for a big turnout. Pakatan top leaders like Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang (
left
) and Khalid Ibrahim will be there to meet them. We see it as a responsibility of Pakatan as Sabah is part of Malaysia, so it is our duty to help them," he said.
"The Sabahans come here with the hope of finding work. However, some of them are cheated by employment agencies and are left stranded without money to go home. Others are too embarrassed and ‘have no face' to return.
"The Sabah government had sent some back, paying for their airfares and providing pocket money, but the situation is getting even worse (as more continue coming)."
Hiew also proposed that a committee or an organisation be set up to further assist the Sabahans in the Klang Valley and throughout the peninsula.
24-hour help hotline
"Tentatively we are calling it the Sabah Society and we will have a 24-hour hotline so that we can extend help immediately," he told reporters at the parliament lobby today.
Hiew (
right
) pointed out that these Sabahans are forced to find work in the peninsula because of the lack of jobs in Sabah.
"There, the jobs for young people are usually taken by foreigners who come cheaper. It is cheaper. I cannot blame the employers. The illegal immigrants are taking the jobs in plantations and in factories.
"The government has promised to create thousands of jobs but it never happened. This is proof that the state government had failed in their role to provide employment for young Sabahans."
