LETTER | Will change ever come to Sandakan as promised?

LETTER | I'm a true-bred Sandakanian.

A lot of people asked me why did I come back after completing my degree overseas where the prospects were better. My answer has always been that Sandakan needs new blood and the quality of life is great here.

Where could we go home for an hour siesta and just able to go back to the office within 20 minutes? 

The community is amazing. If you need help, your neighbours are always in your beck and call. The family are always so close by.

Recently due to the changes in our political landscape and the true test of the political climate, I was facing a dilemma.

After the change of government in 2018, I was so hopeful that wonderful things would come to us. A new caretaker of the municipal council president was great at his job cleaning up the city and revamping the out-of-date civil servants in the council. 

The town was clean. Alas, this was shortlived. Unfortunately, he left due to some political disagreements. 

Blackouts and water shortages are now a norm in Sandakan. From town to Bandar Bangsawan, shops are closing down making these places look like cowboy towns of the 50s.

Young people left Sandakan because they are unable to look for jobs due to lack of industries. The whole beautiful town is reclining to be a place of very young and very old. 

It is a pitiful sight. What do our three elected councillors do? Nothing. 

We don't need a miss pageant Sandakan MP; we do not need a constant out of town state health minister where our own sick Sandakanians have to fly to other cities to seek for medical attention, and we don't need a councillor whose job is to point at potholes and clogged drains.

My peninsula friends kept reminding me not to succumb to frogs (katak). But as a frustrated Sandakanian, when you can't see any tiny progress as promised in their 2018 mandate, you feel jaded, cheated and disillusioned. 

The real question is that, if we give them a second chance, will change ever come to Sandakan as promised?

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.