KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Law Society (SLS) will make arrangement for the public to follow the appeal by the Federal Government to be heard by the Court of Appeal sitting at Kota Kinabalu over Sabah’s constitutional 40 per cent revenue sharing entitlement outside the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex premises on Oct 29, 2026 starting from 9am.
SLS lead counsel Dr David Fung and former SLS President Datuk Roger Chin made an appeal to the Sabah public to attend the historic occasion to support SLS legal team in their effort to claim Sabah’s 40 per cent revenue from the “missing 48 years from 1974 to 2021” – the black hole period when Sabah’s constitutional 40 per cent revenue sharing entitlement was ignored by the federal authorities.
This was relayed to the full house audience at the Sabah International Convention Centre Kinabalu Hall by SLS lawyers at the book launch of “MA63: Sabah 40pc Constitutional Entitlement”, Saturday, where all 90 copies printed by the publisher – Asia Knowledge Law Books – were sold out at RM120 each.
SLS will take advance booking for subsequent reprint of the RM150 book by the publisher.
Roger said this case by SLS has restored confidence to Sabahans that their rights could be defended and upheld by the judiciary in accordance with the Constitution of Malaysia in the historical process of nation building.
He said when this action began in 2022, the then Federal Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul bin Tengku Abdul Aziz had said that the 40 per cent formula was no longer applicable after 48 years without the constitutionally required review.
“Sabah was effectively being asked to accept that a right expressly written into the Federal Constitution has somehow ceased to matter,” Roger recalled.
Hence, the Oct 29, 2026 Court of Appeal hearing is both a legal inflection point on remedies for lost years and a public legitimacy moment. Success now hinges on rigorous appellate briefs and visible public support that keeps federal concessions anchored to constitutional compliance, not mere political optics with more grants announced by federal leadership.
