PENAMPANG: Kadazandusun Cultural Association (KDCA) Deputy President Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey G Kitingan has suggested that every Kadazandusun contribute RM1 a month to help fight poverty through greater community unity.
“Imagine if we collect RM1 per person per month. I think our population is about one million, which makes that RM1 million a month. Maybe we can look at that,” he told a media conference at the KDCA’s Tan Sri Pairin Hall.
“The difficulty is how to get it done. But it can be done,” he said.
Jeffrey made the suggestion in response to a reporter who said many in the community were still struggling financially and asked that the next dialogue focus on helping them out of poverty instead of spending too much time debating what they should be called.
The media conference was held to inform the public about the outcome of the Kadazandusun Dialogue 2026 held on Sept 19.
“If we are all organised in one big tree, then we can have one common forum where all these problems can be channelled, and then we can discuss ideas on how to resolve whatever problems we face,” said Jeffrey, agreeing with the concern.
“Our people are actually very lucky. We are actually very rich because we have land. But the question is, is the land generating any income?”He said members could join the KDCA cooperative even if they already had their own cooperatives, pointing out that a large organisation would carry more weight with financial institutions and the Government than individuals acting alone.
He said an organised community would also have greater strength to push village applications to the Government and spread departmental allocations across districts.
Meanwhile, KDCA President Huguan Siou Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan said he supported the idea.
He said the KDCA cooperative was started with a similar idea, aiming to gather 1,000 people, each buying RM1,000 in shares, to raise RM1 million.
He said members had been urged at the association’s congress to increase their shares and called on more people to buy into the cooperative to strengthen it.
Pairin said the Kadazandusun tradition of mogitatabang, or helping one another, should be revived through modern community service.
“I agree with that. Let us do it,” said Pairin. “Since long ago, when we built a house, we mogitatabang. When we go harvesting, we mogitatabang. We must realise that this spirit is very important.”Meanwhile, KDCA Deputy President Datuk John Anthony said the association’s strategic plan for 2025 to 2028 had seven goals, one of which was building assets so that KDCA could fund its own future.
He said economic non-sustainability was among six key challenges the plan was meant to address, pointing out that the association had set up the Huguan Siou Educational and Charitable Foundation to help in business, education and charity.
“Before we can help our people, we have to help ourselves first. Make sure KDCA is strong, make sure KDCA is capable and has money so that we can then offer scholarships to our people.
“So, Kaamatan, we can finance ourselves. For children who want to go to school, we can offer scholarships. And if possible, we can help our people start businesses.
That is one way of getting our people out of poverty. Of course, that is to supplement the Government’s efforts,” he said.
