Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) President Datuk Yong Teck Lee said the two Sabah DAP leaders should gracefully accept the Datukship title conferred to them.
He said Datuk Chan Foong Hin and Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe should gratefully accept the State awards without having to bother what their Malaya masters think.
The former Chief Minister said he was amused by Chan and Phoong who seemed to feign helplessness in accepting the Datukship conferred to them by the Head of State (TYT) in conjunction with his 70th birthday.
“If they are truly unable to accept the awards for whatever reasons, then all they need to do is to courteously explain to the Chief Minister and TYT that they do not mean to be disrespectful to the TYT or ungrateful to the Chief Minister,” Yong said in a statement.
SPONSORED CONTENT Daily Express members: Enjoy 1 for 1 signature cocktails and more at Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu: DAILY EXPRESS is partnering with Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu to offer an exclusive deal for our members. Read more Speaking from personal experience, Yong said the day before the TYT’s birthday (on Sept 16, 2000), he informed the then Chief Minister (Tan Sri Osu Sukam) and then TYT (Tun Sakaran Dandai) that he declined the conferment of SPDK (Seri Panglima Darjah Kinabalu) for reasons he made known to the CM and TYT.
“Henceforth, my name was removed from the list to be gazetted although the Istana programme book for the rehearsal had already been printed,” he said
SPDK, Sabah’s highest honour, carries the title Datuk Seri Panglima.
Yong was commenting on the statement by Chan, who is DAP Sabah Policy Bureau Chief, that he accepted the Datukship title out of respect for the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin and the Sabah Government.
Chan, who is also Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security and Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament (MP), said on Saturday that he was fully aware of the DAP’s current policy since 2018 which states that only the party’s retirees are entitled to receive such awards.
“I feel it was not easy to refuse it because I am a Sabahan and the offer came from the Yang di-Pertua Negeri and the Sabah Government, so I received it with good faith.
“At a certain point, Phoong and I had thought about withdrawing, but eventually our names were gazetted. Once our names were gazetted, we felt that we need to respect the decision and recommendation by the Sabah Government and Juhar.
“I will surrender myself to the party and shall leave it up to them to decide on the issue,” he said.
Chan and Phoong were among 50 recipients who were conferred the Panglima Gemilang Darjah Kinabalu (PGDK) award, which carries the Datuk title, in a coronation ceremony here on Saturday.
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