YOURSAY | ‘The new title aptly describes the territories and their governing rights.’

S'wak assembly passes bill renaming 'chief minister' title to 'premier'

S'wak premier: Najib not amused by DAP rep's toilet humour

Vijay47: There are two issues here (on the renaming of Sarawak chief minister to premier). The first refers to the amendment in the title for the political top honcho in Sarawak. I fully agree with this change.

It is another seemingly small but telling snip to the death-grip yoke Peninsular Malaysia, or rather Putrajaya, has been having over Sabah and Sarawak. The new title represents the actual relationship among the three wings that make up Malaysia – the peninsula, Sabah, and Sarawak.

Remember, Sarawak and Sabah did not join Malaysia, they formed Malaysia.

As equal partners in a union of three. To have their administrative heads addressed as chief minister would be to reduce them to the status of Penang and Malacca, relatively minor cogs in the behemoth that is Peninsular Malaysia.

Sabah and Sarawak have begun to assert themselves, demanding that the Malaysia Agreement be applied both in letter and spirit. They are no longer mere vote deposits.

There may now be an unanticipated problem; if prime minister refers to the whole country and premier to Sarawak (and Sabah), shouldn’t there be another similar post for Peninsular Malaysia?

The other point is former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s distress over tissue paper being related to political potentates.

Poor man, he will explore any avenue to remain in the public eye in the hope he is still regarded as a leader of importance and relevance. Following his performance at Batu Caves in full Indian regalia, veshti and all, we can expect that in his next visit to Kuching, he will be dressed as a Dayak warrior.

In the meantime, sir, to dry your teary eyes, you can rely on Premier tissue paper.

The Wakandan: Najib, it is just bad timing unfortunately, before this somebody named their tissue paper, Premier, to wipe where your hands would not want to go, and the public are now familiar with the brand.

Probably it has no copyright but we can’t blame the DAP assemblyperson (Pendang assemblyperson Violet Yong) for laughing. She must be thinking it is a circus.

The prefix chief minister for Sarawak has been used since Malaysia time immemorial, to change it to premier now, people would certainly think about the tissue paper, which they are familiar with.

It takes time, Najib, for the people to get used to the new term. In hindsight, the choice must have been done in a rush. Premier Abang Johari Openg should be aware that toilet paper Premier already exists.

Anonymous9483: It was reported that Yong said she had “helped to promote Premier brand tissue paper” during the debate on the Constitution of the State of Sarawak (Amendment) Bill 2022 to drop the usage of the chief minister title and replace it with premier.

I never knew that the elected representative’s job is to help promote a tissue brand in the assembly. Even DAP politicians are becoming circus clowns these days.

But on a serious note, DAP ought to really stop making all these silly little remarks to score brownie points.

On one hand, DAP was one of the loudest proponents to give Sarawak greater autonomy.

On the other hand, they make snide and sarcastic remarks when the assembly is rectifying certain terms to better reflect Sarawak's position in the federation as a territory instead of state.

DAP is turning out to be such a huge disappointment with their hypocrisy and lack of stand on issues. They are only good at making noise and being agitators in the assemblies without actually contributing to anything of significance.

Malaysia Tulin: In principle, the new title ‘premier’ aptly and correctly describes the “territories" and their governing rights.

Sabah and Sarawak are territories of Malaysia, and they are not considered as a "state". They do have governing rights, though not all rights are secured. They need to pursue them till they get all.

However, for ease and clear definition - at least now, all will realise that Sarawak and Sabah are not the same and it does have some sort of rights on its own - hence its right for the head of government to be called premier.

Yong should do some homework - and need to learn more.

Kim Quek: This Sarawak constitutional amendment to name the CM as premier is clearly unconstitutional as it contradicts the relevant provisions of the Federal Constitution, which is the supreme law, and to which all state legislations are subordinated.

Instead of wasting time driven apparently by vanity, the Sarawak government would be well advised to concentrate its energy and the state resources to uplift the standard of living of its people, particularly the rural folks, who have been neglected for decades while the ruling elite thrive in illegal wealth through unbridled corruption.

CitizenSaro: It is a pity that Sarawak wasted its opportunities to amend its constitution to a mere name change for CM (chief minister).

I am not a Sarawakian but I am certain that there must be far more important things in the existing constitution that needs debate and change.

An example would be to limit the CM's term or compulsory education to SPM level, etc, that would have a direct and immediate bearing on its people.

GajahDuduk: But wouldn't the chief minister being called the premier be confused with a box of tissues?

I mean, politicians previously confused a bottle of whiskey with a Malay woman, so we have to be careful.

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