KOTA KINABALU: In short: Sabahans pay RM2.15 per litre for subsidised diesel. Peninsular Malaysia’s price floats and recently dropped by 75 sen to RM5.97 per litre. Thailand (RM6.03) and the Philippines (RM10.50) are not oil producers – yet they manage market rates. Sabah produces 40% of Malaysia’s oil, with high‑quality, low‑sulfur crude that yields more diesel per barrel. The gap between Sabah and Peninsular prices has narrowed slightly, but the fundamental question remains: Who controls Sabah’s wealth?
THE CONVERSATION
Angie Chin:Let me start with what I hear from young people in KK. “Cheap diesel is the only good thing the federal government gives us. If they take it away, we’re finished.” That’s the sentiment. But now the government has dropped Peninsular diesel by 75 sen to RM5.97. The gap is narrowing. Atama, what does this mean for our communities?
Atama Katama:
The price drop in Peninsular Malaysia proves something important: when global oil prices fall, the federal government is happy to reduce unsubsidised prices there. But Sabah’s price stays fixed at RM2.15. That is not protection – that is control. A falling gap does not change the structure. The question remains: who holds the key to our oil?
Remy Majangkim:
Atama is right. Let’s look at the data. A standard barrel of crude (159 litres) yields roughly 27% diesel. Sabah’s crude is low‑sulfur – 0.06% – which means it produces more diesel per barrel than heavier crudes. Sabah alone contributes 40% of national oil output. With Sarawak, nearly 70%. We are the backbone.
Angie Chin:
So let me test this. A fisherman in Kudat pays RM2.15 for diesel. He thinks that’s a gift from Putrajaya. But you’re saying that gift is actually a tiny fraction of what we already own?
Remy Majangkim:
Exactly. The federal government takes our high‑quality crude, refines it, sells it at world prices – then hands back a subsidised litre as charity. The rest of the value flows to Kuala Lumpur.
Atama Katama:
And that is the structure of dependency. I travel across Sabah – Keningau, Kudat, Sapi Nangoh, Pitas. I see the roads, the clinics, the schools. We produce the oil, yet we live like we have nothing. That is not poverty – that is extraction disguised as protection.
Angie Chin:But Atama, if we push too hard and the federal government removes the subsidy overnight, prices jump to RM6. The fisherman will blame us, not Putrajaya. How do we manage that short‑term pain?
Atama Katama:
We tell him the truth. Short‑term pain is real. But long‑term servitude is worse. A people who cannot afford market prices for their own oil have already lost. The solution is not to beg for a subsidy – it is to control the resource. Then we decide: keep diesel affordable and build roads.
Remy Majangkim:
That’s the link to the 40% revenue issue. Both are about the same structure: We produce the wealth, they control it.
Angie Chin:
So the real question isn’t “cut or keep”. It’s “who decides”. But here’s my test: even if we agree on that, how do we force Putrajaya to change? Protests haven’t worked. Lawsuits get delayed.
Remy Majangkim:
Numbers. Parliament has 222 seats. A majority needs 112. No single party wins that alone. Twenty true Sabahan seats make us kingmaker.
Atama Katama:
Twenty out of 222 – that’s less than 10%. But you’re talking only about Sabah. What about Sarawak?
Remy Majangkim:
That’s the next layer. Twenty Sabah seats alone can force negotiation. But if we add Sarawak’s MPs – those who are truly independent of federal party control – we can form a Borneo Bloc. A unified voice from both states.
Angie Chin:
How many seats does Sarawak have?
Remy Majangkim:
Sarawak has 31 parliamentary seats. Not all are independent – many are still tied to national parties. But if we can secure even 10 to 15 truly Sarawak‑first MPs, and combine with our 20 from Sabah, that’s 30 to 35 seats. That’s not just kingmaker. That’s a blocking third. No federal government can ignore a bloc that large.
Atama Katama:
So the 20 seats are just the beginning. The real goal is a Borneo Bloc – Sabah and Sarawak standing together, demanding our rights.
Remy Majangkim:
Exactly. We cannot win alone. Sarawak has its own struggles – the same PDA74, the same subsidy divide, the same loss of revenue. Our fates are tied. If we fight separately, we lose. If we fight as Borneo, we become unstoppable.
Angie Chin:
That means reaching across the border. Building alliances with Sarawakian activists, civil society, and potential candidates. Coordinating our scorecards, our pledges, our candidate boards.
Atama Katama:
I have contacts in Kuching and Sibu. Indigenous leaders who feel the same betrayal. We can start conversations immediately.
Remy Majangkim:
Then let’s do it. The Borneo Bloc is not just about seats. It’s about a shared platform:
Restore 40% revenue for Sabah and an equivalent for Sarawak.
Repeal or amend PDA74 to give both states control over oil and gas.
End the diesel subsidy disparity.
Return education and healthcare autonomy.
Angie Chin:That’s a bold agenda. But to carry it, we need more than 20 candidates. We need a Borneo‑wide movement.
Remy Majangkim:Yes. But we start where we have the most influence – Sabah. Twenty seats is our immediate target. Once we prove it works, Sarawak will follow.
Atama Katama:Then the race is not just to identify 20 Sabahan candidates. It’s to build a Borneo alliance before the next election.
Remy Majangkim:That’s the new plan. Twenty seats for Sabah. A bridge to Sarawak. A unified Borneo voice in Parliament.
Angie Chin:Let’s start mapping. Which Sarawak seats have the highest potential for independent, Borneo‑first candidates?
Remy Majangkim:I’ll prepare a preliminary list within two weeks. Atama, you reach out to your contacts. Angie, you design the digital campaign that frames this as Borneo’s moment, not just Sabah’s.
[They nod as one.]
Atama Katama:Now let’s talk about the deeper structure. Remy, you mentioned PDA74. Explain that.
Remy Majangkim:[Leaning in]The Petroleum Development Act 1974 – PDA74 – gave Petronas ownership of petroleum resources beyond three nautical miles off Sabah and Sarawak.
Angie Chin:Beyond three nautical miles? That’s almost the whole continental shelf.
Remy Majangkim:Exactly. And here’s the critical part – that Act was passed during a state of emergency. The purpose? To normalise their control of our continental shelf. That’s our oil field.
Atama Katama:[Voice low]So they used emergency powers to take what was ours – and then made it permanent.
Remy Majangkim:Yes. We had no say. Our state assemblies were in shambles after the death of our sitting Chief Minister. The law was signed off by individuals who are still alive today.
Angie Chin:And that one law still governs our oil today?
Remy Majangkim:Yes. What has it given us? A fixed 5% cash payment based on gross production – for Sabah, for Sarawak, for every barrel taken from our land and waters. That arrangement has been in place since 1975.
But here’s the real structure: about 80% of revenue from our oil goes to cover Petronas’s production costs – costs they control entirely. The remainder is shared between Petronas and its investors. The state gets 5% as a royalty.
Angie Chin:So from every barrel of our oil, 80% goes to Petronas’s costs, the rest is profit – and we get 5% of gross production, not even net profit?
Remy Majangkim:Correct. That is not partnership. That is a lease on our own birthright.
Atama Katama:So when the federal minister says, “We are helping Sabah with cheap diesel,” what he really means is: “We are giving you a small discount on oil you already own, while we keep almost everything else.”
Remy Majangkim:Now you see it. So when people ask, “Should the subsidy be cut?” – I say, you’re asking the wrong question. The question is not whether Sabahans should pay RM2.15 or RM6 for diesel. The question is: Why is the wealth from our oil decided by a 1974 emergency law, passed without our consent, to normalise control of our continental shelf?
Atama Katama:Then we need more than twenty seats. We need a campaign to amend or repeal PDA74. That is sovereignty. That is ownership.
Remy Majangkim:One step at a time. First, twenty seats. Then, the Constitution. Then, the laws that bind us without our voice.
Angie Chin:And in the meantime, we tell the story. The 80% cost control. The 5% royalty. The emergency law passed when we had no voice.
Remy Majangkim:That’s the fight. Not just diesel prices. Ownership.
[Silence. They nod at one another.]
Angie Chin:So we have our path. Reframe the subsidy. Connect it to PDA74. Build the Borneo Bloc. Twenty seats. Then thirty‑five. A blocking third.
Atama Katama:And before any candidate touches that seat, they must prove their competence and their understanding of the plight of Sabahans – and Sarawakians – in both the State and Federal Constitutions.
Remy Majangkim:We will identify the future MPs. The Sabahan Candidate Board will vet them. Public scorecards. Recorded interviews. A signed pledge. And a recall mechanism if they betray us.
Angie Chin:The race is on. Twenty candidates. Then the bridge to Sarawak. Then the Borneo Bloc.
Remy Majangkim:So that’s the play. One‑liner statements from each of us.
Atama Katama:“The land remembers those who fight for it. We will not be forgotten.”
Angie Chin:“Your vote is your voice. Make sure it speaks Sabahan.”
Remy Majangkim:“We have the responsibility to tell the truth. It matters – and it is for our future.”
