By Remy Majangkim (Majangkim Office)
KOTA KINABALU: Dear Chief Minister, You recently announced that the government will “double efforts” to address Sabah’s rising cost of living. But as citizens living this dilemma every single day, we must ask, ‘Double what efforts?’ What plan has ever existed?
We don’t need vague intentions. We need a single, clear, long‑term plan – built from Sabah’s own perspective, with all political parties at the table, passed by our August House (Sabah State Legislative Assembly), and sent to the Federal Government as a binding resolution.
And it must last. Not six months. Ten years.
The Dilemma, Defined
The cost of living is how far your salary stretches. It is the quiet panic when your RM100 – which should cover a week of groceries, fuel, a utility bill, and maybe a child’s school fee – now barely buys three days of rice, eggs, and cooking oil.
For a family in Sabah, surviving means no medical emergency, no broken water heater, and no sudden car repair. Every ringgit is a hostage negotiation—meaning every expense is a difficult choice, not a luxury. Our living costs are already 20‑30% higher than in Peninsular Malaysia, with wages far behind. Every new federal tax hits Sabahans harder.
No press conference will solve this without a ten‑year, Sabah‑owned, bipartisan action plan carrying the full weight of our legislature.
Why Sabah’s Perspective? Why Include the Opposition?
The cost of living affects every Sabahan, regardless of party. The opposition holds ideas and voices from outside power. Excluding them makes the plan partisan, and partisan plans die when governments change.
We need a Sabah Cost of Living Convention – chaired by the chief minister, including opposition leaders, economists, civil society, and representatives from the undocumented. Together, they draft the plan. Then the August House debates, amends, and votes.
Once passed, it is a legislative mandate – sent formally to the federal government as Sabah’s unified voice.
The Process: Convention → August House → Federal Table
Convene a 60‑day cross‑party working group. Public meetings in every district.
Draft a 10‑Year Sabah Cost of Living Stability Bill, with annual targets, funding, and enforcement.
Pass the bill in the August House with a bipartisan majority.
Transmit the bill as a formal resolution to the federal government, demanding matching funds, devolved price controls, and a state‑federal council.
Publish the plan online with quarterly public scorecards.
This is not rebellion. It is responsible, constitutional, collective action.
A Rebuttal in Five Points (Demands, Not Lessons)
0. Where are the E‑invoicing revenues?
Since 2022, the Madani government has rolled out e‑invoicing – plugging tax leaks and expanding the tax base. By December 2025, LHDN had received over 820 million e‑invoices. Direct tax collection grew from RM183.34 billion in 2023 to RM184.8 billion in 2024, projected at RM188.8 billion for 2025. Indirect taxes at RM70.2 billion. Analysts estimate total tax collection could hit RM260 billion or more in 2025. How much was collected from Sabah?
So here is another question:
If the federal government has collected billions more from 2022 to 2025 through e‑invoicing, what possible reason is there for not immediately paying Sabah its constitutionally guaranteed 40% share?
There is no reason.
The Kota Kinabalu High Court ruled on October 17, 2025, that the federal government acted unlawfully by failing to fulfil Sabah’s 40% entitlement for 1974‑2021, ordering a review and mutual agreement. The federal government says it will not appeal the core ruling. But negotiation is not payment. Sabahans cannot eat at negotiations.
If federal coffers are swelling from e‑invoicing – direct taxes, indirect taxes, non‑tax revenue, and petroleum revenue – then Sabah’s people must see the benefit immediately. That money could subsidise rice, stabilise fuel, build local food production, and create a safety net.
So we ask: Where are our 40% of the e‑invoicing billions? Open the books. Pay us what is owed. That is the fastest way to ease our burden.
1. Don’t “look into” – legislate.
You have the August House. Call a special sitting on the cost of living. Invite the opposition to co‑sponsor the bill. Pass it before the next state budget.
2. Wages must rise with the cost of living for a decade.
The bill must include a Sabah minimum wage index, linked to actual inflation, reviewed annually, and tabled every July in the August House. No more waiting for federal adjustments.
3. Address the undocumented to prevent crime.
This is public safety. When people have no legal way to earn, no access to basic food, and no hope of survival, desperation breeds theft, petty crime, and black markets. A basic survival assistance card for all residents without papers – renewable every two years, usable for subsidised rice, flour, cooking oil, and basic medicine – is not amnesty. It is crime prevention. Passed by the August House, it becomes law. The federal government can fund or challenge it, but Sabah will have to act to keep streets safer.
4. Apologise for past inaction – then act collectively.
A bipartisan apology in the August House – government and opposition – for decades of neglect would be historic. Then vote on the bill. That is not a weakness. That is the beginning of trust.
The Bottom Line
The cost of living dilemma in Sabah is a wound bleeding for decades. You cannot double a bandage that does not exist and redefine it again through an announcement.
We are asking for a ten‑year, Sabah‑owned, bipartisan action plan – drafted together, passed by the August House, and sent to the Federal Government as our people’s binding will.
And above all, we ask the federal government: Where are our 40% of the e‑invoicing billions? We are talking about circa 2022 to 2025; the data is there, and the money is collected. The right is clear. No reason for delay.
If you deliver that, you will be a builder of a lasting legacy. If not, your words join Sabah’s forgotten promises.
