Sabah must reimagine its education and economic strategies to survive global uncertainties and remain competitive, Moyog assemblyman and Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking said.
Calling for a total revamp of Sabah’s education system, Leiking said the state needed to equip its youth with new skills, particularly in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), while ensuring they gain fluency in English to adapt to a globalised future.
“We must force them to learn one basic common language, which is English.
“This is the way forward for Sabah,” he said during his debate on the Head of State’s policy speech on Monday.
He urged the state to leverage existing government agencies such as Yayasan Sabah, as well as STEM and TVET-focused bodies, to drive this shift.
On economic resilience, Leiking said Sabah needed to produce higher-quality products if it hoped to remain competitive in international markets.
He cautioned against being overly reactive to global developments such as U.S. tariff pauses and instead focus on raising product standards.
“Don’t talk about outside Malaysia. Are we even in a position to compete with Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak?” he asked.
“Yes, we’ve heard of SK Nexilis and Kibing, but these are only partial supply chains. What is our ten-year plan?”
He called on the government to clearly outline a long-term economic roadmap and empower agencies like Invest Sabah to lead industry development, especially amid global trade instability.
Leiking also expressed concern about resource management, questioning why strategic mineral assets like lithium and cobalt were being given to the private sector.
“Why give it to the private sector? Give it to something you can trust—GLCs or Yayasan Sabah,” he said, adding that experts could be brought in to help manage state-linked companies if funding was an issue.
“We just have to be brave enough.”
Toward this end, Leiking has called on the Sabah government to establish an independent ombudsman and introduce state-level whistleblower protection laws to tackle what he described as the state’s shameful corruption problem.
The Moyog assemblyman said recent remarks by MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki labelling Sabah as a “hotbed of graft” were deeply embarrassing—and confirmed long-standing public concerns.
“There is definitely something rotten going on in Sabah. “It is shameful coming from the MACC Commissioner.”
He argued that existing measures were inadequate and that bolder institutional changes were required.
“I think we need to set up an ombudsman—someone truly independent who can report to the State Assembly.”
“We must also protect whistleblowers, even if it means creating laws that contradict federal enforcement,” he said.
Leiking warned that the culture of corruption had become so widespread that even young people saw politics as a shield for wrongdoing.
“A 13-year-old boy told me he wanted to become a politician because they can escape corruption. Can you imagine that?” He said.
Turning to state-level governance, he raised the issue of mineral prospecting licenses and asked the government to disclose the names of all companies granted exploration rights—and whether any are politically connected or linked to outsiders.
He also questioned the handling of flood mitigation works in Moyog, particularly the performance of drainage contractors.
“Are we going to allow the same contractors who failed to clean our rivers and drains?” “Thousands of families lose their assets, their cars,” he said.
Leiking said slow payments to contractors and bureaucratic confusion over drainage responsibilities had compounded the issue.
He further cited persistent water pressure problems in parts of Moyog and raised concerns over the handling of Sabah Forest Industries’ (SFI) concession.
“Is it true that the SFI concession has been given to the same company that allegedly purchased it initially?” he asked.
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