A misread press statement on the Sabah Head of State’s official birthday has triggered a social media uproar, political crossfire, and calls for police reports against at least one Warisan leader at the point of writing.

The issue began on Tuesday after a government media statement said the birthday celebration would be from March 30 to June 21, with seven official events being highlighted. 

In one of the key points of the statement issued by the head of state official birthday celebration central committee chairman Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam, it reads, “Selaras dengan Warta Kerajaan Negeri Sabah, tarikh Ulang Tahun Kelahiran Rasmi TYT adalah pada 30 Mac 2025.

“Walau bagaimanapun, sambutan bersempena Ulang Tahun Kelahiran Rasmi ini akan berterusan sehingga 21 Jun 2025. Di mana dalam tempoh tersebut terdapat tujuh (7) Acara Rasmi yang berlangsung di Sabah.” 

(Translation: In line with the Sabah State Government Gazette, the official birthday of the Head of State (TYT) falls on 30 March 2025. However, the celebration in conjunction with this Official Birthday will continue until 21 June 2025, during which period there will be seven (7) official events taking place in Sabah.) 

The phrasing led many media reports — including The Star, which ran the headline “Three-month-long birthday celebration for 11th Sabah governor” — to believe the state was planning a three-month celebration.

Critics quickly pounced. 

Social media users accused the government of wasting public funds, while Warisan number two Datuk Darell Leiking questioned the need for such an extended celebration.

The organising chairman was quick to respond and instead issued a correction decided to issue a clarification. 

When checked on Friday (today), the office of the organising chairman maintained it was not a correction but a clarification.  

The ministry said the events would be held across a single month in June, not continuously over three months.

In the clarification, Deputy Chief Minister II Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam said this year’s event is actually smaller than last year’s — with only seven programmes compared to 12 previously, and a 30% budget cut.

That hasn’t stopped political rivals from turning up the heat.

Sabah Chief Minister’s political secretary Mandela Malakun accused Warisan of playing politics, calling their remarks “irresponsible” and “disrespectful” to a state institution.

“They know the people are struggling, so they fuel outrage. This isn’t politics with dignity — this is cheap politics,” he said in a scathing post on Thursday.

Another anonymous party-aligned statement went further, accusing Leiking of trampling on the Sabah Constitution and calling for their Sabah citizenship to be revoked. It also urged the public to lodge police reports.

Gagasan Rakyat’s information unit also stepped in to clarify that the events follow long-standing tradition and had simply been scheduled earlier this year.– March 28, 2025