Murray Hunter
DATUKSHIPS FOR LOYALTY? SABAH’S HONOURS SYSTEM HAS BEEN CORRUPTED
PRESS STATEMENT 30th March 2026
Mar 30, 2026
DATUKSHIPS FOR LOYALTY? SABAH’S HONOURS SYSTEM HAS BEEN CORRUPTED
The latest mass conferment of State Awards reported by Daily Express is not a celebration.
It is evidence.
Evidence that Sabah’s honours system is no longer guided by merit — but by political loyalty, patronage, and abuse of power.
Let us stop pretending this is normal.
This is a scandal hiding in plain sight.
1. HONOURS FOR CHEERLEADERS?
Sabahans are now openly asking:
Are State Awards being given to those who shout the loudest for political parties during elections?
Because that is exactly how it looks.
Those who campaign.
Those who mobilise crowds.
Those who serve party interests.
They get rewarded.
Not necessarily for service to Sabah — but for service to political masters.
If political loyalty is the new qualification, then State Awards have been reduced to election bonuses.
2. FROM MERIT TO CONNECTION — A SYSTEM CAPTURED
Let us be brutally honest.
The pattern is undeniable:
Party Youth Chiefs
Women Chiefs
Divisional Leaders
Political insiders
All elevated.
All honoured.
All within a system increasingly seen as captured by political interests.
This is not coincidence.
This is design.
And when a system is designed to reward insiders, merit becomes irrelevant.
3. THE MOST DAMNING QUESTION — WHO ELSE IS BEING REWARDED?
There are now disturbing public concerns — whispered, discussed, and increasingly believed:
That even individuals of questionable status, including illegal immigrants, have been conferred State awards such as ADK.
If this is true — even in a single instance — it is not just a scandal.
It is a complete collapse of the integrity of the system.
Because State Awards are supposed to represent:
loyalty to Sabah
contribution to Sabah
identity with Sabah
If non-citizens or undocumented individuals are being honoured -
then what exactly are we honouring?
And who exactly is deciding?
4. SABAH VS SARAWAK — DISCIPLINE VS DECAY
Compare this with Sarawak:
Datuk Patinggi — reserved, controlled, respected
Datuk Amar — rare, selective
In Sabah?
Multiple Datuk Seri Panglima (SPDK) in one round
Floods of PGDK (Datuk) every year
This is not generosity.
This is dilution.
This is how a prestigious title becomes cheapened, questioned, and eventually mocked.
5. PUBLIC MONEY, PRIVATE REWARDS
Each medal costs tens of thousands of ringgit.
Let that sink in.
At a time when Sabahans are struggling economically, what do they see?
A system that appears to reward political networks using public resources.
This is not honour — this is patronage funded by the people.
6. THIS IS NO LONGER A WARNING — THIS IS AN EXPOSURE
We are no longer dealing with perception.
We are dealing with a credibility crisis.
A system that:
rewards loyalty over service
elevates position over contribution
and allegedly extends recognition beyond even citizens
is a system that has lost its moral authority.
SABAHANS ARE WATCHING
The people of Sabah are not naïve.
They see the pattern.
They understand the game.
And they are asking the question that should terrify those in power:
Who is next? And what exactly is the price of a title?
If immediate reforms are not made:
abolish political quotas
enforce strict merit-based criteria
purge political influence from the process
then Sabah’s State Awards will no longer command respect.
They will become a symbol of everything that is wrong with governance.
And once that happens —
every title conferred will carry not honour, but suspicion.
Daniel John Jambun
Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo)
DATUKSHIPS FOR LOYALTY? SABAH’S HONOURS SYSTEM HAS BEEN CORRUPTED
The latest mass conferment of State Awards reported by Daily Express is not a celebration.
It is evidence.
Evidence that Sabah’s honours system is no longer guided by merit — but by political loyalty, patronage, and abuse of power.
Let us stop pretending this is normal.
This is a scandal hiding in plain sight.
1. HONOURS FOR CHEERLEADERS?
Sabahans are now openly asking:
Are State Awards being given to those who shout the loudest for political parties during elections?
Because that is exactly how it looks.
Those who campaign.
Those who mobilise crowds.
Those who serve party interests.
They get rewarded.
Not necessarily for service to Sabah — but for service to political masters.
If political loyalty is the new qualification, then State Awards have been reduced to election bonuses.
2. FROM MERIT TO CONNECTION — A SYSTEM CAPTURED
Let us be brutally honest.
The pattern is undeniable:
Party Youth Chiefs
Women Chiefs
Divisional Leaders
Political insiders
All elevated.
All honoured.
All within a system increasingly seen as captured by political interests.
This is not coincidence.
This is design.
And when a system is designed to reward insiders, merit becomes irrelevant.
3. THE MOST DAMNING QUESTION — WHO ELSE IS BEING REWARDED?
There are now disturbing public concerns — whispered, discussed, and increasingly believed:
That even individuals of questionable status, including illegal immigrants, have been conferred State awards such as ADK.
If this is true — even in a single instance — it is not just a scandal.
It is a complete collapse of the integrity of the system.
Because State Awards are supposed to represent:
loyalty to Sabah
contribution to Sabah
identity with Sabah
If non-citizens or undocumented individuals are being honoured -
then what exactly are we honouring?
And who exactly is deciding?
4. SABAH VS SARAWAK — DISCIPLINE VS DECAY
Compare this with Sarawak:
Datuk Patinggi — reserved, controlled, respected
Datuk Amar — rare, selective
In Sabah?
Multiple Datuk Seri Panglima (SPDK) in one round
Floods of PGDK (Datuk) every year
This is not generosity.
This is dilution.
This is how a prestigious title becomes cheapened, questioned, and eventually mocked.
5. PUBLIC MONEY, PRIVATE REWARDS
Each medal costs tens of thousands of ringgit.
Let that sink in.
At a time when Sabahans are struggling economically, what do they see?
A system that appears to reward political networks using public resources.
This is not honour — this is patronage funded by the people.
6. THIS IS NO LONGER A WARNING — THIS IS AN EXPOSURE
We are no longer dealing with perception.
We are dealing with a credibility crisis.
A system that:
rewards loyalty over service
elevates position over contribution
and allegedly extends recognition beyond even citizens
is a system that has lost its moral authority.
SABAHANS ARE WATCHING
The people of Sabah are not naïve.
They see the pattern.
They understand the game.
And they are asking the question that should terrify those in power:
Who is next? And what exactly is the price of a title?
If immediate reforms are not made:
abolish political quotas
enforce strict merit-based criteria
purge political influence from the process
then Sabah’s State Awards will no longer command respect.
They will become a symbol of everything that is wrong with governance.
And once that happens —
every title conferred will carry not honour, but suspicion.
Daniel John Jambun
Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo)
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