The ghost of 1994 haunts Lajim Ukin

Former bellhop is scared of his own shadow
Mention Lajim Ukin and he takes you back to 1994. That was the year when he defected from the opposition Parti Bersatu Sabah which won the Sabah election by a razor-thin two-seat margin but was denied the government. His action opened a floodgate of defections from PBS to the nationally ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. After 18 years, that has remained Lajim’s best achievement in politics. But the ghost of 1994 has never deserted him. Now as he chases shadows, the federal lawmaker of Beaufort is afraid of his own.

Perhaps the 57-year-old Lajim has seen the writing on the wall. So he has made a few pre-emptive moves: he quits as the head of the Kerambai Kebatu branch of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) and announces that he would not be defending his Beaufort division chief post and says that he may not even defend his parliamentary seat. He fears that the BN leadership may not allow him to do so.


But is Lajim over-reacting? Chief Minister Musa Aman, who heads Umno and the BN in Sabah, has never said or dropped hints that Lajim would be sidelined. Neither has Najib Razak, the prime minister who heads the 13-member coalition. He makes the final decision.

In picking a quarrel with his boss in public, Lajim has shown his weakness and a disposition to megalomania. He wants the prime minister to intervene in Sabah’s affairs and he makes himself equal to former Malaysian prime ministers: Mahathir Mohamad and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Lajim says he would be an ordinary member of Umno just like them and brushes off talks that he would join Anwar Ibrahim’s opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

But who is Lajim Ukin? He was a bellhop at Winner Hotel, a two-star hotel in Kota Kinabalu owned by the late Yong Yun, father of Yong Teck Lee who heads the opposition Sabah Progressive Party. Other than being Sabah’s famous party hopper and parliamentarian, Lajim is the deputy federal minister of housing and local government, a junior post. Abdullah made him the deputy transport minister after he won the Beaufort parliamentary seat on his first outing in 2008. And Najib switched Lajim’s posts when he succeeded Abdullah as prime minister the following year. They never made him a full minister.

People close to Lajim say he wants to become Sabah’s chief minister, a post promised him by Anwar, who was federal finance minister and deputy prime minister in 1994. It was Anwar who engineered the defections that led to the collapse of the PBS government. Lajim never got it but became a deputy chief minister after retaining his Klias state seat in 1999 on an Umno ticket. – Insight Sabah

37 comments:

  1. Haunting and hunting him.. But at least Lajim has asked for forgiveness from Pairin Kitingan on the damage he had done in 1994.. Maybe he is redeeming further himself? But on a second thought, he maybe doing this for other reason..we dont know now, but later as GE draws closer...

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    1. Tidak tahulah apakah langkah seterusknya daripada Lajim, baik kita tunggulah dan lihat saja.

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  2. Now Lajim is chasing Anwar's promise to him in 1994, only this time via Anwar's PKR... Same birds flock together right Kanul? You know better, you have been PKR Sabah secretary.

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    1. Ada kemungkinan juga Lajim Ukin akan mengikuti PKR kerana Anwar pernah berjanji dengannya dulu. Sekarang Lajim nak menuntut hutang daripada Anwar.

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    2. tk perlu lan terpedaya dgn janji2 Anwar. Anwar tu mmg pandai kalau berjanji. tapi tunaikan tak taulah..

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    3. bagus Lajim lompat ke PKR sahajalah.

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    4. Lebih baik Lajim tetapkan pendirian sekarang bukannya kedua2 belah kaki berada di tempat yang berbeza.

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  3. Time will reveal everything, let's wait and see.

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  4. beliau tidak payah risau jika dia seorang menteri yang baik

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    1. Lajim tk perlu risau.. dia adalah antara pemimpin penting dalam UMNO. dia pasti takkan diabaikan.

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    2. sendiri sudah letak jawatan lepas ni jangan menyesal dengan keputusan yang dibuat.

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  5. pemimpin yang jujur akan berkhidmat untuk rakyat dan bukan untuk kepentingan sendiri

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    1. ya, pemimpin yang jujur akan mengutamakan rakyat.

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  6. jika ini diamalkan, sudah tentu pemimpin itu akan diingati jasanya walaupun telah bersara dari arena politik

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  7. ya, jika Lajim bersikap sedemikian, beliau tidak payah risau tentang reputasinya..

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    1. Tak kisahlah apa yang dilakukan oleh Lajim, ia tidak akan memberi apapa impak kepada parti BN.

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  8. apa pun, jika beliau masih giat dalam politik, biarlah rakyat yang menentukan nasib beliau di PRU13 nanti

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    1. Lajim sudah meletak jawatan tetapi kenapa masih berada dalam BN? Jika berputus nak keluar, tunggu apa lagi?

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    2. rakyat sentiasa memerhati dan mahukan pemimpin yang berkhidmat untuk mereka.

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    3. Another frog in Sabah.

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  9. Lajim tidak layak menjadi KM dulu, beliau juga tidak layak menjadi KM sekarang.

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    1. memang tidak layak...

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    2. Dari pandangan secara kasar pun Lajim memang tidak layak memegang jawatan sebagai KM.

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  10. dengar2 lajim mahu musa aman digantikan...mungkin lajim mahu sangat jadi KM sabah..

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    1. Semuanya hanyalah kemungkinan dan sukar dan tentukan andaian kita tu betul ka tak:)

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  11. Cara terbaik ialah kita buat kesimpulan bila tiba masanya nanti. Barulah best:P

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  12. Isu ni makin pula dipanjangkan... Hairan mcm ada sesuatu pula kan:P

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    1. isu macam ini tidak harus dipanjangkan..banyak isu lain yang lebih penting.

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  13. Tapi tak apalah, hanya pemimpin yang jujur dan ikhlas berjuang untuk rakyat saja akan mendapat sokongan rakyat nanti.

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    1. rakyat tahu juga pemimpin mana yang layak diundi nanti.

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  14. No wonder Lajim wants Musa to be replaced. He is hoping to be the next cm.

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  15. semua pemimpin harus fokus untuk berkhidmat kepada rakyat.

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  16. banyak kontrovesi pula yang melanda Lajim sekarang ini.

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  17. Isu mengenai Datuk Lajim ini tidaklah serius sangat hanya letak jawatan pun belum lagi ada pun kata-kata dari beliau ingin keluar dari parti tersebut. Maka kita tunggu saja berita seterusnya.

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  18. Pembangkang macam berminat pula dengan Datuk Lajim ini untuk menyertai parti mereka. Kenapa adakah kerana Datuk Lajim ini sangat ditakuti oleh pembangkang sehinggakan mahu mengambilnya menjadi ahli.

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  19. pembangkang paling suka bila ambil parti lompat dari BN.. tapi bila pemimpin mereka lompat masuk BN, macam2 la kritikan dikeluarkan oleh mereka..

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  20. tidak ada yang istimewanya si Lajim ni.. malah lebih teruk lagi kerana tidak mampu bertindak profesional bila dirinya tidak dicalonkan.. asyik2 mau dia saja yang didepan..

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