OPEN LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER DATUK SERI MOHD NAJIB TUN RAZAK

Dear Prime Minister Najib,

This is my second open letter to you; my first, about two years ago - you may or may not recall - was about the proposed coal-fired power plant in Sabah.

This letter is about your 'projek panda' (my pet name for it) that is going to cost us approximately RM50,000,000 (loan of 2 pandas + facilities + food + maintenance) and improve our relationship with China.  Your rationale sounds dubious to me, but I am going to set my judgments aside and instead do my best to understand your leadership.

It is with that sentiment that I make this public proposal to you: improve your and your administration's relationship with Sabah by matching one-to-one the funds that you are putting into projek panda and putting it into a Sabah Endangered Species Fund that our state in collaboration with NGOs will administer.  Your actions with projek panda deeply confused, upset and angered me and many of my colleagues who are working tirelessly to protect the endangered species of Sabah and Malaysia.  We go through soul-destroying fund application processes to receive (or not) what little funds your government allocates to manage and protect this natural capital fundamental to the economic, ecological, social and cultural health of the state.

I have dedicated my life to fund-raising and have raised perhaps RM50,000,000 over the last 20 years for many causes (mostly environmental) - most have come from international sources.  The need on the ground has been great and the national sources, both public and private, have been pitiful.  In one fell swoop, you spent a chunk of funds equal to what I've spent half my life to raise.

I ask you to consider my request and show government leadership, at the same time modeling philanthropic leadership for the private sector.

Yours sincerely,

Cynthia Ong