The Sabah Foundation ( ms, Yayasan Sabah) or Yayasan Sabah Group (YSG) is a state sanctioned organisation that was developed to promote educational and economic opportunities for its people. It was founded by Tun Mustapha Harun and manages a diverse portfolio of resources and issues.

History

The

Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...

-based

think-tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental ...

was allowed to be established by 1966 Sabah State Legislative Assembly Enactment No. 8. The foundation was created in 1966 by Tun Mustapha Harun create educational opportunities for the country's

Malaysian people Malaysians are nationals and citizens who are identified with the country of Malaysia. Although citizens make up the majority of Malaysians, non-citizen residents and overseas Malaysians may also claim a Malaysian identity. The country is h ...

. Four years later its scope was expanded to include economic and social advancement. It also coordinates distribution of resources in the event of a natural disaster to those in need. It was Tun Mustapa Harun's further goal "to promote

Malayisation Malayisation (Commonwealth spelling) or Malayization (North American and Oxford spelling) is a process of assimilation and acculturation, that involves acquisition ( ms, Masuk Melayu, literally "embracing Malayness") or imposition ( ms, Pemelayu ...

consciousness amongst the people of Sabah."

1966–1975

In 1967, coinciding with the formation of the Sabah Foundation, the Ministry of Natural Resources was abolished. The government gave the foundation 3,300 acres of land and a grant of 1 million

ringgit The Malaysian ringgit (; plural: ringgit; symbol: RM; currency code: MYR; Malay name: ''Ringgit Malaysia''; formerly the Malaysian dollar) is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 ''sen'' (formerly ''cents''). The ringgit is issue ...

to fund the start-up of the organisation. In 1970, Sabah Foundation was tasked, through a 100-year lease, of managing the 855,000 hectares of virgin forest. Nineteen years later their total holdings were 1.07 million hectares. Sabah's total land area is 7.4 million

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

s. Tun Mustapha withheld earnings is should have paid to the state and used the fund for political purposes, providing proceeds to the electorate and to support his political associates. Harold Crouch wrote of Tun Mustapha's resulting political power: In late 1975 Tun Mustapha was forced by the government to resign. The Sabah State government then pulled the foundation under the authority of the government. The foundation over-harvested its timber natural resources to fund its political agenda.

1975−1985

Although the foundation was no longer a private entity, the state government, led by the

Berjaya Sabah People's United Front or in Malay ''Parti Bersatu Rakyat Jelata Sabah'' is more commonly known by its abbreviation BERJAYA, was a political party based in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. BERJAYA was formed by former United Sabah National Org ...

political party, did not have the control that they expected because financial investments continued to be controlled by Innoprise, an entity and within the foundation responsible for managing its investments. The Sabah Foundation's large budget allows it to continued to manage a diverse range of activities, including

reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands ( forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A de ...

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis, chevalier de Jaucourt describes ...

and

tourism industry Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

, agro-plantation,

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re- lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

and

food industry The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the world's population. The food industry today has become highly diversified, with manufacturing ranging from small, traditional, ...

, and the

oil and gas industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...

. It continued to wield political power, including state elections between 1978 and 1990.

1985−present

After the Berjaya and until 1994, the

Parti Bersatu Sabah The United Sabah Party ( ms, Parti Bersatu Sabah, abbreviated PBS) is a political party of Sabah. The PBS was founded by Joseph Pairin Kitingan in 1985 and it is Sabah's oldest local party. In August 2020, PBS confirmed that they would be using ...

(PBS) political party gained control of the government, "in opposition to the national government". In 1991 Jeffrey Kitingan, Sabah Foundation head, was detained under the

Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to: *Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law *Internal Security Act (Singapore) *McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law *Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, renamed ...

for 31 months for "plotting the secession of Sabah from the Malaysian Foundation" and then fired from his position at the foundation. Charges of corruption were dropped when Jeffrey Kitigan left the PBS political party. In 1994, the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...

(UMNO) had political control. During this time Sabah Foundation continued its developmental efforts with little governmental intervention. In 1994 a

Price Waterhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

audit revealed that Sabah Foundation accounts were missing more than $1 billion, evidence of accusations of corruption. At that time, Innoprise had more than a dozen subsidiaries with little oversight. Based upon the audit results, Sabah Foundation was reorganised, governmental officials were to site on its board of trustees and Chief Minister Datuk Salleh Tun Said chaired the board. In 2012 allegations were brought against the foundation's former Chief Minister Musa Aman for embezzling over $90 million from the foundation. In 2018, Shafie Apdal, Sabah Foundation chairman, ordered a full investigation into the financial affairs of Rakyat Berjaya, which is fully owned by the foundation.

Organisation

Sabah Foundation is now under the Sabah Government with three organisational divisions: * Sapangar SDN. BHD * Innoprise Corporation SDN. BHD * KKYS SDN. BHD

Research library

Within Sabah Foundation's

Tun Mustapha Tower Tun Mustapha Tower is a 122 metre, 30-story glass tower in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. It was built in 1976 by Mori Building Company, a Japanese builder. The building was formerly named Yayasan Sabah Tower as it housed Sabah Foundation (Y ...

headquarters complex is the Fuad Stephens Borneo Research Library, named for former Chief Minister

Tun Fuad Stephens Muhammad Fuad Stephens, (born Donald Aloysius Marmaduke Stephens; 14 September 1920 – 6 June 1976) was a Malaysian politician who served as the 1st and 5th Chief Minister of Sabah from September 1963 to December 1964 and again briefly from ...

. It was established with the support of the

National Library of Malaysia The National Library of Malaysia ( Malay: ''Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia'') (PNM) is a library established under the National Library Act 1972 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The National Library is responsible for providing a collection of knowle ...

, Mara Institute of Technology Library,

Sabah State Library Sabah State Library ( ms, Perpustakaan Negeri Sabah) is a state department under the State Ministry of Education and Innovation Sabah which managing every of the public library branches in Sabah of Malaysia. The headquarters is located in Tasik ...

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia The National University of Malaysia ( ms, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, abbreviated as UKM) is a public university located in Bandar Baru Bangi, Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. Its teaching hospital, Universiti Kebangsaan Malays ...

Library and the

Sabah State Museum The Sabah Museum ( Malay: ''Muzium Sabah'') is the state museum of Sabah, Malaysia. It is sited on of land at Bukit Istana Lama in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital. History The original Sabah Museum location was established on 15 July 1965 ...

Librarian. It is a three-level building with a total area of 3,135.48 square metres. Its objective is to "undertake strategic initiatives to function as a primary information resource center - contributing towards establishing a knowledge-economic society."

Reception

Foundation trustees and staff are appointed by the chief minister. The foundation likened to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

n President

Suharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto l ...

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

and "heavily criticised for its partisan nature" assuming that it "was a device for imposing mainstream Malay culture onto Dayak (and in particular

Iban IBAN or Iban or Ibán may refer to: Banking * International Bank Account Number Ethnology * Iban culture * Iban language * Iban people Given name Cycling * Iban Iriondo (born 1984) * Iban Mayo (born 1977) * Iban Mayoz (born 1981) Football * ...

) youth". One year after the organisation's creation, Sabah Foundation's founder, Tun Mustapha Harun, became chief minister of Sabah.

Environmental issues

In the 1970s, logging increased in its concession area. Sabah Foundation has a 100-year logging concession. Conversion of forest areas to land for oil palms is a major threat for rainforests. Some forest areas are conserved, however. 14 Borneo pygmy elephants were found dead in a concession area of Sabah Foundation within two weeks in 2013, the cause likely being

poisoning A poison can be any substance that is harmful to the body. It can be swallowed, inhaled, injected or absorbed through the skin. Poisoning is the harmful effect that occurs when too much of that substance has been taken. Poisoning is not to ...

Educational initiatives

The Sabah Foundation is involved in a number of educational initiatives in Sabah including the Sabah Foundation Technical College (KTYS) and the University College Sabah Foundation.

History

1966–1975

1975−1985

1985−present

Organisation

Research library

Reception

Environmental issues

Educational initiatives

See also

References

External links

Further reading