48-hour ultimatum and challenge  to Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Raymond Tan to night tour of the ghost-town of Sandakan (his constituency for three terms) 

This morning I was in Sandakan where I had issued a challenge to the Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah to a night-tour of Sandakan as he had disputed  my statement that Sandakan is a ghost town after dusk. 

I had given Tan 48 hours to respond to my challenge and if he dares to accept, we can then fix a date for a joint  night-tour of Sandakan to establish whether Sandakan  becomes a ghost town  as soon as the sun goes down, with the local people of Sandakan deserting the town centre for the safety of their homes or to the outskirts of Sandakan from the  third mile. 

I am very shocked that Tan, who is a three-term  State Assemblyman for Sandakan, representing Tanjung Papat, should challenge my statement that Sandakan is a ghost town after dusk – as this is not a recent phenomenon but is the sad fact about Sandakan for over two decades,  covering  the entire period that Tan had been elected representative for Tanjong Papat. 

What did Tan  do in his  15 years as Sabah State Assemblyman for the area, with two terms as Cabinet Minister and now as Deputy Chief Minister, to revive Sandakan to its past vibrant and flourishing glory as “Little Hong Kong”? 

Instead of restoring the  night-life of Sandakan so that it does not become a ghost town  after dusk, the “ghost town”  problem  has spread  its tentacles outwards to cover an increasing stretch of real property which is  now  some three miles  from the town centre. 

Tan should have thanked me for highlighting the problem of Sandakan and used  his present position as Deputy Chief Minister to get the Federal and Sabah State governments to  launch a programme to revive Sandakan after dusk and give Sandakan as “Little Hong Kong” a second life – and not try to deny the undeniable of Sandakan as a ghost-town after dusk for over two decades. 

I await  Tan’s response to my challenge for a joint night tour of the ghost-town of Sandakan after dusk.

* Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader, MP for Ipoh Timur & DAP Central Policy and Strategic Planning Commission Chairman