Uggah, flanked by his host Chong (front, fourth right) and Dr Rundi, joins (front, from right) Dr Yii, Yong, Abdullah and Wong in a photo-call taken during the Chinese New Year open house, hosted by Chong.

KUCHING: Assistant Minister in Chief Minister’s Department (Corporate Affairs and
Sarawak Public Communications Unit) Abdullah Saidol sees no problem in attending Chinese New Year open houses hosted by politicians from the other side of the divide.

Commenting on his visit to one hosted by Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen who is also the chairman of Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak and Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak, Abdullah said as a Sarawakian, he would always join in and enjoy every religious or cultural celebration in Sarawak, in the spirit of embracing ‘a sense of togetherness and unity’.

“We can be ‘enemies in politics’ but minus all the political talks and sentiments, there are elements of humanity, tolerance and moral values in us all.

“Thus, we must maintain these good values, especially within the multiracial communities in Sarawak, as I believe that everybody desires peace and harmony,” he said when met last Sunday.

Abdullah further said that in any political argument or debate, for all intents and purposes, they would involve one’s desire to solve issues and find mutually-agreed mechanisms that would eventually conclude with the solutions set to benefit the people.

He said although politicising almost every issue, especially those involving the people’s welfare, would not bring any immediate solution, and would also make people become more confused and frustrated, the point would be that one could ‘agree to disagree in politics, where it would matter’.

“In rushing towards securing political mileage or popularity, a certain level of political decency and ethics must be observed too,” he added.

Also present during Abdullah’s visit to Chong’s Chinese New Year open house event were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Minister of Utilities Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom, Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, Padungan assemblyman Wong King Wei, and Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong.