KUCHING: Service is crucial, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, reflecting on the highs and lows of his political journey.
He said while patience is key in ensuring success and longevity in politics, loyalty to the party is similarly important.
“I think it does not matter if you are the number one, number two or number three (in rank), what matters is you contribute,” he said, speaking to Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan, co-hosts of the Keluar Sekejap podcast which aired on Monday (July 22).
He was responding to a question by the hosts on him having to bide his time to rise to the top of Sarawak politics including a period of which he was put into the political cold storage.
“What is also important is you must respect the leadership and be loyal to the party as we are not obsessed over positions. This is what happened to me.
“And of course, while we have our supporters who might say ‘you must fight (the leadership)’, I said ‘what for?’. We just serve and do our work.
“That is my character. The people are more important than me. The party is more important than me. The party cannot afford to be divided,” he said.
The Premier said there was some wisdom by former chief minister, the late Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud who retained him (Abang Johari) in the party despite their past differences, choosing to work together for Sarawak.
He also believed that there was a reason why the former governor chose the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem to succeed him (Abdul Taib) as chief minister in 2014.
“There must be a reason for him (Abdul Taib) to say ‘let Adenan be the chief minister first’. That is why when Adenan passed away, the late Taib asked me to take over, with the support of our component parties,” he said.
On the question of succession, the Premier used a football analogy where Sarawak must have a team of leaders working together towards a common goal.
“In any team, you must have a captain. If a team wants to win, then the players must play their individual roles, but the captain must know everyone’s role.
“The ball has to be passed to one another. That is the way it should be done. For me, the team will be there. There will be a new captain, but the team is still there. The spirit of ‘ngap sayot’ is still there,” he said.
