I knew of Tony Blair coming to Sabah about two weeks ago.Local newspaper Daily Express got wind of his presence here and broke the news.
Former Britain Prime Minister Tony Blair and his family is in Sabah for holidays.Blair and his family has been in Kota Kinabalu for the past 4 days and expected to stay a few more days.
Yesterday, Blair, wife Cherie and children attended morning mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral and were seated among parishioners without those among them realizing who they were.Only when mass ended and when they were about to leave the crowd realized the man was Tony Blair and his family and started to throng around him.Blair could only spare a few minutes before being whisked away by security personnel into a waiting car.
Blair, was once, one of the most powerful world leaders and responsible for the invasion of Iraq at the behest of US President George Bush.Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad has labelled both as war criminals and urged the world court to try them for war crimes.Unfortunately, nobody is listening.
Sabah has been and still is favourite destination for celebrities and well-known world figures coming here incognito.
The majestic Mount Kinabalu
Jacques Cousteau was here with his ship Calypso many years ago and did a documentary on Sipadan before he died.Michael Schumacher was here a few years ago.Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi was here last year.Many other stars had come and gone without a squeak.
Sutera Harbour MarinerBelow is a 300- foot yacht picture taken by me that belonged to Paramount Pictures that came last month and stayed for almost a month at Kota Kinabalu.
Paramount Pictures super yachtAnother not so famous name but have a famous son are the parents of Adam Clayton, the bassist of U2, who moved to Sabah and whom I know personally.The most down to earth couple, never talked about their famous son.
Come to Sabah and unwind yourself.The beauty is, even if you are famous nobody really cares. We respect your privacy.
23 comments:
I know one UK Labour MP & Cabinet Minister (a personal friend) has been in and out of KK a few times the last few years too. Yep, Sabah offers much. Thank gOd for that.
No surprises there bro, my wish list for Sabah, negeri di bawah angin is :
-Snorkelling/Scuba at Sipadan Island
-just relaxing at Karambunai Nexus Resort surrounded by greenery and fronted by the sea.
-Seafood at Kota Kinabalu
-Relaxing and have tea and scones at Sandakan English Tea House.
not necessarily in the above order, please add more little unknown but great places to visit.TQ.
hye 2009. i live in sabah in 02-06. i dont know bout current situation, but dulu2... byk sampah la kat KK. and PATI pun bersepah.
skang? cane bro.
Sabah yes I have been there , beautiful place , beautiful people .
HL,
Sabah is one of the poorest states in Malaysia (if not maybe even the poorest!).
Sorry to bring a "political" slant to your article but Sabah could / should have been so much better & "richer".
No prizes for guessing (hint: look who has been ruling Malaysia for more than 50 years!) why it's still one of the poorest states in Malaysia!
I have only been to Labuan (& that's FT right & not in Sabah?! Stolen by the Federal Govt!) & so that's does not count but I have many friends from Sabah & they are nice, honest & warm people.
HL,
This is what i do not dispute...Sabah is a unique product of geological formation. God blessed it by putting so much effort in creating it
A land of beauty that pray human does not exploits and destroy it in the process of economic endeavour..
Kamunting Taiping has a similar setting, the hills , the water, the greeneries, though in a smaller scale, EXCEPT for the ISA detention camp, that stood out like a huge pimple on a china- white skin ! A blemish beyond words.
The silent cries in the night, the daily yearn for freedom, the incessant endurance of mental tortures.... Something a person like you would not be able to comprehend, or refuse to do so. All in the comfort of the beautifull land you dwell in !
I was in Sabah in 1977 to climb the magnificent and beautiful mountain, Mt Kinabalu for charity. Hear that now the mountain have been commercialize!
Eddy,
National Park up in the mountains (foothills of Mt K), the islands off KK, Kinabatangan Lodges, Maliau Basin.
Sea food and more seafood.
Give Bro HL a break lah some of you people.
I think this post is about promoting Sabah as a tourist destination,a commendable act of a proud Sabahan, a brief respite from all the politicking since March 2008.
Want to repeal ISA or change to a alternative Government?, just vote the BN Government out IF you can, next election lah.
To be clear, Sabah is not one of the poorest state in Malaysia.
Sabah 'once' was riched with a lot of 'precious things'. But have been united with the Semenanjung Malaysia, and all those precious things being taken by the people of Semenanjung.
Many people thought that Sabahans are living in jungle or on a tree, but not. We are even richer than the Semenanjung people, we do a lot more vacations to a really far places like the States or the Europeans than those people of Semenanjung.
eddy,
Yes, when HL indulges himself with the salty sea breeze with the majestic view of the Mt Kinabalu at the backdrop, we should all stop talking about ISA....the ISA he so fully supported !
Those poor souls with their freedoms literally hung on the noose for years with no ends in sight, there is no trials to determine their guilt, may be because there is no evidence in the very first place to trial them !
May be we should ask the government to shift the ISA detention camp to Sabah, and may be people like you and also HL can spend some time in the cells for years with no end !
SM,
Sabah is not the poorest state in Malaysia.That is Sabah politicians ploy to get more money from the Federal government.Of course, like everywhere else, there as pockets squalid conditions and these are more because of too many illegal immigrants,otherwise it would be even a nicer place.
Come and see for yourself.
SM,
Correction!....there are pockets of squalid conditions
Personally, sabah is well known in overseas rather than other states in malaysia beside Kuala Lumpur .Those people saying sabahan peoples live in the jungle or no shopping complex or no shops here are useless especially those from east malaysia. Yeh, we live in the tree but we travel to overseas and drive a big car...How are you going to comment abt tht..
Ah,
At least that clear things up. Sorry about that. HL, please remove my comment. Thank you.
A Sabahan,
Thanks.In good Sabahan spirit I have removed both, yours and mine.Hope to see more of you here.
I think HL is highlighting the fact that we've got a lot of cool goings-on over here in Sabah. That would surprise even the most jaded. And so what if we do? Deal with it.
Take tonight for example - went out for a couple of drinks with friends and ended up bumping into and chatting with the charming and friendly Tony Fernandez.
Perhaps a regular occurrence for our West M'sian counterparts but not for us - or for me anyway.
In any event, yes we're cool.
Why not visit "Tanjung Aru"? Know some of its hidden agendas. Besides, also try to scout around.
who can resolve all those issues in my 30 Police Reports here?
http://malaysia-police-reports.blogspot.com/
We need a great move to do that.
HL,
I stand corrected!
After all, since the BN-led Sabah State Government can afford to give its State Cabinet Ministers, Assistant Ministers, House Speaker, Deputy Speakers, assemblymen and political secretaries, between 10 and 30 per cent (or was it 66% that I read somehwere?) beginning June 1, then Sabah (& Sabahans too, from the comments I see here!) must be pretty rich & thus, the State Government should not bitch at the Federal Government for not giving it more!
I am proud of being Sabahan. What makes us different than west Malaysian is that, the way we label ourselves, regardless if you're Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Dusun, Iban, ... we see ourselves as Sabahan, not by the color of the skin. we have yet still cultivate this strong values that west Malaysian has deprived decades and decades ago, i suppose. and i believe that is the essence of a country that can be united and be peace.
And again yes, I'm proud being a Sabahan ...
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