Lajim Ukin

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Seri Panglima Haji
Lajim Ukin
SPDK PGDK DCSM JMN
Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government
In office
10 April 2009 – 30 July 2012
MonarchsMizan Zainal Abidin
Abdul Halim
Prime MinisterNajib Razak
MinisterKong Cho Ha (2009–2010)
Chor Chee Heung (2010–2012)
Preceded byHamzah Zainudin
Robert Lau Hoi Chew
Succeeded byHalimah Mohamed Sadique as Deputy Minister of Housing, Local Government and Urban Wellbeing
ConstituencyBeaufort
Deputy Minister of Transport
In office
19 March 2008 – 9 April 2009
MonarchMizan Zainal Abidin
Prime MinisterAbdullah Ahmad Badawi
MinisterOng Tee Keat
Preceded byTengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar
Douglas Uggah Embas
Succeeded byAbdul Rahim Bakri
Robert Lau Hoi Chew
ConstituencyBeaufort
State Leader of the Opposition of Sabah
In office
14 June 2013 – 2 October 2016
GovernorJuhar Mahiruddin
Chief MinisterMusa Aman
Preceded byMelanie Chia Chui Ket
Succeeded byChristina Liew Chin Jin
ConstituencyKlias
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Beaufort
In office
8 March 2008 – 5 May 2013
Preceded byAzizah Mohd Dun (UMNO—BN)
Succeeded byAzizah Mohd Dun (UMNO—BN)
Majority10,914 (2008)
Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly
for Klias
In office
6 May 2013 – 10 May 2018
Preceded byAzizah Mohd Dun (UMNO—BN)
Succeeded byIsnin Aliasnih (UMNO—BN)
Majority179 (2013)
Personal details
Born(1956-06-15)15 June 1956
Beaufort, North Borneo (now Sabah, Malaysia)
Died29 August 2021(2021-08-29) (aged 65)
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Cause of deathCOVID-19
Resting placeMuslim Cemetery, Kampung Kebatu, Beaufort, Sabah
Political partyUnited Sabah National Organisation (USNO) (1973–1975)
Sabah People's United Front (BERJAYA) (1975–1983)
United Sabah Party (PBS) (1983–1994)
United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) (1994–2012)
People's Justice Party (PKR) (2012–2016)
Sabah People's Hope Party (PHRS) (2016–2019)
Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) (2019–2021)
SpouseNormilah Siong
OccupationPolitician

Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Lajim Ukin (15 June 1956 – 29 August 2021) was a Malaysian politician.

He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Beaufort constituency in Sabah from 2008 to 2013, the Deputy Minister of Transport from 2008 to 2009, and the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government from 2009 to 2012; in the federal Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government.[1][2]

Lajim previously served as Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah for three terms from 1999. He was also the Leader of the Opposition in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (2013–2016). Lajim was the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) supreme council member and also Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) executive chairman at the time of his death in 2021.

Political career

[edit]

Before entering federal politics, Lajim was a prominent figure in Sabah state politics. He was a member of the United Sabah Party (PBS) before defecting to United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in 1994.[3][4] He later served as Deputy Chief Minister in the Sabah government.[5]

Lajim was elected to Parliament in the 2008 election, as a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in the seat of Beaufort.[6][7] He was subsequently appointed Deputy Minister for Transport,[8] moving to the portfolio of Housing and Local Government in 2009.[9] In July 2012, he renounced his official positions in UMNO to align himself with the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition coalition. This resulted in the revocation of his appointment as a deputy minister.[2] He recontested his parliamentary seat of Beaufort in the 2013 election on a People's Justice Party (PKR) ticket, but was defeated. While losing his federal seat, he won the election for the Sabah State Legislative Assembly seat of Klias. He became the leader of the opposition in the State Assembly.[10]

On 2 October 2016, Lajim resigned from PKR along with two other Pakatan Harapan (PH) assemblymen.[11] He has stated his intention to form a new Sabah-based party and ally with the former Sabah UMNO leader, Shafie Apdal.[12] He later decided to establish a separate party from Shafie, known as Sabah People's Hope Party (PHRS), which was finally approved by Registrar of Societies (RoS) on 25 October 2016.[13] PHRS was dissolved to let its party members be absorbed into Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) in 2019.[14] After being absorbed, he became BERSATU Sabah Election Director before being appointed a BERSATU Supreme Council member for the term 2019 to 2022.

Lajim is also known to default on his promises. After commissioning a ghostwriter to write a book about the history of his political party, he failed to deliver on his promises to pay the writer and printing costs, leaving the writer in debt with unsold books. This is thought to be one of the factors that eroded the voters' confidence in the ruling coalition that his party belongs to, culminating in the results of 2020 Kimanis by-election, which saw the opposition coalition BN win, defeating the three-way coalition containing PH, which incorporates BERSATU.

Personal life

[edit]

Lajim was married to Normilah Siong. The couple divorced sometime later.[15][16]

In early 2017, Lajim was injured after falling from a train car on the way to attend a wedding. He was then referred to a local traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner or "sinseh" and was advised to rest for one week.[17]

In 2021, Lajim was screened and tested positive for COVID-19 at Gleneagles Hospital Kota Kinabalu on 1 August before his admission to KPJ Sabah Specialist Hospital on 13 August. With a history of chronic illnesses, including a kidney transplant and heart ailment, he was later placed under an induced coma after his health deteriorated on 24 August afternoon.[18] On 29 August at 6.23 am, Lajim aged 66 died due to COVID-19 pandemic complications.[19] His remains were brought to his hometown at Kampung Kebatu Beaufort for last rites and burial.[20]

Election results

[edit]
Parliament of Malaysia[6][21]
Year Constituency Candidate Votes Pct Opponent(s) Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
2008 P177 Beaufort, Sabah Lajim Ukin (UMNO) 14,780 79.27% Lajim Md Yusof (PKR) 3,866 20.73% 19,327 10,914 72.22%
2013 Lajim Ukin (PKR) 12,154 47.87% Azizah Mohd Dun (UMNO) 12,827 50.52% 26,950 673 86.39%
Guan Dee Koh Hoi (STAR) 409 1.61%
2018 Lajim Ukin (PHRS) 8,023 29.48% Azizah Mohd Dun (UMNO) 11,354 41.72% 28,011 3,331 84.44%
Johan Ghani (PKR) 7,835 28.79%
Sabah State Legislative Assembly[22][23][24][25]
Year Constituency Candidate Votes Pct Opponent(s) Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
1986 N36 Klias Lajim Ukin (PBS) 2,749 49.09% Azizah Mohd Dun (USNO) 2,652 47.36% 5,670 97 74.55%
Empih Godfrey Eigur (BERJAYA) 199 3.55%
1990 Lajim Ukin (PBS) 3,679 52.36% Azizah Mohd Dun (USNO) 2,888 41.11% 7,102 791 78.49%
Loi Siang Tong (BERJAYA) 348 4.95%
Duin Banang (AKAR) 111 1.58%
1994 N36 Klias Lajim Ukin (PBS) 4,881 49.09% Anifah Aman (UMNO) 4,476 47.36% 9,468 405 78.68%
1999 N22 Klias Lajim Ukin (UMNO) 7,209 63.89% Ab Rahman Md Yakub (PBS) 3,434 30.44% 11,402 3,775 75.65%
Saidi Musi (AKAR) 640 5.67%
2004 N25 Klias Lajim Ukin (UMNO) None None
Unopposed
2013 Lajim Ukin (PKR) 6,324 49.71% Isnin Aliasnih (UMNO) 6,145 48.30% 13,064 179 85.30%
Mohd Sanusi Taripin (SAPP) 182 1.43%
Aliapa Osman (STAR) 71 0.56%
2018 Lajim Ukin (PHRS) 3,837 27.94% Isnin Aliasnih (UMNO) 6,173 44.94% 14,187 2,336 83.70%
Johair Mat Lani (WARISAN) 3,725 27.12%

Honours

[edit]

Honours of Malaysia

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Lajim bin Haji Ukin, Y.B. Datuk Seri Panglima Haji" (in Malay). Parliament of Malaysia. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Lajim Ukin's appointment as ministers revoked". Bernama. 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2012. (subscription required)
  3. ^ Zulkifli Jalil (4 October 2016). "Lompat melompat bukan asing buat Lajim". Utusan Malaysia (in Malay). Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  4. ^ Baradan Kuppusamy (4 October 2016). "One political adventure after another". New Straits Times. Retrieved 25 October 2016 – via PressReader.
  5. ^ "Sabah Cabinet gets down to work". The Star. 30 March 2004. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout (including votes for candidates not listed).
  7. ^ Muguntan Vanar (14 April 2013). "GE13: Lajim Ukin to defend Beaufort parliament, eyes Klias state seat". The Star. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  8. ^ Ruben Sario (19 April 2008). "Maznah to vacate Pahang state exco position". The Star. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  9. ^ Ruben Sario (10 April 2009). "Sabahans jubilant over state representation in Cabinet". The Star. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  10. ^ Samantha Rae (16 June 2013). "Lajim Named As Opposition Leader For Sabah PR". The Borneo Insider. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  11. ^ "Three reps quit PKR, DAP for local Sabah party". Malaysiakini. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  12. ^ "Lajim to set up own party instead of joining Shafie's". Malaysiakini. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  13. ^ Azura Abas (25 October 2016). "RoS officially approves formation of Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah". New Straits Times. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  14. ^ Mohd Izham Unnip Abdullah (17 February 2019). "Harapan Rakyat to dissolve and join Bersatu in Sabah". New Straits Times. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  15. ^ Jaafar Abdul Wahid (2 September 2011). "10000 Serbu Rumah Terbuka Lajim". Sabahkini.net (in Malay). Sabahkini. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  16. ^ "Pupuk Perpaduan Melalui Pesta Tradisi" (in Malay). Malaysian View. 20 May 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  17. ^ "Lajim falls from train car". Daily Express. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  18. ^ "Bersatu man Lajim Ukin under induced coma after contracting Covid-19". The Vibes. 24 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Lajim Ukin meninggal dunia akibat COVID-19". Sinar Harian (in Malay). Astro Awani. 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  20. ^ Nancy Lai (29 August 2021). "Lajim Ukin passes away due to Covid-19" (in Malay). The Borneo Post. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Sabah [Parliament Results]". The Star. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  22. ^ "Sabah [Parliament Results]". The Star. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  23. ^ "14th General Election Malaysia (GE14 / PRU14) – Results Overview". election.thestar.com.my.
  24. ^ "N25 Klias". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 30 May 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  25. ^ "N.32 KLIAS". SPR Dashboard. 26 September 2020. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  26. ^ "SEMAKAN PENERIMA DARJAH KEBESARAN, BINTANG DAN PINGAT". Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia). Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  27. ^ "DPSM meant to distinguish classification of Datukship". The Star. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
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