Lajim Ukin
Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Lajim Ukin (born 15 June 1955) is a Malaysian politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Beaufort constituency in Sabah from 2008 to 2013, and a Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government in the federal Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government,[1] from 2009 until his departure from the coalition in 2012.[2] He was also the leader of the opposition in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (2013–2016).
Lajim Ukin | |
|---|---|
| Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government | |
| In office 10 April 2009 – 30 July 2012 | |
| Monarch | Mizan Zainal Abidin Abdul Halim |
| Prime Minister | Najib Razak |
| Minister | Kong Cho Ha (2009–2010) Chor Chee Heung (2010–2012) |
| Preceded by | Hamzah Zainudin Robert Lau Hoi Chew |
| Succeeded by | Halimah Mohamed Sadique as Deputy Minister of Housing, Local Government and Urban Wellbeing |
| Constituency | Beaufort |
| Deputy Minister of Transport | |
| In office 19 March 2008 – 9 April 2009 | |
| Monarch | Mizan Zainal Abidin |
| Prime Minister | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi |
| Minister | Ong Tee Keat |
| Preceded by | Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar Douglas Uggah Embas |
| Succeeded by | Abdul Rahim Bakri Robert Lau Hoi Chew |
| Constituency | Beaufort |
| Opposition Leader of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 14 June 2013 – 2 October 2016 | |
| Governor | Juhar Mahiruddin |
| Chief Minister | Musa Aman |
| Preceded by | Melanie Chia Chui Ket |
| Succeeded by | Christina Liew Chin Jin |
| Constituency | Klias |
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Beaufort | |
| In office 8 March 2008 – 5 May 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Azizah Mohd Dun (UMNO—BN) |
| Succeeded by | Azizah Mohd Dun (UMNO—BN) |
| Majority | 10,914 (2008) |
| Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Klias | |
| In office 6 May 2013 – 10 May 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Azizah Mohd Dun (UMNO—BN) |
| Succeeded by | Isnin Aliasnih (UMNO—BN) |
| Majority | 179 (2013) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 June 1955 Beaufort, Crown Colony of North Borneo (now Sabah, Malaysia) |
| Citizenship | Malaysian |
| Political party | United Sabah Party (until 1994) United Malays National Organisation (1994-2012) People's Justice Party (2012–2016) Sabah People's Hope Party (2016–2019) Malaysian United Indigenous Party (2019-present) |
| Occupation | Politician |
Political career
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 decide to establish a separate party from Shafie, known as Sabah People's Hope Party (PHRS), which finally been approved by Registrar of Societies (RoS) on 25 October 2016.[13] PHRS was dissolved to let its party members absorbed into Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) in 2019.[14]After being absorbed, he is BERSATU Sabah Election Director.
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 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 2019 Kimanis by-election, which saw the opposition coalition (Barisan Nasional,BN) win, defeating the three-way coalition containing Pakatan Harapan, which incorporates Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU).
Personal life
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 called "sinseh" and have since been advised to rest for one week.[15]
Election results
| Year | Constituency | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | P177 Beaufort | 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%2 | Azizah Mohd Dun (UMNO) | 11,354 | 41.72%2 | 28,011 | 3,331 | 84.44% | |||||
| Johan Ghani (PKR) | 7,835 | 28.79% | ||||||||||||
| Notes: Table excludes votes for candidates who finished in third place or lower. 2 Different % used for 2018 election. | ||||||||||||||
| Year | Constituency | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | N36 Klias, P148 Limbawang | 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, P161 Sandakan | Lajim Ukin (PBS) | 4,881 | 49.09% | Anifah Aman (UMNO) | 4,476 | 47.36% | 9,468 | 405 | 78.68% | ||
| 1999 | N22 Klias, P154 Beaufort | 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, P177 Beaufort | Lajim Ukin (UMNO) | ||||||||||
| 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
Malaysia :
_-_SMN.svg.png.webp)
Companion of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (JMN) (1997)
Malacca :
Knight Commander of the Order of Malacca (DCSM) - Datuk Wira (2010)[21]
Sabah :
Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) - Datuk (1989)
Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (SPDK) - Datuk Seri Panglima (1998)
References
- "Lajim bin Haji Ukin, Y.B. Datuk Seri Panglima Haji" (in Malay). Parliament of Malaysia. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
- "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)
- Zulkifli Jalil (4 October 2016). "Lompat melompat bukan asing buat Lajim" (in Malay). Utusan Malaysia. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- Baradan Kuppusamy (4 October 2016). "One political adventure after another". New Straits Times. PressReader. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- "Sabah Cabinet gets down to work". The Star. 30 March 2004. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
- "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).
- Muguntan Vanar (14 April 2013). "GE13: Lajim Ukin to defend Beaufort parliament, eyes Klias state seat". The Star. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
- Ruben Sario (19 April 2008). "Maznah to vacate Pahang state exco position". The Star. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
- Ruben Sario (10 April 2009). "Sabahans jubilant over state representation in Cabinet". The Star. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
- 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.
- "Three reps quit PKR, DAP for local Sabah party". Malaysiakini. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- "Lajim to set up own party instead of joining Shafie's". Malaysiakini. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
- Azura Abas (25 October 2016). "RoS officially approves formation of Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah". New Straits Times. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- Mohd Izham Unnip Abdullah (17 February 2019). "Harapan Rakyat to dissolve and join Bersatu in Sabah". New Straits Times. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
- "Lajim falls from train car". Daily Express. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
- "Sabah [Parliament Results]". The Star. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- "Sabah [Parliament Results]". The Star. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- "14th General Election Malaysia (GE14 / PRU14) – Results Overview". election.thestar.com.my.
- "N25 Klias". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- "N.32 KLIAS". SPR Dashboard. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- "DPSM meant to distinguish classification of Datukship". The Star. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2018.