Why DAP lost everything in Sabah and what it means for Malaysia

Something happened in Sabah that the entire nation needs to study carefully – not through the comfort of party propaganda, not through Kuala Lumpur echo chambers, but through the eyes of ordinary voters who have sent the loudest message since 2018.

Eight DAP seats were wiped out in a single evening. Eight out of eight. Not one survived.

This was not a swing or a wobble. It was a clean, calculated rejection.

Beneath the talk of a ‘Chinese tsunami’, something else is brewing – something even more dangerous for Pakatan Harapan and any other political coalition that believes voters will always behave like they did 15 years ago.

Sabah tells us one thing clearly: the age of two-cornered fights is dead. The age of actual choices has arrived.

Those days when each seat had only two candidates – Barisan Nasional versus the DAP, BN versus PKR, Warisan vs Gabungan Rakyat Sabah – are gone.

In Sabah 2025, some seats had five, six and even seven candidates. Local parties. Independent candidates. New faces. Young Sabahan-based parties. Reformists, activists and community champions.

This is not fragmentation. This is freedom. Voters are no longer choosing between “the devil you know versus the devil you don’t”. They are choosing between 10 possible futures.

This is not bad for democracy. It is healthy and liberating. It is also a warning.

When you offer voters real options, they respond with honesty. And in Sabah, the honesty was brutal.

DAP’s collapse

Why did the DAP collapse completely in ethnic Chinese-majority seats?

Not because the Chinese voters suddenly loved another Pas. Not because Perikatan Nasional was irresistible. Not because GRS was the new saviour.

The reason is simpler, colder, and harder to swallow: Chinese voters stopped believing the DAP and Pakatan Harapan are listening.

Everything else – the economy, prices, double standards, arrogance – simply accelerated the anger.

For years, the Chinese and those in urban and mixed seats were told: “Support us, or the extremists will win.”

But when voters looked around, they did not see extremists. They saw Sabah candidates, Sabah issues, Sabah frustrations. And they asked, “Why must we keep saving you when you no longer defend us?”

The political marriage between PH and the Chinese electorate was already cracking. Sabah simply broke it open.

Sabahans didn’t vote against DAP. They voted for Sabah.

Taken for granted

For too long, federal parties treated Sabah as deposit box, a trophy cabinet, a talking point, a bargaining chip in Parliament.

But Sabahans have matured beyond KL’s imagination. They looked at PH’s campaign and saw outsiders. They heard imported narratives, tone-deaf slogans, promise after promise and excuse after excuse.

Meanwhile, local parties showed familiar faces, grassroots work, local agendas, Sabahan dignity and Sabahan identity.

Of course, voters walked away. This was not about being anti-Chinese or pro-ethnic Malay or being wary of religious extremism. This was local pride overpowering federal arrogance.

Choices galore

Multi-cornered fights changed everything – voters finally had choices.

For decades, voters in Malaysia had only two choices: vote for the government or vote against the government.

But in Sabah 2025, choices exploded: local parties offering real representation, new candidates untainted by old politics, community-driven independents, fresh faces representing youth concerns, charismatic individuals beating big-party machines.

When voters have only two choices, anger becomes silent. When voters have 10 choices, anger becomes action.

That is why the DAP’s drop wasn’t small. It was total.

When the monopoly ends, so does loyalty.

Voters walked away

The hard truth is that Chinese voters did not swing to the right. They walked away from broken promises.

Many Chinese voters are tired of being used as a safety net, being blamed for being ‘too demanding’, being told to wait until ‘the Malay ground stabilises’, being asked to sacrifice again and again.

They are tired of being given lip service instead of policy. They are tired of witnessing double standards in corruption cases, economic issues explained away with excuses, and groups spreading racism without consequences.

They are tired of feeling like second-class voters in a coalition they helped build.

This is why Chinese voters didn’t run to PN. They ran to anyone else: Warisan, GRS, independents, smaller parties. It wasn’t about ideology. It was about dignity.

Challenges facing PH

So what must PH fix before the next general election?

Here are the questions PH’s leaders must answer – not on stage, not with slogans, but with courage and honesty.

Are you willing to be transparent and consistent in corruption cases – even if your allies are involved? Selective action, strange settlements and politically timed arrests have destroyed trust. Justice cannot depend on political convenience.

Are you willing to speak up against racism and religious extremism – or will you keep quiet for fear of losing votes? Silence is weakness. Silence is consent. Silence is betrayal.

Will you continue to treat ethnic Chinese, Indians, Sabahans and Sarawakians as ‘backup voters’? Or will you finally treat them as equal people with equal priorities?

Will you respect Sabah and Sarawak as partners – not colonies? If PH continues to behave like ‘parti Malaya’ (a peninsula-based party), Sabah and Sarawak will keep punishing it.

Will you stop using fear as a campaign tool and start using clear policies? People are tired of having to fear PN, Pas and extremism. Fear is not a manifesto.

Will you finally govern with honesty, humility and loyalty to all the people of Malaysia? Or will PH repeat BN’s downfall – denial first, collapse later?

No more racial ‘ownership’

The truth Sabah taught us: no political party owns any ‘race’ anymore. Not the Malays. Not the Chinese. Not the Indians. Not the Kadazan-Dusun-Murut. Not the people in Sabah. Not the people in Sarawak.

Voters have evolved. Malaysia has evolved.

The parties that refuse to evolve will be erased, just like BN, Umno, the MIC…and now possibly the DAP in East Malaysia.

Warning

Sabah was not the end of PH – but the warning before the next general election.

What are these warnings? When people have choices, they don’t need you anymore. So stop racism, arrogance and excuses; start governing. If you can betray our trust, we can betray your vote.

This wasn’t a tsunami. This was a mirror. And the reflection is not pretty.

If the leaders of Pakatan Harapan want to survive the next general election, they must listen, be humble and be transparent. They must respect every community, drop their egos and stop racism. They have to restore justice, deliver results and honour the people who trusted them.

The voters have spoken once – and they will speak louder next time.

Malaysia has changed. The question is, will the government change with it? Or will they continue sliding into the same arrogance that destroyed BN?

Sabah has already answered. Now it is PH’s turn.

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