KOTA KINABALU, Sept. 29 -- Sabah's new chief minister, Datuk Hajiji Md Noor, is not well known outside of the state and in national politics, and appears not to have significant critics.

Hajiji, 65, is of Bajau Sama ethnicity and has been a low-profile but solid presence in Sabah's political scene since 1990, when he became the Sulaman assemblyman on a United Sabah National Alliance (Usno) ticket; Usno later got absorbed into Umno.

"People think he's a good guy, humble, modest and gets along with everybody. He has few political enemies," said a political insider.

With his humble beginnings as the second of three children in a seasonal farming and fishing community, Hajiji stayed close to his hometown of Tuaran and later started a caree...