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Before the project even got of the ground, Sarawak Barisan Nasional is beginning to treat the funds as their own.

Since its announcement, like an expert and only authority in NCR Land Righst, our ever inefficient Afraid Jabu went to town telling all and sundry that only “Matured NCR Land” will be surveyed. He went on to further disclose to Malaysiakini that “Only NCR Land with Potential” will be surveyed! How we wish one way, we have him take the stand in Court to testify and see whether he will make a fool of himself like MACC’s lawyer Abdul Razak Musa.

As if that is not enough, additional conditions were attached to the survey of NCR Land when Member of Parliment for Lubok Antu William Nyalau Badak at the ‘leader-meet-people’ programme held at Rumah Baba, Nanga Kapu, Lemanak, Lubok Antu, NCR Land Owners were advised to accept the “Government’s Offer to Develop NCR Land” with the following promise:

  • The people would also benefit indirectly as their NCR land would be surveyed by the government.
  • That land development projects would facilitate the implementation of infrastructure facilities in their areas.
  • and

  • Make sure that the companies intending to take part in the land development projects are registered with the Ministry of Land Development.
  • As if that is not enough to show their high handed way of dealing with the poor Dayaks, we now have an Assistant Minister of Planning and Resource Management Mohd Naroden Majais, telling Natives only request for NCR Land made through BN Representatives will be surveyed.

    Sarawak Barisan Nasional Leaders certainly learn West Malaysian Style Politics fast and are certainly looking to be good boys of PM Najib as they seem to Politically Blackmail the rakyat.

    Remember the now famous UMNO-Barisan Nasional Battle cry with the non-Malays, “Gua Tolong Lu. Lu Tolong Gua”.

    The first to follow up with Political Blackmail is SUPP President, George Chan who have decreed that Sarawak State Government will only entertain “Request of Land Lease Renewal Premium” already paid in prior years only if they are submitted through SUPP. If SUPP have the numbers of UMNO, I believe, George Chan will go on and add “Only SUPP Members” will be entertained!.

    While this is Political Blackmail, it is high time, Sarawakians of whatever races rise and start telling this morons to go take a hike. We are not beggars. We are not here to serve this morons interest. Instead, we should tell this morons, if you can not serve, we will vote you out. And this is a must do thing to Save Sarawakians from further oppression.

    NCR land surveys: S’wak minister gets ticking off
    PKR Sarawak chief Baru Bian today slammed the state’s Assistant Minister of Planning and Resource Management, Mohd Naroden Majais, for saying that natives can get their land surveyed only if they go through BN elected representatives.

    “This is politicking. It is nonsense and very irresponsible of him to say that. If (the government) is really sincere about helping the natives, this will not be an issue,” Baru said when contacted.

    Naroden had said on Tuesday that the government could not act if requests for land surveys, for the purpose of native customary rights (NCR) claims, were made via opposition elected representatives

    Baru (left), who has spent many years defending native customary rights land as a lawyer, said the minister’s statement showed how little he knew about the mechanics of NCR land.

    “It is the government’s duty to conduct land surveys under section 18 of the Sarawak Land Code,” he said.

    “If there is sufficient evidence of ownership, the government should issue the land titles, but it has been trotting out excuse after excuse.”

    The Sarawak government had previously claimed that the Land and Survey Department cannot undertake the survey work involved in the issue of land titles because of the lack of funds.

    To address this, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced that RM20 million of the federal budget will be allocated for this purpose.

    Shortchanging the natives
    However, this announcement failed to impress Baru, whose experience in dealing with NCR issues led him to suggest that the move “is just rhetoric”.

    “I have the feeling that they don’t want to conduct the surveys because they are afraid that the whole of Sarawak belongs to the natives,” he said.

    Even if surveys were conducted, said the Orang Ulu lawyer, the natives would likely be shortchanged.

    Surveys could only take into account the land which the longhouses sit, he said, and several cases in Sibu were testimony to this.

    There was also the case of the natives forced to move out to make way for the Bakun hydroelectric dam.

    “That land is not disputed. What is disputed is the land five to 10km from the longhouses, the farmland on which the natives survive on, but is likely to have been given away to someone else,” he said.

    At present, Sarawak natives are embroiled in multiple legal disputes over what they claim to be their NCR land.

    This has, however, been challenged by private companies with provisional leases issued by the state government.

    In some cases, the natives have been assaulted or charged with trespass when they tried to defend their land.

    Malaysiakini

    Datuk Zaid Ibrahim

    Is it not time now that the citizens of Sabah and Sarawak change the subservient politics which has characterised the way these two states have conducted themselves? To do that, we need active, strong and well coordinated and united Opposition political parties in Sabah and Sarawak to complement the strength of the Opposition parties in Peninsular. Until we have such a strong and united Opposition in Sabah and Sarawak, Federal power will continue to elude us.

    How do you make yourself a cohesive political force that can alter the course of our nation’s history? How can you bring about the changes in local politics and assume power after many years of BN abuse? These are the challenges you are faced with but which I believe you can overcome. I am not an expert in local politics but will venture a few suggestions.


    For umpteen years (well at least for the past 30 years, when i first voted at about the time when DAP set foot on Sarawak), Sarawakians especially in the Urban areas (most notably in Padungan) have been voting against Tun Abdul Rhman Yaakub and subsequently Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in State Elections. Meaning they are voicing their disatisfaction with the Nepotism, Collusion, Cronyism, Corruption and abuses by the Chief Executive via the ballot boxes. However, to ensure continuity in development funds and hoping to get some assistance as far as chinese education is concerned, Urban Sarawak Voters prefer to give their votes to Barisan Nasional. This is however not a fixed trend and Sarawakians tend to alternate between voting for the Opposition for State Seats and Barisan Nasional for Parliamentary Seats and vice versa. From this we can say “It is not only Melayu Muda Lupa, Sarawakians, especially the Urban Voters also Muda Lupa”. Like a “Yoyo” or “Roller Coaster”, they change their voting style when they discover the person they voted did not deliver and the experiment goes on till 2006.

    In 2006 and in a rare show of gross disatisfaction, both seats (that is State and Parliament for the constituency of Padungan) went to the opposition. In that year, Sarawak also wrote the script for Tsunami 0308 when SUPP lost almost all Urban Seats they contested.

    In short, Sarawakians are disgusted with how they are treated and the feeling is there is collusion between the Federal and State Government to marginalise Sarawakians and their inability to stop the plundering of the states wealth and vast natural resources. In fact it got much worst in the past 20 years and started with Tun Dr Mahathir’s reign. Well at least Padungan Voters decided in 2006, enough is enough.

    The same can not be said of the rural voters. To them there is only know one government and that is the “Dacing”. However with regular activities by Pakatan Rakyat Sarawak, they are now more aware. Will this translate into votes? This is hard to tell. One thing is sure, they have endured much hardship since the formation of Malaysia and are beginning to know they have been short changed and resent Barisan Nasional. However after close to half a century of hardship, we have to understand their fear. To many any government, whether it is Pakatan Rakyat or “Dacing” is the same.

    Deep down, we have a feeling, for them to feel and see the difference between a Pakatan Rakyat government and Barisan Nasional, they want to see something tangible. Mere talking through Ceramahs will not do. The scenario is not the same as West Malaysia. In West Malaysia, Urban migration have ensured the rural voters are updated regularly via phone conversations and the regular “Balik Kampungs”.

    Firstly, the Dayaks who form the majority in Sarawak must really want change. They must feel in their veins that they no longer wish to endure the indignity and the economic hardship they continue to suffer under the rule of BN. They must recognise that they can play a bigger role, in fact a leadership role in the future of Sarawak. They can if they have the will to uplift the sordid conditions in which their people live. They must reject the politics of money where handouts are given each time the BN wants their vote. Take their money and reject them, like the people of Sibu did. They must want to rule and determine their own future and not leave their destiny in the hands of political warlords who are also proxies of Federal leaders. How can the Dayaks, the Chinese, the Melanaus and the Malays not see the need to work together for their common good; to stop the plunder of Native Customary Rights lands, the wastage and corruption as exemplified by the Bakun Dam project? There are educated and politically committed Dayaks and other bumiputras who should be able to galvanise a united force against BN, but they must do that now. We used to have Temenggong Jugah, Stephen Kalong Ningkan, and Tawi Sli and others as leaders but where are the Dayaks now?

    Secondly, the Opposition groups in Sabah and Sarawak must learn to trust one another and to have a new political culture of consensus building. They must value on unity and accept ethnic diversity and have genuine interest to help the people. This means the politics of dominance by one group over another must be rejected. This means rich towkays must not be allowed to control the course of politics. If you have suffered by the dominance and abuse of Federal power and if you have suffered in the hands of authoritarian leaders, then you must not make the same mistake by selecting leaders who will do the same under a different name. You must learn to trust one another rather than resorting to the easy way out of cavorting with Federal leaders, or getting blessings of leaders in Kuala Lumpur. You cannot raise and speak for your people if you are afraid to speak and stand up for yourself.

    Change is not about changing leaders. What matters is about changing to the right kind of leadership. We live in a complex multi ethnic and multi religious country. We live in a Malaysia today that has shown visible signs of being schizophrenic; racist, prejudiced and fascistic in its behaviour. We have to show a leadership that is different from BN, a leadership that will put a stop to this madness. a leadership that wants to change the course of the nation where we can and should treat all Malaysians as equals, where we practice real democracy, and where the rule of just laws are available to all citizens. We want a government that respect the rights and the dignity of its people.

    Sabah and Sarawak now have the golden opportunity to restore political power in their own hands for the first time since 1963. It is meaningless to talk of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and to lament how unfairly you have been treated in the last 47 years unless you exercise political leverage at the federal level. The next election is one golden opportunity to work together in securing such leverage.

    The question is how much does the Sabah and Sarawak leaders value this leverage? I am a Malaysian – not an East Malaysian or West Malaysian. To me, a backward Kelantan is as painful a sight as a Sabah and Sarawak left behind by other states. I want to see Sabah and Sarawak develop and grow into mature democracies and become economically developed states. I also believe only Sarawakians know what’s best for Sarawak, and only Sabahans know what’s good for Sabah. I do not subscribe to the view that Sabah and Sarawak should be subservient to Federal control other than in areas clearly stipulated in the Constitution. The spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 must be honoured and respected.

    The State election is around the corner. You will have the golden opportunity to declare the message – WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH. Make this your rallying cry: Datuk Patinggi Taib and Datuk Panglima Musa Aman – WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH. Send them packing and usher in the new dawn. The choice is yours – whether you want to be making history by propagating change or whether you will be judged by history as those who were afraid to change.

    Read full article @ Zaid Untuk Rakyat

    The controversial Bakun Dam documentary series which had two parts aired in May on RTM 2, but had the remaining three pulled out for touching on ‘sensitive elements’, is now on video-sharing website YouTube.

    The three cancelled chapters, roughly 30 minutes in length collectively, are now on the Internet, together with the first two.

    According to the producer of the documentary, Chou Z Lam, the show was taken off the air under the direct instructions of RTM’s director-general of broadcasting Ibrahim Yahya.

    The parts that were held back highlight basic community problems that have been plaguing the 10,000 strong indigenous community in Hulu Sungai Balui for more than a decade.

    According to the Penan community, the state land around the Koyan and Asap rivers given to them is not big enough and not fertile for farming.

    “We are given only three acres a family. How can we make a farm on such a small piece of land? We can’t plant enough food for ourselves,” said Botai Udau, a senior Penan resettler,

    “On our old land, we can go hunting and fishing in the surrounding jungle, but here it is hard for us to provide for our families because there is no jungle,” he added.

    The testimonial by the Penan elder which was in his native language, was translated by Uming Anyit, a younger Penan resettler.

    Adding to the problem, Botai said, was that the farming land provided for the indigenous community is located almost two hours away from the relocated longhouses and many can’t afford to buy vehicles.

    He added the Sarawak state government has only provided three agricultural officers in a makeshift office – certainly not sufficient to cater to the need of 10,000 people who rely on farming activities.

    The documentary also highlighted the lack of basic educational facilities for their children and many do not go to school.

    The community also suffers as a whole due to a lack of medical and transport facilities.

    During the resettlement period in 1998, the Bakun dam contractor and the state government promised the indigenous people new longhouses, free water and free electricity, but the community regrets they were not kept.

    “We are now being forced to pay for the cost of the longhouses, electricity and water,” said Miku Loyang, a Kayan community member.

    The original two parts of the documentary were screened on current affairs programme ‘Galeri Mandarin Nasional’, before the remaining parts were cancelled.

    Chou denied he posted the videos on YouTube but was all for it as it would allow the public to see the videos.

    He added that he is planning to reshoot this documentary as he felt the series on the Internet was incomplete and may involve copyright issues with RTM.

    Source – Malaysiakini

    Related – Taken Off

    The 5 Part Video is now available at the side bar of this blog and remain a permanent feature as remembrance of the lies and oppression of the Dayak Community in Sarawak by UMNO and Thief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud or here – Banned Bakun Dam Documentary

    By Sim Kwang Yang @ hornbillunleased

    Dayak Beauty

    During a recent dinner gathering among some Sarawakians and ‘Orang Malaya” (The name for Malaysians from Peninsular Malaysia among Sarawakians), the talk was on the forthcoming Gawai Dayak celebration in the Land of the Hornbill.

    A Chinese friend asked a Sarawak lady of mixed parentage if she was a Dayak. She said no, she was not a Dayak, for her late father was a Melanau, and her mother is an Iban. That reply puzzled and confused everyone.

    I had to clear the air. When the Ibans talk among themselves, they often refer to the Bidayuhs as “Dayaks”. In their sense of ethnic identity, they are “Ibans”, which in their language means “Man”. In that ethnocentric context, the term “Dayak” refers to the Other and carries some degree of derogatory connotation.

    According to most anthropologists, the Ibans migrated along the Kapuas River from the southern part of the mountain ranges separating Sarawak from the Indonesia side of Kalimantan very long ago. They probably first settled near Batang Ai upriver from what is now the small town of Sri Aman in the Second Division.

    These virile, hardy, and restless Ibans survived mainly by shifting cultivation via the slash-and-burn method, and supplemented their food source with hunting, gathering, and fishing. Rapid increase in their population probably laid pressure upon them to migrate elsewhere in search of new farm land. Among all the ethnic people in Sarawak, the Ibans are the ones who can be found in all nooks and corners of that wild and vast territory.

    Dayak feasting on food prepared for Gawai

    Iban adat and berjalai
    This restlessness also has its root in their cultural traditions. According to the Iban adat, a young man’s initiation rites include a journey into the unknown jungle. It is believed that during this journey orberjalai, he will acquire the courage, wisdom, and virtue of manhood.

    Naturally, as the Ibans moved westward towards Lundu, the western-most tip of Sarawak, they infringed upon the land farmed by the Bidayuhs. War inevitably broke out. I had found Bidayuh old men in remote villages recounting some of their fierce battles with the aggressive Ibans.

    (One Bidayuh explained to me why they prefer to live among the hills. It was easier to shoot downwards and defend themselves against the Iban warriors from the advantage of height! )

    That kind of deadly enmity is gone nowadays, but the ethnic alienation lingers slightly in their collective memory. Hence, the confusion over the signification of the term “Dayak” caused by my lady friend at the dinner gathering.

    This story illustrates just how amazing the ethnic complexity can be in Sarawak.

    Attentive Dayaks at a function

    Take the Bidayuhs for instance. They constitute about 15 % of the population of Sarawak, form the second largest Dayak community, and are concentrated around the First Division near Kuching City. But this small ethnic community has seven major dialects and numerous minor ones. Sometimes, as you travel 10 or 20 miles down the road, you find the Bidayuhs speaking a different tongue!

    As the post-modernist thinker Foucault observed, the naming and categorisation of people are acts of will to power. When the British colonial government was in power in Sarawak between the end of WW2 and our independence in 1963, the non-Muslim indigenous people were largely divided into Land and Sea Dayaks.

    The Bidayuhs comprising some 15% of our population were labelled as Land Dayaks, and the Ibans who make up nearly 30% were supposed to be Sea Dayaks. Today, with the British long gone, this distinction has become obsolete.

    All this confusion about the names of ethnic communities of Sarawak does belie the fantastic diversity that exists among the non-Muslim native population of Sarawak.

    The Federal Constitution recognises some 27 ethnic communities as Bumiputras in the state, including the Malays. The Ibans are the largest community, surpassing the Malays and the Chinese. The Penans are the smallest group with a total population of a little over 12,000.

    There are many other sub-groups that identify themselves according to language, blood ties, and traditions. For instance, the Punans are a sub-group of the Kenyahs, and they are very distinct from the Penans. Foreigners and Sarawakians alike often make the mistake of confusing the two.

    Cock Fighting, a favourite pastime of the Dayak

    The term “Dayak” came to political prominence in the years and days preceding the formation of Malaysia in 1963. During that time, the budding political consciousness of Sarawakians was very much influenced by the racial narrative of the Malayan federation.

    The politics of race is the politics of counting heads. It was more or less agreed that since the Dayak were the majority people in Sarawak, the chief minister ought to be a Dayak. There was also a tacit agreement that the Governor would then be a Malay.

    Upon Independence on September 16 1963, the first chief minister was indeed Stephen Kalong Ningkan, an Iban.

    Twisted political logic
    Further recognition to the political importance of the Dayaks in Sarawak arrived with the designation of one day in the year, the First of June, as Gawai Dayak Day. This decision was gazetted in September 1964, and celebrated for the first time in June 1965.

    Unfortunately for the Dayaks, Stephen Kalong Ningkan was booted out of office in 1967 in a crisis engineered from Kuala Lumpur and necessitating a constitutional amendment. Another Iban, Penghulu Tawi Sli, took over as CM briefly before a Malay-Melanau chief minister came into office, to defy the BN logic of communal politics until this day.

    All through those four long decades, Dayak discontent with this twisted logic in the state’s political life has always festered beneath the surface. Any member of the Dayak intellegentia will tell you that the Dayaks are the fourth class citizens in their homeland, after the Melanaus, the Malays, and the Chinese – in that order. Indeed, as an ethnic community, they have been very much marginalised by the mainstream socio-economic development programmes launched at the federal and state levels.

    This discontent surfaced in 1983 with the formation of Parti Bangsa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) by people like Leo Moggie and Daniel Tajem. Their dream was to regain political prominence through their nationalist ideology of “Dayakism”. That was the time when all members of the Non-Muslim population rallied to be a single ethnic entity.

    After the infamous 1987 Ming Court coup (an unsuccessful attempt to oust Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud), the PBDS found themselves in the ambiguous position of being in the opposition in the state while still remaining as a member of the BN at federal level. After attempts at the poll failed, they rejoined the Sarawak BN.

    Nevertheless, the Dayaks have embraced this new political festival of Gawai Dayak Day on June 1 every year with great enthusiasm. It is a public holiday in Sarawak, and celebration usually begins in earnest even before the actual date itself, with much feasting, drinking, dancing, and visiting.

    Today, the Dayak people do face an uncertain future. The once powerful and influential PBDS has been deregistered because of intense factional fight following the retirement of its president Leo Moggie. The splinter groups that emerged in the aftermath of PBDS infighting have now repackaged themselves as various new political parties with names and acronyms that defy memory. The dream of Dayak unity conceived by the founding fathers of PBDS has been shattered beyond measure.

    Life’s still a struggle
    Socio-economically, some Dayaks have benefited from the state development programmes. There is now a growing Dayak middle class in Kuching City and major towns of Sarawak, working in the civil service, with some gainfully engaged in business and in the professions.

    In remote rural areas of Sarawak though, there are still pockets of abject poverty. The educated young people now no longer look to farming as a life long occupation. Most of them have packed up and left the longhouses and headed to the towns in Sarawak and West Malaysia in search of a better life. In some areas, the problem of alcoholism is severe.

    As the Gawai Dayak Day approaches, those far flung youths would be looking forward to the day of home-coming. They will take leave from their employer, book early for their airline or bus ticket, and use their hard-earned cash to buy a present or two for the folk at home. Their mouth will water at the prospect of feasting on the chicken cooked in bamboo called pansuh, as well as the newly brewed rice wine called tuak.

    Life is still a hard struggle for our Dayak brethrens, but at least they still have this day all to themselves, called Gawai Dayak Day, affirming again their place on this good earth. On this day, their heart will be filled with goodwill for one and all, and hope for prosperity, good health, and good luck in the future.

    Traditional hunter-gatherers leading a nomadic life deep in the forests of Sarawak and satisfied with the bounty nature has always provided them. This has been the history of the Penan for centuries.

    Penan Woman

    That is until civilisation hit them in the form of buzz saws and bulldozers, and their home began to shrink in alarming fashion. Their quality of life has been on the decline ever since.

    Most of the Penan now live in settled communities. I visited some who are semi-nomadic, spending most of their time in the forest but who now, at the request of the government, have a base camp. I also visited a community which had settled, but so unhappy that it was considering returning to nomadic life in the forest, and other communities who have been settled for many years.

    So-called ‘selective logging’ had devastated forests belonging to all the Penan I met, but to differing degrees. One community had seen all their land logged, much of it six times, others still had half of theirs intact.

    The companies are only supposed to take the thickest trees, and leave alone those the Penan rely on such as sago, rattan and fruit trees. The reality, however, is that many of these trees, so essential to the Penan, are destroyed when they get in the way of logging roads or when felled trees are dragged through the forest indiscriminately.

    Bulldozers destroy lives
    The wild boar, deer and monkeys that the Penan hunt flee, making it very difficult for these original people to survive in this denuded forest.

    Logging Activities at Penan Habitat

    One semi-nomadic man told me, “To us Penan, we do not like to hear bulldozers in our land. What makes us Penan happy are the sounds of birds and hornbills in our forest, not the sound of bulldozers.”

    Another said, “We don’t want progress that comes to destroy our land.”

    The Penan live in harmony with their forests and their land. They hunt selectively, leaving sanctuaries for the animals so they can continue to thrive. This is in stark contrast to the loggers who crash through the forest, felling the trees they want for timber and destroying many others in their path.

    Some people believe that ‘progress’ means the nomadic Penan should be settled, and that all Penan should abandon hunting and gathering in favour of agriculture – as though hunting and gathering were somehow a more backward way of life.

    However, if their forests are intact, they can easily feed their families by hunting and gathering, with far less effort and more reliably than they can by planting crops. Hunting and gathering is no more backward or advanced than agriculture, they are just different ways of life.

    Overrun by ‘progress’
    Many of the settled Penan spoke wistfully about the time when they were nomadic, before the loggers came, and how much easier life was then.

    One of them told me, “When we lived in the forest it was easy. We didn’t have all the things we have now, but it was okay because we could get everything we needed from the forest. Now we have lots of things but it is harder to get food and we have lots of diseases like malaria and the young people drink alcohol. In the past the rivers were clean and we could drink the water, now even if we boil it we can become sick.”

    Innocent Young Penan Mother with child

    The companies now have been forced to cut thinner and thinner trees and soon this will no longer be financially viable.

    Rather than allow the Penan’s forest to regenerate, vast tracts of their land are being leased to plantation companies – for oil palm or fast growing trees for pulp and paper.

    Although it is extremely hard for the Penan to survive from their forests once they have been logged, there are still some animals and food they can track there. However, once the land is covered with oil palm or the fast growing acacia tree nothing is left for the Penan.

    One community I visited, that had half of their land destroyed by logging, was recently approached by a local manager of a logging company, telling them they wanted to plant oil palm on their land.

    He told them that they would be given some of the profits from the plantations and asked for their agreement. When they didn’t accept his offer, he threatened them that the company would sell its rights to their land to gangsters who would plant oil palm, with or without their permission, and that they might hurt them.

    Devastated Rain Forest and Destruction of Penan Habitat

    Despite their fear, the community was determined to refuse the offer.

    The headman explained, “We have always said no to logging, we just say no and we build a blockade (right). It’s because we want our rights to our land so we can live our own way of life. We want our rights first and then we can decide what to do. If they tell us, ‘We’ll give you this and that’, we’ll say no, because they haven’t given us our rights.”

    In another village a man told me, “They forced us to accept logging; they never asked permission from us. We Penan do not want plantations. We will have no land to live on and we cannot survive with plantations. We can only live if our land is not destroyed.”

    ‘Forest our livelihood’
    The forest is central to the Penan, even to those who have been settled for many years. Without their traditional way of life the Penan will not be able to survive as a people.

    NGO with Penans


    The Penan’s right to their land is enshrined in international law and recognised by the United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

    Sarawak’s government must ensure that no logging, plantations or dams are allowed on the land of the Penan people without their free, prior and informed consent.

    Without that recognition the Penan’s future looks bleak. As one Penan headman explained to me, “We are not like other people who can live with money, for us we can only live if our land is not destroyed. Without land we will not be able to survive.”

    Malaysiakini

    It is only a myth and false hope by PKR that the Dayak Iban in the rural areas of Sarawak are slowly shifting their support to the opposition what with all sort of so-called unhappiness and general unsatisfaction towards the BN government purportedly in robbing of their NCR land, perceived corruption, nepotism, bad governance and you name the rest of them.

    The Batang Ai by-election last year was a glaring example. At that time innumerable excuses were given. PKR Jawa Gerang was soundly beaten by Malcolm Mossen. Batang Ai comprised of almost 100% Dayak Ibans. They overwhemingly voted for BN. The brute force of BN’s war chest of dishing out promised development projects and cash admittedly attributed to the embarrassing loss, so they reasoned.

    In the recent Sibu by-election, how did the Dayak Iban voting pattern go? Well, the chinese votes went an almost 30% increase towards DAP. The Dayak Ibans? An increase of 3% to the BN!

    The majority of Dayak Iban voters are in Pasai, Sg. Aup, Penasu, Rassau, Rantau Panjang, Tutus, Sg. Pinang and Sg. Sebedil areas within the State constituency of Bawang Assan.

    1. In Sg Sebedil, only 5 voted for DAP while 151 voted for BN. Comparatively in 2008, 19 voted for DAP and 141 voted for SUPP’s BN.
    2. In Rantau Panjang, 74 voted for DAP and 339 voted for BN. In the 2008 election, 101 voted for DAP and 271 voted for BN.
    3. In Sg Pasai, 128 voted for DAP while BN got 368 votes, a majority of 240 votes.
    4. Similiarly, in Panasu, 130 voted for DAP and 470 voted for BN.
    5. Even in Aup, where certain PKR Dayak personalities and leaders come from, lost to the BN. DAP ganered 235 and BN obtained 304.

    In total, in those Dayak Iban areas mentioned, the BN won by 1394 votes. (DAP/PR 1113/ BN 2507).

    It must be noted that almost all PKR Dayak leaders were in those areas in the campaign, yet to no avail.

    DAP/PR won the Sibu by-election but the opposition cannot claim that the Dayak Ibans are behind them, not yet anyway. This demonstrate, at least for now, that the Dayak Ibans are still wanting in terms of basic infrastructures and of course the cash strewn around in any election in Sarawak and everywhere too, a proven but dirty tactics of the BN.

    The PKR, and notably their Dayak Leaders must be scratching their heads on how to convince the Dayak Ibans that PKR is a viable, honest, democratic, good and responsible government that can bring progress, stabiliity and prosperity to this country.

    With the State election in Sarawak looming, its going to be a herculean task indeed. It is back to the drawing board.

    Borneo-Warrior

    After more than 40 years of neglect by the government of the day and the Dayak Leaders, they have resigned to the fact that all of them are the same, that is whether they are from Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional.

    To them it is their daily survival and bread and butter issues that matters and a hand out of a few hundred bucks goes a long way to having some hard cash in their hands.

    In most elections, promises and more promises are made, but sadly to note not many of the promised projects are implemented with urgency due to a variety of reasons offerred by the incumbant government, among them is funding and planning.

    When we talk about funding and planning, we can safely say it is a load of bullshit afterall if there is a will, there is a way.

    The most important agenda of a responsible government is to ensure proper basic infrastructure, health care and school is provided irrespective of how difficult it is, especially in rural areas.

    With the slow pace of honouring election pledges, the Dayaks are actually under Sarawak Barisan Nasional and UMNO’s bondage.

    Unless this mindset can be changed, the Dayaks would continue to be Barisan Nasional Fixed Deposit.

    How do Pakatan Rakyat Sarawak and in particular Parti Keadilan Rakyat play their role than?

    Merely organising functions and gatherings will not do!

    Merely questioning the incumbant government will not help either. (With all the noise made, they now sound like empty milo tins!)

    Instead, more proactive programmes have to be formulated and Pakatan Rakyat Sarawak and Parti Keadilan Rakyat should start adopting winnable consistuency and implement minor projects that would benefit the rural voters.

    With minor projects, at least something tangible can be seen and this would convince the rural dayak voters and show how capable they are.

    GLC’s within the Pakatan Rakyat controlled States should exercise their discretion by implementaing projects or undertake commercial activities through their “Corporate Social Responsibility Programmes (CSR)”.

    We are also quite sure civil society groups and ngos in West Malaysia will mobilise support of the urban voters to undertake something for the benefit of the neglected rural dayaks.

    Just Do It to Save Sarawak and Save Malaysia!!!

    Slums is only a door step away from Taib Mahmud’s politics of development

    The newly formalised Pakatan Sarawak’s battle cry is “Save Sarawak, Save Malaysia”. And in the process, said Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, “we will be saving our children”.

    Anwar also noted that despite Sarawak being the richest state in Malaysia with it oil and gas, timber and resources, its people were the poorest in the country.

    “This is because its resources have been squandered by the BN leaders and they are very rich. They give projects, tenders and contracts to themselves, to their wives and their children.

    “They take away people’s land. Now what do the ordinary people have? Nothing!” he said, when he addressed more than 2,000 people at a dinner over the weekend in Sibu.

    “In order to save Sarawak, save Malaysia and our children, I ask you to support Pakatan Rakyat. You vote the DAP candidate in this Bandar Sibu by-election.

    “You will not go to jail by supporting us. I am the one they want to send to jail; they have beaten me, stripped me naked, and accused me of this and that. They want me to surrender.

    “But I will tell you I will not surrender,” Anwar declared.

    Urging them to play smart politics, Anwar said: “If the BN gives you money, you must ask for more, if the BN gives you projects, you must ask for bigger projects. But remember, you must vote for the DAP candidate.”

    Lim Kit Siang, DAP national adviser, who also spoke at the dinner called on people of Bandar Sibu to vote for change.

    “You must elect a DAP candidate in the Bandar Sibu by-election. And that is very important.

    “We must win it so that we can shake the foundation of Barisan Nasional to its root,” he said.

    Free Malaysia Today


    KUCHING: Sarawak National Party secretary-general, Stanley Jugol is prepared to defend the seat in the coming election.

    “However, we are yet to sit down with Pakatan partners to discuss the candidacy for the seat,” Jugol said when contacted by FMT. He said Engkilili was SNAP’s traditional stronghold.

    In the 2006 state election, SNAP put up a candidate, Johnichal Rayong, who defeated Jonathan Krai of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP).

    “So we are interested in defending the seat, if we are allowed to do so. And we have every chance of retaining the seat for the Pakatan,” said Jugol.

    But Rayong, after winning the seat, deserted SNAP and wanted to join Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party, but his application was opposed by leaders of Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu and SUPP.

    He then tried to join Parti Rakyat Sarawak when he learnt that the seat might be given to PRS to contest under a swapping agreement with SUPP. His overture was also rejected.

    Since then Rayong, he said, had been knocking on the doors of the Barisan Nasional and has been seen around with BN elected representatives.

    Now Rayong is interested to contest on a SUPP ticket and has asked the SUPP leadership to conduct a referendum to find out whether he has the support of the people of Engkilili.

    Jugol said: “I agree with Rayong he should respect the wishes of the people especially those who had voted for him in the 2006 State election.

    “You contested on a SNAP ticket and were elected by the people who were SNAP members or those who shared SNAP’s political aspirations,” Jugol said, when asked to comment on a statement made by Rayong.

    “He should respect the wishes of the people who elected him not because he was Rayong, but because he stood for SNAP and its policies,” Jugol stressed.

    Rayong last week reminded SUPP leaders that the voice of the people of Engkilili State constituency should be respected by all quarters especially ‘outsiders’.

    The refendum should be held after you won on a SNAP ticket and after winning you declared yourself BN friendly.


    What is YB Rayong’s motive in 2006, when contesting under SNAP ticket and immediately declaring himself BN friendly independant?

    Will he declare himself as BN friendly if BN / SUPP had won?

    To jump on the gravy train?

    He had expressed regret over the attitude of certain quarters that were bent on dismissing the voice of the people.

    He also regretted the view held by the senior leadership of Sarawak United People’s Party on the choice of the Engkilili constituency in the coming election.

    “The people of Engkilili have the right to voice out their hope to determine which local candidate would be suitable to be chosen as Barisan-SUPP candidate,” Rayong had said.

    Meanwhile, SUPP members of Engkilili branch are at logger heads with each other over the “Rayong issue”.

    “The committee is split into two factions, one is being headed by the chairman Toh Heng San who is against Rayong’s contesting on a SUPP ticket, and the other led by the branch deputy chairman Sibat Krutap who is pro-Rayong,” said an observer.

    Rumours have been circulated in Engkilili, Simanggang and Lubok Antu that some committee members and even members of the branch have threaten to resign en bloc if Rayong is to be SUPP’s candidate. – Free Malaysia Today

    For the record, PRS and SUPP have objected to YB Johnichal Rayong joining SPDP in 2006.

    Will Barisan Nasional Sarawak honour their agreement?

    It will be interesting to see what SUPP and Taib Mahmud will do for their own convenience.