Change We Must

Written by: By TUNKU ABDUL AZIZ

Although I have in my travels seen abject poverty in such diverse places as Addis Ababa, Dhaka, Dar es Salaam, Kolkata, Mumbai and Manila, I must confess to a feeling of utter revulsion and anger when confronted by stark deprivation in our supposedly well-governed and prosperous Malaysia.

Comparison of poverty between Sarawak and Malaya
The pockets of rural poverty in the Malay heartlands of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu are islands of prosperity compared to the scene that churned my stomach and assailed my sense of guilt and outrage when I first ventured into the Iban long houses on the majestic Rejang.

Little personal dignity left
It is not enough that we have robbed them of their ancestral lands and impoverished them in the process, but we also felt constrained to strip them naked of any residual personal dignity that they might still have by introducing policies that have succeeded in reducing them to the fringes of mainstream economic life.

The Dayak are the forgotten people?
The Orang Asli tribes and the Orang Hulu, the Malays from the interior, have a great deal in common with their Dayak friends. For all we care, they are Malaysia’s forgotten people, but not quite. Whenever an election is underway, be it a by-election or a general election, they find themselves the centre of attention, in great demand by the rich and powerful, all claiming to love and care for them.

The Dayak votes were bought by BN
Before the day is out, they are the proud possessors of a handful of crisp 50 ringgit notes. Four or five hundred ringgit is a princely sum to them, a king’s ransom, no less, in exchange for their votes. If some of them have become cunning, manipulative supplicants and sacrificed their values for a fistful of ringgit, remember it is we who have corrupted them.

They almost lost their value system
Years of exposure to extreme poverty and unbridled exploitation have rendered many of these once proud and noble people, nature’s gentlemen, inured and insensitive to their own traditional values and value systems. They are reduced to living from hand to mouth, on handouts, from day to day.

The Dayak trusted their Government too much
What a tragedy to befall a people whose only sin is to trust those sworn to protect their native rights. They are bewildered to find themselves dispossessed, as their land is taken away without as much as “by your leave” for commercial exploitation by the towkay friends of the powerful.

We who are strong need to help the Dayak
Talking to many of them, the Ibans, I mean, I believe the only way we can restore their pride and dignity is by providing opportunities for regular employment. We are dealing with an ancient people with a distinctive culture. Even those among them whose lives have taken on an urban aspect continue to cling strenuously to their traditional practices. We who are strong have a duty to help the weak by not foisting on the Ibans and others our culture of corruption and other despicable practices.

Corruption in Sarawak is higher then that of Indonesia during election
Some years ago, an Indonesian anti-corruption activist friend of mine visited our country during the 11th general elections, as part of a privately funded election observer mission. His group spent a great deal of time in Sarawak and Sabah and told me that he was shocked by the scale of vote buying.

Election corruption is beyond expectation
I was greatly embarrassed by his revelation because at an anti-corruption conference in The Hague at which I was invited to speak and he was a participant some two months earlier, I had said that while vote buying was rampant in party elections, the practice was unknown in general and state elections.

I was unbelievably naïve to believe the Barisan Nasional government propaganda. The scale of vote-buying must have been so massive as to shock my Indonesian anti-corruption fighter, used as he was to living and working in a corruption-infested nation. It is not that easy to shock an Indonesian over a corruption issue. But unlike Malaysia, Indonesia is on the mend as far as fighting corruption is concerned. In Malaysia, on the contrary, it is in indecently robust health.

Poverty is caused by Government corruption
Malaysia is blessed with rich natural resources and poverty as we have seen in Sabah, Sarawak, Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu can only be explained in terms of governance grounded on corruption and political excesses. When we look at the personal wealth accumulated by Chief Minister Taib of Sarawak at one extremity and the Ibans at the other, one begins to wonder what the future holds for Malaysia. I am not at all sanguine.

The thieving and plundering by the Government must stop
The thieving and plundering by those in power must stop because, as history tells us, it is only a matter of time before the forbearance of the long suffering poor takes on an ugly aspect, with consequences too dreadful to contemplate. The Government of Malaysia and the state governments of Sabah and Sarawak in particular can alleviate poverty by governing in the sole interest of the people. Najib’s people first is under close public scrutiny.

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

Last Sunday, Bukittunggal revealed YB Mong’s Authorization Letter to one Khoo Chee Peng to develop about 70,000 acres of NCR Land at Bukit Bengunan for Oil Palm plantation, and how in the letter he asked for RM1000 per acre as kickback.

When there is no development at all, but the YBs Keep Cheating the Long House Folks by Giving Away the MRP valued at RM 5K in 5 years to them for me it a scandal!…Bukittunggal.com

Today, I am going to reveal to the world the condition of the long house name Kpg Gayau, one of the many Iban long houses under YB Snowdan Lawan and YB Masir Kujat.

The main reason why I am posting the photos of Kampong Gayau, Pantu is not to humiliated the long house chief TR Medang and his “anembiaks” (people) but my main reason is to reveal to the world on the real meaning of Barisan Nasional Sarawaks’ Politics of Development.

With the state election just around the corner, we could read almost everyday in the newspapers how the “Wakil Rakyat” (people representative) from Barisan Nasional urging the long house folks to vote for them as according to them only Barisan Nasional could bring development to their long houses.

Being the YB , you must not just sit down there when your people still staying in this house of this state. I just cannot imagine that at this generation people still staying in this type of house. Can we catch-up with Vision 2020?

Kampong Gayau the object for my posting today is located in upper Pantu. Politically it is under N25-Balai Ringin and P202-Sri Aman. Ringin. Their “Wakil Rakyat” are YB Snowdan Lawan and YB Masir Kujat, both are from the Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) one BN Sarawak component party.

Kampong Gayau is inhabited by about 80 families. It has no electricity and the source of drinking water is a gravity-feed fresh water supply from the stream nearby. Their mean of transport is by river or land.

Politically the long house has been supporting the BN for generations.

They live in fear that if they do not continue support Barisan Nasional, they will never get to see the promised of bring clean pipe water, electricity and basic infrastructure development to their kampong, let alone bringing themselves out of poverty. Instead Barisan Nasionals’ Politics of Development has went on, not only to deprive the villagers (poor Dayaks) of their NCR Land, but went on to enrich the leaders and finance their lavish lifestyles!

Let me share the condition of the long house here … see for yourself the real meaning of Barisan Nasional Politics of Development..

Chinese, Indian Felt They Are Marginalised, Malay Threatened, Who Cares About Dayaks?

Discussion on Malaysian politics has always been centered along racial line – ie how to protect the interests of Malays, Chinese and to lesser extend the Indian – but not the Dayaks or the natives of Sarawak?

Yeah, let’s grab their lands, while we still can shall we!

It is to everyone amusement, really, why the so call Dayak leaders (Jabu, Masing, Mawan) keeping an ‘elegant silence’ on this matter – although it could mean death or alive to their communities – literally. Did they not feel the Dayaks also been marginalized, threatened all along?

Whose faults were that? NEP, NDP or Razak, Mahathir?
In a close examination of Malaysia’s development policies, particularly the NEP and NDP, Associate Prof Dr Madeline Berma found that these policies had in fact benefited the Chinese more than the Dayak and the natives of Sabah (recently termed as bumiputera minority) although they are the target group under the two policies.

In an article ‘Towards The National Vision Policy: Reveiw of the New Economic Policy and New Development Policy Among the Bumiputera Communities In Sarawak‘ she said sufficient evidence showed that the government had succeeded in reducing poverty by increasing Malay and bumiputera minority income level.

“However the government has achieved little success in redistributing wealth to the bumiputera minority (Dayaks) as reflected in their limited control and ownership of physical capital (machinery, real estate), corporate equity and human capital (education and skills).

According to her, the pro-bumiputera (Malay) economic policy of distributing income appeared to be coherent and succeeded in the initial years, because the majority of poor are bumiputeras.

But, moving forward, the real challenges for Malaysia government is no longer about forming an economic policy that centered around political rhetoric of improving inequality – ie., between bumiputera (Malay) and non-bumiputera, but more on addressing the widening gap between bumiputera (Malay) and the non-Malay bumiputera.

The natives - including the Penan have not only excluded from the benefits of NEP, NDP but also denied their rights particularly over their own ancestral lands by the government.

As Dr Madeline argued in her article by focusing on inter-ethnic inequality, current policies will lead to widening inequality within the bumiputera; the very community that these policies aim to support and protect, and give ‘preferential treatment’.

The continued used of ethnicity as the foundation of economic policy is no longer coherent. Continuing the pro-Malay oriented economic policy would apparently lead to internal contradictions and tension within the bumiputera community.

Chinese and Malays the biggest beneficiaries of NEP, NDP
In Sarawak, it was the Malays, Chinese and the Melanaus closely linked to Taib who benefited the most from economic growth during the NEP and NDP period of Razak and Mahathir premiership.

In fact, government policies appear to be bias against bumiputera minority in public sector, employment and business support according to Dr Madeline, who is a professor of economic at UKM.

“While an increasing number of bumiputera majority (Malay) have entered the modern and lucrative sectors in Malaysia, the fact remains that economic growth during NEP and NDP period did not equally benefit the majority of natives in Sabah and Sarawak.

“They continue to predominate the less lucrative sector of agriculture in the rural areas. More glaringly is the failure of government assisting bumiputera minority to own corporate equity as allocated to the Malays.

One can say that the sectoral restructuring of the NEP and NDP only flowed one way. These two policies succeeded in moving the Malays into urban commercial sectors where they were once under-represented but hardly succeeded in moving non-Malay bumiputera out of sectors where they are over-represented (agricultural).

The gradualist approach of the goverment toward non-Malay bumiputera economic development, if not properly adressed can and will frustrate the nascent of bumiputera minority who felt they have not benefited from the policies that were designed to uplift them.

Many non-Malay bumiputera in fact resentful that they receive much less than what they desire and believe they deserve.

Get rid of the term Bumiputera
Perhaps as an attempted to conceal this widening disparity government classify the various ethnic group in this country officially into bumiputera and non-bumiputera. The Malays and the indigenous communities of Sabah and Sarawak are classified as bumiputera.

Such classification gave the impression that government policies are neutral – it has similar effect on all bumiputera groups irrespective of their ethnic background.

This effect is most evident in official statistics where the less economically advantaged non-Malay bumiputera are classified as bumiputera together with the Malays – who are economically advanced.

Methoporically, one can say that the non-Malay bumiputera is statistically invicible!

Owing to this classification and definitional ‘errors’ or ‘problems’ non-Malay bumiputera achievement is either over or understated, thus giving incorrect signals to policy-makers.

Bintulu.org

Chief Minister Taib Mahmud runs a ‘repressive’ government, one that is ‘worse than the communist’, says a local activist. Yet the rural people of Sarawak continue to vote him in. Why is that?

“It’s because the government has perfected the method of making the people feel helpless. The government has created a situation where they (natives) are dependent. In everything they (natives) need, they can always depend on the government to provide,” said John Brian.

To further weaken the native network and strengthen his political hold over them, Taib has deviously pursued a divide and rule policy.

His latest is a new policy which splits the Dayak natives into ethnic groups – Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Penan, Kelabit and Lun Bawang.

An amendment to the Sarawak Interpretation Ordinance 2004, tabled and passed by the state assembly, has declassified the word ‘Dayak’.

The term ‘Dayak’ is now banned in all official government communication.

The move, said Brian, paves the way for Taib to pit one community against the other, keep them repressed and ensure his continued rule.

Sense of helplessness
According to him, years of false indoctrination and purposeful exploitation of the native ignorance had contributed to a prevailing ‘sense of helplessness’ in the rural areas.

He said not many in the rural and interior areas are educated and this works well for the government .

“The government has been lying and cheating the people by telling them how great their achievements are and how the country has progressed. When you are not educated, its easy to believe them.

“But if you go to the rural areas, nothing has changed: there are no roads, no clean water; and electricity. Healthcare is very poor and the mortality rate remains the highest in the country,” he said.

There are some economic activities provided for by the government via its Minor Rural Projects (MRP), but Brian notes in his blog DayakBaru that the MRP is a ‘miserable’ handout that will not contribute to the economic progress of the rural people.

“I’m still mulling on what type of government is this when it is prepared to see its people getting poorer and poorer by the day.

“To me this is a repressive government which is worse than the communist government,” he added.

Free Malaysia Today

They say “Charity Begins At Home”. But our esteemed leaders deem it fit to do otherwise ….. and flaunt their ill gotten gains internationally …

Over a week ago, 500 Penans lost everything when fire swept through two longhouses. Personal documents like birth certificates and MyKads which were recently issued, could not be salvaged.

Both longhouses were located in the deep interior of Kapit Division: Long Kajang was in a logging concession zone, near the Sarawak- Kalimantan border, half a day’s drive along timber tracks from Bintulu. Long Luar, close to the Murum Dam site, housed 300 Penan.

In a gesture of kindness, the two timber giants operating in the area donated a princely sum of RM900 in total. This was equivalent to RM1.80 per Penan.

These companies which stripped the jungles bare of trees did not see fit to provide the Penan with timber to rebuild their homes, or offer other essential assistance.

Back in the towns, efforts were underway to help the fire victims. The Welfare Department approved a relief fund and gave a cheque for more food and other necessities such as cooking utensils, mattresses and clothes.

RM6,000 was immediately given for food and attempts were sought for the state government to rebuild the longhouses using government funds for rural poverty eradication. It hoped to secure RM40,000 for each of the affected families.

Meanwhile, Catholic priest Father Sylvester Ding in Belaga used public donations from the previous year’s hunger appeal, to help the Penan.

The relief team could reach the victims only with off-road vehicles, by driving along logging tracks in a journey that would possibly take a couple of days.

Meanwhile, the Penan sheltering under makeshift huts at the site of the burnt settlements, should be pleased to know that whilst they await basic needs and sustenance, their Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, was gracing the Islamic Fashion Festival (IFF) Charity Gala Dinner in Monaco-Monte Carlo in an effort to promote Sarawak.

At a glittering banquet attended by many members of Malaysian royal families and 600 guests from Monaco’s high society, Malaysia’s “First Lady” Rosmah Mansor who is also the IFF patron, presented a donation of 100,000 euros (RM415,271) to Prince Albert II of Monaco for his charity foundation, the Prince Albert II Foundation of Monaco.

According to press reports, the amount was raised through the promotion of Sarawak tourism, organised in conjunction with high fashion of Islamic inspiration.

Incidentally, the Prince Albert II Foundation was set up to protect the environment and to encourage sustainable development with a focus on developing renewable energies, loss of biodiversity, water management and fighting desertification, to eliminate poverty.

Is Prince Albert aware of the large scale deforestation that is taking place in the Sarawak interior? Does he know that the indigenous people are displaced and have lost their ancestral way of life? Does he realise that state sanctioned large-scale logging and oil-palm activities have destroyed bio-diversity? And has anyone told him that Sarawak is to build 12 mega-dams which have all but destroyed the lives and livelihood of the indigenous people?

The charity dinner also raised about 170,000 euros (RM705,690) during an auction of a sculpture, specially designed IFF watch, and a framed photo of Prince Albert’s visit to the jungles of Sarawak, affixed with his personal signature.

It is a shame that no one thought of passing the hat around to collect money for the Penan fire victims. Or, someone could have proposed that the money raised through the auction, be donated to the Penan.

Taib said in an informal interview, that “the promotion of Sarawak can be done through many channels, and bringing the state to the platform of the high societies of the world can be a very effective and profitable venture.”

Sadly, many Sarawakians are only too aware that the only people to profit from promoting Sarawak are Taib, his family and those whom he favours.

Some of the Sarawakian sponsors who went to the ball in Monaco were CMSB deputy group chairman Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, Kingwood Group CEO Hii King Chiong, Bosarmulu Resort managing director Robert Geneid and Hock Seng Lee Group managing director Paul Yu.

To mark the end of the fashion show, the roof of the Monaco Sporting Club Garden Hall retracted so that guests could watch a fireworks display.

It is almost a certainty that the revellers would have descended on the gaming tables in the Sporting Club after the banquet. After all, why waste a golden opportunity having a flutter at Monaco’s famed casinos?

So it appears that the fireworks are not the only ones to be lit that night, for while the homes of the Penan went up in flames, the elite of Sarawak were just as happy to burn money.

Malaysian Mirror

Looks like PM Najib do not believe Sarawak Barisan Nasional stories any longer!

Is the Federal Government, Treasury and MOE that stupid not to see through the scam!

PM Najib will show Sarawakians, and the Three Musketeers and their gang of thieves that “if there is a will there is a way”.

It does not take 47 years or even 5 years to implement any project.

How?

The team of technicians and surveyors from EPU and JKR, fresh from shooting the rapids at Kapit are now already in Miri and are laying the ground work for survey of the route for the RM100 million road linking Long Lama to Miri.

What say you Deputy Thief Minister Alfred Jabu? and Minister of Lying Portfolio Dato Silly James Masin? What did the two of you say about implementation of infrastructure and development projects promised in the Batang Ai Buy Election?

Certainly you do not want us to harp on it. Neither are we paid to remind you. However rest be assured that we will volunteer to remind the Rural Voters in Sarawak, what this blog entry means and what a Senior UMNO Executive just revealed to us?

We also further assure you that we are getting our contacts to whisper into the ears of PM Najib especially how useless most of you guys from Sarawak Barisan Nasional are besides offerring him a tip of two on how to preserve his Fixed Deposit.

Taken from Zulhaidah.com

This article first appeared at BBC News on 7th December 2009. We find it relevant to reproduce it here following Thief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and his entourage of bandits appearance at Oxford University earlier in the week. And the authorities continued denial of incidences of rape by workers of logging companies.

A BBC investigation into the actions of logging companies in Borneo has been told of the systemic rape and abuse of tribal women and girls – some as young as ten.

The Penan tribe are setting up blockades on logging routes

Logging companies have been accused of turning a blind eye to the allegations for nearly a decade.

In recent months the Penan tribe, armed with blow-pipes, have been blockading roads in an attempt to halt logging companies entering their ancestral lands.

Dressed in loin-cloths – semi-nomadic tribesmen hunt with blow-pipes: bamboo canisters for poison darts and their machetes hang at their waists. These are the Penan, living in the jungle of Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo.

Back at their camp Leong Abid, a tribal chief, told me how the traditional Penan way of life is under threat from the logging companies.

He describes how they are destroying the land where they hunt – in many areas the wildlife – the fruit they pick – the fish in the rivers – has all but gone. If this continues, he says, there will be nothing for his children.

Sexual exploitation

A government report found widespread sexual exploitation of Penan girls

The roads built for and by the logging companies reach deep into the heart of the jungle. It is estimated that only 3% of the primary forest in Malaysian Borneo remains.

According to the government and the companies logging has its positive side: progress. It has, they say, given remote tribal communities access to schools, clinics and other villages.

But our investigation has uncovered disturbing evidence that it has also exposed young women and vulnerable school girls to exploitation, abuse and rape.

I spoke to Mary, a teenage girl who was tending to her baby daughter amid swarms of flies. The child’s legs were covered with running sores. It’s a desperate scene. Mary fell pregnant after she was raped.

With the help of a translator she tells her story. How she was hitching a ride to school and was picked up by a logging company driver and two other men. They stopped off overnight. She was dragged from her room, beaten unconscious. She awoke naked – left in the dirt.

The federal government of Malaysia has set up a national action committee to investigate allegations of sexual abuse.

But in the latest visit in July, 2010, there seem to be an about turn by Datuk Sharizat Abdul Jalil, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development that it is indeed sexual exploitation by the workers of logging companies, meaning the rape allegation was rubbished by the authoroties.

Its report alludes to a dozen separate cases – mainly school girls hitching the four hour ride to and from school – children as young as 10.

“The findings were basically that there was indeed sexual exploitation of the girls – especially where school children who during the journey back and forth from the schools have to use the transport provided by the lorries and lorry drivers of the timber companies,” says Ivy Josiah, one of the authors of the report.

“They were open to exploitation either sexual harassment or sexual molestation and even rape.”

“From what we understand this became the norm – it has been happening over a period of 10 years – and it is systemic in the isolated areas like the jungles of Sarawak.”

‘Storytelling’
The state government of Sarawak – those responsible for signing the logging licences – dismisses the federal government report as misplaced outside interference.

They change their stories, and when they feel like it. ... Dato Sri James Jemut Masing

“I think this is where we get confused I think… the Penan are a most interesting group of people and they operate on different social etiquette as us… a lot this sex by consensual sex,” says James Masing, the Sarawak Cabinet Minister for Land Use.

When I told Mr Masing that I had spoke to a young girl who said she had been beaten unconscious and raped, he replied: “They change their stories, and when they feel like it. That’s why I say Penan are very good story tellers.”

The main logging companies operating in the area are Samling Global Ltd and the Interhill Group.

Both companies say their own internal investigations found no evidence of sexual abuse or rape by their employees and that they are cooperating with the authorities.

Hundreds upon hundreds of stripped timber trunks are stockpiled at the Samling logging storage depot. Caterpillar track grabbers load barges waiting to ship their cargo down river for export.

Since the 1980s the Penan communities have been fighting through the Malaysian courts to try and protect their lands. But it is a lengthy process and, in the meantime, the government continues to issue licences and the companies continue to log.

The main logging companies operating in the area are Samling Global Ltd and the Interhill Group.

Both companies say their own internal investigations found no evidence of sexual abuse or rape by their employees and that they are cooperating with the authorities.

Hundreds upon hundreds of stripped timber trunks are stockpiled at the Samling logging storage depot. Caterpillar track grabbers load barges waiting to ship their cargo down river for export.

Since the 1980s the Penan communities have been fighting through the Malaysian courts to try and protect their lands. But it is a lengthy process and, in the meantime, the government continues to issue licences and the companies continue to log.

Only 3% of primary forest in Malaysian Borneo remains

“When the companies tell the people you have no rights over this land – we have the licence here – this is given by the government. Now the native says – we have been living here for the last 100 years since our ancestors – why do we need to have document of title?” says their barrister Baru Bain.

“To win their case to maintain the kind of life they have – as it is today with the present policy that the government is having – I’m very pessimistic of that – I don’t see any hope for them in the future.”

Disheartened by the legal process, the Penan are now taking matters into their own hands – armed with machetes and blow-pipes, they recently set up blockades.

Unga, a Penan tribesman, told me that the logging companies were “destroying the way of the Penans’ life”. And he said that the Penan would use blockades, blow-pipes and machetes to defend their culture, adding “we believe we can win”.

The allegations of rape and the blockades have started to draw international attention to the plight of the Penan, so far considered a national domestic issue for the state and federal governments of Malaysia.

But two years ago the HSBC bank pulled out of Samling following concerns about its logging activities. And now campaigners hope more international pressure may yet be bought to bear.

BBC News

10th Sarawak State Election. People's Power? Dayakism?

This is the question that many is asking, including the strategist in UMNO and Barisan Nasional in the Federal Capital.

With the State Election around the corner which i speculate to be after the budget 2011 and implementation of some projects announced in the 10th Malaysia Plan in rural Sarawak, Pakatan Rakyat may have lost a better opportunity to topple Taib Mahmud’s regime in the immediate State Election. At best, Pakatan Rakyat can hope to make inroads and deny them the two thirds majority in the Dewan Undangan Negri Sarawak.

On the surface Sarawak seems ripe for political change. Despite being the richest state in terms of natural resources, it is ironically also the second poorest, a situation which speaks of endemic corruption and poor governance.

But capturing Sarawak is anything but straightforward. BN has held this state in an iron grip since it joined the Federation in 1963 through a coalition of native parties led by PBB. Taib Mahmud, the white-haired Rajah of Sarawak has ruled for 29 years. The tenacity of BN’s rule has been aided by misuse of state resources, tight control of the media, ethnic divide and rule and outright vote buying aided by the inaccessibility of its terrain and the abject poverty of the natives.

The importance of wresting control of Sarawak from BN goes beyond the state government. Sarawak has 31 parliamentary seats, a disproportionate number compared to its population and usually swept by BN at every general election. Capturing the state government will level the playing field for the coming battle in the general elections and will be a precursor to the capture of Federal power.

Malaysia Chronicle

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