The Dayak Dilemma (Part 3)

This is the third instalment of Sim Kwang Yang's Dayak Dilemma series in Malaysiakini. In this instalment Sim traces the changes made to the role of the Tuai Rumah or Tua Kampung in villages that dot the Sarawak landscape.

Sim's piece quotes generously from the very wise, articulate and knowledgeable blogger, Joseph Tawie, whose blog The Broken Shield I discovered many, many months ago.

(Pic) Mr Johnny (right) and Mr Joseph both proudly holding a book that they respectively authored - "The Broken Shield - The Birth of Dayakism" & "Gempung Jerita Tuai Bansa Iban". Picture and caption from here.

I need to digress a little to make the observation that Joseph Tawie's writings on Sarawak, and the land, cultural and economic issues challenging the Dayak community in Sarawak, are always infused with dignified and considered reasoning set within a rich vein of wisdom as only age and life experience can give. Top all that with highly-readable prose and, we have a blog that is truly worthy of reading.

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Not surprisingly, Joseph Tawie has published a book entitled The Broken Shield and, according to Sim, he is in the process of publishing a follow-up book, The Broken Shield Part Two - The Dayak Dilemma which sounds like a companion volume to the first book.

Now, back to Sim's piece. He traces the slow, but sure, emasculation of the role of the Tuai Rumah from that of an avuncular community leader that commands the respect of the villagers by virtue of his deep knowledge of customs, culture and values to that of paternalistic leaders whose appointment is entirely subject to approval of a minor state official.

The new version of Tuai Rumah is said to maintain his standing by way of having financial largesse to dispense to villagers. Those who conform are rewarded with a share of the allocated funds. Recalcitrant ones will not receive allocation.

Some may say that this pecuniary approach to exercising power and control is a practical and effective tool to maintain obedience. Others will see it as an emasculatory insult to the dignity of an entire race of Malaysians. This is Sim's third part:
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While PKR chief Anwar Ibrahim has made grand declaration of intent on taking power in the next Sarawak elections, very few Sarawakians themselves would be convinced that it would be an easy venture.

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I myself would be happy if the opposition coalition can win 24 or more state seats, thus denying BN a two-thirds majority in the Sarawak state assembly. Twenty-four indeed would be well within striking distance, since I expect the DAP and their partners to do well in the urban constituencies.

But in Sarawak, as in other parts of the country, opposition politics can only survive in the urban Chinese areas for a certain time. In native majority areas in Sarawak, opposition parties that have no ambition to rule the state will not attract bright political talent as well as the support of the voters. So what Anwar has announced is not just grandstanding, but the right thing to do.

Again, those of us who are familiar with politics in Sarawak know that the challenge of toppling the BN state government is harder than the ten Herculean Tasks put together. Massive vote-buying is rampant in rural constituencies, and has come to be expected by voters themselves. It has become a way of life in Sarawak.

Equally significant is the unique social structure of the rural communities in Sarawak.

The native communities are very closely-knit communities. They have to be because they live in far-flung isolated terrains and mutual dependence and close social cohesion is the way to be for their collective survival. Blood ties through generations of close marriages between neighbouring villages also mean that members of a local community are often related.

(In an election, the success and failure of a candidate sometimes depends on how many relatives a candidate has within the constituency!)

Within any one village, the most authoritative figure would be the village head, the ‘Tua Kampung’ or the ‘Tuai Rumah’ (in the case of the Ibans)

The village chief used to be an expert in native customary laws so that he could settle disputes between different households on various civil and criminal cases. In that sense, he was also a judge of sort. Nowadays, as the head of the JKKK, the village security and development committee, he has undisputed power over his charges under him. To the outside world, he is also the sole representative and spokesman for the whole village.

Not all chiefs that compliant

These village chiefs used to be freely elected by their villagers. Sometimes, the position was a hereditary one, passed down from father to son.

After the emergence of political parties in Sarawak following independence in 1963, it was increasingly clear that the Tua Kampong and the Tuai Rumah played a critical role in the fight for grassroots political support.

In fact, the Sarawak BN government has been quite successful over the past few decades through all kinds of administrative fiat in bringing these otherwise independent village chiefs under their direct control.

Today, even if a village headman is still elected by his villagers, his status must first be confirmed by the BN-controlled state government. He is answerable to low-grade state civil servants like district officers and the residents above them. Today, a village chief is akin to somebody at the lowest rung of the state civil service.

Joseph Tawi, in a Jan 6 posting on his blog has this to say:

‘Today, the criteria for Tuai Rumah have changed; he must be educated at least up to Form Three, be pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) and not necessarily having a deep knowledge of Iban Adat (this he can learn from the Tusun Tunggu, a book containing all the customs, traditions, taboos, fines, etc.).

‘After being elected, his appointment must be endorsed by the government so that an allowance of RM450 per month can be given to him. His duties include being the ‘eyes and ears’ of the BN government, a judge, a law-enforcer, tax-collector, consultant, and chairman of the JKKK (Village Security and Development Committee) through which government funds are being channelled.’

Be that as it may, not all village chiefs are all that compliant. I have personally met village chiefs who could stand up against powerful logging and plantation interests on behalf of their people. For their bravery and their service, they had been removed from their posts by the state government who then appointed others to replace them.

In the case of one such Tuai Rumah somewhere upstream from Bintulu along the Kemena River, he had merely led his villagers to fight against a logging company that had infringed upon their NCR land. For that, he was accused by the Pengulu Court of the crime of bulak (lying) under the adat istiadat, the Iban customary laws.

He felt great shame for being charged with this minor crime. On the day of the court hearing, I brought along a heavyweight lawyer from Kuching to defend him. The ‘Pengulu’ and the ‘Pemanca’ who were supposed to try him evaporated into thin air.

We also attended a gawai in his longhouse and made fiery speeches to exonerate this wonderful Tuai Rumah from his alleged sin. I was still a ‘YB’ then and my words carried quite some weight with the village folks.

But general elections are a different business altogether in the rural communities.

Naturally, it is common for village voters to defer to the opinion of the Tuai Kampong or the

Tuai Rumah even on the matter of voting for a candidate. But I have been to some longhouses where the village was split into two over their choice of candidate. After the election was over, the losing side would just move out and build another longhouse for themselves. Only my Iban readers can appreciate the financial difficulty and the emotional pain of such a drastic move.

Now, Joseph Tawi has something new to report on the same blog posting quoted above. The paragraphs below are taken from his soon-to-be-published book The Broken Shield Volume Two – The Dayak Dilemma.

No seat is easy to win

‘In this 2006 election, the BN devised an entirely different campaign strategy, which caught the opposition with their pants down. Previously, the money was passed directly to the voters on the eve of polling. This time the distribution was done through their Tuai Rumah.

‘Three days before polling, all the headmen were summoned for a meeting where they were coached to say something to their own people. And on their return to their respective longhouses, they were given some money that was to be shared with the voters of their own longhouses. In addition to this, there were also minor rural development projects that were promised to be implemented.

‘The Tuai Rumah then called for a meeting of the longhouse folks and ordered them to vote for the BN candidates. Anyone who failed to follow his order or directive would not be given any share of the goodies or any project that the government had promised them. And he was also likely to be expelled from the longhouse.

‘The Tuai Rumah must ensure that his followers must vote for the BN candidate, otherwise the BN candidate would report him to the district officer, the resident or the state secretary. As a Tuai Rumah is like a civil servant, action including the termination of his Tuai Rumahship could be taken against him. He might lose his monthly allowance of RM450 per month. And the promised minor rural development projects might be withdrawn.

‘In Daniel Tajem’s constituency of Bukit Begunan, he was defeated by a man, Mong Dagang, whom he had picked to replace him in the 1996 state election. Tajem practically lost in all the longhouses in the five polling districts. Before the money came, many longhouse chiefs and their followers had pledged their support to him who had represented them in six previous elections.

After the distribution of money and the threats issued, everything changed; longhouse headmen, their followers and even Tajem’s own relatives voted against him. And a similar tale of vote- buying had also been reported in other Dayak constituencies.’

Daniel Tajem – a long-time personal friend of mine – may be unknown outside Sarawak,

but he is still a household name in the Land of the Hornbills. He had held that constituency -Bukit Bangunan - near the town of Sri Aman six times, including the period when he was in the opposition. When an established brand name like that can fall to the hands of vote-buying and puppet-like Tuai Rumah, no seat is easy to win for any opposition party – including PKR.

I suppose that, once the Kuala Terengganu by-election is over, Anwar Ibrahim and his team of advisers would be sitting down over the impending Sarawak battle ahead. They would be thinking of what pledges to make to the people of Sarawak, if and when they take over the Sarawak government with the help of the other opposition parties.

Surely one of those pledges must be the restoring of the autonomy of the democratically-elected village chiefs throughout the state. The state government must recognise whoever is elected by the villagers as their headman, and pay them well nevertheless. Empowering the rakyat at the grassroots level would be the most meaningful reform in rural Sarawak indeed.

Part One is available here.
My observation of Part Two is available here.

Sarawak: From Ningkan's sacking to Taib's dominance

Malaysiakini has published Sim Kwang Yang's The Dayak dilemma, Part 2. This time around, I don't quite agree with his thrust which suggests that Tunku Abdul Rahman's Federal Government had a clandestine organising role in orchestrating the removal of Stephen Kalong Ningkan. There was more to it that meets the eye. First, read Sim's version of the Ningkan affair here:

Although the demographic composition of the various ethnic communities is vastly different from that in West Malaysia, there have been tremendous pressure from Kuala Lumpur for Sarawak politics to conform to the racial equation that exists in the Umno-led alliance on the Malayan Peninsula even before Merdeka.

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The idea that then prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and Sarawak chief ministers Rahman Yakub and his nephew, Taib Mahmud (both from the partisan Rakyat Jati Sarawak, or Berjasa) shared was the creation of a Sarawak alliance dominated by Muslim/Malay/Melanau leaders with subservient Dayak and Chinese partners.

From the very beginning prior to and after Merdeka, there was this heavy tendency for federal intervention into Sarawak politics to ensure the creation of a Malay nationalist polity through Malaysia. Even then, Umno was determined to create Sarawak in its own image. This tendency at the Malayanisation of Sarawak politics was resisted by the first Iban chief minister, Stephen Kalong Ningkan of the Sarawak National Party (Snap).

For this and many other reasons, Stephen Kalong Ningkan was forcibly removed from office by a federally initiated declaration of emergency and a constitutional amendment in Parliament. A stop-gap Iban chief minister Tawi Sli was elected, and after the general election of 1970, Rahman Yakub – a Muslim Melanau – stepped in to take over the helm of Sarawak government. Muslim Melanau dominance has continued to this day.

I find Gordon P Means' version of this history more compelling. I had blogged about precisely this episode in a piece entitled, Sarawak Land Reform - The Historical Context where I extracted from Gordon P Means' seminal book, Malaysian Politics as follows:

In his seminal book Malaysian Politics (2nd Edition 1976), Gordon P. Means wrote on the saga of Stephen Kalong Ningkan's attempt to institute land reform in Sarawak and, in so doing, Means also provided a version of the events leading to the sacking of Ningkan. It wasn't so much the sinister Federal Government's hidden hand as Sarawak's own political chicanery that caused the downfall of Ningkan. And, the move to sack Ningkan is likely to have been sparked off by the issue of land reform. This is an issue that continues to simmer until today and, the issue of Native Customary Land may figure even more prominently in the forthcoming state elections:-

During 1965 a political crisis developed within the Sarawak Alliance over land reform proposed by the Chief Minister, Stephen Kalong Ningkan of SNAP. While the legislation had been under consideration for almost three years the decision to implement the proposals came as a surprise to those who hoped they would be forgotten. The basic question was whether the system of native land rights should be amended to allow greater land use by the immigrant communities. Under previous laws the Chinese could only own land in very limited areas designated as "Mixed Zones", while Malays and natives own land in "Native Areas". In addition, the interior tribal natives had customary rights over "Native Customary Land". Chief Minister Ningkan's land reform bills would have changed these laws by giving the interior natives right to acquire full title to "Native Customary Land", including the right to sell their land to whomever they wished. Consequently, the proposed reforms were advantageous to interior tribal natives who would gain title to large tracts of potentially valuable jungle land (emphasis added).

Means went on to describe the following:-

When Ningkan got wind of the efforts being made by BARJASA Secretary-General Inche Taib Mahmud to undermine his government from within, he dismissed Inche Taib from the Sarawak Cabinet. This action precipitated a crisis between the pro-Ningkan forces and the pro-Kuala Lumpur forces. From the point of view of the Federal Government, the test of strength came prematurely, for only BARJASA and Pesaka joined the revolt, while Ningkan retained the support of his own party (SNAP) along with PANAS and the SCA. The next day an entourage of BARJASA and Pesaka officials flew to Kuala Lumpur, and later produced a letter which expressed "no confidence" in Ningkan. On the basis of this letter, signed by 21 members of the Council Negri, Tunku Abdul Rahman demanded that Ningkan resign. Ningkan refused to do so since the opposition parties had no desire to bring down his government on this issue (i.e. the issue of land reform in Sarawak), and thus with their votes he was confident of gaining 21 of the 42 votes in the Council Negri, plus the Speaker's casting vote. Consequently, BARJASA and Pesaka boycotted the Council Negri sessions, preferring instead to invite direct federal intervention.

The rest, as they say, is history. Ningkan was sacked and the attempt at land reform was buried.

The key document that we should re-visit is the Report of the Land Committee, 1962 (Kuching, Sarawak; Government Printer, 1963) published by the Government of Sarawak.

Dayak re-awakening in Sarawak?

The latest report by Joe Fernandez in Malaysiakini on last Saturday's PKR event in Sibu provides a good account of the state of play of the re-awakening of the disenfranchised Dayak community in Sarawak. It would appear that there is a genuine groundswell of discontentment with the manner in which Sarawak's socio-economic development has been handled by Taib Mahmud and BN Sarawak.

In many cases, consultation on many development projects are conducted with Dayak politicians within BN Sarawak that fails to take into account the needs, aspirations and social cost of the affected Dayak communities at the ground level.

This is evident in the manner in which Native Customary Lands (NCL) have been excised by the Sarawak government for the construction of major dams and establishment of oil palm plantations, not to mention the logging of timber.

Environmental destruction is another major issue that affects the lives of these affected communities. Fair compensation is another burning issue, not just in monetary terms but, the displacement and relocation effects on the social and cultural lives of the Dayak communities, many of whom have been associated with specific localities for aeons.

It is, therefore, no surprise that there is a Dayak re-awakening. Read the Malaysiakini report below which addresses the Sarawak political state of play:

Senior Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) leaders have dismissed charges of being solely responsible for the ‘political castration of the majority Dayak community’ as alleged by Ngemeh state assemblyman Gabriel Adit who joined opposition party PKR on Saturday.

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“The Dayak leaders themselves are to blame for their (the community’s) political castration. They are disunited out of personal greed and lack discipline,” said one senior Melanau party activist from the Bumiputera wing of PBB in a text message from Kuching.

“They would rather see their political parties break up and deregistered.”

Over the weekend, Adit (left) announced that 12,000 of his supporters have joined PKR and they were welcomed with open arms in Sibu by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

But the ruling PPB in Sarawak is not particularly perturbed by Adit’s action, which has boosted PKR strength to two in the 71-seat state assembly.

“PKR is not going to solve their mistrust of each other and their self-destructive nature. At best, PKR is a temporary transit house for them,” added the PBB leader.

The PBB leader was responding to the following SMS text and query from Malaysiakini to a selection of leaders, activists and members from BN component parties, PKR, SNAP and the yet-to-be-registered Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC).

“12,000 new members led by Adit joined PKR in Sibu tonight (Nov 15). He handed over the application forms at a dinner attended by nearly 4,000 people. Adit said that PKR is the best vehicle to solve the problem of the political castration of the Dayaks. What do you think?”

Another respondent, PKR Sabah chief Jeffrey Gimpoi Kitingan, had this to say in a longish text message at 1am on Nov 16 from Sibu where he attended a 4,000-strong dinner hosted by the ‘Friends of PKR’ where Adit headed the organising committee.

“I could see and feel the desire for change and the excitement over Anwar’s speech and that of others who spoke, including Adit,” said Jeffrey.

“I think the Dayak/Iban have no better alternative than PKR/PR (Pakatan Rakyat) to overcome their castration. Their problems involve injustices that can only be solved by an alternative national government. Local parties wouldn’t be in a position to take on the (Abdul) Taib (Mahmud)-led BN state government.

“The Dayaks need a good sympathetic national leader to get them out of the situation - one who is also interested in bringing about national political change. I believe that man is DSAI (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim)...

“Anwar will make sure that the next generation of Dayak leaders will look after the interest of the people rather than their selfish interest.”

How Dayak parties were neutralised

Jeffrey witnessed the handover of the 12,000 application forms by Gabriel Adit, a nephew of Leo Moggie Irok - the first and last president of PBDS (Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak) which went defunct after moneybags in PBB openly backed James Masing to take on party founder Daniel Tajem, a long-time nemesis of Taib Mahmud.

It has been alleged that Taib wanted PBDS deregistered and “finished off for good”.

One respondent to Malaysiakini’s SMS query wanted to know the meaning of castration, while others were of the view that Kuala Lumpur was behind the disunity of the Dayaks.

Many have also pinned the blame on ‘unclean’ leaders parachuted in and thrust on the Dayak community so that they (the leaders) could be easily manipulated by the powers-that-be.

Some suggested that Abdul Rahman Yaakub and his nephew, Taib Mahmud, could not have stayed in power for almost four decades without federal government backing and see them as proxies for the real rulers in Kuala Lumpur.

Poverty, money politics and timber politics have also been cited as among the reasons for the political castration of the Dayak community.

“The coming of PKR to Sarawak is just like the entry of Umno to Sabah. PKR can do for Dayak politics what Umno did for Muslim politics in Sabah,” said one text message from a member of the pro-tem committee of the Malaysian Dayak Congress.

“Most of these Dayak leaders at the moment are satisfied with their regular ‘angpow’ packets from the powers-that-be. The money from the spoils of office keeps them in line. They couldn’t care less about their people.

“Besides, many of them have skeletons in their closets and can be easily manipulated. For example, one state minister is a gambling addict and has so many bank loans to take care of. Is he going to worry about himself or the Dayaks?”

The response from a senior Snap leader was telling.

He suggested taking another look at the history of how the present power equation in Sarawak came about and resulted in the political castration of the Dayak community.

According to him, Snap provided the first and second chief ministers - Stephen Kalong Ningkan and Tawi Sli respectively - until the Special Branch and the federal government entered the picture to break up the party’s dominance and bring about a re-alignment of the power structure which worked against the interests of the Dayak community.

“All the good Dayak leaders were either chased out, sidelined or hounded out of political existence as timber politics under Rahman Yaakub and the politics of development under Taib entered the picture,” said the Snap leader.

The rise of Muslim parties

The present power equation apparently began with two small Muslim parties, Barjasa and Panas, merging to form Parti Bumiputera in the late 1960s.

Parti Bumiptera in turn merged with Pesaka, an Iban party, led by Temenggong Jugah, the paramount chief of the Ibans.

The merger in January 1973 was allegedly “forced” on Pesaka by Kuala Lumpur which hinted that any opposition would be met with detention under the Internal Security Act - a fate suffered by several Sarawak United People’s Party (Supp) leaders at that time.

Bumiputera and Pesaka still remain separate but within PBB, with bumiputera having a 2:1 majority over Pesaka, thus effectively preventing the Pesaka leader emerging as the leader of PBB.

With the entry of Supp and Snap into the coalition government, the Dayak seats outside the Pesaka fold were further divided between Supp and Snap, with the latter having the lion’s share in the ratio of 3:1.

Within the Chinese-based Supp itself, the Dayaks formed a third of the membership and the seats.

Dayak Supp members, like Pesaka, helped dilute the political strength of the Dayak community while adding political strength to Supp and PBB with nothing in return for their community.

By the time Taib became chief minister in 1981, replacing his maternal uncle Abdul Rahman, he was still not happy with Snap having such a large number of Dayak seats.

Apparently, he bankrolled Moggie and Tajem to take on James Wong, the Snap president.

The result was the formation of PBDS in mid-1983 after Taib had indicated that Moggie and his supporters were not welcome in PBB since their entry would tip the power balance in favour of the Dayaks.

Earlier, during their open rebellion against Wong’s politics of money power, Moggie (right) had been led to believe that they would be accepted as members of PBB if they were expelled from Snap by the Limbang-based timber tycoon and former deputy chief minister, who ran the party like one of his family businesses and treated members like his workers.

Wong himself had spent some time under ISA detention for “planning to sell Limbang” to Brunei which had longed claimed the territory which almost completely separates Brunei into two halves.

The authorities never explained how Wong could on his own sell Limbang to Brunei. Wong was only released after Moggie and Tajem persuaded him to take Snap into coalition with the state BN.

Takeover of PBDS and eventual split

Tajem’s takeover of PBDS was opposed by Taib through James Masing’s challenge and the ultimate result was the deregistration of PBDS and the formation of the breakaway PRS (Parti Rakyat Sarawak) which has suffered the fate of two presidents with assistant state minister Larry Sng claiming to be the real president in defiance of Masing.

Taib retains Larry Sng in the state cabinet despite Masing expelling him from PRS after the Registrar of Societies, on the directive of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, recognised him as the lawful president on the eve of the March 8 general elections.

Many of the Dayak state assemblymen and parliamentarians outside PBB and Supp are beholden to Alfred Jabu (right), the Pesaka leader, who has come up with a system of “loaning” his nominees as candidates to the other BN component parties.

These nominees are not even members of the political parties they are chosen to represent. This has led to charges of PBB bullying other BN component parties.

Meanwhile, Snap was deregistered and expelled from the BN but won a new lease of life through the courts. A Snap breakaway, SPDP (Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party), led by William Mawan, was accepted as a member of the Barisan Nasional.

Attempts by ex-PBDS members led by Tajem (left) to form the Malaysian Democratic Congress were rebuffed by the Registrar of Societies on “national security grounds”.

They are now turning to PKR as the only avenue for their political struggle although Tajem and Masing have since made up with each other.

Adit first won the Ngemeh seat on a PBDS ticket but was denied that seat in the 2006 state elections.

He stood as an independent and won and was refused entry into any BN component party on the grounds that he had “opposed the coalition and stolen a seat which belonged to PRS”.

Before Adit contested the election, he was a member of SPDP which had hoped to “swap” for the Ngemeh seat.

Adit had backed Tajem against Masing in the struggle for control of PBDS after Moggie suddenly resigned over “hurtful and ungrateful remarks” in public by Masing over his (Moggie’s) long stay in office.

Sarawak PKR gets big boost

Malaysiakini's report that sole Independent state assemblyperson in the Sarawak State Assembly Gabriel Adit has made the crucial decision to join PKR will give a big boost to PKR as it prepares for the next state elections due in 30 months.

The PKR gathering tonight in Sibu, will be a big celebration. PKR has gained very significant inroads into the Dayak community assisted in great measure by the draconian and high-handed attitude of Taib Mahmud and his 29 lame duck Dayak state reps.

I'm sure Malaysiakini will not mind my posting Tony Thien's report in full. I have highlighted in bold the interesting parts of Tony Thien's report:

Adit, 58, is a four-term representative who retained the predominantly-Iban Ngemah seat in the 2006 state election on an independent ticket.

He will officially hand over his membership application form as well as those from his supporters during a 300-table dinner organised by ‘Friends of PKR’ in Sibu on Saturday. Adit is the organising chair of the event.

It is learnt that many members of a Dayak-based state BN component party will also be handing over their application forms to PKR advisor Anwar Ibrahim, the guest-of-honour, for the evening. Several top Pakatan Rakyat leaders from PKR, DAP and PAS as well as their state leaders will be present to witness the event.

Malaysiakini also learnt that Beginda Minda, the ex-publicity chief of PRS president Dr James Masing-led Balleh division who made the news recently with his call on Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu to resign, and his supporters are also expected to join PKR at the function.

Although several leaders of state BN component parties have been reported in a national daily as saying they are not perturbed by the news of Adit’s impending move to join PKR, it has come at a time when there are also reports of groundswell support for PKR, especially in the rural areas.

Most popular party

A Merdeka Centre survey conducted after the March 2008 general election indicates that the most popular party among the Dayaks in Sarawak today is PKR.

There are several reasons why this is so, and among the concerns to Dayaks is the way the present Sarawak government handle the Native Customary Rights (NCR) land issue.

This has seen growing conflict on the ground between NCR landowners and plantation and logging companies and the government and increasing cases of litigation brought before the courts in Sarawak.

Adit was first elected to the state assembly in 1991 and has retained it successfully ever since.

A Canadian graduate in sociology and political science and closely related to former PBDS president and former federal minister Leo Moggie, he is respected within his own community and is known to be patient and not afraid to criticise the state government.

This personality has not endeared him to some top leaders in Sarawak, including the chief minister.

It was hardly surprising that the state BN leadership did not pick him to contest in the last state election which forced him to defend the Ngemah seat as an Independent.

He defeated BN-PRS candidate Alexander Vincent, a Masing relative, by a majority of more than 500 votes.

With Adit joining PKR, the party will now have two state assemblypersons. The other is Dominique Ng who represents the Chinese-majority seat of Padungan.

Adit conceded that there is a limit to what he can do, but by joining PKR he hopes to open the doors for other BN representatives to fight for change which he says looks inevitable, given the growing discontentment among Sarawakians against the state government.

He would not want to say more except that once he is officially in PKR, he will help his colleagues at state and national levels to build up the party’s grassroots where it counts most ahead of the state elections.

Twenty-five minutes too late

Adit told Malaysiakini that over the past several days during the sitting of the state assembly, he was approached by a number of BN representatives who tried to dissuade him from joining PKR after news of his intention leaked.

“I quoted to one of them the title of a Michael Learns To Rock (MLTR) song Twenty-five Minutes Too Late and that I have made up my mind,” he added in jest.

Apart from the Merdeka Centre findings on responses in rural constituencies to PKR, many state BN leaders, especially from the Dayak-based parties, acknowledge the growing anti-BN sentiments on the ground, sparked by issues such as land and certain policies on education and economic opportunities.

But that change may not come easy, with almost everyone acknowledging Taib’s strong and powerful grip on Sarawak’s power politics but one of his senior party colleagues has warned that unless the NCR land issue is resolved, it could potentially become a dynamite to create a political tsunami in the next state election.

But it has been noted that many state BN top leaders appear to be still in a state of denial, believing that under Taib’s leadership the state BN will remain formidable and should be able to remain in power for some time to come.

However, if Adit and more BN elected representatives who, to quote him, have a bitter-sweet experience inside BN, follow him to PKR, that might change the perception.

There are 29 Dayak-majority seats, 27 Malay/Melanau (Muslim)-majority seats and 15 Chinese-majority seats in the 71-seat state assembly.

Presently, DAP has six seats, all Chinese-majority, PKR one Chinese-majority seat and Independents two Dayak seats.

BN’s Sarawak United People’s Party (Supp) could end up even worse in the next state election with the DAP expecting to make further inroads.

PBB’s Malay/Melanau-majority seats may be tough to crack but PKR is confident of giving PBB a run for their money given the known dissatisfaction within the Malay community against the state leadership over a number of issues.

The opposition will have to win half or more of the Dayak seats plus a majority of Chinese seats as well as a number of Malay/Melanau seats to topple the state BN government.

Remove personal differences

PKR’s prospects have been bolstered by a growing number of bumiputera professionals joining the party. It does not lack potentially good candidates to fill the many seats.

Supporters are urging PKR state leaders to remove personal differences and close ranks as well as for the party at the state level to forge a better working relationship with Sarawak DAP.

It’s not clear what role the other state opposition parties Snap and Star will play.

It is possible that if a broader understanding can be reached they will get to contest some seats if the right candidates come around, without opposition parties taking on each other for the same seats.

Learning from past electoral experiences and the need to avoid a clash among themselves, DAP and PKR are likely to agree on seat allocation, especially in Chinese-majority areas.

Sources said that the PKR national leadership want to see the party’s state organisation further strengthened, after Adit’s entry into the party, with strategies more focused on the objectives it has set out to achieve in Sarawak.

The question ahead of the huge Sibu gathering is after Adit’s entry and that of his supporters applying to join the party at the same time, what significant impact will it have especially in the rural areas.

Will, as the Ngemah state representative hopes, it open the doors for not just more BN reps but also the grassroots of other Dayak-based parties to join PKR?

Sarawak: Petition to Restore the Rights of the Indigenous People of Sarawak

I got his from Al Tugauw's blog, Sarawak Headhunter. Below is the full text of the Petition to Restore the Rights of the Indigenous People of Sarawak. I hope that, in good conscience, you will add your name to the petition as I have:

Dear Prime Minister Y.A.B. Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi,
(cc: The Chief Minister Of Sarawak, Pehin Sri Dr. Haji Abdul Taib bin Mahmud)

We are gravely concerned and disturbed by the legal genocide of the indigenous groups commonly known as the Dayaks which has been taking place for almost the past three decades in Sarawak, the largest state in Malaysia.

This is taking the form of a massive native land grab through a legal and systematic means of forcing them to give up their ancestral lands or lands over which they have native customary rights that are recognized by the country’s highest courts and the Sarawak Land Code and giving away of such lands to companies closely connected with State Government leaders, the political elites and cronies.

By losing their NCR lands, they lose their farms, the forests where they collect timber for housing, where they go out for hunting and for fishing. And they continue to suffer on account of the insatiable greed of the politicians in power who clearly show scant regard for human rights as food crops and homes are often bulldozed and the natives left landless and homeless.

Even the law-enforcement agencies, particularly the Police, are colluding with the plantation companies and failing or refusing to act when the affected indigenous farmers lodge official complaints against encroachment of their NCR land and the destruction to their crops and properties.

This system of legal genocide continues unabated in the face of a deliberate collusion between State Government leaders and large commercial interests and is leading to an extremely dangerous situation as the authorities even resort deploy the Police and even Army to make arrests when the natives put up a stand to defend their ancestral farming lands.

We are therefore extremely concerned at the land grab that is going on in Sarawak as this would lead to serious consequences and implications for the future well-being and livelihood of the indigenous groups of Sarawak, especially the non Muslim Dayaks people.

We strongly support the indigenous people’s struggle to protect their land for their survival. We demand that the:

1. The Federal Government of Malaysia shall undertake to revise inconsistent laws in order to abide by Article 5 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia which enshrines the guarantee of right to life for every inhabitant of its land

2. State Government of Sarawak to uphold the Native Customary Rights (NCR) as guaranteed under the Sarawak Land Code (1958) and to recognize the NCR status of all affected parties who can prove the existence of their claim to these rights.

3. State Government of Sarawak shall respect and abide by the case precedent established by the Federal Court of Malaysia’s decision of Madeli Salleh vs Government of Sarawak, which states very clearly that the customary rights of inhabitants were recognized and accepted by the British Crown when it governed Sarawak. It became part of common law and therefore shall be recognized as being a fundamental right.

4. State Government of Sarawak shall cease the issuance of “provisional leases” (PL) for NCR disputed land with immediate effect.

5. The Federal Government of Malaysia shall recognize the relevance of all convenants and instruments on human rights and make haste to ratify and to conform to all these said Charters.

6. State Government of Sarawak shall undertake to provide protection for the safety of the
indigenous people to stop them from all forms of harassment, intimidation and threats of physical and bodily harm that arises from land disputes.

7. In instances before NCR land is requested for commercial development via partnerships with
government agencies and/or private sector initiatives, it shall be an imperative condition that free, fair, prior and informed consent be obtained from the affected communities in accordance to the principles of transparency, the principles of right of access to information and the principle of the inherent to know by all parties involved.

If the State Government of Sarawak fails to comply with the above demands, then the Federal Government of Malaysia must come forward to take appropriate steps to protect NCR lands, the lives and livelihoods of the indigenous people.

Please click on the link here to sign the Petition.

Sarawak to build 12 dams to meet future power needs

I'll be the first person to declare that I'm all for progress and economic development. But, at the same time, I'll be the first person to declare that progress cannot come at too high a price.

Malaysiakini has reported that Sarawak's plan to build 12 hydroelectric dams, including one that is near the Mulu Caves may threaten the World Heritage status of the Mulu National Park, environmentalists have warned. See http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/86613

SCORE and the strategy for Sarawak's economic development

The Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy carries the acronym SCORE. The SCORE programme is targeted at harnessing the hydroelectric generation potential of the great rivers of Sarawak and, to use the vast amount of electrical power for the heavy industries that consume gigawatts of electricity. That explains the master plan for constructing 12 dams.

Certainly, the direct investment of the likes of China’s Luneng Group, Smelter Asia Sdn Bhd, Alcoa Inc, Mitsubishi Corp, BHP Billiton Ltd and Australia’s Rio Tinto in addition to Press Metal Bhd will create jobs for Sarawakians. The billions of Ringgit in foreign direct investment will be staggering.

Some spots of bother to be considered by the Sarawak state government and the Environment Ministry

There are, however, some spots of bother that need some ventilation. One has been highlighted by the venerable M'sian environmental warrior, Gurmit Singh whose views have been quoted in the Star Online report entitled, Sarawak to build 12 dams to meet future power needs.

I wish to add to Gurmit Singh's point about potential environment hazards by referring to the travails of BHP Billiton Ltd (one of the "interested parties" named in the Star Online report) in respect of their OK Tedi Copper Mine in Papua New Guinea. 13,000 villagers have filed a class-action suit for USD4 billion against BHP as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald in January 2007; PNG villagers sue BHP, Ok Tedi miners. Their complaint was for the destruction of their traditional lands along 38km of their river and, their suffering from tonnes and tonnes of arsenic, copper, zinc and other heavy metals dumped into this once pristine habitat where they had lived since time immemorial. This is a familiar complaint. Sadly, it is a very real complaint.

The aluminium smelting industry

The industrial process to convert bauxite to aluminium requires an incredible amount of electrical energy. This makes the SCORE proposition especially inviting to the aluminium smelters throughout the world. In particular, another "interested party" named in the Star Online report, Alcoa Inc is ranked 9th in the Political Economy Research Institute's (PERI) Toxic 100 of 2002.

The company is reported to have released 9.88 million pounds of toxic air in 2002. In April 2003, Alcoa Inc in the US, agreed to spend an estimated $330 million to install a new coal-fired power plant with state-of-the-art pollution controls to eliminate the vast majority of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions from the power plant at Alcoa's aluminum production facility in Rockdale, Texas.

The out-of-court settlement was the ninth case the US Bush Administration pursued to bring the coal-fired power plant industry into full compliance with the US Clean Air Act.

Alcoa was found to have unlawfully operated the Rockdale facility since it overhauled the Rockdale power plant without installing necessary pollution controls and without first obtaining proper permits required by "New Source Review" program of the Clean Air Act.

In February 1999, Alcoa cleaned soils and sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and lead at the York Oil federal Superfund site in Moira, New York in accordance with the dictates of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Read more HERE.

Another spot of bother: NCR Land and the displacement of native communities

The construction of hydroelectric dams in Sarawak always result in a head-on collision with native communities. I have written about the displacement of Sarawak native communities due to logging and oil palm plantations on numerous occasions under the label of NCR ad nauseum. But, the issue is very real. I firmly predict that the issue of NCR land may well be the tipping point for the toppling of the Sarawak BN government.

Rent-seeking possibilities galore

I don't really have to spell out the rent-seeking possibilities arising from these projects, do I?

Is this form of progress worth paying the price for?

This is the question that I want to pose for anyone who cares to read this blog; Is this form of progress worth paying the price for?

State, Communities and Forests in Contemporary Borneo

I want to share this academic work, State, Communities and Forests in Contemporary Borneo with anyone who is interested in the environmental challenges and the displacement of native communities in Borneo, which encompasses the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak and Indonesian Kalimantan. The kingdom of Brunei does not form part of this study. Published by the Australian National University, the ANU has been generous in sharing this outstanding piece online. The contributors are outstanding academics and they address social, economic, environmental, legal and political issues affecting deforestation and displacement of native communities in Borneo.

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If you are only interested in Sarawak, go to Fadzilah Majid Cooke, Ramy Bulan and Mogens Pedersen et al.

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If you are only interested in Sabah, go to Justine Vaz.

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To be honest, I haven't finished reading this compendious work. It is just a breathtaking albeit academic study. But the issues are serious and, think about it, every single day native communities in Borneo are witnessing the destruction of their ancestral and customary lands. And, the shame of it all is that these communities do not receive adequate compensation for being displaced.

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This is the point that I have repeatedly raised in various blog entries, particularly the piece entitled Sarawak NCR Land: The heavy price of progress and, generally under the label NCR.

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I must confess that I'm not a native nor am I a Sarawakian or Sabahan. But I'm Malaysian and, I hate to see what's been happening. In West Malaysia the decimation of Orang Asli communities is still continuing although greater sensitisation is slowly creeping in...very slowly.

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My innate sense of fairplay demands that I write and speak out about the plight of the native communities of Malaysia. If I can help to articulate their plight and help to frame the discourse on the rights of native communities and the concomitant impact that their displacement causes on the environment, then I am grateful that my education and writing skills are not wasted.

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Do ignore any hint of sanctimoniousness, if any, on my part. Do take the trouble to read the resources to get a better understanding of the issues affecting the native communities of Borneo and the environmental issues arising from their displacement. Progress should not come at any price. Progress must be a considered activity especially if it affects human beings.

Dayak leadership stands up for NCR

Finally! Is James Masing of Parti Rakyat Sarawak finally acquiring a spine on the urgent matter of NCR land? The latest report by Tony Thien in MALAYSIAKINI shows a still tentative and hesitant James Masing saying, "We like the government to consider (a review of the policy on NCR land) because our party is rural-based so land will be an issue."

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Malaysiakini further reports what Tony learnt that Dayak members have spoken of their growing concern about threats to the future status of NCR lands, especially with the opening up of more lands for commercial oil palm plantations and, tree planting and harvesting schemes throughout Sarawak. There has been increasing conflicts between oil palm and timber companies and NCR land-owners comprising mostly Dayaks such as Iban, Orang Ulu and Bidayuh communities. There are now nearly 200 litigation cases by NCR land-owners pertaining to lands claims and damages to crops.

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I have written about NCR land issues on several occasions. The issues facing the Dayaks are serious and the race is now on between BN and Pakatan to woo the Dayak voters in the Sarawak State elections that is looming within the next 24 months.

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The question in the minds of most analysts is whether CM Taib will keep James Masing and PRS on a tight leash on the issue of NCR land. If Masing and PRS cannot articulate a clear policy on NCR land to the satisfaction of the Dayak electorate, then BN Sarawak may stand to lose many seats. Pakatan will, no doubt, be assembling a coherent NCR land policy package.

Join us, DAP Sarawak urges BN reps

It's starting to get hotter in Sarawak. Malaysiakini reports an audacious call by DAP Bandar Kuching ADUN, Chong Chieng Jen (see http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/84838) for all BN legislators in Sarawak to join the DAP or form alliances or a coalition.

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3 key agenda items

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The DAP mentioned 3 key agenda items. Firstly, to implement a chief minister rotation system whereby a Dayak, a Malay and a Chinese will take turn to be the Sarawak chief minister. The tenure of each CM will be for a full term after a state election. One full term will be quite sufficient for a CM to implement his policies and visions. Dayak will be the first to be the CM under the rotation system as they have the largest population.

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Secondly, to demand for 20% oil royalty for Sarawak. Despite our state’s riches in natural resources, we are one of the least developed State. Sarawak has been marginalised by the BN government all these years.

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Finally, to implement total reform of Sarawak's land policy by converting all leaseholds to 999 leaseholds and, to survey and issue land titles to all NCR land.

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It looks like the views expressed in many blogs (including this one) on NCR lands is being taken up even more earnestly by the Sarawak Opposition (PKR and DAP). At least the effort is not in vain!

Sarawak NCR Land: The heavy price of progress

It is sad and frustrating to read in Malaysiakini (see http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/84757) about the Kenyahs desperately protesting against logging at their communal lands (which are NCR land).

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I had written about this NCR challenge earlier (see Sarawak: Ningkan & Native Lands at http://ctchoolaw.blogspot.com/2008/05/sarawak-ningkan-native-lands.html).

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The basic issue about NCR lands, which cost Stephen Kalong Ningkan the Chief Minister's post, is that it is a putative legal claim for the natives. There is no clear legal right. The Malaysian courts have doggedly stuck to a very narrow interpretation of the Sarawak Land Code.

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The courts' interpretation is that Section 5(3) and (4) of the Sarawak Land Code (SLC), which authorises the Minister of Planning and Resource Management to declare, by Gazette Notification that the extinguishment of native customary rights (NCR) over state land, and whatever compensation to be paid to the native claimants of such NCR, are valid and constitutional. For example read this report at Rengah Sarawak: http://www.rengah.c2o.org/news/article.php?identifer=de0601t&subject=6.

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In other words, all the Minister needs to do is to issue a Land (Extinguishment of Native Customary Rights) Direction and, literally at the stroke of the pen, the natives' claim is gone. Poof!

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My point is, why is CONSULTATION such a problem in Malaysia? Why is there so much insolence and arrogance when exercising political and executive powers? What is the hurry to fell trees for timber and clear jungles for oil palm planting? What is the hurry?

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How would these politicians and towkays feel if some natives went into any property belonging to the politician or towkay and start planting vegetables and fruit trees and rear poultry and build a dwelling? Obviously they will pull out their TITLE DEED and lodge a Police report for criminal trespass.

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Ah! There it is! The natives living in NCR lands have NO TITLE DEED! So, how can they complain about trespass or poor compensation?

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And, a Title Deed requires an OFFICIAL mapping and survey exercise. That means only the State Land & Mines Department can do it. And, so far, they won't.

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I am not a Sarawak native. But I am sure that most natives want progress too just like any other Malaysian. But, is it wrong to want progress with REASONABLE terms and conditions set by the natives? Has the compensation for taking NCR lands been REASONABLE?

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And, what is so wrong about respecting those native communities that do not want logging and oil palm plantation encroachment?

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That should be the true spirit of the Federal Constitution and the right to property in Article 13 of the Constitution.

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What is being done now and, the way in which it is done, may be legally right (only because the courts wrongly say so), but MORALLY it is very wrong.

Sarawak: Dam it!

It had to happen sooner or later. As reported in Malaysiakini (see http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/84715) the "dam" of deceit has burst open. Sarawak's marginalised Dayaks have been crying out for so long and yet, their cries fall on deaf ears. The so-called Dayak leaders must search their souls and their conscience at the plight of their Dayak constituents.

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For that matter, the non-Dayak leaders have to start asking hard and difficult questions about the method in which so-called development is being brought into the State. WHO does such projects benefit? It almost always affects the NCR land that have never been officially surveyed.

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And, why is there NEVER any consultation?

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The answers are obvious. Years of incumbency breeds an incestuous in-breeding between BN Sarawak leaders regardless of political parties. This incestuous in-breeding extends to elite and well-connected businessmen. Charles Lindblom calls such a grouping a polyarchy. But by whatever name it is called, it is no good.

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The fear of bai moh (the White-haired One) is very palpable in Sarawak. But the Sarawak voters must take heart from GE2008 when the "gods" and "emperors" of BN were exposed. Just as Dorothy discovered that the Wizard of OZ was a mere midget with a lot of bells and whistles special effects, the Sarawak voters must know now that all it takes is to mark an "X" in the right place when the time comes.

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Only then can the accountability and audit and reform start. Or, maybe it will start sooner. Who knows?

Sarawak Land Reform - The Historical Context

In his seminal book Malaysian Politics (2nd Edition 1976), Gordon P. Means wrote on the saga of Stephen Kalong Ningkan's attempt to institute land reform in Sarawak:-

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During 1965 a political crisis developed within the Sarawak Alliance over land reform proposed by the Chief Minister, Stephen Kalong Ningkan of SNAP. While the legislation had been under consideration for almost three years the decision to implement the proposals came as a surprise to those who hoped they would be forgotten. The basic question was whether the system of native land rights should be amended to allow greater land use by the immigrant communities. Under previous laws the Chinese could only own land in very limited areas designated as "Mixed Zones", while Malays and natives own land in "Native Areas". In addition, the interior tribal natives had customary rights over "Native Customary Land". Chief Minister Ningkan's land reform bills would have changed these laws by giving the interior natives right to acquire full title to "Native Customary Land", including the right to sell their land to whomever they wished. Consequently, the proposed reforms were advantageous to interior tribal natives who would gain title to large tracts of potentially valuable jungle land (emphasis added).

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Means went on to describe the following:-

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When Ningkan got wind of the efforts being made by BARJASA Secretary-General Inche Taib Mahmud to undermine his government from within, he dismissed Inche Taib from the Sarawak Cabinet. This action precipitated a crisis between the pro-Ningkan forces and the pro-Kuala Lumpur forces. From the point of view of the Federal Government, the test of strength came prematurely, for only BARJASA and Pesaka joined the revolt, while Ningkan retained the support of his own party (SNAP) along with PANAS and the SCA. The next day an entourage of BARJASA and Pesaka officials flew to Kuala Lumpur, and later produced a letter which expressed "no confidence" in Ningkan. On the basis of this letter, signed by 21 members of the Council Negri, Tunku Abdul Rahman demanded that Ningkan resign. Ningkan refused to do so since the opposition parties had no desire to bring down his government on this issue (i.e. the issue of land reform in Sarawak), and thus with their votes he was confident of gaining 21 of the 42 votes in the Council Negri, plus the Speaker's casting vote. Consequently, BARJASA and Pesaka boycotted the Council Negri sessions, preferring instead to invite direct federal intervention.

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The rest, as they say, is history. Ningkan was sacked and the attempt at land reform was buried.

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The key document that we should re-visit is the Report of the Land Committee, 1962 (Kuching, Sarawak; Government Printer, 1963) published by the Government of Sarawak.

Sarawak: Ningkan & Native Lands

The death knell sounded for Stephen Kalong Ningkan without his knowing when he mooted the idea of granting titles for native lands in 1963. Unlike the stalwarts of SUPP, Ong Kee Hui and Stephen Yong, who had opposed the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, Ningkan had formed SNAP and embraced the Sarawak Alliance with the support and blessing of Tunku Abdul Rahman. It was a decision that Ningkan would live to rue as the tumultous constitutional events that led to his sacking, would prove.

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Skullduggery started almost immediately with Ningkan's radical native land title proposal. There were certain well-placed political leaders in the Sarawak Alliance who saw the idea of granting titles to native lands as anathema. Such a situation would create a wealthy class of natives, particularly Ibans, who would then form the core political power in Sarawak. No, that could not be permitted.

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A land title, even if it is native land title, is valuable. It means that anyone who wants to use the land, say, for logging, or mining, or hydro-electric dams, would have to negotiate with the native landowners. There would have to be detailed negotiations for compensation, re-alienation, change of land use, and so on. Many steps would be required. In other words, the native landowner would become a key factor in any developmental matters for any native-owned part of Sarawak that was targetted for development. And, more importantly, the native landowner would be entitled to receive fair and adequate compensation.

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That inconvenience was completely avoided mainly by neutralising the political power and influence of Stephen Kalong Ningkan. It was a sad chapter of Malaysia's constitutional history. And, it happened so early in the life of the Malaysian federation. Furthermore, it was done via the declaration of the first emergency in independent Malaysia. And this insidious move was led by Tunku Abdul Rahman, no less!

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No doubt, the ouster of Ningkan started with a rebellion in the ranks of the State Assembly. But history will prove that Ningkan's leadership of the Ibans and other natives and, most importantly, his plan for the enfranchisement of the Sarawak natives by the creation of native land titles, was a major threat to many quarters.

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Let us imagine that Ningkan was successful in establishing a native title system. All native communities in Sarawak would have been given indefeasible title over their land. It would have meant that any party, even the government - whether Federal or State - would have had to negotiate any development plans with the native communities. Native communities would have been able to have a clear voice supported by the law, to impose conditions and obtained fair compensation if they disposed off any part of their land.

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Without any titular and registrable rights in the present Native Customary Land ("NCR") system, the Sarawak native communities have suffered the ignominy of waking up in the morning to the monstrous sound of tractor engines and chainsaws. Their queries to the loggers and contractors are rebuffed with shoulder-shrugs. The natives would be given the go-around to many parties, always based in distant towns. By the time the natives get organised, time would have elapsed and the authorities that made the fateful administrative decisions would be protected by statutory time-bars.

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The present NCR approach to land use in Sarawak is a sham. It is a device that favours the state and well-connected businessmen. The natives who only demand to have the right to live their way of life are completely helpless. Worse still, they have no idea why their world is being destroyed right before their eyes. Trees planted by their ancestors, rocks that have a sacred spirit, rivers from which they fished - things that define who they are - are all gone in a matter of hours, days, weeks and months (no need for years). They have no voice, no say, in the development of their part of Sarawak.

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This disenfranchisement is caused by the absence of land rights. The people of Sarawak must, in good conscience, wake up to the plight of their native brethren, many of whom are languishing in poverty.

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Stephen Kalong Ningkan's political fate was sealed decades ago by controversial means. The leadership of the natives of Sarawak has never been permitted to congeal and be embodied by any one leader. Perhaps it is time to articulate the rights of the natives of Sarawak through a new forum and leadership such as that offered by PKR.