Voice of a Sarawakian

I am a Kuching-born Sarawakian and I attended primary and secondary school in Kuching. So I spent around 17 years in Kuching. After that I went to a college in Subang Jaya, subsequently a university in Damansara and then a year in the Cardiff. I am now doing the Certificate of Legal Practice in KL. So I have spent around five years in Kuala Lumpur and I suppose I will soon call KL my second home! Nothing beats my beloved hometown, Kuching. So it will always be my home, a true home!

Year 2011 is definitely a year for Sarawak simply because all the people around me, the somewhat arrogant big city people start getting interested about Sarawak. It is still quite OK to be arrogant but not ignorant. Alright, certain people really are, we have people saying that Kuching is the capital city of Sabah, imagine that; in addition to the old stories that we travel by sampan, and live on trees.

We even have people coming to university saying that ‘…payments have to be made online by credit card unless all those in the jungles of Sarawak!’ I suppose all those QUK 1, QMF 11, QSG 1 Benz, Hummer or Ninja King on Sprint Highways should knock down their WUK 6884, Perodua Viva!

Several years ago, I needed to go home for an emergency family matter. I was at the Air Asia counter and all the earlier flights were fully booked. The next flight was 10 hours away or else I needed to check on MAS. An uncle with good intentions suggested to me ‘Why don’t you fly to Sibu and from there take a bus or train to Kuching?’ I politely ‘smiled’ to the uncle telling him ‘Sibu is 12 hours drive away.’

He does not even know that Sarawak does not have a train system. Anyway, his intention was good. Recently, a friend of a friend was cheated by the ‘lucky draw’ scam at KL Central for a few thousand ringgit. He is from Batu 20 something of a rural area near Kuching. I brought him to the police station. I then shared this story with a few friends who all thought he was somewhat silly. This is what the mentality of most Sarawakians staying in the rural area is.

They are denied access to basic information and awareness. Please call them innocent, not stupid because we are all partly responsible for this. Stop giving me the excuse that Sarawak is too big and KL is small. It is again like comparing Malaysia to Singapore, it makes you a fool, really.

Additionally, like the Penans rape cases, it simply gets me into depression. In order to have access to education, they run the risks of being raped. Again they are not stupid. They are fighting for a chance to be more educated. They are too innocent because of the highways and fancy buildings we have.

Just last year, I was in Cardiff. To my surprise, I received an e-mail from the Malaysian Society of Cardiff University asking us to sign the petition for the Sarawak Penans. They even distributed leaflets during their activities, etc, etc. Pretty cool and good stuff I think! It was once like a piece of hotcake everyone was talking about, posting on Facebook and re-tweeting.

People in the capital seem to be interested again in talking about Sarawak. Hoooray! That piece of hotcake is now mildewed and being disposed off in the middle of nowhere. From there on, nobody asks me about the Penans again. Lasted for about a month, then I did not see any leaflets or receive any e-mails again. Well, so we are talking about Sarawak elections now eh! Ok, the society does not talk about election, it is apolitical OK!

I saw a friend’s profile picture on Facebook taken with Wee Ka Siong few days ago. Oh, WKS was in Kuching for Kolo Mee. I am also following Anwar Ibrahim, Tony Pua, Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang, Khairy Jamaluddin and even Najib on Twitter. For the last one week, they all have visited Sarawak, for LKS, WKS, KJ, Najib and Muhyiddin Yasin, they spent only a night or two in Kuching whereas Anwar Ibrahim and Tony Pua are going to spend around three weeks in Sarawak. Good for them actually, the last time I remember Anwar Ibrahim visited Kuching was during the opening of PKR’s new headquarter in Kuching.

Correct me if I am wrong on how many times they have visited Sarawak or how many nights are they going to stay, but all the leaders come here with only one intention, to get our votes and to make promises.

Thereafter, they run! Can my friend in Sibu tell me did Anwar Ibrahim visit Sibu again after the Sibu by-election? Alright, WKS visited Kuching High School a few times and no doubt we have some ministers who are really working. Do not tell me this is politics. Bear in mind, politics is among parties and the ultimate aim is to serve the people regardless of your party.

The Sarawak Election is also an international issue. We have Radio Free Sarawak broadcasting live from London. We have ang moh protestors in London, Geneva, Melbourne, Sydney, generally all over the world. It seems to me that the Sarawak elections is more than a national issue, an international one. Very well, indeed. It is no longer an issue for only the Sarawakians but the world. Everyone now loves Sarawak just like liking the Tamagotchi or the online pet we used to play. Everyone now woos Sarawakians to change Malaysia! Everyone is now a Sarawakian.

2011 is definitely a year for Sarawak.

‘Sarawak, the BN’s fixed deposit!’

This statement is epic! An ordinary Sarawakian or Malaysian will understand it as Sarawakians fully support BN. Even I have friends asking me ‘whylah, u Sarawakian like BN so much?’ Ok, I might not be writing in fancy or good English but I understand ‘fixed deposit’ with the most unusual characteristic that the funds cannot be withdrawn for a specified period of time. So BN puts Sarawak as a fixed deposit, it is true! It means that we cannot be bothered for a specified period of time, in this case, like forever? That is the characteristic of a fixed deposit.

Oh, Haha! Talking about fixed deposit, it is about time for me to check with the bank on how much my interest is! I have a FD with a bank, already open for quite some time and since the money cannot be touched, I rarely check the interest. Sarawakians did not receive any interest for the FD. How often did BN check on Sarawak besides during election?

I run the risks of being called a ‘Perkasa style’ of Sarawakian. I know. I read your mind especially those arrogant people from the capital city like KL? Wtf again right? Sorry if I spoil your day.

Smile! Do not tell me how we Sarawakian should behave until you have come to Sarawak. Indeed, the world understands Borneo better than Kuala Lumpur. We have so much of opportunities, but the opportunities are now gone. The Sarawak election is a Sarawak state of affairs at the end of the day.

So what have we, Sarawakians done so far? I had a chat with a friend from Kuching living in Melbourne yesterday who is yet to register as a voter. He told me how useless is it to register as a voter since the vote counting itself is not transparent.

Another good friend working in Adelaide sent me an article about Taib allegedly making illegal donations to the University of Adelaide. She felt embarrassed, so I asked her, ‘have you register as a voter? She replied ‘I dun have to vote do I?’ I told her, ‘Eh come on! Why not?

That’s the very basic and fundamental rights one should have and exercise! You have to vote! Or register!’ She then asked ‘Can register online?’ Both of my friends are of Australia PR status.

This is a thinking of majority. Let us look at Penang, Perak and Selangor or nearer, in the parliamentary seat of Sibu. If the majority vote is low, then of course the votes are more easily adjustable. On the other hand if it is high, then not everyone can adjust the votes, or at least it would be more difficult to do so. It is this simple reason that brought to the change of government in the above states, or in Sibu.

Imagine if 70% voted for Party A and at last Party B won, trust me, I will bring everyone on the street! Yes, Malaysia is corrupted, but it is not to that extent. Soon it will be if you still refused to register and I will be agreeing with you. So be it transparent or not, your vote is of utmost importance. The EC should be blamed for not providing more means for voters registration, i.e. online registration.

Again, I think it is for simple political reason that things are not possible.

So believe me, those overseas, when you are back in Malaysia for a vacation or something, please respect and exercise your citizen’s right to register as a voter. Stop the ‘not giving a damn shit’ attitude so that ‘we can kick the arse of people calling Sarawakians as fools!’

I also feel really sad that just last week I have to pull a good friend who is so disappointed and full of complaints about the current system to register as a voter. He, however, did not confirm with me that he will exercise his rights to cast a vote.

I am not coaching you on how you should cast your vote for the elections tomorrow. It is difficult to trust any political party at the moment. BN has its own problems, so does the PR. Umno is as arrogant as PKR. When Anwar Ibrahim said in front of Lim Kit Siang ’15 seats is enough, don’t quarrel again!’ and Kit Siang did not react, I feel the slight similarities of the role between Umno and MCA.

In addition to all the dramas, Dominique Ng quit PKR and to run as an independent candidate. I read friends’ comments that they are going to vote for the opposition no matter who is the candidate. The wind of change is blowing in Sarawak.

This piece of writing is written apolitically. People who read my blog previously will know that I am a strong fan of Anwar Ibrahim. However, at the end of the day, I realised that we should vote for the right candidate for the people; whoever can serve us well. Yes, you might want Taib to step down and he really should, 30 years even before I am born. However, it is somewhat a funny and absurd reason if you vote a candidate that you never know just because you want Taib to step down.

You run the risk of disadvantaging all your entitlements. If PR forms the government of Sarawak, and PR soon forms the federal government, will Anwar Ibrahim or Tony Pua stay in Sarawak for three weeks to work on this biggest state of Malaysia, or at the very least to corroborate
more with the state government for the sake of development in Sarawak?

Will it just be another BN like government? Or to be fair, they might be slightly better? You will tell me ‘never try, never know!’

I have given so much of ‘hit and run’ examples. …five years ago nobody bloody cared about Sarawak, and now everyone is talking about Sarawak. Five years later, nobody will care again! Enough Sarawakians!

We have had enough, we deserve so much better. They have raped us.

After that they now want to marry us; but divorce is just in a matter of the time. The worst part is, we are under age and our Papa(s) consented. I bet nobody will care about Sarawak again during Aug 31, 2011. National day is for a nation, we are a nation – called ‘Malaysia’, but Malaysia was formed on Sept 16 and it is is not the national day. Yea right! I am not expecting the same level of developments as in KL, the capitaly city is still the capital city, but treat us in a more reasonable and fair manner.

For the people that are as confused as me, please vote! Vote for yourself, your right, your entitlement and your future. It is the real change that we are talking about. If the candidate is good, vote for him, not the party. If you vote for a good and a well deserving candidate, at the end of the day, real change will come, the party with the most numbers of best candidates will form the government and the rakyatswill win. That’s real change and real democracy.

From Kho Sze Jia, via e-mail

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