“We feel that we have the right to bring (our plight) to the attention of Her Majesty’s government, as our former colonial masters, hoping that Her Majesty can advise the Malaysian authorities to accord the Dayak community the privileges and rights as enshrined in the Inter-Governmental Committee report and the Malaysia Agreement.
“Our customary rights over land, with the passing of amendments to the Land Code, have been taken away and are being given to rich businessmen or companies under the guise of Provisional Lease for the cultivation of oil palm on a big scale.
“While other communities have progressed by leaps and bounds, the Dayaks have remained mired in the doldrums of poverty, little better, if at all, as they had been under the British tutelage.
“There is a difference. While the British government guaranteed the rights to land held under customary laws, in our present situation, the opposite seems to operate adversely against the Dayak community.
“As if this discrimination is not enough, the Dayaks are not even allowed to form (their own) party to articulate their political, educational, cultural, economic and social aspirations.
“Whatever Dayak-based parties they were in the past are being deregistered one by one - first the authorities deregistered Sarawak National Party and then Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), both on flimsiest reasons.
“The Dayaks, who (make up) about 60 percent of the state population are encouraged to be members of every political party by the (Barisan Nasional) leaders. This is a subtle way (to) ‘divide and rule’ community.
“Following the deregistration of PBDS in October 2004, some ex-members on May 6, 2005 submitted an application to register MDC.
“After more than one year, the application was rejected by the Registrar of Societies on July 19, 2006 under Article 7(3) of the Societies Act, giving the reason that MDC would be a potential threat to national security.
“It is in this light that we the pro-tem committee members and Dayak community who were once Her Majesty’s subjects appeal to Her Majesty’s government to put pressure on the Malaysian government.”
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 10:30 am and is filed under Bangsa Malaysia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
People of Dayaks
“Our customary rights over land, with the passing of amendments to the Land Code, have been taken away and are being given to rich businessmen or companies under the guise of Provisional Lease for the cultivation of oil palm on a big scale.
“While other communities have progressed by leaps and bounds, the Dayaks have remained mired in the doldrums of poverty, little better, if at all, as they had been under the British tutelage.
“There is a difference. While the British government guaranteed the rights to land held under customary laws, in our present situation, the opposite seems to operate adversely against the Dayak community.
“As if this discrimination is not enough, the Dayaks are not even allowed to form (their own) party to articulate their political, educational, cultural, economic and social aspirations.
“Whatever Dayak-based parties they were in the past are being deregistered one by one - first the authorities deregistered Sarawak National Party and then Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), both on flimsiest reasons.
“The Dayaks, who (make up) about 60 percent of the state population are encouraged to be members of every political party by the (Barisan Nasional) leaders. This is a subtle way (to) ‘divide and rule’ community.
“Following the deregistration of PBDS in October 2004, some ex-members on May 6, 2005 submitted an application to register MDC.
“After more than one year, the application was rejected by the Registrar of Societies on July 19, 2006 under Article 7(3) of the Societies Act, giving the reason that MDC would be a potential threat to national security.
“It is in this light that we the pro-tem committee members and Dayak community who were once Her Majesty’s subjects appeal to Her Majesty’s government to put pressure on the Malaysian government.”
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 10:30 am and is filed under Bangsa Malaysia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
People of Dayaks
via email
22/03/09
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