Will Sarawak's Poorest Rise To The Occasion And Send Najib And Taib Packing

Written by  Selena Tay, Malaysia Chronicle

The battle for Sarawak has swung into high gear. Prime Minister Najib Razak and Chief Minister Taib Mahmud are going all out to woo the long-neglected people of Malaysia's largest but poorest state.

In particular, they are targeting the Chinese but the word on the ground is that the majority of Sarawakians regardless of ethnicity or tribe want to vote for Pakatan Rakyat.

Najib and Taib have campaigned using the 'stability and prosperity' slogan in a bid to convince voters that only the BN Government can bring stability and prosperity.

Against the duo's willingness to use the full might of the federal machinery including all ways to win, whether fair or foul, Paktan is in for a very tough battle in the election due for balloting on April 16

The 10th Sarawak election also promises to be the most titanic struggle since the state joined the Federation of Malaya on 16th September 1963.

Be that as it may, Najib and Taib are masters of illusion. Both have long been accused of plundering the nation's wealth yet at the same time vowing and promising riches and prosperity to a people, who have remained the poorest in Malaysia despite 30-years of continuous rule by Taib and 48-years under the BN.

Poverty has become a way of life

Malaysia Chronicle spoke to PAS vice-president, Mahfuz Omar, who has been campaigning in Muara Tuang and Sebuyau to find out about the situation on the ground.

According to Mahfuz, the people in these areas are really the hardcore poor of Malaysia. In the interiors, clean water, latrines and tar roads are unheard off. The people stay in leaky, ramshackle huts that are in danger of collapsing anytime.

"The signs are extremely encouraging but the odd thing is that it is difficult to know whether these people will vote for change because they have been in poverty way too long. Being poor and having the shortest end of the stick has become their way of life for many of them," Mahfuz, who is also the Pokok Sena MP, told Malaysia Chronicle.

In Muara Tuang, the PAS candidate is Noraini Hamzah while the BN candidate is incumbent, Mohamad Ali Mahmud from PBB. The area has 54 per cent Malay-Melanau population, with Ibans numbering around 19 er cent, Chinese 15 per cent and Bidayuh 12 per cent.

In Sebuyau, the PAS candidate is Adam Ahid and the candidate is incumbent Julaihi Narawi, also from PBB-BN. There is also an Independent candidate named Ali Semsu. The Malay-Melanau number around 65 per cent, Iban 32 per cent and Chinese 3 per cent.

To be fair, some of the BN elected representatives such as Nancy Shukri of Batang Sadong, do try and bring up these problems to the state government. But there is seldom any answer at all.

Culture shock

It will be a huge culture shock for Malaysians from the Peninsula to visit these areas and it is amazing that a man as fabulously rich as Taib Mahmud could allow the people to wallow in such poverty.

The Land of the Hornbill is certainly a land of great contrasts. And perversely, it is the oppressed who continue to allow themselves to remain shackled by poverty. Part of the reason is their fear of the 'new world' due to lack of information, and oddly, blind faith in the BN's promises and misguided gratitude for the small gifts handed out during elections. And these include expired shelf-life canned food!

"However, there is a very small number who have woken up to the fact that the Sarawak state government has grabbed their land, chopped their trees, replanted and reaped the harvest without giving them a share of the profits," continued Mahfuz.

Even so, it remains to be seen if they will believe in the promise of a brighter future offered by the Pakatan campaigners and whether they can summon up enough courage to vote for Pakatan on D-Day, this Saturday.

BN cocktail of coercion and gifts

Mahfuz also reminded that Pakatan forces were not working alone.

BN too has sent out their campaigners and due to their much larger resources, they outnumber the Pakatan. Using a combination of intimidation, coercion and "election bribes" such as hampers and small gifts, the BN is not to be scorned despite its own bad record and the fact that it still lacks a vision for the people after all these years.

"No, it is really still very hard to make a prediction and no politician should ever take victory for granted," repeated Mahfuz.

Out of a population of 2.5 million, there are about 980,000 voters in Sarawak. The Chinese number around 31 per cent, Iban 29 per cent, Malay-Melanau 28 per cent, Bidayuh 8 per cent, Orang Ulu 3.5 per cent and others 0.5 per cent.

- Malaysia Chronicle