Sarawakians want better highway

By Victor James, Kuching

I REFER to an article published in The Borneo Post on Aug 13 where the prime minister assured that Sarawak would get more value-added development. What we in Sarawak want is for the highway to Miri to be upgraded from its present pitiful state to be on par with the North-South Highway in the peninsula. The state government has not fought hard enough for the federal government to channel funds for the reconstruction of the Pan Borneo Highway, which in its present state, does not reflect Sarawak’s contribution to Malaysia since the formation of Malaysia 45 years ago.

All we ask is that the federal government ask the Deputy Minister of Works who happens to be from Sarawak to travel by road from Kuching to Miri and thence through Negara Brunei Darussalam to Limbang and Lawas and thence on to Sabah, and similarly travel from Johor to Perlis via the North-South Highway and then submit a report on the condition of this Pan Borneo Highway and ask this question: Do we deserve this type of road after 45 years and the countless contributions Sarawak has made to Malaysia? If the Deputy Minister of Works were to travel from Kuching to Miri by road, we ask that he bring along the state minister of In-frastructure Development and other officials from the Ministry of Works.

I am a regular user of the Pan Borneo Highway as my business requires me to travel by road at least once a month from Kuching to Miri where I have to call at various towns along the Pan Borneo Highway. I have also travelled along the North-South Highway from Johor to Perlis, at least twice a year. What we have as the Pan Borneo Highway does not reflect the contribution Sarawak has made to the Federation and we are being ‘anak tirikan’ by the federal government. So to reflect the appreciation of the federal government for Sarawak’s contribution, improve the Pan Borneo Highway to one that is comparable to that of the North-South Highway in Semenanjung Malaysia.

Money burnt on fuel

River transportation cost up by three folds making economic activities extremely difficult for longhouse folk

ENGKILILI: When rural dwellers asked to be given fuel subsidies to ease their burden, it is no small joke or any political gimmick. The reality is that they have been struggling under the strain of the recent fuel price hike, with transportation cost eating into much of their earnings. In Rumah Rantai in Lepong, Kepayang for example, a return trip to the nearest market, which used to cost about RM250 in petrol now costs RM700.

“This is the problem we are facing since the increase in the price of petrol,” villager Karim Gerambong, 38, said. “With such high cost, we are finding it hard to do things that we need to do in town. We are losing on so many important things like marketing our goods and making government-related documents because we are finding it too expensive to travel,” he said. Yet for the folk of Rumah Rantai, travelling along the Skrang River is their only means of getting to town. It means they have to fill up the tanks of their outboard engines and head for Pangkalan Murat before taking a ride along a dirt road to Engkilili.

“Petrol is sold at RM14 a gallon at Pangkalan Murat and for a return trip we will need at least 40 gallons. This is actually the amount of petrol used when the river is shallow, which is when the longboats have to be pulled part of the way and engines are idle. But if the water level allows us smooth travel and our outboard engine runs all the way, we will be using more petrol. So you see, the present fuel price is really killing us,” Karim said. He said the recent drastic increase in fuel prices was, therefore, causing a lot of hardship to the longhouse folk.

“Yes, we do look forward to the promised subsidy that has been bandied around by the government because in the present situation, our economy is being burnt by our outboard engines,” Karim said. He said the villagers were hoping that the subsidy would be extended to owners of outboard engines so that some form of normal economic activities could be carried out especially where they involved movements along the river. Karim also expressed the hope that the government would build a road to link the longhouse to the “outside world”, saying river transportation was really going beyond the means of rural villagers.

Hundreds of Borneo aborigines forced from their homes

Wednesday August 6, 2008 MYT 8:03:12 PM KUALA LUMPUR: The authorities have forcibly evicted hundreds of families from villages in the Bintulu district of Sarawak in Borneo in the past year, claims Sahabat Alam Malaysia. Sahabat Alam Malaysia council member Mohideen Abdul Kader said the Forest Department and Land and Survey Department had issued licences to convert the land and forests in the area to plantations without obtaining the consent of the communities who have native customary rights (NCR).

Glyn Ingang, 32, from Kampung Mejau in Tatau, said they were only offered compensation of RM250 per hectare and had not agreed to give up their land. “There are 80 families in my village, and the concessionaires or the contractors just come in like that to demolish our longhouses and evict us. My ancestors have been staying here for hundreds of years, long before Malaysia was even formed,” he said.

Bagong Swee, 49, from Kampung Sebungan in Sebauk, said the rubber trees which were cultivated by the locals were chopped down by workers, leaving them with no source of income. “They even polluted our river, and we can’t even use it to bathe as our skin will get itchy. Now, we only drink rain water,” he said, adding that more than 250 families were affected. Bagong said the concessionaires had started an oil palm plantation on the land, and he said the villagers might have to resort to ‘harvesting’ their oil palm and selling them to survive.

Marai Sengok, 27, from Kampung Binyo, said besides tearing down their longhouses and food storage huts, the workers had also destroyed their crops with pesticides. “We can only stand and watch as they tear down our homes, as they are always accompanied by armed policemen,” he said.

At a press conference here on Wednesday, Mohideen called for a Commission of Inquiry to be set up to probe into the logging and plantation industry in Sarawak. “Sarawak must accord full recognition on the NCR - both on cultivated and forest areas. The enroachment of NCR land must be put to a stop,” he said. He said it was disturbing that Sarawak Forest Department itself is the project proponent for one of the projects, involving 490,000ha of land. He claimed the department had licensed out 2.8mil ha of largely forest land for 40 plantation concessions, mainly for oil palm and pulpwood trees, since 1997.

Four chief ministers in 45 years

KUCHING: Pop quiz: Name all of Sarawak’s chief ministers in the correct order starting from the first. The Borneo Post took this quiz to the street and the answers we got were less than satisfactory. Those above 35 years old answered fairly well but many under 30 years old needed to open their history books again.

Many people under 30 thought that Tun Abdul Rahman Yaakub was the first chief minister of Sarawak. For those who have short memories, Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is Sarawak’s fourth chief minister. Sarawak may be part of a young nation, but we have travelled a long and difficult road to get to where we are today. Unfortunately, Sarawakians, particularly the current generation, have very limited knowledge of the state’s history.

Why this is happening is something academicians and educators should be thinking about. But whatever the reason, it is a sad state of affair when citizens do not know and appreciate the history of their own country. It is really inconceivable that Sarawakians do not know who have been their chief ministers. Four is not a big number to remember compared to the contributions and sacrifices that each of them made for the state.

The fact is that the state is what it is today mainly because of the leaders, and the least that Sarawakians could do is to know them. So to refresh our minds, let us take a brief look at who our past and present chief ministers are:

First Chief Minister of Sarawak, Datuk Stephen Kalong Ningkan, 1963 - 1966

Datuk Stephen Kalong Ningkan created history when he won in the polls and was appointed as the first chief minister of Sarawak on July 22, 1963. As the chief minister of a newly independent state which helped formed Malaysia, Kalong faced many challenges from within the state and from without.

Kalong was born in August 1922 in Betong which was then administered under the Second Division of Simanggang. He was a student of St Augustine’s school. After he completed his education, he became a dresser at a Shell Company hospital in Kuala Belait, Brunei for several years. At the hospital, he was chairman of the Shell Dayak Club. He also became the founder and president of the Sarawak Dayak Association from 1958 to 1960.

He returned to Betong and established the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) in April 1961. Although he initially did not accept Tunku Abdul Rahman’s proposal on the formation of Malaysia, he eventually became a strong supporter of the federation. In the 1962 election, SNAP won many seats, earning him the trust to be chief minister. In addition, Kalong played an important role in forming Perikatan Sarawak. He was its secretary-general.

Second Chief Minister, Datuk Penghulu Tawi Sli, 1966-1974

Datuk Penghulu Tawi Sli Tini’s appointment was to save Sarawak from an escalating political crisis. Though he was initially a SNAP member, he later joined Pesaka. Tawi was born in Banting also in the then Second Division. He came from an Anglican family and he had his formal education at St Thomas’ school in Kuching until Form 3.

After he finished school, Tawi became a teacher in a mission school while undergoing training for three years to become a pastor. He then served as a clerk in a government department before retiring in 1961.

In 1963, Tawi was appointed a Penghulu and started to become active in politics. He became the secretary of SNAP Simanggang. Tawi was among several candidates for the chief minister’s post in 1963. Due to several factors, he joined Pesaka in 1966.

Third Chief Minister of Sarawak Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub, 1970 - 1981

Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub was a charismatic leader with a clear vision of what he wanted. He became chief minister when armed communist terrorists challenged Sarawak’s independence. Rahman was born in Kampung Jepak, Bintulu, on January 3, 1928. He was a student of Sekolah Aichi and then St Joseph’s school in Miri. A driven young man, he attended night class while working for Shell in Miri during the day.

Rahman passed his Senior Cambridge examination and continued his education at the University of Southampton in Britain where he graduated with a law degree. Upon returning to Sarawak, Rahman was appointed as a deputy public prosecutor. As a highly educated person with a deep interest in politics, he established Barisan Anak Jati Sarawak (Barjasa). He eventually resigned as a public prosecutor and contested as a Barjasa candidate in 1963 but lost.

Nevertheless, he was brought to Kuala Lumpur and appointed as Land and Minerals Minister and later Education Minister. In 1969, he contested in the election, which was postponed to 1970. This time he won. The win also came after the merger of Panas and Barjasa which became Parti Bumiputera in 1966.

No party, however, won with a clear majority during the polls and this caused some parties to find suitable partners. In this respect, Rahman was successful in convincing SUPP to help form a coalition government in 1970 with him as the chief minister. Rahman stepped down as chief minister in 1981 and was appointed Yang Di-Pertua Negeri, a position he held until 1985.

Fourth Chief Minister of Sarawak Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, 1981—Present

Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is the longest serving chief minister and elected representative. He is a leader who is courageous and far-sighted. After graduating in law from the University of Adelaide, Taib joined the Judiciary Department in February 1962. He was appointed a member of the Council Negeri on July 22, 1963, when he was only 27 years old.

Taib was born in Miri on May 21, 1936, after his parents had moved from Mukah. He is the eldest among seven siblings. He had his early education at St Joseph’s Primary School in Miri and continued his education at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Kuching. Taib scored excellent results in the Senior Cambridge examination, which enabled him to obtain a Shell Scholarship to further his study at University of Adelaide in 1958.

In the first Sarawak Cabinet, Taib was appointed Communication and Works Minister from 1963 to 1966 and as Development and Forest Minister in 1967. He was later called up to join the Federal Cabinet until 1981. Taib was appointed to numerous portfolios such as Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry (1968 - 1970), Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (1970- 1972), Primary Industries Minister (1977), Defence Minister (1978), Information Minister as well as Socio Economic Planning and Research Minister (1979) and Federal Territories Minister (1980).

In 1981, Taib returned to Sarawak to contest in the Sebandi by-election. After he won, he was appointed chief minister. He was the assemblyman for Sebandi until 1987 and after that, he became the Asajaya assemblyman until the 2006 state election when he decided to contest in Balingian. Taib was also Samarahan member of parliament from 1970 to 2008.

(Profiles of the chief ministers were translated from the official 45th anniversary souvenir book, ‘Perayaan 45 tahun Sarawak maju dalam Malaysia, 1963 - 2008’).