Archive for category Sarawak
Anti-Taib deejay says safe, will stay in Sarawak to fight for change
By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 09, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — The radio host for Radio Free Sarawak (RFS) who went missing on May 31, has finally announced he is safe after fears he was abducted in Miri due to his criticism of Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud’s administration in the state.
Peter John Jaban, had entered a Proton Saga along with three unidentified men after landing in Miri from Kota Kinabalu under mysterious circumstances with friends, family and colleagues left unaware of his whereabouts for the past 10 days.
But the presenter for RFS said in a statement today “I am safer here than in any other country.”
“I’ve decided that my future is here. I was born here and I intend to remain here. There is so much work to be done especially with crucial elections just round the corner.
“This is our chance is to bring about real change in Sarawak politics. My struggle for Sarawak will continue where it’s needed most,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Cracking open the fixed deposits
The Economist
Jun 9th 2012 | KOTA KINABALU AND KUCHING
The next general election will be decided far from the capital
Long house in need of short wave?
A THOUSAND or so kilometres east of what is called Peninsular Malaysia, across the South China Sea, lies the other bit of Malaysia, the states of Sabah and Sarawak. The two form the northern part of the island of Borneo, encircling the oil-rich mini-kingdom of Brunei. Most Malaysians know little about the remote territories (11 of Malaysia’s 13 states lie on the peninsula). Yet Sabah and Sarawak, out of all proportion to their small populations, contribute two essential ingredients to the running of Malaysia under the long-standing national government in Kuala Lumpur: oil and votes.
Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, first started pumping oil out of the ground in Sarawak in 1910. Since Sarawak and Sabah joined Malaysia in 1963, they have sent an outsize share of oil revenues to the federal government’s coffers. That the petro-charged government has remained in the hands of the same political coalition, the Barisan Nasional (BN), since independence is also largely thanks to the same two states.
On the peninsula voters have gradually forced the coalition, led by the United Malays National Organisation and dominated by ethnic Malays, to loosen its grip. On Borneo, by contrast, the BN has maintained an electoral stranglehold. Indeed, Sabah and Sarawak are known as the BN’s “fixed deposits”. With the prime minister, Najib Razak, expected at any moment to declare a general election, the opposition coalition must find a way to raid those deposits if they are to oust the BN from power. As ever, the task looks daunting for the opposition and its leader, Anwar Ibrahim. Yet this time round, Mr Anwar’s foot soldiers have a secret weapon, a clandestine radio station. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Malaysia under rule of law or law of jungle where Radio Free Sarawak presenter Peter John Jaban can disappear for 6 hours after arrival in Miri without anyone in authority claiming knowledge or responsibility?
Posted by Kit in Law & Order, Police, Sarawak on Thursday, 31 May 2012
Is Malaysia under the rule of law or the law of jungle where Radio Free Sarawak presenter Peter John Jaban can disappear for six hours after arrival in Miri this morning without anyone in authority claiming knowledge or responsibility?
I have just spoken to Jaban’s lawyer, Alan Ling, the DAP Piasau State Assemblyman in Miri, and he confirmed that he is completely in the dark as what to has happened to Jaban some six hours after he met him at the Miri Airport on his arrival from Kota Kinabalu.
Alan had just spoken to the Miri police less than an hour ago and he was again told that the Miri police had no instruction or was not in anyway involved in Jaban’s arrest or disappearance.
Jaban had arrived in Miri from Kota Kinabalu in an Air Asia flight at about 10.45 am and as the Miri police had assured Alan that there was no instruction for Jaban’s arrest, Jaban had left the airport for Miri town with the Miri PKR chairman Dr. Michael Teo.
On their way to town, three men in a Proton car stopped Teo and Jaban, and Jaban was taken away.
Six hours have passed and nobody knows what has happened to Jaban or he is, safe or otherwise – and whether the three men who took Jaban away were from the police specially dispatched to Miri to apprehend Jaban, and if so, why the Miri police have been kept completely in the dark. Read the rest of this entry »
Let 2012 Hari Kaamatan and Hari Gawai usher the greatest empowerment of Kadazandusun and Dayak communities in 13th General Election in shaping the destiny of Malaysia in next 50 years
Wishing Hari Kaamatan and Hari Gawai to all Kadazandusun and Dayak communities in Sabah and Sarawak.
Hari Kaamatan and Hari Gawai this year is taking place at a momentous period in the nation’s history, with the country geared to hold its 13th General Election which will decide whether Malaysia is ready to take her place as one of the normal democracies in the world where power transition at the national level is determined through the ballot box and accepted as part and parcel of the parliamentary democratic process.
For quite some time, the conventional wisdom is that the 13th General Election will fall in June this year, but now all the political calculations have to be reworked after the unprecedented support of a quarter of a million Malaysians for Bersih 3.0 in the streets of Kuala Lumpur and by tens of thousands of Malaysians in over 80 cities across the globe.
This spontaneous outpouring of support for the Bersih campaign for a clean election had caught the Najib administration by surprise as the intelligence it received before April 28 was that Bersih 3.0 had “little traction” with the people and could not muster more than the crowd of Bersih 2.0, which brought out some 50,000 people.
Read the rest of this entry »
‘We won’t cower to BN’s scare tactics’
by Joseph Tawie| April 15, 2012
Free Malaysia Today
Twelve windscreens of cars belonging to DAP members were smashed in Mas Gading constituency whilst the owners were attending a campaign dinner.
BAU: Sarawak DAP’s launch last night of its campaign to wrest the Mas Gading parliamentary seat, which is a Bidayuh-majority constituency, was marred by a group of motorcyclists who smashed the windscreens of 12 cars while the owners were attending a party dinner at Kampung Sg. Pinang.
Local and national DAP leaders were addressing more than 1,000 people at the dinner when a group of motor cyclists were seen smashing the windscreens of the cars which were parked quite a distance from the venue.
Commenting on the incident, visibly upset Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen said: “Obviously it was a sabotage work by BN members or their supporters.
“Such behaviour only goes to show they are afraid of us. Only cowards do that sort of thing; only someone who is in fear will do a dirty tactic trying to scare the people,” he said.
Chong added that neither the car owners nor the crowd were perturbed by the attacks, as they had come to terms with such ‘scare tactics’ by the ruling regime. Read the rest of this entry »
One-third of seats in four states enough to win, says Kit Siang
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat, Sabah, Sarawak on Wednesday, 11 April 2012
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 11, 2012
PETALING JAYA, April 11 — Victories in a third of the parliamentary seats from Sabah, Sarawak, Johor and Pahang will guarantee that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) takes the next general election, Lim Kit Siang has said.
The DAP parliamentary leader stressed that it was crucial for the federal opposition to make an impact in these states, which have long been considered Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) strongholds.
“Sabah, Sarawak, Johor and Pahang all make up 99 parliamentary seats. If we can win one-third of each state’s parliamentary seats, we would have approximately 33 seats.
“If we then add that to the 82 seats we have now, we will have passed our majority mark and (be) on our way to Putrajaya,” Lim told attendees at a DAP fundraiser last night. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Political persecution in Sarawak not new’
By Joseph Tawie | March 8, 2012
Free Malaysia Today
KUCHING: Political persecution of opposition supporters by the Taib Mahmud administration is a norm in Sarawak, claims the state opposition DAP.
The only reason people are alert to it now is because one victim, Frusis Lebi, a farmer with deformed hands and legs, had come forward to expose such persecution.
Lebi’s government subsidies and welfare aid were revoked because he had openly supported the opposition in last April’s state election.
Said Sarawak DAP secretary general Chong Chien Jen: “There are many of them who have been politically persecuted for supporting and voting for the opposition when their subsidies, allowances, and projects have been withdrawn from them.
“The problem is that many of these victims are not prepared to come out and expose these blatant acts.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Revoking aid to disabled is ‘illegal’
Posted by Kit in DAP, Human Rights, Najib Razak, Sarawak on Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Joseph Tawie | March 6, 2012
Free Malaysia Today
An assistant minister’s order to revoke aid to a disabled man in Sarawak because he supports the opposition contravenes the federal constitution.
KUCHING: A minister in Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s cabinet may have landed himself in hot soup after it was revealed that he had instructed two departments to revoke government extended subsidiaries and welfare aid to a disabled man who had supported an opposition candidate.
Sarawak DAP, which lodged a police report against Assistant Minister of Agriculture (Research and Marketing) Mong Dagang last Friday, said the minister has contravened the law.
Mong had allegedly directed, through a letter, the Assistant Director of Agriculture in Sri Aman to cease all forms of subsidies to Frusis Lebi.
Party secretary Chong Chieng Jen said DAP want the police to investigate Mong for his ‘heinous crime’. Read the rest of this entry »
Another rural school mishap — but who cares?
— Andrew Aeria
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 08, 2012
FEB 8 — On the night of January 31, 18 young children, all students of a rural boarding school, SK Punan Ba in Sarawak’s Belaga district, were injured when their dilapidated wooden hostel (built in 1983) collapsed on them. According to the school’s headmaster, the “ramshackle wooden hostel” had been earmarked for renovation (see Borneo Post report).
Instead, for lack of repairs, five primary schoolgirls suffered “serious injuries” while 13 others had “minor fractures”. Luckily, there were no fatalities reported — although fatalities or permanent paralysis may still occur if any of the five ‘seriously injured’ schoolgirls do not respond well to medical treatment.
For those who do not understand medical parlance, a “serious injury” refers to the fact that the patient is bedridden after an accident and is incapable of walking. For those amongst us who have suffered “minor fractures”, we would all understand how painful, difficult and inconvenient an experience that can be. What more if the person is a child who is living in a rural and underfunded boarding school far away from family and loved ones, most of whom are poor and marginalised.
School buildings collapse and burn down regularly in Sarawak and Sabah owing to neglect and for lack of urgent maintenance funds. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia Election Around the Corner?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Corruption, Elections, Najib Razak, Sabah, Sarawak, UMNO on Thursday, 12 January 2012
Asia Sentinel
by Our Correspondent
Thursday, 12 January 2012
With Sodomy II out of the way, looks forward to March polls — maybe
With the Sodomy II trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim now out of the way, it is probably time to start thinking seriously about Malaysia’s 13th general election, which most observers — but not all — believe will be called in March, during school holidays when the classrooms are empty.
Despite euphoria on the part of the three-party opposition coalition, the end of the trial doesn’t mean that Anwar’s troubles are over. One political observer in Kuala Lumpur told Asia Sentinel that the United Malays National Organization, the lead party in the ruling national coalition, will probably do its best to discredit him in other ways. Read the rest of this entry »
BN-controlled media have degenerated further to become “blackout papers”
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Media, Sarawak on Friday, 16 December 2011
For the past three days consecutively, the Barisan Nasiona-controlled media have degenerated further to become “blackout papers”, over three episodes, viz:
Firstly, over the call on Tuesday by 17 international and national environmental groups and activists, including Greenpeace and Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund, addressed to the Attorney-General, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency Chief Commissioner and the Inspector-General of Police for the arrest and criminal prosecution of Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and his 13 family members for massive graft and plundering of Sarawak’s rich natural resources;
Secondly, the Penang High Court judgment on Wednesday against Utusan Malaysia for defamation against Penang Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng for its article “Kebiadaban Lim Guan Eng” of 20th December 2010, and the High Court award of RM200,000 for general and aggravated damages and RM25,000 for costs against Utusan; and
Thirdly, the release yesterday of the latest report by Washington-based financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI) that Malaysia has maintained its position as one of the top five countries in the world suffering the highest illicit capital outflow in the past decade, 2000-2009, involving over RM1 trillion (US$338 billion or RM1,077 billion) as a result of corruption and misgovernance!
Apart from one small inconsequential paragraph about the Utusan judgment, there have been total blackout of these three developments in the Barisan-controlled “mainstream media”. Read the rest of this entry »
PM, MACC, AG and IGP must respond to demands by environmental groups and activists from Malaysia, Europe and Australia for the arrest/criminal prosecution of Sarawak CM and 13 family members for massive graft/plundering of Sarawak’s rich natural resources
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak, Sarawak on Tuesday, 13 December 2011
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC), the Attorney-General and the Inspector-General of Police must respond to the public demands by environmental groups and activisits from Malaysia, Europe and Australia for the arrest and criminal prosecution of Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and his 13 family members for massive graft and plundering of Sarawak’s rich natural resources.
Seventeen non-government organisations and activists, including Greenpeace, the Swiss-based Bruno Manser, Europe-based forest advocate group FERN, the Borneo Resources Institute and the Japan Tropical Forest Action Network, today released a letter to the MACC, the Attorney-General and the Inspector-General of Police urging the immediate arrest of Taib, alleging crimes including illegal appropriation of public funds and land, abuse of office, fraud, money-laundering “and conspiracy to form a criminal organisation”.
The 10-page letter includes 16 exhibits that document the accusations against the Taib and his immediate family members, alleging that they have a stake in 332 Malaysian and 85 foreign companies worth several billion US dollars.
The letter which alleged Taib family stakes in 14 large Malaysian companies alone exceed RM4.6 billion or US$1.46 b illion, said:
“We allege that only the systematic breach of the law and the use of illegal methods has enabled Taib and his family members to acquire such massive corporate assets.” Read the rest of this entry »
Assembly sitting ‘illegal’, says Sarawak DAP
By Joseph Tawie | November 14, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
KUCHING: Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s budget announcement this morning at the State Legislative Assembly was ‘illegal and unlawful’, according to the state opposition DAP.
State party chairman Wong Ho Leng added that the proceedings was a ‘breach of the standing order’ and that the CM’s budget introduction was ‘tainted with impropriety.”
Taib, who is also state finance minister, had tabled the Supply (2012) Bill, 2011 during the State Legislative Assembly sitting here today.
According to Wong apart from failing to give the opposition assemblymen advance copies of the Supply Bill 2012 and the Supplementary supply Bill as mandatorily required by Standing Order 63, the assembly had also switched off all their microphones.
Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan’s alternative budget ‘empowers’ Dayaks
Joseph Tawie | November 11, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
Dayaks who have been ‘deprived of convenience’ by the ruling Barisan Nasional regime can expect to be prioritized under a Pakatan Rakyat rule.
KUCHING: Should the opposition, Pakatan Rakyat, be elected to power, the Dayak community in Sarawak can expect to see RM1 billion set aside to specifically look into their needs.
From this amount, some RM100 million will be channelled towards the Dayak Welfare Fund.
The RM100 million fund will look to providing medical aid and care for the poor and infirm Dayaks, help facilitate the supply of water tanks, pumps and pipes to longhouses and to repair and rebuild dilapidated houses or those destroyed by fire and other natural disasters.
Announcing this today, Pakatan’s shadow finance minister Chong Chien Jen said the Dayak Welfare Fund will be parked at the Ministry of Social Development and Urbanisation.
“The fund aims to reduce and mitigate some of the problems faced by the Dayaks.
“We must not shut our eyes to the plight of the Dayaks like what the BN (Barisan Nasional) ministers have done.
“The Dayaks have all along been marginalised and left out from the main stream of development in our country.
“As such, Pakatan must take action to help the Dayaks in terms of their education, and cultural and social levels,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Liar, liar, pants on fire
— James Chin
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 28, 2011
OCT 28 — When it was announced that AirAsia had bought a stake in Malaysia Airlines, many people in east Malaysia were worried that the competition between Firefly and AirAsia would cease and fares would go up. But this was what was reported on October 18 “End of the road for Firefly’s jet service” (TMI, October 18): “… Fernandes however said that AirAsia will not increase fares following the strategic collaboration…”
I come from Sarawak and rely on the competition to give me the best fare and service. My last two trips with my children to Sarawak to see their grandparents were on Firefly because it had the best deal with a return trip for two adults and two children at under RM600. As a bonus, you get to use the aerobridge on Firefly flights.
Now when you cannot even book on Firefly anymore because it no longer does the KLIA-Kuching route, you have to book AirAsia.
The cheapest fare I could find on AirAsia for my family over the new year period was RM1,100. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Monument of Corruption’ still gets flak
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Energy, environment, Financial Scandals, Sarawak on Thursday, 27 October 2011
by M Jegathesan, AFP | October 27, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
BAKUN DAM: The first turbine is spinning, electricity is pulsing out, and the water level is climbing in the Borneo jungle behind Malaysia’s huge US$2.2 billion Bakun hydroelectric dam.
But questions continue to swirl around the viability of a project described by critics as a graft-plagued human and ecological disaster – and as opposition mounts against a dozen other planned dams in Sarawak.
The first turbine from French giant Alstom began producing electricity in August and the dam’s reservoir has swelled to the size of Singapore since impoundment began a year ago.
After years of warnings about the impact on Sarawak’s pristine jungles and the forced removal of thousands of local tribespeople, the dam’s head Zulkifle Osman sees light at the end of the tunnel.
Read the rest of this entry »
S’wak deports Haris Ibrahim
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, Sarawak on Thursday, 29 September 2011
Patrick Lee | September 29, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: Human rights activist Haris Ibrahim has been denied entry into Sarawak and is currently awaiting deportation.
Haris, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) president, said that he was detained by Sarawak immigration authorites after landing at the Kuching International Airport at about 5.30pm today.
“The order of notification is the same as the one in April (this year). (But) I haven’t seen any papers (about this deportation) yet,” he told FMT through a telephone conversation.
He will be sent back to KLIA on a 7.30pm flight. Read the rest of this entry »
Electoral reform for Sarawak
by Duwen Babat
My focus on electoral reform with reference to Sarawak are in four areas that are as follow.
1. Development during campaigning period – I would suggest that all development must be stopped when the DUN/Parliament is dissolved. The caretaker government must not be allowed to used development during the campaigning period to secure vote. Further, such practice could lead to abuse or mismanagement of public fund that would be very unfair to the new government especially if there is a change in government. Also, the current government has been given ample time (around 5 years) to implement development and there is no necessity for last minute implementation.
2. Enact laws to strictly prohibit vote buying either directly or indirectly by the candidates or his/her agent or someone else. If proven guilty, the candidate is deemed to be disqualified, and entitled the other candidate with the second highest votes as winner without re-election.
3. Permit the Sarawakians who reside in Malaya to vote in Malaya. The current technology and infrastructure would facilitate this process without much a problem. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP causing a ‘Riot’ in Serian
Joseph Tawie | September 12, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
The five-term incumbent MP Richard Riot is having sleepless nights because of the opposition party’s attack on his constituency.
KUCHING: The centre set up by Sarawak DAP in Serian has not only set in motion its determination to wrest the parliamentary seat from the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) in the coming general election but also caused ripples among the Bidayuh community as well as in the Barisan Nasional camp.
Weekly education programmes are organised by the party to instil political awareness among the Bidayuh community, so that they know their rights as voters as well as their rights and privileges to development, scholarships, business opportunities and so on.
With all these activities going on, Michael Manyin, the state assemblyman for Tebedu and state minister as well as Martin Ben, state assemblyman for Kedup, have expressed concern. Read the rest of this entry »
Official arrogance will bring Najib down
Posted by Kit in Elections, Human Rights, Najib Razak, Sarawak on Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Jeswan Kaur | September 13, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
When he took over as prime minister, Najib Tun Razak said he will listen to the people but his officers have turned a deaf ear to the promise with their arrogance.
COMMENT
In 2009, when Najib Tun Razak took over the country’s affairs from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he promised the rakyat that his government would be all ears. But two years down the road it appears that the promise was just lip service.
One such example of refusing to listen to the rakyat was displayed through the insensitive remark by the Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Minister Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal.
In February this year, Raja Nong Chik had admonished the Bukit Jalil estate workers who turned to him for help in trying to avoid being evicted from their homes. The minister told the residents that they should be contented with the Little India project when they wanted to negotiate compensation. Read the rest of this entry »
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