May 31, 2009
RAPE ! … WHY ME ?
SCHOOLGIRLS RAPED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT IN THE HEART OF KUCHING TOWN !
By Rosita Maja @ Hueditor
On May 22, 2009, Ivy (not her real name), a 14 year old schoolgirl, was making her way from her secondary school, to wait for her parents at the usual appointed meeting place at the roadside. On her way there, she had to climb an overhead bridge. On the bridge, at 3.30pm, she was stopped by a man at the top of the bridge.
The incident was caught on closed circuit television (CCTV), from a nearby petrol station. An interview with the petrol station staff later, disclosed that they had heard a commotion on the bridge. (more…)
BN Sarawak Con NCR landowners, 2 decades and continuing …
By Apang @ Hueditor
I couldn’t help noticing, yet again, the latest news spinned by yet another Sarawak BN minister on the greatness of large-scale land development scheme on Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands. There was Alfred Jabu’s piece on 23 Feb 2009, entitled “Salcra participants receive land titles” and the most recent one on 26 May 2009 Borneo Post report headlined “Govt improves policy related to oil palm schemes” . To those who care to study the details, it has been known since day 1 that the Sarawak government’s large-scale land development schemes with oil palm on Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands are fundamentally flawed.
They are flawed on a few basic points. Several reports are available in more details for viewers to judge for themselves after learning the facts.
“Land is Life: Land Rights and Oil Palm Development in Sarawak” is a report telling the affected Sarawak indigenous communities’ experiences and it can be freely accessed at rengah website for all to read. (more…)
May 30, 2009
SOS! Autism Centre Closing Down
Our fellow BLOGGER, SHIOK GUY urgently needs all the help we can provide.
This is his plea: - SOS! Autism Centre Closing Down
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Letter from America 6
By Bunga Pakma @ Hueditor
The United States is, at core, a very peculiar country. Few people inside or outside the US understand this fact, and that lack of understanding has caused endless and sometimes tragic confusion. Indeed, this collage of misunderstanding of the US is the “image” and both Americans and non-Americans in responding to it are wrestling with a ghost.
Racism is a fact of life. It’s that world-wide game of despise-the-other-tribe which Malaysians know so well that I don’t have to elaborate. America was, as everyone knows, a highly, even rabidly, racist country until quite recently. Some of this was the garden-variety contempt, but the real American racism was (I use the past tense with hope) a very strange and evil thing entirely different from racism elsewhere. Americans had to learn this type of racism, so I’d like to explain it in context. (more…)
A tale of at least two Sarawaks
By Apang @ Hueditor
I am sure I am not the only one who constantly is battling myself trying to comprehend the behaviour or “decisions” of voters during elections in Malaysia. Various reasons always surfaced after each election, to justify Barisan Nasional’s victory in Sarawak at least. I am not talking about the opposition winning few seats but l am referring to the BN winning more than enough in Sarawak to form a convincing government.
Seasoned politicians, their mostly dedicated members and supporters, and the kedai-kopi type will have the typical reasons – BN resources, the dependent Election Commission top brass, the police, the gerrymandered boundaries, the “dirty” tactics etc etc. The intellectuals will chip in whatever is worth “knowledge” that can be considered as speculative at best and outright cheap and empty commentary at worse. (more…)
May 29, 2009
PKFZ Report: A Royal Commission of Enquiry needed
Yesterday, Malaysiakini has this shocking headline Audit: PKFZ cost ballooned to RM7.5 billion. “PKFZ audit report has shown that the project outlay has ballooned from RM1.957 billion to a staggering RM7.453 billion since the project inception in 2001.”
In Malaysian Insider, a news story entitled PKA loan default raise PKFZ cost to RM12.5 billion has this to say, “The Port Klang Authority (PKA) must restructure its soft loan of RM4.6 billion for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) to avoid any default by 2012 when it is expected to report losses as interest charges will balloon the entire cost to RM12.5 billion by 2051, its auditors said in a report released today.”
The audit report was prepared by Price Waterhouse Coopers, a very credible firm in such matters. It was released to the public yesterday. (more…)
May 28, 2009
A little progress report
In the last two months that the new blog Hornbill unleashed has come into existence, our postings have entered the top global wordpress blogs seven or eight times.
On Tuesday May 26, 2009, Sky’s article entitled “So where is RPK?” broke our record by attracting 5,793 hits. It was placed 13th in the wordpress global ranking. We are still working hard to climb to the very top.
So far, we have received 60.800 hits two months after our launch.
We thank you for your support. Do bookmark us, make us your favourite, and introduce us to your friends.
Lord Lester QC: Najib talking nonsense
When a lawyer friend of mine heard in the news on Sunday that PM Najib expressed regret that the Opposition accused the BN government of influencing the Court of Appeal’s decision in determining the rightful Perak Mentri Besar, she was bewildered and instantly sent me a short message.
No, she was not baffled by Najib’s attack on the opposition and their claim that the Court of Appeal was influenced to overturn the High Court decision to determine that Zambry Abdul Kadir is Perak’s rightful Menteri Besar. Which intelligent soul in Malaysia would have been buffled? It’s just Najib jumping onto the stage for his clown dance.
“Najib said that the Court of Appeal’s decision was hailed by international legal experts, including Queen’s Counsel Lord Anthony Lester!” I can sense her anger and shock. (more…)
“Sayang Sarawak … sungainya sempit”
By Baharuddin Mokhsen @ Hueditor
“Sayang Sarawak sungainya sempit,
Banyak perahu mudi ke hulu,
Sekali pandang rasa tak jemu,
Hatiku merindu terkenang- kenang …”
So the popular Malay song of my younger years goes, bringing back nostalgic and fond memories of those happy and carefree days as a kampong boy in Sarawak.
“My beloved Sarawak” (name of the song translated to English) captured and depicted what a beautiful and picturesque country Sarawak was, alas for the numerous meandering rivers, so said the song. (more…)
May 27, 2009
Watching the police crabs with icy cold eyes
“ 1st – you are not allowed to wear YELLOW
2nd – you are not allowed to wear ORANGE
3rd – you are not allowed to wear BLACK
4th – you are not allowed to mention AMN, RB
5th – you are not allowed to light CANDLE
6th – you are not allowed to celebrate BIRTHDAY
7th – you are not allowed to FAST
You are not allowed to do this, do that, if I do not allowed you to. (more…)
May 26, 2009
So where is RPK…?
In a story on Sunday 24 May 2009, the Star reported the following news:
“Police have confirmed that online news portal Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin is in Brisbane.
“A police source said the former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee had contacts in Australia who had arranged accommodation for him and his wife Marina Lee Abdullah.”
Since the police source has not been named by the Star, we just have to treat this piece of news snippet for what it is, as yet to be confirmed officially by the Police. (more…)
May 25, 2009
Silver State tarnished by Umno
Perak will be ruled by Umno, at least until the next state election. The Court of Appeal has declared that Zambry Abdul Kadir is the Menteri Besar. From now on, the beautiful Silver State may be better known as a tin-pot state.
Contempt of court may be a crime on our statute books, but it is also an accurate description of the widespread attitude of many Malaysians towards the judiciary. Malaysia’s judicial system has come under intense attack recently, thanks to the decisions given in favour of Umno’s takeover of Perak. This criticism is hard to avoid. The Chief Justice Zaki Azmi – and head of the final channel of appeal, the Federal Court – was an Umno lawyer and head of the Umno disciplinary committee, until he was appointed to the bench.
But the real instigators of our constitutional and judicial crisis were not the judges. The judges were simply playing their appointed roles, in keeping with the decline of their public image. Umno are responsible for this fiasco, and Umno will pay the price at the polls for its misdeeds in Perak. (more…)
May 24, 2009
What next in Perak … on a lazy Malaysian Sunday?
The Appellate Court decision yesterday to restore BN’s Zambry as the Perak Mentri Besar should not have surprised too many informed Malaysians.
We have lived through the constitutional crisis in 1988, when judicial independence was stripped through constitutional amendments rammed through the Parliament by the BN two-third brute majority. We have lived through the Lingam Tape scandal before the 2008 general election. We have seen half-past-six attempt on judicial reform after the 2008 political tsunami. It is judicial business as usual, Malaysia style.
Even if Nizar gets his written judgement, and he appeals to the Federal Court against the decision of the Appellate Court, what do you think the final decision of the Apex court will be? You want to bet, even for a cup of coffee? (more…)
A rose by any name
Kaypo Anak Sarawak is a Columnist of Hermit Hornbill at The Borneo Post Online , His article is published in The Borneo Post every Sunday. (Used by permission of the Author )
‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.’
THOSE are the immortal lines from the lips of Juliet, from the immortal British bard William Shakespeare’s eternal love story, Romeo and Juliet. I had to study the play for my literature class to pass my Cambridge Overseas School Certificate back in 1966.
Juliet was reflecting on the significance of name because her lover, Romeo was a Montague, and she was a Capulet. Since their families were engaged in a family feud, their romance was destined to a tragic end for from the very beginning, and hence their label as ‘star-cross’d lovers’. (more…)
May 23, 2009
Letter from America 5
By Bunga Pakma @ HuEditor
Many, many Malaysians have travelled abroad. Many, many Sarawakians have explored the whole planet. The Iban in particular, with their ethos of bejalai, turn up everywhere. Over a hundred years ago, one Brooke officer found a postcard stuck on the Tuai Rumah’s bilek wall. His son had sent it from New York. The late scholar Henry Gana Ngadi studied at Hull in England. He told me that the North Sea was chock-a-block with Ibans who had come out to work on the oil rigs, and that from them he could assemble a respectable gathering when Gawai time came around. I could have sworn I heard a couple speaking Iban on a street near Yale University when I visited a few weeks ago.
It’s a pity then that so few Malaysians have written us travel-books. Perhaps Malaysians view travel-writing as an exclusively Western genre. They have some reason. Western travel-narratives have been stuck in a rut for the past, well, three thousand years. (more…)
Painting Penan Reality
By John Riwang @ HuEditor
There was a time I lived with the Penan for one year. Once every 2-3 months, I would go to the nearest urban center for a day to buy rations. During each visit, I would accidentally bump into friends and relatives in town. Each time they see me in town the first thing they’d say is “Welcome back to civilization! How is it over there? Are you becoming ‘one of them’ already?” This is usually followed by their laughter.
I did not really understand their reaction at first. It was only later that I begin to realize people tend to paint a different – and frighteningly, almost uniform – picture of the Penans, and hence their twisted perception of the Penan reality. They would ask me the kind of food I ate with them, whether they wore ‘western’ clothing like us, and whether they were true Penan, in the sense of whether they were still nomadic or have they become “modern” (which, I found out later, doesn’t really appeal to many); some even asked if they could speak Malay. Sometimes, I don’t really know how to respond to their strange inquiries. (more…)
May 22, 2009
Zambry is MB
Zambry is MB, What Say You ?
The appellate court today allowed to reverse the Kuala Lumpur High Court decision that had declared Pakatan Rakyat leader Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as the rightful menteri besar of Perak. And in the process the court ruled that Zambry was the legitimate Perak menteri besar.
Parangs against the bulldozer: the tale of one Sarawak mountain (Final Episode)
The names of the politically well-connected owners of the timber concession and the logging contractor did not impress TK Ahmad Sahari and his friends, when this information was passed to them. It did not mean much to them, so far away from the seat of state government in Kuching City. Upon my suggestion though, they made many verbal and written requests to meet the Chief Minister of Sarawak Taib Mahmud. Naturally, they met with a silent brick wall. I had expected this, but it was necessary for the villagers themselves to dispose of any false hope that their political leadership had their interest at heart.
Of course, I would follow up with oral questions tabled at every Parliament session. The Parliament was, and still is, a rubber stamp for the ruling coalition, but at times, you can still gleam some information out of it, if you know how to work the rules in innovative ways. (more…)
May 21, 2009
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL A ROSE
By Iba-nez
I am afraid that my earlier article might have missed its mark or perhaps there are unseen hands franticly trying to rally the call to change names. In short I said names are great but avoid reading too much into them, as they are mere labels. And once you had been named, know that names do not make you backwards etc.
The Borneo Post, 17.05.2009 reads:
At the risk of wasting space, I continue to quote from the article, the piece advocates a change from Orang Ulu to Lun Daya, and reasoned as follows: (more…)
Parangs against the bulldozer: the tale of one Sarawak mountain (Part II)
As usual, it was a low grade but literate civil servant who tipped me off about the brewing trouble at the south-western tip of Sarawak. I took the trouble of driving the 100 KM myself to kampong Stunggan Melayu, a large cluttered Malay village on the outskirt of Lundu town. There I met the civil servant in his home. Over a cup of coffee prepared by his wife, he showed me huge files containing records of infringement onto the mountain side in the past; local people were hungry for land to plant new crops of pepper and cocoa when prices were good.
This time though, the attempt to take logs out of the majestic Gunung Gading seemed very serious. The Chinese loggers had already opened up an access road all the way to the water-catchments at the very top of the peaks. The arrival of the
tractors and other forms of heavy machinery and the establishment of a logging camp somewhere up the mountain meant that within the space of a few years, the whole mountain faced the risk of being denuded.
I was then told that there were 18 villages around the mountain side, human settlements that had depended on the mountain for much of their needs for many decades. The local communities there were very racially mixed, with Ibans, Chinese, Malays, and even the rare Selakaus among them. They were all farmers and fishermen, and lived an isolated independent existence bothering nobody else. (more…)
May 20, 2009
Signature Forgery Trial Adjourned, Yet Again!
Foul play in death of anti-logging Penan chief Kelasau Naan?
By Ken Hu @ hueditor@gmail.com
The trial of 2 suspected of forging signature of the son of late Penan chief of Long Kerong to dispel suspicion of any foul play in the death of the anti-logging Penan chief has been adjourned, yet again, to May 27 for continuation of trial.
This morning, the Prosecuting Officer told the Magistrate that he intends to call 2 witnesses from West Malaysia, presumably including a signature expert, but the witnesses has failed to turn up in the Miri Courthouse this morning.
The 2 suspects, Kho Thien Seng and Sedi bin Li, charged for forging the signature in a letter bearing Nick Kelasau’s name and sent to online portal Malaysiakini purportedly denying any element of foul play in the death of his father. If found guilty they shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to 2 years, with fine, under section 465 of the Penal Code. (more…)
Parangs against the bulldozer: the tale of one Sarawak mountain
The sky over Pandan Beach, about 100 kilometres from the Sarawak capital of Kuching, must be one of the most beautiful corners of the universe. No words can describe its brilliance. No human artist can ever recreate its splendour. When you lift your head to the vast expanse of glorious colours against the deep azure background, you have to believe in a God.
Kampong Pandan is a small Malay fishing village consisting of traditional stilted wooden houses lining the water’s edge along a small bay. The village is nestled against the backdrop of the twin-peaked mountain, the Gunung Gading. Partly hidden by swaying coconut palms and short brushes, Kampong Pandan is the very picture of idyllic seaside rural charm. Its picture-perfect serenity could have been what Joseph Conrad tried to portray in Almayer’s Folly. (more…)
Green Technology and Energy Minister announces electricity for all Sarawakians
By Apang @ HUeditor
Peter Anak Chin, the Minister of Green Technology and Energy today announced that Sarawak’s energy need will increase some seven-folds from the current usage by 2020. The minister from Myri denied speculation that the increase is due to the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) and its master plan that includes selling energy to Sarawak’s neighbours.
“With Malaysia still on track to achieve Mahathir 2020, in which Sarawak will be the most developed state within the Federation of Malaysia, all longhouses and every remote settlements within Sarawak will be powered up by SCORE,” proudly announced the Minister as the reason for the seven-folds increase in electricity demand.
The minister admits that “For too long now, Sarawakians have been denied the very basic need of electricity and for too long, we have denied the rural people’s rights to basic service.” (more…)
May 19, 2009
Watch out! The Indians are angry!
It seems like the nature of human affairs that persecution is the best engine for growth for some social or political causes.
If the early Christians had not been fed to the lions or slaughtered by the gladiators in the Roman amphitheatres, the religion would perhaps not spread so far and wide in the Roman Empire. Christianity seems to thrive on persecution, beginning with Jesus Christ himself.
Ever since the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) has been outlawed, they have appeared to be divided, and lost for direction. (more…)
May 18, 2009
Juni: Daughter, sister, unwilling mother
By Keruah Usit @ MalaysiaKini (Used by permission of the Author )
“Juni visited her social worker for the first time when she was seven months into her pregnancy,” a lawyer friend told me.
“She had just seen a doctor. Her doctor sent her to the social worker because Juni had no birth certificate, no identity card. Her father, Seman, had an IC, but her mother, Flora, didn’t. Flora had been born far from the town, and she’d never been to the Registration Department.
“Flora and Juni went to the social worker’s office, hoping they’d receive help to have their ICs done. The social worker, Ana, asked her to fill in some forms and gave them a small amount of money to help with the fare on the ‘van sapu’ (illegal taxis) to get home, and sent her away,” the lawyer explained.
(more…)
May 17, 2009
Dare to be free, on a lazy Sunday
In Malaysia, whenever we ask for more political freedom, for freedom of expression, freedom of information, freedom of assembly, we are often told that if people are too free to do whatever they want, there will be riots, chaos, and instability.
There would be those conservative Malaysian citizens writing letters to the editors in the mainstream media supporting this view. In their fearful mind, freedom is opposed to social stability and personal security. They should be reminded of Rousseau’s famous saying that the most secure and the safest place in the world is between the bars of a prison cell!
This goes to show that public conversations in Malaysia is till stuck in a primitive, patriarchal, and feudalistic stage. They mistakenly think that freedom is doing whatever you want, when if fact they are talking about licence. Freedom is much more complex than that. (more…)
LOONY LAND
By Iba-nez @ HuEditor
I like the title of this Blog, “ Hornbill Unleashed” and I like the rationale for choosing the Hornbill even better (SKY post March 26 2009 Termite infestation in Sarawak) and the idea of unleashing this magnificent bird thrills me. It is indeed a beautiful creature. Why, even a friend from the Westside who served 4 years in this beautiful land we call home decided on a hornbill tattooed on his left shoulder blade before he left.
I also like the proclamation that the bird is sick being devoured upon by parasites of varying description. But I would like to take it a step further – It is a perfect imagery for the majority of people within Sarawak itself. (more…)
May 16, 2009
Living off the land…of other people.
By Pak Bui @ hueditor@gmail.com
The first few days of the latest Sarawak State Assembly sitting have seen fireworks. The coup d’état in Perak seems to have left its mark on Barisan and Pakatan representatives throughout the country, including Sarawak.
A year’s vacation
Bukit Assek Assembly Representative Wong Ho Leng was suspended for a year for using the word “camouflage”, when he referred to Wong Soon Koh’s figures during the debate on the Supplementary Supply (2008) Bill, during the last Assembly session. (more…)
Sarawak Advocates Condemn Arrest, Detention of Lawyers
Malaysia Bar demanded resignation of IGP and Home Minister
The Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS), at long last, has released a press statement that it condemned and denounced “in the strongest terms” the wrongful arrest, detention and interrogation of the Legal Aid Centre (LAC) lawyers.
Across the South China Sea, a heartening multitude of 1429 lawyers and 81 chambering students attended an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar held in Petaling Jaya, unanimously and unequivocally called for the resignation of the Minister for Home Affairs, the Inspector-General of Police and the OCPD of the Brickfields police station. The EGM further resolved to sue the police and the government on the wrongly arrest of the 5 lawyers. (more…)
Story from a friend in Johore
By Citizen Against destructive development
Johore was a state endowed with vast tracts of coastal mangrove. Note the past tense used.
Ironically, it is also the only state in the country with the highest number of Ramsar sites. The recognition for the protection of wetlands such as mangrove swamp of international importance is awarded to Pulau Kukup, Tanjung Piai and Sungai Pulai in January 2003, all located in the southwest of the state.
The three sites are part and parcel of the bigger Pulai river basin which incidentally is one of the highest fisheries production centers in the country due to its unique geographical location. (more…)
May 15, 2009
Letter from America 4
By Bunga Pakma
While I’m here, America is my subject. Two events conspire to distract me from it, the first alarming, the second wonderfully beautiful.
The news that cops, perhaps armed, had been sent into Perak’s State Assembly chamber and forcibly removed the elected Speaker was a sharp tug on the leash that tethers me to home. Commentators wiser than I (and on the scene) have written about this awful incident at length. What I wish to add is a deep historical context that I have not yet seen anybody note.
The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy whose head of state (more…)
Time to drop the term”Dayak”?
More like dropping a bombshell in Sarawak. The response to Iba-nez’s “What’s In A Name?” was overwhelming. There were many lengthy responses that could not be squeezed into the ‘comments’ column. Our good friend, Granda Aing, a Bidayuh leader finds the BN Deputy Minister’s statement preposterous and incredulous. – HU Editor
Entulu’s Proposal – Preposterous
By Granda Aing
As a Dayak Bidayuh I find the proposal by the Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun as appeared in Borneo Post of 11 May 2009 as preposterous and incredulous. The very thought of a fellow Dayak making such a proposal is unimaginable. The three reasons he gave in support of his proposal are completely baseless and unacceptable. (more…)
