A Letter from SATAN

By Bunga Pakma

The following I found in my in-box not ten minutes ago, with urgent instructions to forward the content on to Hornbill Unleashed. I considered the authour of these lines, a more potent ruler than any upon the surface of this earth, and judged it best to comply with his wishes—unsavoury a character though he be—in the interest of revealing his policy and machinations to all.   —- Bunga Pakma ****

Dear Bunga Pakma,

I condescend thus to address your insignificance, but perhaps you can do me a good turn by arranging this letter to be published in Hornbill Unleashed.  If I were to tender it to your Utusan or NST, I am afraid their editors might slight me or castrate my prose.  Me, me!  The Prince of the Powers of the Air!

Yes. You’re not that dumb.  This is Old Nick here, Beelzabub (“Lord of the Flies” for the dummies among you wretched mortals), Lucifer, the Devil, Iblis.  May I remind you, and through you my proper title is SATAN, “the accuser.” I am Yahweh’s/God’s/Allah’s prosecuting attorney. Didn’t I do a nice job with that fellow Job?

Will Najib succeed where others have failed?

By Sim Kwang Yang

Najib Razak in the concluded annual general meeting last year to bring renewal and reform to their 60-year-old political party.

While die-hard supporters of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition will look at this latest move by Najib as just another spin, I am more circumspective.

I have to grudgingly grant this to the prime minister: he has got guts and vision. For him to make such a call, he has to break out of the cocoon of denial that has plagued so many other component parties of the Barisan Nasional. He realises the weaknesses of Umno, and the party image of being self-serving, arrogant, and out of touch with the people.

He has done where MCA, MIC and Gerakan have failed: mobilise an entire party towards re-engineering, rebranding, and rejuvenating the identity and direction of Umno. Apparently, he has come to the conclusion, and rightly so, that unless something is done radically to change Umno, they will lose their 60-year dominance in Malaysian politics.

An appeal against the death penalty

By Pak Bui

The first anniversary of the death of young M Kugan Ananthan was marked with solemn and tearful prayers at his family’s house.

Kugan died at the age of 22 on January 22 last year, after having endured a savage beating in police custody.

Only one policeman, V Navindran, ended up as the fall guy, charged with ‘causing grievous hurt’, and not murder. The initial charge preferred by the Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail in the heat of public censure, melted away like ice cream.

Meanwhile, ten other policemen, who had initially been reported as having been involved in Kugan’s torture, escaped scot free.

N Indra, Kugan’s inconsolable mother, said to Malaysiakini, “All eleven must be punished. They must face the death sentence for committing murder, so what happened to my son will not happen to others”.

High Court Judgments reaffirming Native Customary Rights lands

By HU Editor

On 21st January 2010, High Court Judge Datuk David Wong had delivered his ruling on two cases in Kuching : Agi Ak Bungkong & Others v Ladang Sawit Bintulu Sdn Bhd and Mohd Rambli Kawi v Superintendent of Lands & Surveys Kuching Division and Another.

In both cases, the High Court Judge held that the respective communities had proven that they have native customary rights over the disputed land, and awarded them damages and costs.

In both cases, the Plaintiffs were represented by Baru Bian and See Chee How.

Full judgments downloadable at LINKS BELOW:

Rumah Agi Judgment

Ramli Kawi Judgment

In praise of the Chinese schools

By Sim Kwang Yang

Ask any purely Chinese educated Chinese citizen what his number one political concern is, and he will tell you it’s the issue of Chinese education. The Chinese language is the number one anchor of his identity as a Chinese Malaysian.

On the other hand, the Chinese person who insists that the existence of Chinese schools is a hurdle towards national unity in Malaysia and should be scrapped is probably wholly educated in English or Bahasa Malaysia, and has never any experience in the Chinese school system. Professor Khoo Kay Kim, who is now advocating the one school stream proposal, probably belongs to this category.

The six years of my primary education was spent in a Chinese primary school in Kuching, and I am eternally grateful to my late mother who sent me there. Though I was transferred to an English medium school for my secondary education, I was able to learn the Chinese language throughout my life on my own.

Mission impossible delivered

By Sim Kwang Yang

To understand the moribund state of the news media in Malaysia, you have to refer to the world press freedom ranking over the last few years.

In the 2008 global index on press freedom released by Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF, or Reporters Without Borders), Malaysia crashed to the bottom quarter of the 173 countries surveyed.

The number one ranking has been shared by Iceland, Luxemburg, and Norway, with UK at 23, Japan at 29, and United States at 36.

Malaysia fell eight places from 124 in 2007 to 132 in 2008, firmly behind other Asian nations such as Timor Leste (65), Indonesia (111), Thailand (124), and even lowly Cambodia (125)!

We who love and work in Malaysia all our lives know our national media well. The large media conglomerates are all owned by companies either controlled by the ruling political parties or their cronies. They are the very embodiment of crony capitalism at its best.

Let’s talk about racism

By Sim Kwang Yang

We all know that the politics of race has always been the bedrock of Malaysian political culture in the last six decades. The success of the early Alliance and then the Barisan Nasional coalitions comprising race-based parties was due in large part to the electorate’s acceptance that Malaysian power-sharing was based on the negotiation between races.

Politicians and their parties fighting for the rights and interests of their race have been the ideological orthodoxy all these while. Nobody would think of calling any ministers or political parties ‘racist”, because racism was perhaps deemed politically correct.

Things must have really changed when we witness in recent days the great Malay nationalist icon Dr Mahathir Mohamad and senior Umno cabinet minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz trading personal insults in public, calling each other “racist”.

All of a sudden, the terms “racist” and “racism” have become bad words, as they should be long ago. The question is: What makes a person a racist, and what is racism?

God by any name…

By Sim Kwang Yang

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has finally allowed a motion for the Catholic Church to set aside a ban by the Home Ministry on the use of the word ‘Allah’ as a Bahasa translation for ‘God’ in its publications.

Whether the Home Ministry will appeal the decision or not is uncertain. Who will hear the case when the appeal is filed will also probably influence the outcome. This saga over in what name God should be called is far from over.

In September last year, 10,000 bibles in Bahasa Malaysia imported from Indonesia were seized by the authorities in Sarawak because they use ‘Allah’ for ‘God’ as well.

In Sarawak, 47 percent of the population are Christians of various denominations, and it is the state with the largest proportion of Christians in Malaysia. Most use their Bahasa Malaysia version of the Bible, and the seizure of their Bibles – translated and perfectly legal for use in Indonesia – is beyond rhyme and reason.

The Christians in Malaysia are a meek and peaceful lot. They are long immersed in the political sensitivities of Malaysians of other faiths, especially the Muslims. Most will never dream of trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.

Agi Idup, Agi Ngelaban…long live the Sarawakian spirit!

By Pak Bui

Life is full of ups and downs, slings and arrows. All we can do is keep fighting, and never despair.

I salute the steel in the soul of some courageous Sarawakians: of the people of 15 Iban longhouses of Sebauh, of Haji Mohamad Rambli bin Kawi of Lobo Rambungan, and of the Sarawakians Baru Bian, See Chee How and their allies.

I thank them for motivating all of us in Sarawak who love justice.

Agi idup agi ngelaban! While I still live, I fight.

It is speculated that this defiant Iban cry of the Sarawak Rangers was inspired by Dum spiro spero. This Latin phrase, translated to “while I breathe, I hope”, is accredited to the great lawyer and writer Cicero. It probably found its way to Sarawak as the Brooke family’s motto.

308, cow-head, Allah and wiser Malaysians

By Bunga Pakma

I am writing this week because nothing happened.  You may ask, am I serious? “Just look what happened in the past week! More churches have had incendiaries thrown at them, then a mosque was and yesterday two surau were attacked with fire.  That’s nothing?”

Yes, a kind of nothing.  Serious damage was done only to one church, and no one has been injured.  I am thankful for the absence of damage. More so, I am thankful for what never happened. Nobody rioted. No screaming and frenzied crowds came out in the streets to revenge themselves on each other, to kill each other and to wreak more damage that reciprocates damage.  For forty-one years Malaysians have had to live with the dread of violence and chaos. We know too well that the régime has never let us forget the threat.  Indeed, the governing-clique has done its best to inculcate the fear into the Malaysian psyche so that, when the moment is right, a mere suggestion to this barely-conscious dread will cause the populace to shiver and quail with terror.

Sarawak gov’t humbled by Iban villagers

By Keruah Usit of Malaysiakini

The Sarawak government’s unpopular ‘Konsep Baru’ or ‘New Concept’ of land development, which encourages private companies to set up vast oil palm plantations on native people’s lands, has been dealt a blow by a landmark High Court decision today.

The High Court of Sabah and Sarawak declared victory to rural Iban farmers from Rumah Madel, in Sebauh, 30km from Bintulu, in a land rights suit filed against Ladang Sawit Bintulu Sdn Bhd Tabung Haji (a major share-owner in the oil palm plantation) and the Sarawak government.

The Rumah Madel plaintiffs were represented by land rights advocates Baru Bian and See Chee How.

“This is a victory for all Sarawakians, and for future generations of Malaysians,” said See, outside the High Court. The government has 30 days to appeal the decision.

A Great Day for Justice

By HU Editor

It was an emotional day for native landowners in Sarawak.

Outside the courthouse in Kuching, tears of joy were flowing  freely and native landowners from all parts of Sarawak hugged and congratulated each other.

Baru Bian, usually cool and composed, was seen talking to reporters with his eyes red, and voice shaking with emotion: “This is justice for all Sarawakians, particularly the oppressed native communities.”

High Court Judge Datuk David Wong had just delivered his ruling on two cases in Kuching this morning: Agi Ak Bungkong & Others v Ladang Sawit Bintulu Sdn Bhd and Mohd Rambli Kawi v Superintendent of Lands & Surveys Kuching Division and Another.

In both cases, the High Court Judge held that the respective communities had proven that they have native customary rights over the disputed land, and awarded them damages and costs.

No religious extremism please!

By Kaypo anak Kuching

The biggest news around in the last little while must have been the fire-bombings of a few churches in West Malaysia and the smashing of windows at another in Sarawak. I would never have dreamt, even in my wildest nightmares, that such a thing could happen in peaceful Malaysia.

I am neither a Muslim nor a Christian; I am not even a member of any organised religion. But we are all Sarawakians and we have all been brought up in our multi-religious way of life. We know the rules of the game.

We know we are free to worship any faith of our choice, but we must not interfere with other people’s practice of religion. The freedom of religion is enshrined in our country’s Federal Constitution and it is one of the most revered basic human rights recognised by the United Nations.

Freedom of religion also requires that we must allow other people to practise their own faiths in any way they want unless it is a form of deviationist teaching that brings harm to its followers. We do read news about these deviationists from time to time.

Building bridges in the dispute over “Allah”

By Zhang ML

If there is any value at all to be given to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz’s announcement on the front page the Borneo Post on Jan 15, it is mere nuisance value.

His half-baked comments will not come close to appeasing the Christians in East Malaysia over the ban on the use of the word “Allah” in their prayers and supplications, and practice of their faith.

Nazri’s words have already received flak from Jakim (Islamic Development Department). Jakim says that there cannot be two set of rules to deal with the ‘Allah” issue.

Christian leaders from East Malaysia have also said that it does not solve the problem, since many natives from Sabah and Sarawak have uprooted themselves across to the west, to look for more decent-paying jobs, or to study.

One feels like saying to Nazri: stop trying to apply band-aids! These will not work.

From the ashes of fires lit by racist politicians

By Keruah Usit of Malaysiakini

How should Malaysia respond to this spate of cowardly attacks on places of worship? What is the way forward? Decent, reasonable Malaysians are divided in their views.

Some Christian spokemen want peace at all cost. They entreat the Catholic weekly Herald, to ‘turn the other cheek’, and to stop using the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa Malaysia section, even though Sabah and Sarawak Christians have used the word for generations.

This gives rise to a troubling thought. The editor of Herald, Father Andrew Lawrence (left) and other Malaysians like him (Muslim and non-Muslim alike) have stuck their necks out, in a collective attempt to build a plural, inclusive nation.

These courageous Malaysians refuse to nod their heads in rhythm to the jarring 1Malaysia tune. One people, one nation, one leader? We have heard all that before.

It seems perfectly all right to turn one’s own cheek when struck, but would it not be somewhat presumptuous to instruct other people to take abuse and look the other way?

Controversial ‘Allah’ ruling of Datuk Lau Bee Lan

HU Editor

High Court judge Datuk Lau Bee Lan’s controversial ‘Allah’ ruling that rocked the nation over who had rights to the term cited that the Home Minister and government’s actions had been illegal, unconstitutional, irrational and had failed to satisfy that it was a threat to national security.

She also wrote about the apparent conflict in the matter between the Federal Constitution and the various state enactments apart from claims by Muslim groups that the matter cannot be taken to a civil court.

The judge released the written grounds of her Dec 31 judgment late on Friday while the increasingly acrimonious public debate over who has the right to use the word “Allah” continues to rage on.

Hornbill Unleashed obtained a copy of her 57-page judgment where the judge lays out the reasons and the laws behind her oral pronouncement.

Downloadable PDF files of Datuk Lau Bee Lan’s 57-page judgment

“Ya Allah!” Where have all the Sarawakians gone?

By Maximus  Kho

TORSTEIN DALE SJOTVEIT… Does the name ring a bell? If you are Sarawakian it should! He is the new head of  Sarawak Energy Berhad Group, and by default the numero uno of all Sarawak’s energy concerns.

This newly appointed  Chief Executive Officer (CEO) replaced the Chief Minister’s brother-in-law Aziz Hussein officially on January 5, 2010 (news extract from BMF).

The brief bio data of the news extract does not reveal much about any of his achievements in the energy sector, but states briefly that he is a Norwegian national who has formerly worked as an executive with the Norsk Hydro group.

He reportedly signed a work contract for three years, worth a whopping US $1.2 million a year ( RM 4,007,400.00 ). In addition he is entitled 10  all-expenses-paid holidays a year. The package comes with housing in an exclusive area and a brand new Mercedes E300 (RM 483,000.00  on the road). This is an appropriate time to say “Oh My God” or “Ya Allah” (depending on your creed or where you are in Malaysia these days).

Vandalising churches, temples – and our politics

By Pak Bui

The crimes of vandalism against twelve churches and a Sikh temple and now, apparently, a mosque in Samarahan, have been a sad reflection of the ongoing cynical vandalism of our political system and national institutions.

UMNO spokesmen have hurled verbal stones and rhetorical firebombs at the judicial system. They have trampled over the High Court. The court had found the UMNO government’s ban on the word “Allah”  was illegal, while observing the law prohibits non-Muslims from using the word to convert Muslims.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, UMNO’s Nazri Aziz, has been quoted by Malaysiakini as saying the issue of printing “Allah” in Christian publications cannot be solved by taking it to court. He was echoing the inanities of his “racist” sparring partner Mahathir Mohamad.

Democracy in Action. Reader Discretion Advised.

By Bunga Pakma

“Primary school pupils have not achieved the maturity required to select the best candidate for contested posts. They will go for candidates who are popular rather than capable, a situation only too familiar to reality show contestants.” —[Chok Suat Ling, in the editorial page of the New Straits Times for 14 January 2010.]

*****

[SCENE: A coffeeshop about half a kilometre from an old-established and respected secondary school. It’s after five p.m. Seven students are sitting around a marble table under the fan, some facing kopi susu, some fizzy drink.  Three of them are “of age.” All are in mufti, open shirts.  They talk quietly. They have English as their common (and saltiest) language. Half of them smoke cigarette after cigarette.]

“Hey, Ahmad, not to worry-lah! You got pangkat Prefect in Lower Six. You shoe-in for next term!” Ramli had raised his voice a bit.

101 East – Malaysia: Whose God?

Aljazeera explores the Allah controversy with a debate featuring Pas MP Khalid Samad, social activist Marina Mahathir and Abim’s Yusri Mohamad.

Inside the “mastermind” of church and temple attacks

By Pak Bui

Imagine you are the UMNO “mastermind” of the attacks on Christian churches and the Sikh temple.

Suppose you want to incite the Malays to rage. Suppose you wish to distract Malay voters from the vast amounts of money stolen from them, and future generations, through the PKFZ and other scams.

Perhaps you can see that Malays have become exposed to a greater breadth and depth of information, thanks to internet news portals, blogs, sms-es and the rise of a true alternative option in Pakatan.

You may have noticed that Pakatan governments in five states, for all their faults, ran smoothly and were far less corrupt than previous UMNO-dominated incarnations.

You note that MCA, Gerakan and MIC have been reduced to puny political midgets, and are absorbed in factional fighting.

Death of a dynasty?

By Keruah Usit of Malaysiakini

The successor to the powerful Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, 74 has yet to be resolved. The increasingly frail Taib has been in office for 28 years, the longest term of any chief minister or menteri besar in the history of Malaysia.

Taib’s son Sulaiman has been mooted as the most likely candidate. This would continue the mini-dynasty established by the minority Melanau ethnic group, beginning with Taib’s uncle and predecessor Abdul Rahman Ya’kub.

The Melanau make up barely five percent of the population of Sarawak. Their political and economic dominance has caused deep divisions, even within Taib’s (right) own dominant party, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Sarawak (PBB).

Iban, Malay and Bidayuh, making up 34 percent, 21 percent and eight percent of Sarawak’s population respectively, resent the accumulation of vast wealth within Taib’s own family and ethnic group.

Sarawak Lawyers: Support judicial independence, condemn arsons

By HU Editor

A group of practising lawyers in Sarawak this morning gathered outside the Kuching Courts Complex calling for respect for the Constitution and the rule of law. They also called on all responsible and conscientious Malaysians to condemn violence and acts that incite racial tension.

The group of more than 10 lawyers handed out a joint declaration to passers-by said that the demonstration, church arsons and escalating tension arising from the current “Allah” controversy will jeopardize peace and nation building, tarnish Malaysia’s international image and discourage foreign investment, that the failure of the BN Government to stop demonstrations against the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment on the use of “Allah” by the Herald had fanned the emotions and sentiments of certain quarters to turn the matter into serious religious conflict.

Beware the Christians of S’wak and Sabah

By Sim Kwang Yang

The Home Ministry is appealing the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment, allowing the Catholic Church to use the word “Allah” as a Bahasa Malaysia translation for the Christian “God”.

The decision is hardly surprising.

In such a sensational case, the Home Ministry simply cannot be seen to be losing. Besides, upon the final outcome of the court process, rides the prestige and edifice of Umno as ‘Protector of the Malay Race and Religion’. They have mounted the fierce tiger, and there is no way to get down.

The church will not back down either.

From the early days when the Roman Empire used to deed them to the lions in the amphitheatre for the sake of entertainment, right through the two turbulent millennia of their long history, the church has always persevered or even thrived through thick and thin.

End of the first decade of a new millennium

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 )

A few days’ ago, on January 1, 2010, we witness the end of the first decade of a new millennium.

I admit that, in the long winding river of history, the end of another decade is just another arbitrary cut off point. Still, it feels like a useful excuse for us to look back the last 10 years, and scour our memory for the most significant events that have changed our human history.

Even the study of history is subjective. The nation-state is still the most basic unit for our political organisation.

Since history is the collective memory of a nation-state, historical reflection tends to be nation-centric. But I shall make a deliberate conscious attempt at looking at the world in the last 10 years from a global point of view, subjective though I may be still.

Giving flowers to monkeys?

by Sim Kwang Yang

I have found some of the most interesting and provocative reading materials on the Internet at Malaysia Today edited by Raja Petra bin Raja Kamarudin.

He has opened up a no-holds-barred Debating Corner, where he invites readers to give their views on extremely sensitive questions. Should Sarawak and Sabah have joined Malaysia? Should Malaysia remain a Monarchy or become a Republic? Is politics very much part of Islam? Does Islam Hadhari really exist? Have the Malays changed (for the worse or for the better)?

I must applaud his courage in opening up these Pandora Boxes. In more developed liberal democracies, public discussions on these issues may be a matter of routine. In Malaysia however, to venture into these tabooed territories would border on the foolhardy, if not downright self-destructive. Any view that is not politically correct would immediately bear the stigma of sedition.

BN stirred up the controversy over “Allah”

By Bunga Pakma

I began to write this piece Thursday morning, 36 hours before my deadline.  As my subject I chose the controversy over the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims. More and more people have been taking notice of this affair, which started as a legal contest, rose to a quarrel, and now poses a grave threat to the peace of the nation.

My draft yesterday ended with an expression of fear that in the space of a night events might render my comments worthless. Sadly, events have proved the reasonableness of my fear. Three churches have been fire-bombed. Mercifully, no one was hurt.

The “Allah”  controversy by now is everyone’s topic, and nearly the only topic before the public. To this torrent of commentary I wish briefly to add a few words.

The proverb says that the first casualty of a war is Truth. Now that dispute has left words behind and gone straight to violence, there’s little hope that fact and reason can prevail against ignorance and malice. Nonetheless, two main points must not be forgotten.

No confusion in Sarawak, in ‘Allah’s’ name

By Pak Bui

It is Sunday morning. The sun climbs over the blue hills and the roosters welcome the dawn in full voice. Their crowing is drowned out by the thunk thunk thunk of a traditional Orang Ulu gong. The wooden drum beats out the call to prayer, starting with sparse rhythmic notes, rising in volume and urgency to a rapid crescendo.

Young children skip, bent old men with weathered faces shuffle, and smiling old ladies wearing bead necklaces and their best sarungs file towards their tiny humble wooden church. Some of the hardy womenfolk perch their children on their backs, in beautiful baby carriers adorned with colourful beads.

Before long, the entire village is in full song in church. They are joyful, exuberant, and sing in two dozen different languages, all over Sarawak. Sometimes the few young people left in the village play cheap electric guitars and drums, paid for by contributions scraped together by the entire village.

This rustic scene is repeated all over rural Sarawak and Sabah every Sunday, and many other days of the week too. The languages they sing in are Kadazan, Dusun, Iban, Murut, Bisaya, Lun Dayeh, Kelabit, Kayan, Kenyah, Lun Bawang, Penan, Bidayuh, Sa’ban, Melanau, and all sorts, but they all have one thing in common – they are enthusiastic and fervent worshippers.

Pakatan’s CPF promises: Lots of legwork ahead

By Keruah Usit

Pakatan Rakyat’s Common Policy Framework (CPF), announced at its inaugural national convention in Shah Alam, needs plenty of work if it is to win hearts and minds in Sabah and Sarawak.

The CPF laid out reforms that Sarawakians and Sabahans have long been clamouring for. Pakatan included a provision of 20 percent of oil royalties to the two impoverished states, a tremendous improvement on the current five percent.

This guarantee is a stark contrast to the Barisan Nasional’s approach of withdrawing Kelantan’s oil royalties and offering wang ehsan or “charitable donations” to the Pakatan-held state.

Pakatan also promised to establish a Royal Commission on illegal immigration, a deeply resented problem in Sabah. It can only be hoped that a Pakatan government would act on the findings of such a Royal Commission, unlike previous administrations.

Umno Flounders in a Two Party System

By Kenny Gan

The definition of a two party system is a democratic political system where two major parties dominate and either party wins in almost all elections.  This does not exclude the existence of smaller parties but essentially only one of the two dominant parties has a chance of winning and forming the government.

Two party systems abound in matured democracies such as the United States, U.K., Australia and Germany. In Germany, politics is dominated by the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats with the Greens playing a kingmaker role by aligning with one of the dominant parties.

In contrast, politics in a one party system is dominated by only one party which alone has any chance of winning the election. Malaysia (before the tsunami) and Singapore are prime examples with Taiwan and Japan also one party systems until recently.

The benefits of a two party system are obvious. Both the dominant parties have to compete for votes to maintain its power or to gain power. This democratic competition imposes a check and balance on the government of the day, promotes transparency and accountability and ensures that service delivery to the people are prioritized or it will be given the boot.

Corruption, our national scourge

By Sim Kwang Yang

I was sitting in the neighbourhood coffee shop with some friends one rain drenched evening when a young and not unattractive Indonesian waitress came out to the front and ran down the corridor like the wind.

The other more adult Indonesian worker came forth and volunteered an explanation. A police car was spotted at the back entrance of the coffee shop.

The coffee shop owner told her not to worry, for it was a matter of paying a small amount of cash. The Indon lady sniggered and said that the policemen were not after cash.

Then again, there was this time when I was summoned to meet an officer in the national registration department in Kuching to receive the birth certificate of an Iban boy in the village. I had personally helped the boy to apply for it by late registration, which is always a tedious and time-consuming process.

What Difference Can a Year Make?

By Pak Bui

In the spirit of the new year, and looking back  at the year gone past, I have put together some of the most prominent local news stories of 2009 and my favourite Hornbill Unleashed (HU) posts from each month.

One weakness of such “Top (whatever) Lists of 2009” is the frailty of our human memory. We tend to place recent events on a pedestal and chuck older memories into the recycling bin of our memories.

Even in our daily lives, we often forget the happy moments we have spent in the past with our spouses or children, in the heat of some dispute or other.

An addition to the third voice

By Apang

Ever since the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) held its first ever convention, much has been written about its pledges to Sarawakians and Sabahans in its Common Policy Platform. Polls are here, there, and everywhere.

Opinions and analysis combine to effectively put the baby PR on notice, to put it mildly. One can even interpret some reports as containing mild threats, of trying to influence voters not to choose PR.

I would like to add a few observations too. For example, will the PR still give the promised 20% oil royalty to Sarawak, if Taib, Jabu and Masing are still in control? If Taib et al remain in power at state level, they will decide, absolutely, how the money will be spent, where and on what. Inevitably, they will decide who will get what!

Then we move onward to the struggling Native Customary Rights (NCR) landowners in Sarawak. Will they ever get to exercise their rights to self-determination, if the PR takes over Putrajaya and Petra Jaya in the capital Kuching? After all, it remains a mere PKR promise to right the countless wrongs under the BN, as far as the NCR lands are concerned.

Auld Lang Syne, (or) Ngingat ka’ Utai Kelia’

By Bunga Pakma

Happy new year to you, dear Reader!  Or, perhaps I should be more specific and say this mouthful: Happy Observance of the first day of the solar calendar established by Julius Caesar and refined under Pope Gregory XIII!

I wouldn’t doubt that every day in Earth’s swing around the sun is New Year’s Day to somebody, somewhere on the planet.  Even the Maya reckoning is now famous because of all those silly rumours of disaster in 2012.  In Malaysia we celebrate 1 January; then Chinese New Year on the second new moon after the winter solstice; then the Śaka new year on the spring equinox.  The Islamic calendar is purely lunar, so 1^st Muharram wanders backwards through the solar year.  And let’s not forget the Rice-Year observed by Dayaks, once when they got the harvest in, and now gazetted as 1 June.  Gawai cards often carry the message “Selamat Taun Baru.”

The more the merrier.  This morning I woke late, slightly crapulous, and went to sit on the porch here in PJ. The town was profoundly quiet. Traffic noise made the faintest whisper in the distance and birdsong filled the foreground.  I nearly fell asleep once again as I listened, such was the peace. Even now, at noon, the burung tekukur and burung semalau are the nearest presence to my ears.

Happy New Year 2010