Gawai has arrived – The aroma of tuak tickles the nostrils

The aroma of tuak tickles the nostrils, filling the air with a sense of anticipation, signalling the arrival of the Gawai – a festival which marks the end of the harvesting season.

The Dayaks celebrate the Gawai annually on June 1, a thanksgiving day for the bountiful harvest and a time to plan for the new planting season.

How this traditional wine tastes depends largely on who brews it.

Made of fermented rice with yeast and sugar, tuak-making is the domain of the womenfolk who have to observe a myriad of rituals and taboos to ensure a fine tuak.

Just ask Simai Linggi, an old hand in tuak-making, who has been brewing tuak and observing all the do’s and don’ts religiously every year for the last 20 years.

You are at the Mercy of the System

By Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos

You are at the mercy of the system. Do you not want to make sure it is does not oppress you?

The majority of us are ordinary citizens. Ordinary in the sense that we go about our own lives without much influence on the system that surrounds us. However, with every turn, our lives are affected by the system we live in. Let me make myself clear by giving an example.

It can be a very simple thing, for example: You want to start a small business because you want to support your family and earn an income. Having registered your business, you now may want to apply for the relevant permits or licences. This application process should be a simple and routine process. The relevant authorising officer should simply ascertain whether your application complies with the law. If all requirements under the law are complied, then, the application should be expeditiously approved. If there are any shortcomings, he should advise you to rectify the same. After all, civil servants are supposed to be civil and “servants” of the Rakyat.

Corruption: How much is too much?

By Terence Netto

Reading the encomiums to Dr Goh Keng Swee, the man his eulogists say was principally responsible for the templates that undergird modern Singapore, one is prompted to recall a discussion in the now defunct, Far Eastern Economic Review, on corruption.

The focus on corruption in a mid-1983 edition of the respected weekly stirred interest because several countries in East Asia were, at that juncture, on the cusp of taking the path towards economic development via infusions of foreign direct investment.

The issue of corruption – what attitude to take towards it, what degree of it to tolerate – was mulled over in the intellectual debate on what paths to take in the quest for economic development of the region.

Music, and the Rice-Year

By Bunga Pakma

KL is not so boring after all.  A week ago an old friend e-mailed to invite me to a concert of the Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra, and I accepted with enthusiasm. The next day we met at the LRT station and the train whisked us into the Twin Towers Station.

I had never heard the MPO. It’s not that I didn’t want to, I had no one to go with. As Mark Twain said, you have to share a joy with someone to get real pleasure out of it. Johan treated me to the ticket. If he’s reading this, thanks again!

On 8 June we shall be marking the 200^th birthday of German composer Robert Schumann, and in his honour, the programme that Sunday was all Schumann, his Overture, Scherzo and Finale, the Piano Concerto, and the Symphony Nr 1.

PKR must move faster or it will lose Sarawak

By FMT

If  PKR continues with its “current stroll pace”, it will lose Sarawak altogether, warned veteran Sarawak politician Daniel Tajem, in the run-up to the party’s national convention which begins in Kota Baru yesterday .

“PKR must move faster and be more effective in Sarawak. It should focus on the Dayaks and spread its reach,” he said, adding that the recent Sibu by-election on May 16 had shown up PKR’s shortcomings.

Tajem, who is also Sarawak PKR adviser, said the PKR campaign in Sarawak and during the by-election had failed to reach out to the Dayak Ibans who lived in 110 longhouses in the Sibu constituency.

RPK vs the Malaysian govt: Who dares will win

By Mariam Mokhtar

AFTER 14 months of lying low, Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) finally had his debut in London and received a standing ovation from a packed hall at the BPP Law School in Holborn, London.

The crowd comprised a mix of journalists from the Malaysian media, reporters from the foreign press, Malaysians living overseas, students, interested non-Malaysians and curiously, Malaysian tourists in London who somehow got wind of RPK’s lecture.

RPK’s entourage included his wife, Marina Lee Abdullah and his lawyer, Amarjit Sidhu, who were all escorted by two bodyguards.

Mahathir Mohamad’s mindset lives on

By Keruah Usit

A letter written by Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1992, at the peak of his power as prime minister, reveals a disturbing mindset regarding the Penan people of Sarawak.

“If any Penan or policeman gets killed or injured in the course of restoring law and order in Sarawak, you will have to take the blame.

“It is you and your kind who instigated the Penans to take the law into their own hands and to use poison darts, bows, arrows and parangs (machetes) to fight against the government,” began his letter to Swiss human rights advocate Bruno Manser (top right).

Anwar Ibrahim: The fundamentalist

By Hishamuddin Yahaya

In February, a very influential Australian MP described Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as “intelligent and articulate and passionate democrat.  He is committed to a thorough reform of Malaysian Government, to rid it of cronyism, corruption and authoritarian tendencies that have gained ground since (Tun Dr) Mahathir Mohamad became prime minister in 1981.”

The reformist

Anwar is a reformist and reformists everywhere seem to share the same fate.  To give a few examples: Benigno Aquino (Ninoy) of the Philippines was shot on the tarmac of Manila Airport as soon as he embarked from self exile in the US.  The revered Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, was shot at point blank range.  Martin Luther King and Malcolm X of the United States were both shot in public.  Abdul Kadir Audah and Hassan Al Banna of Egypt were hanged and shot in the street respectively under Gamal Abdul Nasser’s regime.  Anwar was incarcerated in Kamunting in 1974 and later imprisoned in Sungai Buloh for more than six years.

‘Allow students in politics’

Selangor state executive councillor Elizabeth Wong has urged Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to withdraw charges against four students who allegedly took part in the April 25 Hulu Selangor by-election campaign.

She also called on the Federal government to repeal the University and University Colleges Act which, she said, had “long restricted the democratic freedom and intellectual capacity of our nation’s future leaders.”

The four students – Muhammad Hilman Idham, Muhammad Ismail Aminuddin, Azlin Shafina Mohamad Adzha and Woon King Chai – have been called up by the UKM authorities to attend disciplinary proceedings on June 2 and June 3.

MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE CONCLUSION OF THE SAGONG TASI CASE

The Selangor State Government welcomes the withdrawal of the appeal before the Federal Court by the Federal Government, the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) and United Engineers Malaysia Bhd (UEM) in the Sagong Tasi & Ors. case. With the finalisation of settlement and the terms recorded today, the 15-year-old case finally comes to a close, with its historic judgement left intact.

Today’s outcome is a landmark conclusion because it recognises the rights of indigenous peoples to customary lands. Prior to this decision, the Orang Asli were regarded as mere tenants.

In April 2009, the Selangor State Government under Pakatan Rakyat withdrew from this appeal to the Federal Court,

Remembering a Grand Old Man of Borneo

By Sim Kwang Yang

A Grand Old Man of Borneo, Robbie Robinson, died in France at the ancient age of 93 on April 5. I last said farewell to Robbie during his visit to Kuching city for his 93rd birthday celebration. It turned out to be his farewell trip to the Cat City that he loved so much.Robbie had chosen to live in Kuching for eight months of the year, from September to May, and to return to spend the summer months in France.

I first bumped into Robbie when he was a guest at the Kuching restaurant, the Hornbill Corner, in the 1990s. He joined in a conversation as we were talking about the British author, Oscar Wilde. He betrayed a great deal of interest in English literature and we became great friends because of it. Later on, Robbie met a whole bunch of old and new friends and he became bonded to us.

May 13 threat: a cheap political gimmick

By Pak Bui

The “postponed” Gerakan Kebangkitan Rakyat (Gertak) May 13 rally in Terengganu is the latest in a series of xenophobic publicity stunts by Umno and their stunted supporters.

The rally’s leading organiser Gertak’s Razali Idris announced, “I don’t want the rally to be hijacked by irresponsible parties. At the moment, a lot of people still don’t really know the purpose of the gathering and have been making comments about it without knowing the full picture.”

The “irresponsible parties” are, in fact, Gertak and the horde of similar, so-called NGOs. They have hidden their hate-filled faces behind the term “NGO”, showing scornful disdain for the description used originally by altruistic agencies such as Mercy Malaysia, Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières or Friends of the Earth.

BN loss in Sibu was a right royal mess

By Pak Bui

Royals must remind themselves not to get involved in elections.

The BN government operates under a system of unconstitutional monarchy. PM Najib behaves like a feudal leader, offering inducements to his “subjects” as though he, and UMNO, own the national treasure and the crown jewels, even though the development funds he holds out as bait belong to the people.

He lets loose his palace guards, like the police  and the MACC,  against his own people. He channels racist poison to us, using his Attack Frog and Court Jester Ibrahim Ali, and Gertak. These bigots are bent on glorifying May 13 and using it as a perpetual threat against legitimate political dissent.

What urban voters want

By Neil Khor

For those of us who have been in the observation deck, the recent two by-elections have provided a lot of food for thought.

Although it would appear that the BN is clawing back support, the reality is somewhat different if we subject these two results to closer scrutiny.

The most startling being the great similarity in rejecting methods of persuasion employed by the BN and the solid support for the opposition along a wide cross-section of the electorate in ethnically-mixed areas.

In Hulu Selangor, a very large constituency with a fairly mixed population at different levels of material development, the BN won but very narrowly.

Reports against PM for ‘enticing’ voters

By Chris Reubens

PKR said it will lodge reports with the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission  against the Prime Minister for  enticing  voters in Rejang Park to vote for the Barisan Nasional in the just-concluded Sibu parliamentary by-ele4ction.

Sarawak PKR chairman Baru Bian said PM Najib Abdul Razak had gone to the housing area  to tempt voters there with his speech of “you help me, I help you; let’s make a deal.”

Baru told reporters after chairing the PKR state liaison committee meeting here on Friday that the party, an ally of the DAP in the Pakatan Rakyat alliance, was  “disturbed” by the speech.

How Najib can win friends and influence Sarawakians

By Keruah Usit

The Flying Doctor Service (FDS) in Sarawak is a lifeline for impoverished Sarawakians. Helicopter flights are meant to deliver medicines, vaccines and care for pregnant mothers and children every month.

The Emergency Medevac, or Medical Evacuation, Service (EMS) transports critically ill patients from remote communities to the referral hospitals of Kuching, Sibu and Miri, and also between these three hospitals.

But some voters in the recent Sibu by-election have lost family members, because the FDS and EMS flights have been stalled on and off, over the past three years. Victims of severe head injuries, suffering from bleeding in the brain, and admitted to Sibu Hospital, have been denied access to mercy flights to Kuching to be operated on by a neurosurgeon, for example.

The Big Lie

By Bunga Pakma

While I have tried as strenuously as possible, honoured Reader, to write entertainingly in these pieces—despite that much of the material there upon which I comment is better fitted to provoking tears than laughter—I often slide into the mode of lecturing. Now that the most urgent concern for Sarawak has been concluded, successfully to my taste, in Sibu, I may as well continue what I hinted at last week. Here, then, is a brief, undisguised lecture on the Big Lie.

Lying has been a technique used by the rulers to remain rulers and to keep the ruled in subjection since civilization began. Examples from history could be multiplied without number. Louis XI of France (“The Universal Spider”; king 1461-1483) summed it up best: “The person who does not know how to lie, doesn’t know how to rule.”

Surprising signals from Sibu

By Bridget Welsh

The real measure of change among the electorate is how they mark the ballot paper.

This analysis explores how people voted in Sibu, drawing from the polling station results and local interviews. The results from the Sibu by-election point to major transformations in voting behavior in Sarawak.

They show swings among voters of all the different ethnic communities toward Pakatan and consistent youth disenchantment with the BN.

The results also reveal a crack in the rural-urban divide in Sarawak voting. Even the composition of the low voter turnout under close scrutiny points in Pakatan’s favour.

‘Sibu miracle’: Money doesn’t talk

By Wong Teck Chi and Joseph Sipalan

If Pakatan Rakyat’s currency during election campaigns is ideals, promise of good governance and accountability, then BN’s currency is plain cold hard cash.

But if results of the Sibu by-election were anything to go by, pork-barrel politics ought to be brought to an end.

This was particularly evident in the voting district of Rajang Park, a Chinese majority suburb within the Pelawan state constituency.

On the eve of polling, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak told voters there during a rally that he would approve a RM5 million flood mitigation project to resolve frequent flood problems in the area.

Sea change in Sibu

By Bridget Welsh

The moment I sensed a sea change in the Sibu by-election campaign was during the Friday ceramah, two days before polling. The event reminded me of a similar mood on the eve of the Sarawak state polls in Kuching. The momentum was clearly moving in the opposition’s favour.

The votes are now counted and the opposition managed to pull off an extremely close victory of 1% majority in the final tally. Coming after the defeat in Hulu Selangor and without expectations, this victory was especially sweet for Pakatan Rakyat and bitter for BN, particularly those with personal stakes in the contest, namely Prime Minister Najib Razak and Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Najib: You help me, I help you

Sibu results indicate Taib must go

By Hafiz Yatim and Salhan K Ahmad

Barisan Nasional’s loss in the Sibu parliamentary by-election yesterday is a clear message that Sarawak’s Chinese voters feel that it is time for Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud (right ) to go, said Monash University political analyst Professor James Chin.

He says this is among the three lessons to be learnt from the Sibu contest.

“First of all, the majority of Chinese voters are sending a clear message to Taib that he must go. I think they felt Taib has overstayed in holding the post of (Sarawak) Chief Minister,” he said.

Taib has occupied the post since 1981, the same year that former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad came to power.

Selepas Tsunami (After the Tsunami) ” video “

The 12th General Election did not only result in the change of government in four states or the lost of Barisan Nasional two-thirds majority in Parliament. It brought along many practices never seen before in the governmant system. In Selangor, a body under the state assembly was formed to monitor the use of public funds.

Five surprises for Najib in Sibu

By Pak Bui

Sibu has voted for the politics of hope over the politics of fear and greed. All Sarawakians ought to applaud these courageous voters.

PM Najib Razak made three flying visits to Sibu, desperate for a BN win, but he was taken aback when the May 16 Sibu by-election did not exactly go according to plan.

We may now challenge some of Najib’s assumptions.

1. Every voter has a price

It was raining cash from the sky in Sibu, to the tune of over RM20 million in federal “projects”. There were reports of cash windfalls in broad daylight, 100 to 200 ringgit per vote. Cash flowed up the Rejang river too: RM600 per pintu or longhouse family.

DAP wins Sibu, majority 398

Wong Ho Leng wins Sibu, majority 398

Sibu voters could make history

By Kim Quek

Amidst the intense election campaigns of the Sibu parliamentary by-election, there is one way to help the besieged electorate make a sound decision. And that is by asking the following question:

Which political coalition – Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat – is more likely to fulfill the wishes of the Sibu people, if given the chance to run the federal government and the Sarawak state government?

The simple reason for asking the question is that only the federal government has the power and resources, and to a lesser extent, the Sarawak state government, to solve their problems and fulfill their aspirations.

Will the SUPP ever speak up for our religious freedom?

By Pak Bui

The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and the state Barisan Nasional (BN) have failed at every turn to speak out for Sarawakians, against suppression of religious freedom.

When the UMNO home minister Syed Hamid Albar banned the use of the word “Allah” in the Catholic Herald, he must have had the support of UMNO. When the UMNO home minister Hishammuddin Hussein allowed the seizure and retention of 15,000 Christian bibles containing the word “Allah”, he must have enjoyed the approval of his party.

When the UMNO Prime Minister Najib Razak allowed religious fanatics to protest in contempt of court against the High Court ruling that Umno’s ban was unconstitutional and illegal, he must have won lusty cheers from his party.

Memory-Control, Anxiety and Elections

By Bunga Pakma

I began drafting my piece for today on Thursday, May 13^th. The day has always been and will remain a time to reflect on sombre memories. Those who lived through riot and destruction cannot help but mark the day. Some of them have spoken of their experience of that lamentable time. Other people, thoughtful people who did not witness the terror, will review what they know of its history and wonder what it signifies. But most Malaysians will have heard of May 13^th only through the state-controlled media.

The régime will never let May 13th rest. How can it? In the first place, the grisly fear can only be dissolved by a patient and accurate review of the events as they happened. In 2007, Dr. Kua Kia Soong published his book on May 13^th, and the documents he accessed from the UK’s Public Records Office suggested new and surprising avenues of inquiry. British witnesses, though, are not enough. If a researcher could explore the National Archives, retrieve the evidence and piece it together, we would have a much clearer picture of what happened.

What is your vote worth?

By Keruah Usit

“’Any money YB?’ a voter asked me, as I asked him to vote for me. He said BN promised RM200 for his vote,” Wong Ho Leng, state assembly representative for Bukit Assek and the underdog DAP candidate for the Sibu parliamentary by-election, posted on Twitter on May 10.

Offers of vote-buying, Wong concluded, are not in the realm of rumour. Wong’s allegation is nothing new. Every poll in Sarawak in living memory – state, parliamentary or by-election – has been dogged by reports of vote-buying.

Methods of bribery described in past elections have included the prosaic, such as handing out cash and holding dinners and alcohol-soaked ‘meet-the-candidate’ parties. Cash gifts ranged from RM50 to RM100 were offered in previous elections, depending on the poverty level in a given constituency.

SUPP (soap) opera in Sibu

By Martin Jalleh

THE Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Sarawak’s oldest political party, knows that it would be in real political hot “supp” (soup) if it loses in the coming by-election in Sibu.

The PM who recently received a slap in the face by the Chinese community in Hulu Selangor will have to turn the other cheek if the Chinese who are the majority in the Sibu constituency fail to support SUPP.

This helps to explain why the second coming of Najib (to Sibu) which just took place was so necessary.

The PM descended on Sibu like a saviour determined to deliver its citizens from the evil Opposition by offering the Chinese a slew of expensive gifts.

Saving the police

By Wong Chin Huat editor@thenutgraph.com

WILL the late Aminulrasyid Amzah be the last victim of state violence? Like political aide Teoh Beng Hock‘s death in custody — the anniversary is two months away — the extra-judicial killing of Aminulrasyid has caused a lot of anger because he was not one of the “usual suspects”.
What if Aminulrasyid were 25 and not 15, or if he were a mat rempit? Would Malaysians be so outraged that more than 68,000 would join the Facebook group KAMI BENCI KEKEJAMAN POLIS MALAYSIA! — JUSTICE FOR AMINULRASYID? Would thecabinet have issued a condolence statement? Would an eight-person panel with eminent membership but doubtful powers make a late night visit to the scene of his death?

There have been many Aminulrasyids and Teohs out there, but because many have had criminal records or tainted reputations, their deaths at the hands of enforcement authorities have gone unnoticed.

An Open Letter to YB Yong Khoon Seng

By a grateful Stampin voter

Dear YB Yong Khoon Seng,

It is well known that you are not seeking re-election for P.196 Stampin Constituency in the next General Election. The word on the ground is that you are retiring because you feel that you have done enough and it’s time to pass the baton on.

First and foremost, I must thank you for being the representative of the Stampin people in parliament and for your life of public service. However YB Yong, if you would listen, I have an idea how you can leave a more lasting legacy than simply opting out of re-election, how you can leave office with a last hurrah. Trust me, it will be even bigger than anything you may have done throughout your public life.

And the beauty of it is, YB Yong, it doesn’t involve any effort on your part, all you have to do is step down NOW! Then the Election Commission will have to call a by-election in P.196 Stampin.

Time to disarm our cops?

IF the Inspector General of Police cannot persuade the grieving mother of Aminulrasyid Amzah that her son was a victim of mistaken identity, then how can he persuade the rest of us that his force is not staffed by trigger-happy policemen?

The police may be justified in shooting criminals in self-defence, but it is not acceptable to shoot a member of the public. On April 26, policemen gunned down 15-year-old Aminulrasyid as he approached his home, in Shah Alam.

In the past six months, innocent people have been shot with alarming frequency. In early April, police shot dead two brothers in Taiping as they were on the wanted list. Last October, 30-year-old Norizan Salleh was shot five times in Gombak, after allegations that her car tried to ram the police. Apparently, Aminulrasyid was also guilty of the same crime.

Demanding the Apology

By Fahri Azzat

Considering why demanding an apology is a waste of time, disadvantageous and distracting to both the offender and the offended.

Every now and then we read or hear of this person or that organisation demanding an apology from someone or some other organisation. If you told me that on this planet someone was demanding an apology from someone else every 30 seconds, I am likely to believe you, especially if you bought my breakfast that morning.

The demand often sounds something like this:

“You hurt my feeling. I is demand that you apologise for hurt my feeling. Help. Help. Make him say sorry” or some equally pathetic whine along those lines.

Is SUPP united to face by-election?

By Joseph Tawie

Is the Sarawak United People’s Party really united to face the 54,695 voters, 67% of whom are Chinese in the Sibu by-election?

SUPP president Dr George Chan believes so, when he said: “All leaders have the motivation to forget their differences and work together for the party in the by-election.”

But many regard, however, that the party is ill-prepared for the by-election as the untimely death of MP for Sibu Robert Lau Hoi Chew on April 9 caught the party leadership in the midst of internal bickering and infighting.

Only weeks before the death of the MP, Malaysian Mirror published an article detailing the internal crisis and issues that have bogged down the party to the point that it did not have any time to talk about the interests of the people it was supposed to represent.