DUN Sarawak: Kerusi DAP, PAS selesai PKR, Snap masih runding

KUALA LUMPUR, 28 Mac – Perbalahan antara Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) dan Parti Kebangsaan Sarawak (Snap) berhubung pembahagian kerusi bagi pilihan raya negeri Sarawak pada 16 April ini berterusan apabila kedua-dua parti dilihat membuat tuntutan bertindih untuk 23 kerusi.

Timbalan Presiden PKR Azmin Ali berkata sebanyak empat kerusi telah diperuntukkan kepada Snap manakala PKR berhasrat bertanding di 24 kerusi lagi.
“Setakat ini sebanyak 24 kerusi sah akan ditandingi PKR, sementara Snap di empat kerusi dan senarai penuh hanya akan dimuktamadkan dalam jangka masa terdekat memandangkan perbincangan antara dua parti masih berjalan.
“Kedua-dua parti menunjukkan minat terhadap 23 kerusi, jadi kita perlu lebih memperincikan kepada calon boleh menang, penerimaan pengundi dan isu tempatan,” katanya ketika ditemui selepas mesyuarat majlis pimpinan pembangkang di bangunan Parlimen di sini hari ini.

Sarawak State Elections 2011

It's just going to cost RM52.00 per registered voter. The total registered voters is 976,796 voters including 18,363 postal voters. This is only some 40% of Sarawak's total population of 2,420,009 million Sarawakians [Est 2010 census].

Over an area (est 124,450 sq km) as big as Malaya (131,000 sq km) with transportation comparatively underdeveloped Sarawak is traversed by rivers and mountains. This alone will a great challenge for political campaigns particularly the Opposition. All contending parties will only have 10 days to do this.

Pekara ti amai, ngerindu ke ati maia bepilih Kunsil Nengeri ke-10

Ulih Stanley Bye Kadam Kiai
KUCHING – Baka ka udah dipelaba ke aku sebedau tok, kunsil nengeri Sarawak deka bepilih maia 16 ari bulan Empat, 21 ari udah bekau Kunsil Nengeri (DUN) dipadamkan ka 21 aribulan tiga arinya.
DUN dipadamkan ngam dua bulan sebedau abis kena 20 aribulan Lima, ngambi ka pengawa bepilih ulih digaga.
Ngena amai bepilih digaga maia tok tajapan pan perintah nengeri ulih megai menoa datai ba bulan Sembilan. Tok ngelai ke perintah bisi tanggungjawab serta mereti utai dikedeka rayat.
Ba sistem demokratik, perintah ti betanggungjawab deka ngaga pengawa bepilih maia ti ngena, ukainya terus bekuasa.

In Sarawak, Pakatan seat row still simmers

By Shannon Teoh

Anwar denied the West Malaysian leadership was dictating terms to its Sarawakian chiefs. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — Less than 10 days before nomination for the state’s election, PKR has yet to resolve its dispute with the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) over seats in Sarawak.
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced today that DAP would contest 15 seats in the April 16 Sarawak elections, three short of the 18 it demanded as of last Friday when its Sarawak state leadership said negotiations had broken down.
PAS will contest five seats while PKR deputy president Azmin Ali said it has 24 confirmed and SNAP, four.
But the Gombak MP said that the remaining 23 will only be finalised at the end of the month between PKR and SNAP.

Video : PRN Sarawak Anwar Sahkan Rundingan Kerusi PR Selesai

P/raya Sarawak : Anwar Sahkan Rundingan Kerusi PR Selesai

KUALA LUMPUR 28 MAC : Pakatan Rakyat berjaya menyelesaikan pengagihan kerusi untuk pilihan raya negeri Sarawak 6 April ini dengan DAP bertanding  15 kerusi, PAS, 5 kerusi manakala baki kerusi yang selebihnya tertakluk kepada rundingan antara PKR dan Parti Kebangsaan Sarawak(SNAP), kata Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Timbalan Presiden PKR,  Azmin Ali  mengesahkan PKR akan bertanding di sekurang-kurangnya 24 kerusi manakala rundingan masih berlangsung berhubung tuntutan bertindih di 23 kerusi dengan SNAP.
Anwar selaku Ketua Pembangkang menjelaskan kelewatan rundingan dengan SNAP adalah kerana parti Sarawak itu sendiri lewat membincangkan pembahagian kerusi DUN Sarawak.

Taib's subdued 30th anniversary

Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud hoped to hold on to the BN two-thirds majority in the council of states in the general election on 16 April. But as he watched 30 years as a key ministers today, his political future has never looked so uncertain.

A paper appearing in today's Asia Times:

Bellwether poll for Malaysia
With Anil net

Taib Mahmud, the main flamboyant minister of Sarawak state on Borneo Malaysia from the north, marked 30 consecutive years in power on Monday. But any celebrations were subdued by the selection of the test claim on 16 May, when close to one million eligible voters Sarawak to vote in national elections contested.

National council was dissolved on the date of 21 March. Almost as a keeper-blinds, former Malacca chief minister with ties to the powerful United Malays National Organization (UMNO), a businessman and activist rights of the Malays in Kuala Lumpur triumphantly played a "sex video" to invited journalists. Full storyhere .

Video : Stop Timber Corruption / Taib Mahmud Protest - Channel 7 News 25/3/11

Pakatan’s Sarawak seat row yet to be sorted out

Syed Jaymal Zahiid

 | March 28, 2011

The feud between PKR and SNAP over seat allocations has cast a pall of gloom over Pakatan's chances of beating BN in Sarawak.

KUALA LUMPUR: The dispute on seat allocations between Sarawak National Party (SNAP) and Pakatan Rakyat for the Sarawak polls has yet to be resolved.
However, Pakatan chief and PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim claimed that all three component parties – PKR, DAP and PAS – except SNAP have finalised negotiations on the seat allocation despite initial news of failed talks between DAP and PKR.
The result of the negotiation will see the DAP contesting 15 seats, PAS five and PKR the rest for the the 71 seats in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly seats, Anwar said.
But later on, the opposition leader said that PKR would be contesting 24 seats while the remaining ones would be decided after negotiations with SNAP.

Taib bakal pertahan kerusi Balingian

Ketua Menteri meninjau keadaan dan persiapan PBB Balingian menjelang pilihan raya negeri.

MUKAH: Ketua Menteri Sarawak, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud memberitahu berkemungkinan beliau akan mempertahankan kerusi Balingian dalam pilihan raya negeri ke-10.
“Ya, sebab itulah saya datang ke sini hari ini,” katanya kepada pemberita ketika mengadakan lawatan singkat ke pejabat Pusat Perkhidmatan PBB N.51 Balingian.
Beliau yang ditemani isteri beliau Puan Sri Ragad Kurdi Taib berkata tujuan lawatan ialah untuk meninjau keadaan dan persiapan PBB Balingian menjelang pilihan raya negeri ini.
Ketika lawatan, Taib yang juga Presiden Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) diberi taklimat antara lain, tentang persiapan PBB

Mampukah Taib Mahmud terus bertahan?

Pilihan raya negeri Sarawak bakal berlangsung pada 16 April dan perhatian utama kini tertumpu kepada ketua menterinya Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Abdul Taib membayangkan bahawa beliau akan bersara selepas pilihan raya tersebut diadakan namun beliau masih belum menyatakan tempoh masa yang tepat untuk berbuat demikian.

Malah, beliau juga tidak menamakan siapakah pemimpin yang akan menggantikan beliau untuk mengetuai pentadbiran negeri itu walau telah berkali-kali menyatakan bahawa beliau akan berundur.

Abdul Taib sebelum ini sekadar berkata, beliau mahu membentuk satu pasukan untuk mentadbir Sarawak daripada kader pemimpin didikannya terlebih dahulu sebelum berundur.

10 days enough for S’wak campaign

The Election Commission will not extend the 10-day campaign period, saying the population in rural Sarawak is not as scattered as most perceived.

PETALING JAYA: The Election Commission has dismissed calls to increase the number of days allocated for campaigning in Sarawak.
It noted that 10 days of political campaigning were enough for politicians to reach out to their voters during the upcoming Sarawak state election.
EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said that the period was reasonable enough for candidates to greet voters in the state’s 71 constituencies.
“A 10-day campaigning period is enough for parties to do their campaigning in the whole state,” he told FMT, adding that the period was a balance between the urban and rural constituencies.
He added that urban candidates only needed a few days to reach out to their voters.

Pakatan seat talks: Two-thirds resolved

Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat today finalised seat allocations for two-thirds or 48 out of 71 state assembly seats for the April 16 state election.

The Pakatan presidential council has formally endorsed the decision to allocate 15 Chinese-majority seats to DAP and five Malay/Melanau seats to PAS, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said.

Party deputy president Azmin Ali also confirmed that PKR would contest at least 24 seats, while discussions between PKR and local Pakatan partner Snap on 23 overlapping seats were continuing.

He said PKR has no objection to Snap contesting four Dayak-majority seats.

Speaking to reporters after attending the Pakatan presidential council meeting, Azmin said PKR and Snap were now in their third round of seat negotiations.

He said vice-president Tian Chua, who is leading PKR's negotiation team today, has been deliberating with his Snap counterparts over their respective “wish lists” since morning.

Agihan kerusi Pakatan: 23 kerusi masih buntu

Pakatan Rakyat Sarawak telah berjaya mengagihkan 48 daripada 71 kerusi dewan undangan negeri Sarawak.

Ketua umum PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yang juga ketua pembangkang mengesahkan DAP akan bertanding di 15 kerusi, sementara PAS diberi lima kerusi pada pilihan raya negeri itu, 16 April ini.

"Kita berjaya memberikan keputusan muktamad tentang pembahagian kerusi pilihanraya ini di antara Pas, DAP dan PKR. DAP bertanding di kerusi majoriti pengundi Cina, 15 kerusi. PAS, lima dan yang lain itu PKR tetapi ada rundingan, pagi tadi antara pimpinan Snap dengan YB Azmin, petangnya disambung pula oleh YB Tian Chua," katanya.

Anwar juga berkata rundingan antara PKR dan Snap pula tidak akan melibatkan kerusi yang telah diperuntukkan kepada PAS dan DAP, dan PKR juga tidak akan berkompromi dalam hal ini.

Menurutnya lagi, semua keputusan kerusi dan pembahagiannya dilakukan oleh pimpinan negeri tersebut dan tugas jawatankuasa pusat parti hanya mengesahkan maklumat yang diterima dari Majlis Pimpinan Negeri (MPN) Sarawak.

PAS tanding 5, DAP 15 kerusi di Sarawak

KUALA LUMPUR, 28 Mac: Pakatan Rakyat hari ini mengesahkan PAS bertanding di lima kerusi dan DAP 15 pada pilihan raya negeri Sarawak akan datang, manakala PKR pula masih meneruskan perbincangan pembahagian dengan SNAP.

"...selebihnya itu (kerusi) Keadilan dan kita sampai tengahari tadi masih ada rundingan dengan SNAP," kata Ketua Umum PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Kerana RM21 juta tunai, ‘Gadaffi’ Sarawak sanggup rampas tanah rakyat untuk saudaranya?

Ibrahim Mahmud

Wang tunai RM21 juta yang diberikan Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud kepada saudaranya Ibrahim Mahmud yang didakwa hasil rampasan 5,000 hektar tanah rakyat di Baram, Sarawak kian menyerlahkan peribadi Ketua Menteri Sarawak itu sebagai simbol Barisan Nasional khianat rakyat.
Pendedahan terbaru Sarawak Report itu berdasarkan laporan Bursa Saham Malaysia pada 18 Februari lalu.
Pemilikan kepentingan lebih 80 peratus dalam Syarikat Mesretus, iaitu dari tanah negeri yang diserahkan kepada Taib dan kini berpindah tangan pula kepada Ibrahim sekaligus mengukuhkan kekuasaan Keluarga Taib di negeri kaya hasil bumi tersebut.

Kini Taib sekelurga yang berkuasa di Sarawak selama lebih 30 tahun mulai disinonimkan dengan Sang Diktator Libya yang zalim, iaitu Muammar Gadaffi menjelang pilihan raya negeri Sarawak yang dijadualkan bermula awal April depan.

Taib declares he never lied and was not involved in dirty politics

For years Sarawak Chief Minister (CM) Taib Mahmud did not have a credible opposition to challenge him. He did not see the need to fight corruption and improve transparency in all parts of the government. He brushed aside opposition leaders who dared highlight the importance of a vibrant political arena where all voices are heard.
But this is 2011.
Yesterday, March 26 saw 30 years of rule under Taib Mahmud.
Taib knows his days are numbered but he is keen to hang on, just like Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak. If one of them or their Cabinet goes down, the chances are that they will all go down.
Sarawak has been pumping oil and gas out of the ground for over 100 years. In addition to that, it has the spice trade, jungle produce, mineral wealth, logs and now oil palm.
By right, Sarawak should be one of the richest states in Malaysia. But it is not. It is recorded as having one of the most hard-core poor people in the nation.
The people are poor, unlike their CM.
Taib says he is paid a decent RM20,000 salary; however, he is a multi-billionaire, with assets worldwide which are looked after by his daughter, Jamilah, and her husband and his family, the Murrays.
Last week, Taib entered the cyber-world to engage with those whom he believes are out to undermine him.
In particular, he is doing battle with 'Sarawak Report', whose author, Clare Rewcastle Brown, has listed all of Taib’s corrupt practices and ill-gotten wealth.

SPR kenalpasti sembilan kerusi panas

Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) mengenalpasti sembilan kawasan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) yang dijangka sengit pada pilihan raya negeri Sarawak bulan depan, kata Timbalan Pengerusinya Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.

Beliau berkata kawasan tersebut adalah Pantai Damai, Kota Sentosa, Batu Kawa, Kedup, Repok, Palawan, Nangka serta Balingian, yang bakal dipertahankan oleh Ketua Menteri Sarawak Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

"Kita mengambil keputusan untuk berbuat demikian setelah mengambil kira pengalaman lepas di mana kempen dijangka sengit yang memerlukan pemantauan yang lebih teliti," katanya pada sidang akhbar di Kuching hari ini.

Wan Ahmad berkata, SPR akan menubuhkan 80 pasukan pemantau kempen pilihan raya kali ini dengan dua pasukan pemantau dikerahkan di sembilan kawasan panas tersebut.

Katanya pasukan itu akan diketuai oleh seorang pegawai SPR, dibantu oleh pegawai polis berpangkat Inspektor, pegawai Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan (PBT) dan disertai oleh wakil parti-parti politik yang bertanding.

AMK rayu pengundi Sarawak tunai kewajipan

SARAWAK: Angkatan Muda KEADILAN (AMK) Sarawak menyeru setiap pengundi berdaftar yang menetap di luar negeri agar kembali untuk mengundi pada pilihan raya kali ini, kata ketuanya, Ahmad Nazib Johari.
Beliau menegaskan, perkara itu penting bagi memastikan perubahan besar dapat dilakukan di Sarawak.
“Kita menyeru pengundi yang prihatin dengan kemiskinan rakyat Sarawak agar kembali untuk mengundi pada pilihan raya kali ini dan pilihlah parti yang komited untuk membawa perubahan besar kepada negeri ini,” katanya dihubungi Keadilan Daily.
Ketika ini, seramai lebih 35,000 penduduk Sarawak bekerja di Brunei, lebih 250,000 di seluruh Semenanjung dan ribuan lagi di Singapura, Sabah dan luar Malaysia.
Mengulas lanjut, Nazib berkata, pengundi Sarawak yang menetap di luar negeri lebih terdedah dengan maklumat bebas.

Sarawak CM's intended departure 'no shocker'

Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud is anything but a low-key personality. From his mansions to his official Rolls Royce car, he is unabashed about displaying his wealth and power.

Right down to his 'big' announcement last Saturday, Taib has been carefully building up the momentum, promising a sensational piece of news to journalists last Friday.

But after announcing that he would be stepping down eventually, without giving a time frame or deadline, many have been left wondering if this will have any impact.

After all, Taib - over his tenure of 30 years - has made similar announcements several times, with the most recent one being in 2006, also right before the state election. He later said that BN component parties in the state had asked him to stay on.

If anything, announcing his 'resignation' could be seen as appeasing the Chinese voters who make up more than a quarter of the state's population.

It is no secret that the Chinese voters, with a large concentration in the urban areas such as Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Sarikei, have a long-standing disdain for Taib.

Taib, this is what Sarawak Chinese want

Sarawakian Chinese, who make up 26 percent of the state's population, are seen as the biggest vote bank for Pakatan Rakyat to deny BN's two-third majority in the state election on April 16, making the community the most courted constituents in the state.

However, despite various attempts by the Sarawak BN government led by the country's longest-serving Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and his ruling partner Supp, there is no sign that the Chinese vote would return to BN.

The recent efforts to regain Chinese support include more frequent meetings with Chinese associations and Chinese educationists, unprecedented allocation of land to Chinese independent high schools, the relaxing of land renewal premiums and the lifting of the 30-year land freeze in Bako.

Dayak dilemma in state polls

Religion and development are expected to be on the minds of Sarawak's bumiputera voters as the state heads into election campaign from nomination day on April 6.

But at this point, it is still anyone's guess as to which of these factors will have larger sway come polling day on April 16.

For Sarawakian political scientist James Chin, the outcry over the 'Al Kitab' impoundment and rubber-stamping will trump any doubt that the largely Christian bumiputera population will have about voting against BN.

“The Bible issue is a very big one, especially among the evangelist Christians. The bumiputera community makes up half of the Christian congregation in Sarawak,” he said.

According to Chin (left), most of the Iban, Orang Ulu and Bidayuh, all of which make up a group referred to as the Dayak, are Christian and religion is a very large part of their lives.

Half of the 56 bumiputera seats have a majority of Dayak voters, while the other half are seats with a Malay-Melanau majority. The latter community is mainly Muslim, although some Melanau are Christians.

“If a preacher or pastor takes an activist stand, he can influence opinions. He doesn't need to tell the congregation who to vote for but he can send his message by telling a parable, for example,” said the Monash University lecturer.

He added that, while this was absent in the 2006 Sarawak election, it was seen in the Sibu by-election, where the impoundment of the 'Al Kitab' was a sore point and led to DAP's victory.

Video : Ubah Sekarang_ Selamatkan Malaysia!

Interesting Facts about the 10th Sarawak State Election

By Stanley Bye Kadam Kiai
As I have predicted – and without trying to reiterate – the state is going to the polls on April 16, twenty-six days after the State Assembly was dissolved on March 21.
The dissolution of the State Assembly which paths the way for the state’s 10th general election took place exactly two months before the electoral mandate of the current government ends on May 20. By calling for the election now, the state government has shown that it is responsible enough to know that the interests of the people take precedence over the interests of the politicians as the laws still allow the government to continue administering the state until September 2011.
A responsible government in a democratic system should go back to the electorates accordingly and not trying to continue to govern and justify it by applying the principles of law.

Menilik nasib lima kerusi di Miri

Dr Jeniri Amir
MIRI – Ketika duduk di sekurang-kurangnya 10 kedai kopi di Miri pada hari Sabtu dan Ahad lepas, 26 dan 27 Mac 2001, saya dapati sebahagian besar pengunjungnya berbicara tentang politik dan pilihan raya.
Yang menarik, sambil berbual-bual dan berbincang, ada daripada pengunjung yang terdiri daripadai pelbagai etnik itu – Melayu, Kedayan, Cina, Melayu, Melanau, Orang Ulu dan Iban itu – memegang akhbar – Borneo Post, The Star, New Straits Times, Utusan Sarawak, Borneo Post, Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia, Sin Chew Daily. Mereka mempunyai keghairahan luar biasa ketika mengupas pelbagai isu, siapa bakal calon dan kerusi mana yang akan terlepas daripada Barisan Nasional.

Am I interested in Sarawak?

I consider my home to be Kuala Lumpur, in West Malaysia. Today, someone asked me whether I am interested in Sarawak, a state in East Malaysia. I thought it a strange question. Malaysia has thirteen states and three Federal Territories; I was born in one of them, have lived in three of them and now live in a Federal Territory. Why ask me about one of the thirteen states? Why should I have any special interest in Sarawak?
Well, her reasons were many. Not least amongst them is that in under three weeks there will be a state election in Sarawak, and there are signs the natives are restless.
The natives appear restless for many reasons, not least of which are (1) the alleged rapes of native women and girls by employees of timber companies, (2) allegations of immense wealth accumulated by the Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud, over a reign of 30 years, (3) numerous reports of destruction of the jungles of Sarawak which are amongst the last remaining equatorial forests in the world, (4) construction and proposed construction of large numbers of dams and hydro electric power stations, (5) denial of land rights to the native people, (6) allegations of police siding the rich against the poor, and (7) widespread knowledge that if the ruling coalition – Barisan Nasional (BN) – loses Sarawak, they are likely to lose all of Malaysia: and risk exposure of their misdeeds.
Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, is about a two hour flight from Kuala Lumpur, across the South China Sea. The two East Malaysian states, Sabah and Sarawak, are very different from the states in West Malaysia, also known as the peninsula (semenanjung).

DAP berkemungkin bertanding di 15 kerusi

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng

Mac 28,
Setelah rundingan dengan sekutunya, PKR dalam Pakatan Rakyat, DAP dikatakan kemungkinan besar akan bertanding hanya di 15 kerusi pada pilihan raya negeri Sarawak 16 April ini.

Menurut sumber parti itu, pada rundingan yang diadakan semalam itu, DAP akur untuk menyerahkan tiga daripada lima kerusi yang juga dituntut oleh PKR.

Pengumuman muktamad berhubung agihan kerusi Pakatan Rakyat dijangka dibuat selepas tengahari ini oleh pemimpin kanan Pakatan di parlimen.

Antara kerusi yang akan dilepaskan oleh DAP adalah Padungan, yang terletak di tengah-tengah bandaraya Kuching yang kini dipegang oleh ADUN PKR, Dominique Ng.

Kerusi Padungan dianggap agak simbolik kepada DAP kerana sejak dua dekad lalu ia adalah kubu kuat parti itu.

Akar umbi kecewa

Bagaimanapun Padungan juga adalah kerusi tunggal PKR di Malaysia Timur dan Pakatan mempunyai persetujuan bahawa parti yang telah memenangi sesuatu kerusi berhak mempertahankannya semula.

DAP juga dijangka akan melepaskan kerusi Senadin, yang masyarakat Cina merupakan hampir separuh daripada pengundinya dan kerusi majoriti pengundi Iban di Balai Ringin.

Pada pilihanraya negeri 2006, Senadin ditandingi oleh PKR manakala Balai Ringin diberikan kepada Parti Kebangsaan Sarawak (Snap).

Sementara itu, difahamkan PKR juga telah menggugurkan tuntutannya ke atas Dudong, satu lagi kerusi majoriti pengundi Cina dan Iban.

Pada pilihan raya negeri 2006, DAP tewas di Dudong dengan hanya 408 undi.

Bagaimanapun, parti itu dijangka akan dibenarkan bertanding di Batu Kawah, kerusi majoriti pengundi Cina di selatan Kuching. Pada 2006, kerusi ini ditandingi PKR tetapi mereka kalah teruk.

Namun, beberapa ahli pada peringkat akar umbi DAP dikatakan kecewa dengan rundingan agihan kerusi itu kerana mereka berpendapat mereka adalah parti pembangkang utama dan harus diberikan keutamaan.

Di kalangan pembangkang, DAP memperolehi kerusi terbanyak pada pilihan raya negeri 2006.

Mereka berjaya menguasi enam daripada 12 kerusi yang ditandingi. PKR, Snap dan calon Bebas masing-masing memenagi satu kerusi. Calon Snap bagaimanapun telah berpaling tadah ke SUPP manakala calon Bebas telah menganggotai Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM).

Blast from Sarawak’s past

Tiberius Kerk

 | March 28, 2011

(Old Sarawak – A Pictorial Study by Craig A Lockard and Graham E Saunders) Everybody knows Sarawak is the Land of the Hornbills or “Bumi Kenyaland”. It is also the largest state in Malaysia. Its neighbour, Sabah (Land Below the Wind), is the second largest state.

The capital is Kuching which has a population of 580,000. What is lesser known about Sarawak is that the first reported sighting of a foreigner on its soil was some time in 1320 when a Franciscan clergyman named Odoric of Pordenone arrived to spread the “good news”.
After that, there were no Europeans until the 16th century when Italians, Dutch, British and Spanish showed up.
The Spanish, however, preferred to stay in the Philippines. But old Sarawak earned its reputation during the period 1841 to 1941 when it came under the influence of the Brooke family.
This pictorial essay of old Sarawak covers the years between 1840 and 1920. It has a significant number of old photographs which reveal the lifestyles of the rich and famous and the natives and other foreigners who temporarily made Sarawak their home.
James Brooke ruled Sarawak from 1841 to 1868. Then it was Charles Brooke (1868-1917) and for a brief period later, Charles Vyner Brooke took control (1917-1941).
The 116 pictures in the book speak volumes of the life that left huge footprints on the history pages of land that holds many tribes. There is a five-page long picture of the Kuching waterfront in 1864 which illustrates graphically the commercial significance of the place.
The old photographs show the world the ancient faces of tribes like Melanau, Penan, land Dayaks, Kelabit, Kenyah, Kayan and the Iban.

Taib Mahmud Pun Curi Letrik?

Pada ketika kebanyakan orang sedang berjimat untuk mengatur perbelanjaan bagi menghadapi kenaikan bayaran bil elektrik, Sarawak Report mendapati Ketua Menteri sedang mengguna bekalan elektrik yang dicurinya untuk berjimat! Maklumat yang mengejutkan ini datangnya dari seorang sumber dalaman yang mengetahui segala-galanya dalam rumahtangga Taib Mahmud.

Alkitab row shows wider check on non-Muslims, says Pakatan

KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — Leaders from the Opposition have described the controversy surrounding Malay bibles and the use of “Allah” by Christians as just the tip of the iceberg in the erosion of non-Muslim rights.
DAP publicity chief Tony Pua (picture) said the government did not seem to be picking specifically on Christians, but other religions other than Islam as well.
“I think that the government has the same treatment to all religions, it’s just that the Christians are speaking up today. If you look at the school system, government departments, you can see mild forms of preferences or restrictions of religions increasing over the years.
“It is already happening, it’s just that [followers of] other religions are not speaking up about it,” he said.
He said for example there was a limit on the number of temples that can be built, and that if it was in a Malay majority area, no other places of worship could be built in the vicinity.
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) had issued a strongly worded statement yesterday accusing the government of riding roughshod over religions other than Islam when it imposed conditions for the release of 35,000 Malay bibles seized from Port Klang and Kuching.
In a series of news statements that started earlier this month, the Christian organisation denounced the government for defacing its holy books with the home ministry’s official seal, an act it said amounted to desecration.
About one in 10 Malaysians is Christian.
The MCCBCHST said the authorities seemed to want Malaysians to believe that the Alkitab conflict is solely a tussle between two creeds, Islam and Christianity; and affects only Muslims and Christians.
“After the Christians have been ‘fixed’, who next?” the council had questioned. Pua said, however, that he was anticipating the government would give “superficial forms of religious freedom”, ahead of the coming Sarawak elections.

Sarawak-benar angka kemiskinan: 5,3% atau?

Salah satu masalah terbesar dalam pilihan raya akan datang Sarawak adalah tingkat ketimpangan edaran pendapatan, dan kemiskinan di negara, atau lebih khusus berapa ramai orang yang telah ditinggalkan atau benar-benar ditinggalkan di negara yang kaya sumber daya.
Propaganda BN pasti menyentuh bagaimana tahap kemiskinan rasmi di Sarawak telah konon jatuh selama tahun Taib menjadi hanya sekitar 5 peratus sekarang. Ambil contoh ini adalah sebahagian dalam BN SarawakReports.org:

Pada pertengahan 1980-an, Ketua Menteri Sarawak Taib dihadapi di mana hampir 32% penduduk hidup dalam kemiskinan, sebuah statistik mengejutkan orang yang hidup di dunia Barat. Dalam tiga dekad kepimpinan demokratik, Taib telah membantu menarik warga keluar dari kedalaman kemiskinan. Sekarang hanya 5,3% dari Sarawakians hidup dalam kemiskinan. Sebagai perbandingan, yang kurang dari setengah jumlah orang Amerika yang hidup di bawah garis kemiskinan, suatu prestasi mengejutkan.

Kurang dari setengah tahap kemiskinan AS?? Betulkah Itu benar-benar mengejutkan!kenyataan ini diulangi berulang-ulang di sarawakreports.org. Tapi kemudian, bagaimana dengan kebenaran nyaman - semua orang pribumi hidup tanpa air yang layak dan bekalan elektrik dan kemudahan jamban?
Bagaimana realistik adalah angka kemiskinan rasmi tahap itu? Datang dengan tahap kemiskinan yang realistik bergantung pada bagaimana anda menetapkan batas garis kemiskinan pendapatan, dan apakah ambang yang merupakan cerminan wajar realiti.
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Aliran ahli Philip Khoo memuat melihat lebih dekat dan memberi kita petunjuk untuk apa angka kemiskinan yang lebih realistik untuk Sarawak mungkin. Kesimpulannya bahkan lebih mengejutkan dari tuntutan Sarawak Laporan '!

Sarawak's real poverty rate: 5.3% or ?

One of the biggest issues in the forthcoming Sarawak election is the level of income distribution, inequality and poverty in the state, or more specifically how many people have been left behind or totally left out in this resource-rich state.
BN propaganda inevitably touches on how the official poverty rate in Sarawak has purportedly plunged during the Taib years to only around 5 per cent now. Take for example this piece in the BN’s SarawakReports.org:

In the mid-1980s, Chief Minister Taib faced a Sarawak where nearly 32% of its population lived in poverty, a shocking statistic to anyone living in the Western world. In three decades of democratic leadership, Taib has helped pull his citizens out of the depths of destitution. Now only 5.3% of Sarawakians live in poverty. For comparison, that is less then half the amount of Americans who live below the poverty line, a startling feat.

Less than half the US poverty rate? Betulkah? That is indeed startling! This assertion is repeated over and over again in sarawakreports.org. But then, what about that inconvenient truth – all those natives living without proper water and electricity supply and latrine facilities?
How realistic is the official poverty rate figure then? Coming up with a realistic poverty rate depends on how you set the poverty line income threshold, and whether that threshold is a fair reflection of reality.
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Aliran expert Philip Khoo takes a closer look and gives us a clue as to what a more realistic poverty rate for Sarawak might be. His conclusion is even more startling than Sarawak Reports’ claim!

Bukan Susah Pun PR Nak Tentukan Kerusi DUN Sarawak

Oleh Jebat Sarawak

Gagal merancang adalah merancang untuk kegagalan. Itulah nilainya kepentingan perancangan yang betul dan tepat untuk menikmati erti kejayaan. Mengikuti kemelut agihan kerusi di pihak PR melalui akhbar perdana dan media PR sendiri menggambarkan betapa sukarnya persoalan ini untuk diselesaikan. Benarkah begitu ?

Sarawak. Setiausaha DAP Sarawak, Chong Chieng Jen  sudah memberi gambaran yang jelas dan nyata tentang perkara ini. Untuk menafikan majoriti 2/3 BN , sekurang-kurang kemenangan dalam 28 kerusi sudah memadai. Jika nak menumbangkan BN 36 kerusi pun sudah cukup. Perkiraan ini jelas dan sudah cukup untuk pihak pimpinan PR membuat agihan yang realistik terhadap parti-parti komponen mereka di Sarawak. Matlamat untuk menumbang BN Sarawak sudah terpampang di atas kertas. Seharusnya pimpinan PR tidak menghadapi masalah besar dalam agihan kerusi ini. Faktor komposisi PR sudah jelas lebih baik daripa

da BN dal;am menentukan kedudukan parti yang bertanding dalam DUN Sarawak. Kekuatan DAP di kawasan bandar dan majoriti pengundi Cina memang sangat dominan di Sarawak. Perkara ini perlu diakui oleh komponen lain dalam PR Sarawak. Justeru itu pilihan kerusi DAP adalah perlu didahulukan agar pencapaian matlamat menumbangkan BN akan lebih jelas.

Bagi kedudukan PAS pula semestinya kelompok majoriti pengundi kaum Melayu dan Melanau Islam harus dipertimbangkan. Meskipun Melayu dan Melanau merupakan minoriti di Sarawak namun di beberapa kawasan kelompok kaum ini masih memegang undi majoriti. Harus diingat penglibatan aktif dan sambutan masyarakat Islam Sarawak kepada PAS dalam PRK Sibu tahun lepas harus dipandang hakikat yang nyata. Ternyata penglibatan PAS dalam PRK Sibu dahulu jelas memberi impak yang besar kepada perubahan undi kaum Melayu dan Melanau kepada DAP.

Bagi kerusi yang majoritinya kaum Dayak dan campuran yang agak seimbang maka kerusi untuk PKR dan SNAP adalah lebih relevan. Ini kerana kepimpinan kedua-dua komponen ini memiliki hampir kesemua kaum di Sarawak. Tidak sukar untuk PKR dan SNAP untuk mendapatkan undi kaum lain yang majoritinya bukan Cina dan Islam.

Dalam kerancakan merebut kerusi komponen PR untuk DUN Sarawak ini maka semua pimpinan parti harus sedar bahawa kepentingan politik peribadi bukanlah keutamaan untuk rakyat memilih PR.

Rakyat Sarawak sudahtidak sanggup ditipu dan dipermainkan oleh pemimpin yang mementingkan kepentingan diri. Sesungguhnya peluang dan semangat kebangkitan rakyat Sarawak dalam PR DUN kali ini janganlah dipersia-siakan. Rakyat Sarawak sudah bersedia untuk berubah. Cuma mereka mahukan calon yang diletakkan oleh PR adalah berkualiti dan berwibawa. Rakyat Sarawak sudah semakin sedar dan nampak bagaimana liciknya rejim Taib menipu hak rakyat untuk mengaut keuntungan diri mereka sendiri.

Ingatan terakhir buat semua kepimpinan PR yang berkeinginan besar untuk menumbangkan Rejim Taib Mahmud di Sarawak, kegagalan merancang adalah merancang untuk kegagalan. Rakyat sebenarnya ingin melihat kemantapan pimpinan PR dalam merealisasikan perubahan kerajaan yang mampu bekerjasama dan saling hormat-menmghormati antara satu sama lain.

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