Learn from Sarawak’s harmony Last month, ‘Papa Orang Utan’, aka Peter John Jaban, the land and human rights activist, took his fight for greater recognition of Sarawak to England. Talking about the various abuses in Sarawak, he urged overseas East Malaysians to sign a petition to be forwarded to the secretary-general of the United Nations for self-determination. Sarawak is not treated as an equal partner in Malaysia. He told Malaysiakini, “The people of Sarawak should wake up and stop giving their loyalty to undeserving people. I continue to broadcast on Radio Free Sarawak because my people are being manipulated. I cannot bear to see the loyalty and good name of Sarawakians being corrupted. I want to make the rural folk aware, before they lose all their rights. “The Sarawak Malays have no issue over the use of the word ‘Allah’ by Christians. No Sarawakian thinks that one faith is supreme over another. We live in harmony. In Sarawak, you can find a Malay food stall next to a stall selling pork.” He dismissed the idea of a Malay race in Sarawak, saying, “Historically, the Malays are Dayaks who converted to Islam. They are Orang Laut, or Sea Dayak, the original headhunters. “The Sarawak ‘Malays’ are descended from Bangsa Seru, the pagan Dayaks from the second division, who converted to Islam. Some Melanau, another pagan group, also converted to Islam. The current governor is not Malay, but is Melanau.” Intermarriage has blurred racial distinctions. He said, “We are orang Sarawak before orang Melayu, Dayak, Cina or anything else. Semenanjung can learn this lesson from Sarawak.” He urged Malaysians to work together for better, happier lives. “We should focus on our similarities rather than our differences.” Convinced that the average Malay in semenanjung cared little about the ‘Allah’ issue, he blamed the government for fomenting ill-will, and said, “The government stirs up these hatreds and issues over nothing so that they can divide us and therefore rule”. After making a pilgrimage to the final resting place of the Brooke dynasty in Sheepstor, Devon, Peter (right in photo) issued a warning to the government. “The people of Sarawak know that the ‘Allah’ issue is nonsense. We are an easy-going, tolerant nation; but if our religious freedoms and harmony are threatened by racist, bigoted talk, there may well be a conflagration.” He issued a grim warning, “If the ‘Allah’ issue is pushed among the rural folk of Sarawak, BN and Umno Baru will lose their fixed deposit.” Peter criticised the former chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, whose 35-year rule was “nothing to be proud of”. He said, “In his case ‘harap pagar, pagar makan padi’ (Those who betray us are the ones we trusted). “With self-rule, we should have the right to develop our economy, based on our traditions, and using our resources. We have the right to protect our own borders and religious freedoms; the right to know our own history and languages.” ‘We were brought up to share’ Furious about the divisive religious tactics, he said. “We are not a Muslim state - the majority religion in Sarawak is Christianity, encompassing both Chinese and Dayaks. We don’t try to claim that one religion or race is better than the others”. Praising Sarawak’s racial harmony, he said, “In the traditional Dayak perspective, we respect anyone with great semangat (spirit). Race is not relevant. We never chased any race away from Pulau Borneo, the Dayak homeland. We were brought up to share.” Peter expressed concern over cheating in next year’s state elections. He was dismissive of the current CM, Adenan Satem, and said, “He is not worth mentioning. He appears liberal, upright and open-minded, but this 70-year-old was appointed for his family relationship, rather than his position, or experience in government. “Adenan is Taib’s puppet. He should retire, not start a whole new chapter”. Adenan’s role is to take Sarawak through the state election, and Peter said. “Dirty tricks will make it almost impossible for BN to lose. I should know, I was the coordinator for Free and Fair Elections in Sarawak in 2006. Gerrymandering prevents the opposition from gaining ground.” Other BN dirty tactics involved vote buying, the rationing of petrol for non-BN candidates and the manipulation of the postal vote. Government servants, the police and soldiers, were used for campaigning. The government monopolised media airtime and transportation. With the abuse of the government machinery, Peter said. “How can they possibly lose?” Peter and the Radio Free Sarawak team have won three international awards, in recognition of their services. Last year, in Amman, Jordan, he received the Pioneer of Free Media Award from the International Press Institute. This May, Peter became the only Malaysian ever to receive the award given by Reporters without Borders. The award is given to 100 information heroes worldwide who have worked to enshrine Article 5 of the UN declaration of Human Rights pertaining to Freedom of Expression. In October, Peter will travel to Brisbane to receive the Communication for Social Change Award 2014, given by the University of Queensland, Australia. He expressed gratitude to the Malaysian public, and said. “I have been working for 10 years without any support or recognition and have been labelled a traitor to my own country. I am not the only person working to improve Malaysia, so I accept these awards on behalf of all Malaysians. I urge them to keep on fighting for justice.” He added, “Jangan takut-takut kalau berani, jangan berani-berani kalau takut. (There is nothing to fear if you are right, but don’t take unnecessary risks).” MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 16:20:29 +0000
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