TO ALL MALAYSIANS MUST READ AND SHARE! # Spare 5 minutes to read this important article# Time to get facts right | TheStar Online NORTH VIEW BY STEPHEN THEN More accurate and balanced reporting needed on the true roles of Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia. AS the nation approaches the Sept 16 Malaysia Day celebration, many programmes are being aired by na-tional television channels and Astro over the past two weeks to highlight the historical events behind the formation of Malaysia. These networks have also deployed their reporters to carry out ground interviews and analysis on how the unification of Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah had impacted the lives of Malaysians today. I have been watching many of these documentaries, talk shows, ground reports and special interviews and I noticed one particular weakness in almost all these programmes. These documentaries, interviews, commentaries and reports seemed to be very lopsided in nature. They always stressed on one particular angle — how the formation of Malaysia had brought progress to Sarawak and Sabah. Not one of these programmes had spoken about how the decision by Sarawak and Sabah to join the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia had brought enormous benefits to the people of the peninsula states. There is a dire need to correct this factual oversight among our peninsula counterparts, if I may call it an oversight. I would have thought that this landmark celebration of Malaysia would see a nation of people with well-balanced facts about the country. Unfortunately, it seems that our brothers and sisters in the peninsula states are still very much unaware of the correct perspective with regard to the importance of Sarawak and Sabah. I don’t blame our fellow Malaysians across the South China Sea on this lack of knowledge, even the journalists there are not aware of the correct facts. This is because the history books that they studied while they were in school and universities did not teach them the correct facts. I have worked in the peninsula states for six years and I am acutely aware of the fact that many Malaysians there have not even visited Sarawak and Sabah. I was told that even the majority of the staff of the Prime Minister’s Department and other ministries in Putrajaya, who have travelled around the world during their holidays, have not even been to Sarawak and Sabah. Allow me to point out a few of the facts with regard to the importance of Sarawak and Sabah and how the decision by these two states to join Malaya (and Singapore) to form Malaysia had benefited the people of the peninsula states immensely, enabling them to live the good life they are having now. First and foremost, it must be pointed out this fact — that 95% of the offshore oil and gas revenue from Sarawak and Sabah goes to Kuala Lumpur and that only 5% is paid to Sarawak and Sabah every year. This 5% means that Sarawak gets roughly about RM3bil every year. This means that the rest of the 95% that goes to Kuala Lumpur every year works out to be about RM57bil. Sabah too gives 95% and like Sarawak, it too only gets 5% of the oil royalty an-nually. This leads me to the second point — that much of the infrastructure and public amenities that are being enjoyed by the peninsula states today are made possible because Sarawak and Sabah funded them via the oil and gas revenues. This is something that the majority of our peninsula counterparts are not aware of. They do not realise that the MRT, LRT, subways and trains plying the Klang Valley and other cities, the highways linking the peninsula states, the well-equipped hospitals, the big airports, the government universities, the sports sta-diums and the important public landmarks in the peninsula are built largely using the oil and gas money from Sarawak and Sabah. Another very crucial fact that the TV networks had not reported about in detail is the fact that over the past 10 years, Barisan Nasional managed to retain the Federal Government because of Sarawak and abah. Thanks to the number of parliamentary seats won by Sarawak and Sabah Barisan, the coalition at national level managed to retain the simply majority it needs to form the Government. Without the contribution of Barisan in Sarawak and Sabah for the past two general elections, the country would today be controlled by the Opposition. I wonder why the TV reporters did not stressed on these points. The peninsula-based reporters had also failed to elaborate on another fact that is crystal-clear — that Sarawak and Sabah are the shining example of religious and racial unity, something that peninsula states need to learn from. Religious and racial conflicts have over the past few years become a worry in the peninsula, particularly in the Klang Valley. The peninsula folk should turn their sights to Sarawak and Sabah and learn from us about what it means to be able to live in harmony with people of diverse beliefs and traditions. A few more days to go before Sept 16 and there will surely be more programmes on Malaysia Day by the TV and radio channels and also in the newspapers. There is a need for more accurate and balanced reporting on the true significance and role of Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia. I think our Federal-level politicians, especially the ministers and deputy ministers, have to play their roles to promote Sarawak and Sabah at the national scene. They must recognise Sarawak and Sabah as equal partners in Malaysia and stress this openly. Start by correcting the facts in the history books. Maybe the best Malaysia Day present that Putrajaya can give to Sarawak and Sabah will be to admit that the history books used today in schools and universities must be revamped because they have not given enough recognition to Sarawak and Sabah. There should be no “big brother” mentality — not anymore, not after 50 years. Article link: thestar.my/News/Community/2013/09/12/Time-to-get-facts-right.aspx
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 08:58:01 +0000
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