Voices of dissent among component parties of the Barisan Nasional are becoming loud and clear now against the 27-year old administration of Abdul Taib Mahmud. Leaders of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), for example, have been grumbling over the way the party has been treated over the appointment of the mayor for Kuching south city council. The appointment of mayor usually comes from SUPP, and its failure to retain the post had become an issue in the 2006 state election contributing perhaps to the loss of six seats to the Opposition. This makes SUPP unhappy.
In Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), some leaders have expressed unhappiness with the way Taib handles the PRS crisis. Since Larry Sng has been expelled from the party, PRS leaders want him replaced as assistant minister. But Taib still retains Larry.
PRS has also demanded why it is not given chairmanships of some government-linked companies (GLCs) and the way NCR land has been seized from landowners. Not only compensations are not paid, the landowners have also been evicted from their ancentral land now declared as “State land”. James Masing’s ministry of land development has come up with proper land development to deal with NCR land and applications have been submitted, but the applications are either delayed or simply kept in the files.
It is understood that Masing has sent a note to the chief minister seeking explanations as to why no actions have been taken on his projects, some of which he submitted three or four years ago. He even questions whether this government is really serious to see that the NCR land develops properly.
As seen by his supporters, Masing is clearly a powerless minister. He even does not have a say in SALCRA’s policies and development, although it is under his ministry. The chairman of the board is more powerful than him just because he is Alfred Jabu, deputy chief minister. Masing has complained to Taib about this strange arrangement, but Taib simply refuses to listen to him.
All these complaints have made Masing unpopular with Taib Mahmud, because Taib does not tolerate anyone questioning his authority. This is what had happened to Daniel Tajem when he served under Taib cabinet in the 1980s.
So is Dr. James Masing becoming the second “Daniel Tajem” to have fallen out of favour from Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Sarawak’s longest serving and most power chief minister?
Like Tajem, Masing was once the “blue-eye” boy of Taib Mahmud especially during the height of the leadership crisis in Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) in 2003 and this crisis led to the deregistration of the party on 21 October 2004; and he helped Masing to form PRS and to admit it to the BN family.
But things have gone wrong since 2006 when PRS was bogged down with a leadership crisis of its own and the way things are going now between Masing and Taib seem to confirm the “cool” relationship between the two men.
Masing was reported to have told his supporters recently that they must be prepared for the worst as they “have been squeezed” now. Masing did not explain what he meant by the word “squeezed”.
Certainly, the strong statement made by Beginda Minda on 25 October 2008 accusing PBB, and indirectly Taib Mahmud, of being a big bully is making things worse between PRS and PBB and between Masing and Taib. Beginda, publicity officer of PRS’s Baleh Division cited a number of examples to prove his point.
Among others, he specifically mentioned the nomination of candidates in the March election for the parliamentary constituencies of Lubok Antu and Sri Aman. Although Beginda did not reveal much detail, let me quote an excerpt from a book, The Broken Shield under the heading “Nyallau and Masir are PBB men”?
“Both William Nyallau and Masir Kujat were alleged to have been PBB men planted in PRS. Their selection was not done by Masing, but by PBB. Masing’s choice for Lubok Antu was a young professional, Desmond Sateng, who had been with Masing since the days of PBDS. But his choice was rejected. Insiders in PRS said that the District Officer, Lubok Antu Nelson Mujah had prepared a ‘resume’ for Nyallau and strongly recommended him to be a candidate. That resume was alleged to have been passed to Alfred Jabu and then to the chief minister.
“When Masing heard about Nyallau’s candidacy on the morning of 24 February, he immediately phoned Desmond that the seat had been ‘hijacked’ and apologized to him for missing the boat. As Desmond was young, Masing hoped he would be patient.
“As for Masir, it was a different story. Although Masir worked as a Principal Assistant Secretary in the office of the minister of land development, Dr. James Masing, he was not the first choice to contest. Masing had picked Doris Brodie, a loyalist to be the candidate for Sri Aman. But when the list came out, it was Masir who was named the candidate. Masing, Mong Dagang, the State Assemblyman for Bukit Begunan, and their supporters were unhappy. But there was nothing they could do as the decision had been made by Taib Mahmud.
“According to Donald Lawan, former State Assemblyman for Bukit Begunan and now a businessman, Masir’s selection was because of him. ‘For two hours I met the chief minister regarding Masir’s candidacy. I am responsible for his selection and not Masing,’ he said.
“Lawan’s open bragging about his closeness with the chief minister and his wealth not only alienated Mong’s supporters, but also seemed to confirm PRS members’ suspicion that Masir was a PBB man planted through Lawan. Lawan was and is known to be a PBB man ever since he was interested in politics in the 1980s.”
In West Malaysia, MCA, MIC and Gerakan have started to question the “big brother’s role” of UMNO and have blamed UMNO president, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for their defeats. Abdullah is now accepting the blame and is handing over the leadership of UMNO and by convention the prime ministership to his deputy.
In Parliament last week, the Ulu Rajang MP, Billy Abit Joo, PRS vice president showed that he dared to be different when he joined the ranks of Opposition MPs in signing a petition to review the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA). He is a true leader of the people.
Now Beginda has started the ball rolling. But will the ball continue to roll in an effort to expose abuses of power, cases of bully, discrimination, injustices and corruption in the State? Will you be one of them from BN to continue to kick the ball?
In Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), some leaders have expressed unhappiness with the way Taib handles the PRS crisis. Since Larry Sng has been expelled from the party, PRS leaders want him replaced as assistant minister. But Taib still retains Larry.
PRS has also demanded why it is not given chairmanships of some government-linked companies (GLCs) and the way NCR land has been seized from landowners. Not only compensations are not paid, the landowners have also been evicted from their ancentral land now declared as “State land”. James Masing’s ministry of land development has come up with proper land development to deal with NCR land and applications have been submitted, but the applications are either delayed or simply kept in the files.
It is understood that Masing has sent a note to the chief minister seeking explanations as to why no actions have been taken on his projects, some of which he submitted three or four years ago. He even questions whether this government is really serious to see that the NCR land develops properly.
As seen by his supporters, Masing is clearly a powerless minister. He even does not have a say in SALCRA’s policies and development, although it is under his ministry. The chairman of the board is more powerful than him just because he is Alfred Jabu, deputy chief minister. Masing has complained to Taib about this strange arrangement, but Taib simply refuses to listen to him.
All these complaints have made Masing unpopular with Taib Mahmud, because Taib does not tolerate anyone questioning his authority. This is what had happened to Daniel Tajem when he served under Taib cabinet in the 1980s.
So is Dr. James Masing becoming the second “Daniel Tajem” to have fallen out of favour from Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Sarawak’s longest serving and most power chief minister?
Like Tajem, Masing was once the “blue-eye” boy of Taib Mahmud especially during the height of the leadership crisis in Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) in 2003 and this crisis led to the deregistration of the party on 21 October 2004; and he helped Masing to form PRS and to admit it to the BN family.
But things have gone wrong since 2006 when PRS was bogged down with a leadership crisis of its own and the way things are going now between Masing and Taib seem to confirm the “cool” relationship between the two men.
Masing was reported to have told his supporters recently that they must be prepared for the worst as they “have been squeezed” now. Masing did not explain what he meant by the word “squeezed”.
Certainly, the strong statement made by Beginda Minda on 25 October 2008 accusing PBB, and indirectly Taib Mahmud, of being a big bully is making things worse between PRS and PBB and between Masing and Taib. Beginda, publicity officer of PRS’s Baleh Division cited a number of examples to prove his point.
Among others, he specifically mentioned the nomination of candidates in the March election for the parliamentary constituencies of Lubok Antu and Sri Aman. Although Beginda did not reveal much detail, let me quote an excerpt from a book, The Broken Shield under the heading “Nyallau and Masir are PBB men”?
“Both William Nyallau and Masir Kujat were alleged to have been PBB men planted in PRS. Their selection was not done by Masing, but by PBB. Masing’s choice for Lubok Antu was a young professional, Desmond Sateng, who had been with Masing since the days of PBDS. But his choice was rejected. Insiders in PRS said that the District Officer, Lubok Antu Nelson Mujah had prepared a ‘resume’ for Nyallau and strongly recommended him to be a candidate. That resume was alleged to have been passed to Alfred Jabu and then to the chief minister.
“When Masing heard about Nyallau’s candidacy on the morning of 24 February, he immediately phoned Desmond that the seat had been ‘hijacked’ and apologized to him for missing the boat. As Desmond was young, Masing hoped he would be patient.
“As for Masir, it was a different story. Although Masir worked as a Principal Assistant Secretary in the office of the minister of land development, Dr. James Masing, he was not the first choice to contest. Masing had picked Doris Brodie, a loyalist to be the candidate for Sri Aman. But when the list came out, it was Masir who was named the candidate. Masing, Mong Dagang, the State Assemblyman for Bukit Begunan, and their supporters were unhappy. But there was nothing they could do as the decision had been made by Taib Mahmud.
“According to Donald Lawan, former State Assemblyman for Bukit Begunan and now a businessman, Masir’s selection was because of him. ‘For two hours I met the chief minister regarding Masir’s candidacy. I am responsible for his selection and not Masing,’ he said.
“Lawan’s open bragging about his closeness with the chief minister and his wealth not only alienated Mong’s supporters, but also seemed to confirm PRS members’ suspicion that Masir was a PBB man planted through Lawan. Lawan was and is known to be a PBB man ever since he was interested in politics in the 1980s.”
In West Malaysia, MCA, MIC and Gerakan have started to question the “big brother’s role” of UMNO and have blamed UMNO president, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for their defeats. Abdullah is now accepting the blame and is handing over the leadership of UMNO and by convention the prime ministership to his deputy.
In Parliament last week, the Ulu Rajang MP, Billy Abit Joo, PRS vice president showed that he dared to be different when he joined the ranks of Opposition MPs in signing a petition to review the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA). He is a true leader of the people.
Now Beginda has started the ball rolling. But will the ball continue to roll in an effort to expose abuses of power, cases of bully, discrimination, injustices and corruption in the State? Will you be one of them from BN to continue to kick the ball?
14 comments:
Many were curious to find out who the mysterious Barisan Nasional MP was and talk about his or her identity echoed outside the chambers.
Later, it was revealed that the MP in question was Billy Abit Joo, the Hulu Rajang MP.
“The petition is aimed at seeking support from MPs to back a motion to debate the ISA. It is not aimed at asking an MP to commit himself in pressuring the Government to repeal the Act,”
The fire is burning bcos Sea Dayak (Iban now)are being marginalized bcos they form >800,000 of Sarawak population of >2 million. Other indigenous grouping of Land Dayak (now Bidayuh), Orang Ulu and Lun Bawangs are easier to "pacify" bco it cost less
Now, take the initiative to obtain the latest Electral Roll from Election Commission and do demographic analysis of the voters. Break them u into age groups. The voting pattern in PR12 indicated that "young" voters want change whereas the older voters, generally want to UNDI "kerajaan".
I get Machan and Ngemah!
JJ
Jabu is the most heinous dayak politician and must be removed at all cost together with Taib. Taib is using Jabu to supressed the Dayak especially the Iban. Taib is also using Dato Tiong of SPDP to distract SPDP President Mawam from making any questionable move and to collaborate with PRS. Taib is keeping Larry Sng in his cabinet is to spite Masing and at the same time to create uncertainty in PRS to be used later as an excuses to expel PRS or Masing from his cabinet and BN. Taib is a shrewd politician who will stop at nothing to destroy his political enemies.
As I have said before,make hay when the sunshine,but for Masing,when he was at his height,that was when Taib needed him badly to challenge Tajem,Masing thought that the sun will bloody shine forever.When he think he is gaining strength by kicking out Datuk Sng and his gang,Masing make the worst calculation in his life.This tragic move was make when he and his gang think that now they can survive without Datuk Sng's help.Only Masing with pea size brain can come up with such a move.He should have consolidate his position and make sure the coast is clear first before he make move.Now he have bare himself for all to see and this skinny meatless coward is digging his own grave.
Now as for PRS,my bet is on Joseph Salang.Rumours have been swirling around that he will be taking over the President of PRS and Larry Sng will again be his deputy. Then,Gabriel Adit,who is partyless will join PRS together with others.Aron Dagang who is not getting along very well with Masing becos of bad blood,is never seen or heard.He is lying low and waiting to for the right time to surface.
So Masing is finally losing his grip on PRS.The ghost of PBDS is coming back to haunt him.PRS will follow the same steps as PBDS if Masing is reluctant to let go of PRS.With the party in disarray,I think Masing have to pack up and make his way back to Batang Balleh for good.His days are numbered and with Dublin Unting fighting for his dear life,I can say Masing ,retire and spent you twilight years with your wife and children.Adios Masing!
Every sarawakian knows this,the king of all bully.
What is PRS waiting for? Obviously Taib is not treating PRS as an equal partner in govt. Join the Opposition. Look at what the Opposition is doing in Parliament. They have initiated the investigation of the Eurocopter deal by the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC), and have garnered enough support to initiate a debate on the ISA. Just goes to show what Malaysia has been missing all this while, an effective Opposition.
Masing was summoned by Taib Mahmud yesterday (26 October) regarding the statement made by Baginda.
Taib wanted Masing to sack Baginda from the party. And Baginda's sacking must be given wide publicity in the newspapers.
Masing told CM he was prepared to sack Baginda as pubilicty officer, but not prepared to give the sacking wide publicity. Is this not another form of bully?
PRS, rebel with a cause?
Firstly, Masing refused to listen to Taib and sacked Larry Sng (yet kept in cabinet still)
Secondly, Baginda, tubai kara outburst.
Thirgly, Billy Abit, signed parlimentary petition initiated by the oppositon to debate the ISA, the only MPs from the backbencer to do so.
all these in a space of 48 hours.
PRS is breaking up unless Masing resign and Joseph Salang takes over.Masing is leading PRS to its grave.
Beginda should stand up to Masing if she get the sack by spilling the beans.
Masing is the one who gave the green light to Beginda to release such welcome statement.He have to stand up for Beginda.But I think Beginda will be his scrapegoat.Let see!
Taib wanted Masing to sack Baginda from the party. And Baginda's sacking must be given wide publicity in the newspapers.
If indeed the above is true, Taib is truly the 'mother of all bullies'. Masing shouldn't bowed to Taib wish otherwise he'll become a puppet of Taib the crook. Masing should stand steadfast to his party principle not to betray its members trust, but instead defended them at all cost.
UMNO/BN/PBB Rules And Laws:
-No freedom of religion, also minority were force to be a muslim if they married to a muslim.
- Non-Muslim is not allowed to be Chief Minister and Prime Minister.
- Don't questions about Ketuanan Melayu.
- Arrested anybody who expose all the evils and injustice that UMNO done to Malaysians people, and later claim this people a threat to this country.
Don't ever forget Prime Minister Abdullah did told Taib Mahmud to choose a Malay to be Chief Minister to replace Taib Mahmud. Clearly, Prime Minister Abdullah is a racist. Let us all Sarawakians and Sabahans agree in one thing, SARAWAK AND SABAH SHOULD GET OUT FROM THIS RACIST MALAYSIA COUNTRY !! Remember no independence mean, no freedom of religions and no justice for all. No independence also mean no money from our oil and gas profits to use to help to build and give Clean Water and Elektricity 24hour to the Longhouse people also no Tar-sealroad to connecting all the Longhouses to the big cities !!
Masing wants to redeem himself by playing the game without being seen at it but making people think he is at it and he is not worried about being expelled because he knows the options and he has already made a lot of money and knows what Taib should not havedone with NCR land.In the Opposition hecan do a lot of damage to Taib. He is in fact issuing a dare to Taib: Sack me if you dare.Can Taib do that?
Beginda Minda is being used by someone, more likely James Masing to give vent to his own frustrations and pent-up anger at Taib and his cronies around him for blocking his plans,etc
Neil, you nailed it right on the spot!
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