Monday, May 25

Let MDC rest in the dusty file of ROS

Nothing short of magic could have ensured the speedy registration of Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party (MMSP), said M. Kathirveloo, a close associate of Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader, P. Uthayakumar.

In view of this, Kathirveloo asked if MMSP was endorsed by BN?

He suspects this because he tried to register another party, Indian Rights Action Front (IRAF) in June last year, but the application was turned down in April this year.

In a letter to IRAF dated 3 April 2009, the ROS said that the application was rejected because the organization was suspected of having similar name to the outlawed Hindraf.

For MMSP, its leader Thanenthirran met with PM Najib Tun Razak one month before the registration of the party.

It was obvious that MMSP had the blessing of the Barisan Nasional with the ultimate aim of further splitting the Indians. The MMSP leader was with Parti Keadilan Rakyat and he resigned from PKR when he was not selected to contest the Bukit Selambau by-election.

Now the Indians have MIC, PPP, MIUP and MMSP. Any party, wishing to be registered, and is seen to be working against the interests of the Opposition will surely be approved. And any party working against the interest of parties in the government will not be approved.

Thus, it was perceived to be working against “national security” that Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC) could not be registered. The real reason is not “national security” but on the strong objection of Sarawak leaders, who do not want the word “Dayak” to be used in the name of the party.

Firstly, the word “Dayak” has been banned from being used in Sarawak government official communication since 2004 when the Sarawak Interpretation Ordinance was amended.

Secondly, the State leaders said to be fearful of the word “Dayak” that might have the magic wand to unite all the Dayaks in Sarawak. The unity of the Dayaks is therefore seen to be against the interests of the parties that rule Sarawak now.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Joseph Entulu, deputy president of Parti Rakyat Sarawak, let the “cat out of the bag” when he proposed to drop the word “Dayak” as it connoted “uncivilized, uncouth and low class”. He felt ashamed to have anything to do with Dayaks.

Entulu’s remark was seen as playing to the gallery or dancing to the tune of his new found political master – the "Aki" who since 1966 had been advocating for the split of the Dayaks into Ibans, Bidayuhs and Orang Ulu.

Yes he was successful with the removal of Stephen Kalong Ningkan as Sarawak’s first chief minister. He had a hand to see that SNAP was split in 1983 as well as in the deregistration of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS).

The “death” of PBDS was thought to be his greatest achievement. This followed the ban on the use of the word “Dayak”. And this explains why any attempt to revive PBDS through MDC or any Dayak party will surely be strongly opposed by the present leaders in the State.

The real reason is the fear that these leaders are harbouring in their minds that one day there will be “Ketuanan Dayak” in Sarawak.

For the time being, MDC is best left to rest in a dusty file of the ROS until and when a new federal government hopefully the Pakatan Rakyat government will come to power, say in 2013.

If Parti Sosialis Malaysia can wait for more than 10 years to be approved as a party, there is no reason why we Dayaks cannot wait another three or four more years for the installation of a new government that may be friendly with the Dayaks.

And for the time being the hardcore Dayaks need to “Numpang” or “nyarok” or even “nangkir” other friendly parties who share our aspirations to fight for the interests of the Dayaks and defend our customary rights over land. – The Broken Shield

8 comments:

Apai Semalau said...

"dayak Congress" denotes dayak Unity" are words that send shivers up the spines of all current existing political parties in Sarawak. Everyone in Sarawak need to accept the fact that we, dayaks are the majority race in Sarawak. Like it or not, this is the reality. We are the indigenous people of Sarawak! Common sense dictates that if we being the majority unite as one, we get to rule Sarawak for Sarawakians. Thats democracy! If this happens, guess what would happen to the existing state BN parties? They will be reduced to lame mosquitoe parties. Now thats the very reason they oppose the registration of MDC. The sad scenario is, it highlights the fact that many dayak leaders who oppose the MDC registration are willing to betray dayaks for self interest. Keeping Dayaks disunited guarantee their own political survival.
Lets keep the torch of "Dayakism" burning. Dayakism is not racism! Dayakism is nationalism. Lets move another step forward for dayak unity. Speak up "smart dayaks" in the likes of Masing if you care for dayak unity!

Anonymous said...

instead using word 'malaysia', why not we use 'BORNEO' and if because word 'dayak' is a national tread, then drop that word for the time being...until we in the government position, bn be the opposition

sacrify the word fist to get our main stuggle objective

Agom said...

It would appear that the government agencies did not act independently in decision making, but rather influenced by ministers concerned.

When asked by a reporter about the application to register MDC as a political party, a former ROS Director-General Kaswari Keman said before, an application to register a political party would normally take up to one year because ROS was seeking advice from all quarters. Do you believe what ROS DG said if you look at the registration of three new political parties were approved;
SPDP within six days; PRS within six hours and MIUP within an month.Was ROS following its administrative proceedures or following a minister`s order? What a double standards decision?

Secondly, I would like to ask MACC regarding the outcome of the investigation into a case involving a politician who was being enticed with RM2 million in 2004 to refrain him from contesting for the president in the party. The public requests for transparency as MACC now has been given the power under section 29(4) to reveal the investigation.

I Am Sarawakiana said...

To Jo and Family and all Iban friends and relatives

Happy Gawai
Blessed Days ahead
If we do strive hard enough we will succeed in the end.
Great harvests be upon you.
As long as there is life there is hope.
Fight the good fight.

Anonymous said...

Joseph Entulu/PRS is against the formation of MDC just because of the word 'DAYAK'. He for one is against the unity of the dayak and he prefers to see the dayak in Sarawak disintegrate - divide and rule policy.

To PRS Masing & Joseph Entulu, so Selamat Gawai Iban to all or selamat andu gawai bidayuh.

saru penemu said...

Jetty,

at least you can read the mind of "Aki" who had successfully destroyed PBDS and split in SNAP and he used some stupid dayak leaders as scapegoats to achieve his goal. If you and your MDC protem committee want to resubmit an application to register MDC, just wait for "Aki" disppears from this earth.

Beremas anak Ambau said...

Forming new political party is an important step towards developing political awareness among the people. Thus, by hook or by crook, the present government needs to make sure that there will be no new political party in Sarawak. The reason is SIMPLE. Divide and rule.

Therefore, as the ULTIMATE ruling parties (Be End) in Sarawak, nobody can stop them committing delinquency during their reign. For instance, recently, the ZOMBIES of Sarawak have staged a walk-out from DUN just to show who is the “BOSS”. Whereas, actually people perceived their act as COWARD and they were intoxicated with DENIAL MENTALITY (Brain-washed leaders)

However,the question is, DO WE REALLY NEED TO HAVE A NEW POLITICAL PARTY e.g MDC in Sarawak to get RID of prejudice and discrimination toward the Dayak communities?

In my opinion, we don’t have to. We don’t want history to repeat itself. We don’t want to see the party (MDC) being wrecked by internal and external factors as we have seen happened to SNAP, PBDS etc.

I’m not totally blaming jelu rasong behind the demise of these dayak-based parties. The incompetence Dayak leaders were also responsible. So we don’t need these old horses and parties (SNAP,PBDS,PRS,SPDP)to achieve our objective of getting rid the parasites in our communities.

Since the word “Dayak” is a “threat to National Security” and a hindrance for the registration of new party, it is wise that we affiliate with PKR. Potential new leaders (Dayak) should be apprentices to the experienced PKR leaders.

With GOD willing, the TRUE DAYAK PARTY AND leaders will emerge eventually and LEAD AWAY our beloved state and its people from “The Kingdom of Doom”.

SELAMAT HARI GAWAI DAYAK.
ARAP KE DAYAK ULIH MANSANG DALAM PENGIDUP.

Anonymous said...

You forgot to mention IPF, Mindraf (Malaysian Indian Rights Action Front) and PSM (Parti Socialis Malaysia).

Unity under MIC did not bring the Indian community any benefit. It only benefitted Umno and a handful of MIC leaders. MIC is Umno’s lapdog.

The Federal Government had to approve all the other Indian-based political parties to give space to those who find no place for themselves in MIC. Otherwise, these people will fill the ranks of the DAP, PAS and PKR which wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

In any case, not all Indians subscribe to Indian-based political parties.

The greater the number of Indian-based political parties, the greater and more efficient organisation of the grassroots. These parties can then decide which party or coalition of parties to align themselves with on an issue-to-issue basis.

Obviously, either MIC didn’t object to the formation of these new Indian-based political parties or their protests were not heeded since they are themselves in a very weak position.

I don’t believe that any community should have only one political party. Such an approach will not benefit the community.

Having many political parties will not benefit a community either. It will only benefit the leaders of these parties.

The only thing that will benefit a community is for them to realise the power of their X on polling day and throw out the ruling party every one or two terms. This will force all politicians to do something for the community.