Focus on Masing as a leader

Eyes on Masing now

Eyes are now on Dr. James Masing after he dared to stand up for the rights of his Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) against Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), the backbone of the State government, for the ill-treatment meted against his party.

His outbursts against PBB leadership last week have not only received praises from his party leaders and members, but have also earned the respect of members of the Dayak community.

Watching Masing closely are also some 100,000 hardcore members of the defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) who have remained partyless upon the deregistration of the party more than four years ago as he has a round of spats with PBB over the Batang Ai seat and other issues.

Many of them have pity on Masing because they know that Masing and PRS have been bullied since the PRS crisis in 2006 and during the State election that year its candidate for the Balai Ringin constituency had been deprived of the seat to contest.

Instead PBB through Donald Lawan, a PBB man, and Sng Chee Hua, a rival for the PRS presidency at that time, hijacked the seat and laterally handed it to Snowdan Lawan (Donald Lawan’s son). Of course Snowdan is with Masing’s PRS now, but in his heart of hearts he is a PBB man.

Likewise in the March parliamentary election two of Masing’s preferred candidates were sidelined. Instead PBB put up candidates who have an inclination towards PBB to stand on a PRS ticket. Masing has tolerated all this while until he blew his tops recently. A week earlier, his “right hand” man not only accused PBB of a big bully, but also called on Abdul Taib Mahmud and Alfred Jabu to resign.

PRS is not the only party that has been bullied. Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), led by William Mawan, has also suffered in the hands of the bullying PBB, although they will not admit it openly. SPDP’s representatives for Marudi, Sibuti, Batu Danau, Ba’Kelalan and Tasik Biru were not their candidates, but that of PBB’s.

Mawan was forced to lend the SPDP shirts to them to don. Having no choice, Mawan has to accept a “fait accompli”. Today the PBB men and a woman are firmly rooted as they hold important posts in the party.

After the departure of Tan Sri Leo Moggie and Datuk Sri Daniel Tajem from the political scene, the Dayaks are still looking for a leader, not a “confrontational” leader, or a leader who is only able to do “apple polishing” duties, but a leader who dares to speak for and defend the rights and interests of the community who have been marginalized, suppressed, bullied, unfairly, and unjustly treated. It appears that they have found one in Masing.

However, many ex-PBDS hardcore members still harbour ill-feelings against Masing for what he had done to PBDS, but they can still forgive and forget him if he can prove himself worthy of their and Dayaks’ support.

What they want from him is no more rhetoric, but a firm action. Their message to Masing and to anyone who aspires to be a leader is: Walk the talk to help the Dayak community.

Masing’s outbursts confirm PBB a bully ~ ref Malaysiakini

James Masing’s outbursts over activities of a BN component member trying to claim the Batang Ai seat is understandable. Although he did not name the party concerned, it is a common knowledge in the constituency that he was referring to PBB (Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu) whose leaders have been active lately in the constituency preparing for a by-election. The incumbent state assemblyman, Dublin Unting is still lying at the Normah Hospital following a stroke since May this year.

What makes Masing angry is that PBB is undermining PRS influence in the constituency as well as showing no respect for Unting and his family as if they want him to die. PBB has identified a senior civil servant and a brother of a minister to be a PBB candidate. In his effort to introduce his brother, the minister has allegedly been distributing “ang pau” projects through a partyless State assemblyman, Johnichol Rayong.

“If you are weak, this is what PBB is doing to you. They have already hijacked PRS candidates in the March parliamentary election in the Lubok Antu and Sri Aman constituencies. They are planning to take away Batang Ai, Bukit Begunan and Balai Ringin come next election,” said Beginda, and accused PBB of a big bully. For that statement Beginda was rebuked and in the end he resigned from PRS to save the “embarrassment of my president”.

But why was Rayong involved? Simple: After being sacked from SNAP, Rayong has become partyless. He applied to join Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) together with Aaron Dagang, Jawah Gerang and Gabriel Adit, but was opposed by other members of the BN. Rayong then applied to join SUPP last year, but again his application was opposed by PRS.

Now he looks to PBB leaders like Alfred Jabu and Douglas Uggah to help him join BN in exchange for introducing the senior civil servant to the Batang Ai constituents.

But Masing has found out the truth. A few months back, Masing would not dare complaint. This time it is different; he does not want to be bullied any more. With the support of his supreme council members and party leaders, Masing puts his foot down, saying “Batang Ai belongs to PRS, so stay out”. The message is loud and clear.

More cases of 'bullying' by PBB ~ ref Malaysiakini

Another PRS division leader has come out in support of a colleague’s claim that PBB is ‘bullying’ state component parties, even as speculation swirls that heads could roll. The following article was extracted from Malaysiakini

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By Tony Thien Oct 28, 08 11:23am

The Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) is abuzz like a hornet’s nest that has been disturbed, following an accusation that Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) has been ‘bullying’ component parties.

Another Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) division leader has come out in support of the claim - Simanggang division publicity chief Nanta Chaku cited three examples in a statement to Malaysiakini.

On Saturday, the party’s Baleh division publicity head Beginda Minda had revealed two instances of alleged bullying by PBB, led by Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud (right), as well as by Umno.

Nanta said: “To support Beginda Minda's contention... three other examples come to mind immediately:

1. Since 1981 other component parties in the Sarawak BN have been required to send two to three names of candidates for each constituency held by them, for the PBB leadership to pick the ones to contest. In other words, the final selection is subject to PBB's decision.

2. A certain high-ranking Iban personage in PBB who fancies himself as the paramount chief of the (community) always insists on appointing his favourites as Penghulus, Pemancha and Temenggong (even) where PBB does not have elected (representatives).

3. In the contest for top posts in component parties, the election is dependent on close (connections between) the candidates (and) the PBB leadership. In other words, candidates perceived to be supported by the PBB leadership always seems to win. Social and economic issues doesn't seem to matter, but closeness to the PBB leadership does.

”Nanta also said ‘big boys’ in Sarawak BN deny ‘small boys’ any say in the final selection of candidates, whether for a general election, appointment of community chiefs or party leaders.

Since this is subject to final approval by PBB leaders, it makes a mockery of the original concept of the BN power-sharing concept in Sarawak, he said.

“It is perhaps more accurate to say that PBB is not only all too dominant but also domineering in attitude vis-a-vis smaller component parties.”

‘Explore other options’

Nanta urged members of other component parties to examine their options.

In the two examples cited by Beginda, reference was made to selection of candidates for the Sri Aman and Lubok Antu parliamentary seats, held by PRS in the March general election, and to a particular candidate selected for the 2006 state election.

Beginda had reminded the BN top leadership that the coalition must wake up to current political realities and stop being in a state of denial.

“Before, there was only BN which could provide the national leadership. After March 2008, it is clear that PRS has other, perhaps better, options,” he ended with a veiled warning, without elaborating what these options might be.

In an immediate reaction to this, Masing - the state assemblyperson for Baleh - distanced the party from the claim, describing it as Beginda’s personal stance.

Masing said he could not stop members from expressing their views but felt that they should not go overboard in their criticism. He also said he would initiate an investigation.

Beginda is one of Masing’s right-hand men and his comments have irked Taib, who is the state BN chairperson.

It is learnt that Taib has told Masing to take disciplinary action against Beginda.
Rumours are circulating that the latter may already have been sacked, but this could not be immediately verified.

PBB is indeed the biggest bully in Sarawak ~ ref Malaysiakini

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?

PRS: Umno is a bully, so is PBB

The following article was posted in Malaysiakini which described UMNO & PBB as "bullies" in their dealings with smaller component parties in the Barisan Nasional. I will give my comments on the article in my next posting.

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A Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) division leader has described Umno at the federal level and Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) in Sarawak as ‘too dominant’ and indeed are ‘bullies’ in their dealings with smaller component parties in the Barisan Nasional.

Taking a cue from the statement of former MCA president Ong Ka Ting who has expressed similar sentiments, Balleh PRS publicity chief Beginda Minda said this tendency of one party dominance has an adverse impact on public perception and intra BN relationships.

“It is my view that in Sarawak, PRS, a component party inside the state and federal Barisan Nasional has been bullied by what could collectively be called the "BN leadership," he said in a statement to Malaysiakini today.

Elaborating, Beginda explained that in the case of Sarawak, the BN system has generated a state level entity where there has been one dominant party, the PBB which is leading the state BN government.

Very powerful Taib Mahmud

PBB president Abdul Taib Mahmud is also state BN chair and chief minister of Sarawak for the past 27 years.

He has long been described as Sarawak's most powerful personality and is known to be intolerant of dissent within the party's ranks.

“Just as there is a public perception of Umno being too dominant at the national level, there is also a similar perception that in Sarawak, the dominant role of PBB has had an effect on the conduct of smaller parties, such as PRS,” Beginda said.

Prime Minister and national BN chair Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has responded immediately to Ong’s remarks on Oct 18, denying that Umno has bullied others in the BN.

Umno information chief Muhammad Muhammad Taib has also asked for proofs of Umno bullying.

Responding to Muhammad Taib’s request, Beginda cited two recent instances of Umno and PBB bullying PRS.

The first was during the 2006 state election when a component BN party was ‘allowed’ to steal a PRS seat.

“Neither the state nor federal BN intervened effectively to stop a component party from interfering in the affairs of another. Where was BN when effective action was needed?

It was as if the BN was shutting its proverbial "eye" to the intra-BN infighting in Sarawak. By letting the problem fester, it was acting as a bully, not a problem solver,” Beginda pointed out.

The second incident was during the March general election when two of the party’s candidates were rejected without any reason.

Beginda queried why was PBB allowed to choose its candidates to contest on PRS seats.

“Where is the principle that component parties ought to be free to conduct their own affairs and make the selection of candidates themselves? Is this not a case of dominance and bullying?” he asked.

“As a result, PRS was caught in a dilemma. The choices were two: PRS could have rejected the suggested replacements or it could have accepted them.

A refusal to accept the replacement candidates could have left the party open to accusations of being disloyal to BN, a grave enough political sin. Such a move would have put PRS leadership in hot soup and perhaps alienate the party from BN.

“The impact on PRS was that it was a tremendous "let down". To paraphrase Dato Seri Ong, the perception was that a partner in Sarawak BN - the PBB - was being "too dominant".

Despite these internal BN problems, Sarawak managed to deliver all but one of its 31 parliamentary seats to the BN. The ruling coalition only lost Bandar Kuching to DAP.

PRS is led by Dr James Masing who is the party's founder president. He is also state land development minister.

PRS has six members of parliament. Its vice-president Joseph Entulu serves at the federal level as deputy minister for national and rural development.

Other options, other than BN

On the current situation within the Sarawak BN, Beginda said it would seem that “we in PRS are still back in a bad school environment where the weaker students are being bullied by the more senior ones.”

He called for a mechanism in the BN for components parties to be protected from the predation of others, no matter what the excuse.

“Umno and PBB could be strong but that should be so without being dominant up to the level that it could openly ‘interfere’ into the internal affairs of another component party,” said Beginda.

Stressing that the BN leadership must be just, Beginda said the organisational integrity of a component party like PRS must be maintained.

“Its decisions, such as the nomination of candidates, must be respected. Failure to do this could lead to fragmentation at the peripheries and ultimately could spread to the centre,” he warned.

Beginda also emphasised on the need for re-generation, re-vitalization and re-growth within the BN.

“The BN machinery is seen as an ossified body, presently unable to respond effectively to the needs of component parties and that of the country as a whole.

The message is that such dominance need to be rectified and ways be found as a means of resuscitating the rest of the BN partners so that the BN machinery could be energized and respond to the people more effectively, “he said.

Beginda reminded the BN top leadership that the coalition must wake up to current political realities and stop being in a state of denial.

“Before, there was only BN which could provide the national leadership. After March 2008, it is clear that PRS has other, perhaps better, options,” he added with that friendly ‘warning’.