Malay cannot be imposed as the sole official Language in Sarawak

20 Feb 2012

KUCHING:   Sarawak PKR Chief Baru Bian reminded Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka that it cannot impose Malay as the only official language to be used in Sarawak as it is in a special position in that English still remains one of the official languages in the state.

“We are not bound to adhere to the National Language Act 1963/1967 which requires that Bahasa Malaysia be used for official purposes,” he said.

Bian, who is Ba’Kelalan assemblyman, was responding to Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka’s proposed audit to assess the usage of Bahasa Malaysia as the official language in government departments, agencies and ministries.

“With regard to the first principle of the audit, i.e the extent of compliance with the National Language policy, I wish to point out that Sarawak is in a special position in that English remains one of the official languages here.

“Our oft-forgotten 18-point agreement with Malaya provides particular protection for the use of the English language for Sabah (North Borneo) and Sarawak that Malay should be the national language of the Federation, while English should continue to be used for a period of 10 years after Malaysia Day.

“And English should be an official language of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) for all purposes, State or Federal, without limitation of time,” he said.

Article 152 of the Federal Constitution, which was commemorated at the 152 Language Day at DPN Sarawak on 15 February 2012, states that Malay language is the national language but everybody is free to learn and use other languages except on official purposes such as any purpose as regards to the government, federal or state and any purpose of a public authority.

All court proceedings, parliamentary documents and meetings must be conducted in Malay language.

Bian said: “It may be well and good that the Dewan Bahasa dan Pusaka had decided to single out Article 152 for commemoration but it must be borne in mind that for Sabah and Sarawak, Article 152 cannot be read in isolation from Art 161 in Part XIIA ‘Additional Protection for States of Sabah and Sarawak’.

“Article 161 provides that ‘… no act of Parliament terminating or restricting the use of the English language… shall come into operation… until the Act or relevant provision of it has been approved by an enactment of the Legislature of that State.’

“This exemption preserves for Sabah and Sarawak the use of English in the Courts, the Legislative Assembly or for other official purposes (including the official purposes of the Federal Government). [ Art 161 (2)(b) & (c)].

“In Sarawak, the National Language Act 1963/1967 has not been approved by an enactment by the Sarawak State Assembly and hence its provisions do not apply in here.

“Therefore it is not mandatory that Bahasa Malaysia should be the only language used in our government departments and ministries, even for purposes of the Federal Government,” Bian pointed out.

He went on to say that: “In fact, Art 161(5) of the Federal Constitution provides that notwithstanding anything in Article 152, in the State of Sabah or Sarawak a native language in current use in the State may be used in native courts or for any code of native law and custom, and in the case of Sarawak, until otherwise provided by enactment of the Legislature, may be used by a member addressing the Legislative Assembly or any committee thereof.

“Similarly, Art 26 (8) of the Sarawak Constitution provides that ‘For a period of 10 years and thereafter until the Legislature by law otherwise provides, all proceedings in the Dewan may be in the English language, and subject to the standing orders of the Dewan Undangan Negeri, members may use any native language in addressing the Dewan.

“Having set out the Constitutional and legislative provisions regarding the use of English and Bahasa Malaysia in Sarawak, let me state that I am not against the use of Bahasa Malaysia in Sarawak.

“What concerns me is that Sarawakians must know, understand and appreciate the uniqueness of our State and her people, and the efforts made by our forefathers to protect and safeguard this uniqueness.

“We have a particular richness in language and culture from our various ethnic groups, and we must value and maintain this heritage. Our past leaders made special provisions in the 18-point agreement to protect our rights in recognition of the fact that even in our diversity, we had an established sense of identity before joining the Federation of Malaysia.

“The safeguards were formulated to enable us to retain this sense of identity and to continue ‘to ensure that our beloved subjects shall ultimately enjoy their inherent right to control their own lives and destinies’ as proclaimed by Sir Charles Vyner Brooke in the first clause of Sarawak's first written constitution in 1941.

“These safeguards include the freedom to conduct our business in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and the native dialects. Sarawakians have always taken pride in our command of the English language, and we must continue to maintain this mastery for the sake of the future generations.

“The English language is a language which opens up the global world to us. It is the language of learning, and enables us to take our place in the world scene, whether it is in business, academia, the arts, diplomacy, research, science etc. It would be a great shame and a disservice for us and the future generations of Sarawakians to disown or neglect a language which has served us so well,” Bian said.

He noted the Federal Government’s desire to promote the use of Bahasa Malaysia.

 “However, all parties involved must be aware of the constitutional rights and the special position of Sabah and Sarawak.

“By defending our rights, I am by no means advocating a regression into the past – I am simply calling for recognition of the uniqueness of our ethnic and religious mix and encouraging the various ethnic groups to embrace their heritage and celebrate their differences.

“Once a culture is lost, there is no easy way of regaining it.” he said, pointing out that he does not agree with the first principle of the proposed audit, but wholeheartedly support the implementation of the second principle, i.e to improve language quality.

“Let us not promote one particular language to the exclusion of the others. Mastery of multiple languages is the key to education and to progress and development in this increasingly borderless world.

“We would be taking a myopic view to restrict the use of other languages in our workplace and in our lives. Sarawak does not prescribe to one particular language as her official language and we are proud of that fact,” Bian added. 

Why we cannot follow Singapore?

SINGAPORE:  Singapore’s main opposition party yesterday (15 Feb) sacked one of its lawmakers after he refused to respond to allegations of extramarital affairs.

“The Workers’ Party (WP) has expelled Yaw Shin Leong from the party with immediate effect,” it said in a statement on its website.

“WP believes strongly in transparency and accountability, and expects no less from our members, especially our Members of Parliament.”

Any sitting MP expelled by his party loses his seat in parliament and has to be replaced in a by-election.

Allegations that Yaw, who is 35 and in his second marriage, had affairs with a married female party worker and a married neighbour have been published in local media an online forums in recent weeks.

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COMMENT: Well, well this is a very interesting story. Firstly it shows how discipline is WP, and it should be a role model for our YBs and ministers in Sarawak.

We know a number of our YBs are indulged in extramarital affairs; some with married women and others with young and unmarried women.

Some do it openly without regard for their reputation and dignity. Yet no disciplinary action is taken against them by their respective parties. The worst part of it is that when they defend their seats, their majorities increase. What an irony!

The second point of the article above is that when WP expelled its MP for gross indiscipline, he loses his seat in parliament.

In Sarawak, we have SPDP expelling five of its elected representatives for gross insubordination.

Instead of losing their seats, they are being applauded to form BN Club in order to justify their place in the Barisan Nasional.  There were also previous cases too many to name here; when they (YBs) were forced to quit or resign, they became ‘political frogs’.

What has happened to our BN Dayak leaders?

According to The Borneo Post today (Feb 11),  Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) deputy president Maximus Ongkilili disagreed with the state attorney general Roderic Fernandez’s interpretation of native customary right (NCR) land provision in the Sabah Land Ordinance (SLO) that there is ‘no NCR land after 1930’.

Describing it as a wrong interpretation, he said that unlike in Sarawak there is no cut-off point in the context of Sabah.

“If you look at the state land ordinance very closely, it does not say that. I am a not lawyer by training, but I have some basic law training and I think it is a wrong interpretation because the judgment of the High Court of Borneo over the years have recognised the basis of NCR land established in Sabah.

“I think that is sad. That is a dangerous statement,” said Ongkilili, who is a federal minister of science, technology and innovation.

Now what is interesting here is that Ongkilili dares to say something against the attorney general of Sabah and the state government. He dares to say that AG was wrong in his interpretation of the land code in respect of NCR land in Sabah.

In Sarawak, none of the Dayak leaders in state Barisan Nasional dares to say anything against the AG of Sarawak and the Chief Minister for not only wrongly interpreting the Sarawak Land Code in respect of the NCR land, but also for refusing to accept the decision of the Court including the Apex court.

The AG, who is very much anti-Dayaks owing NCR land always argues in the Court that NCR land does not include "Pemakai menua" and "Pulau galau". He just refuses to accept the Apex court decision on this.

In the court one after another of the NCR land cases are won by the native landowners through lawyers like Baru Bian, See Chee How, Paul Raja, John Antau and Harrison Ngau to name of the few brave lawyers.

But where are our Dayak ministers and Dayak elected representatives? Don’t they have any conscience when they know that some of the NCR landowners are their grand-parents, parents, brothers and relatives whose lands have been taken away and given to oil palm and timber companies?

Not only they don’t hear their cries for help, but they are part and parcel of the state government’s tools and mercenaries (or Ghurkha soldiers as Edwin Dundang, former SNAP President described them). (Ghurkha soldiers are employed by some Sultans to protect them from their own people).

I recall in June 2000 sitting of the state legislative assembly during which the state government passed an amendment to the Sarawak Land code in respect of the NCR land.

All Dayak assemblymen supported the amendment which is very damaging to NCR land and which is the roots of today’s problem with NCR land.

One Dayak minister who was overzealous of supporting the amendment described it as ‘a gawai gift for the Dayaks’, while another minister said that the passing of the amendment was “a jewel in the crown of Barisan Nasional".

“In that sense, they are the ones who are mercenaries used by others to kill our own people,” said Baru Bian, Sarawak PKR chief.

Bekas Renjer Mohon Insentif RM3,000.00 dari Kerajaan Persekutuan

KENYATAAN MEDIA

Kapit : 09.2.2012. Dua orang veteran Renjer pengawal sempadan berbangsa Iban, Encik Ladong Anak Ranggau dan Encik Milang Anak Awan, 71 tahun, dari Antawau Baleh yang berkhidmat dengan Renjer Kerajaan era konfrantasi dengan pihak Indonesia. Mereka menyokong pihak Protem Renjer Veteran seperti yang dilaporkan oleh akhbar tempatan Sarawak untuk memohon bantuan insentif  RM3,000.00 turut diberikan kepada mereka. Mereka mengalu-alukan langkah kerajaan memberikan saguhati untuk pesara polis yang telah diumumkan oleh kerajaan baru-baru ini.

Menurut mereka, pengorbanan yang diberikan kepada Negara adalah mereka telah mempertahankan Negara Malaysia dari pencerobohan pihak luar. Mereka telah mempertaruhkan nyawa mereka semasa era konfrantasi tersebut yang dikenali juga sebagai “Ganyang Malaysia” oleh pihak Indonesia. Menurut Ladong, ada antara renjer yang telah terkorban semasa perang dengan pihak musuh.

Menurut Milang lagi, beliau telah memasuki renjer dalam bulan Ogos, 1963 sehingga Ogos 1970. Antara tempat – tempat yang beliau perkhidmat adalah di Long Jawe’, Belaga, Sarawak dan Long Jelangai juga di Belaga, Sarawak.

Seorang lagi veteran renjer, Encik Ladong Anak Ranggau,  67 tahun, yang menyertai renjer pada 10 Oktober 1963 sehingga 10 Oktober 1973, yang kini merupakan Timbalan Tuai Rumah di sebuah rumah panjang di Baleh turut menceritakan betapa beliau bersama renjer yang lain telah mempertaruhkan nyawa bukan hanya dari serangan musuh Negara tetapi juga serangan pihak komunis yang masih berleluasa di Sarawak ketika itu. Antara lain tempat-tempat yang dikawal oleh Encik Ladong adalah Lubok Antu, Kapit dan Katibas.

Kedua – dua Encik Milang dan Encik Ladong pihak kerajaan dapat mempertimbangkan pemberian insentif RM3,000.00 tersebut kepada mereka dan juga merayu agar pihak renjer-renjer era konfrantasi yang lain di seluruh Negeri Sarawak termasuk mereka yang telah terkorban  turut dipertimbangkan.

Untuk  sebarang pertanyaan berkaitan perkara ini boleh hubungi Encik Abun Sui Anyit di HP 0168881502. Lot 1046, 1^st Floor, Shang Garden Commercial Centre, Jalan Bulan Sabit, 98000 Miri, Sarawak.

Abun Sui Anyit

Setiausaha Cabang PKR Hulu Rajang

Pengarah Biro Integrasi PKR, Sarawak

Malaysia’s 13 best scams

(Taken from Free Malaysia Today)

Selena Tay

February 8, 2012

The biggest scams in Malaysia are those conceived by the BN federal government.

COMMENT

Forget about the African-based black money scam. The biggest scams in Malaysia are those conceived by the Barisan Nasional federal government.

It is they who are professional scam-masters par excellence and they have two types of scams: the Money Scam and the Concept Scam.

This write-up will list both types of scams for your perusal.

First of all, the Money Scam:

1. SARA (Skim Amanah Rakyat) – This is the greatest investment scam ever. Dump in RM5,000 cash at one go and you will get RM13,000 in five years’ time. This is just too good to be true because the returns are more than doubled but still there will be many gullible “investors”. However, there are some who say that this is a scheme by the government to obtain the rakyat’s money to finance handouts to the rakyat during the campaign duration of the 13th general election. Whether there is any truth to this or not, only the wise can tell.

2. 1Care – this will just involved the rakyat paying more to the government and its cronies where health facilities are concerned. This scam is targeted at enriching the elite and the well-connected as is the purpose for all the scams.

3. EPF Housing Loan Scheme – this scheme is dangerous to the EPF contributors and could lead to a similar situation akin to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US if there are too many loan defaulters. EPF is rightly named the government’s Eternal Pilferage Fund and has now ended up as the government’s treasure chest. All the private sector workers who contribute to this fund have to protest. This shows that the BN government has run out of money in trying to help the rakyat and is now using the rakyat’s money to help the rakyat.

4. 1Malaysia products, badges, stickers, mugs, whatever – the purpose of these products is to enrich the corny manufacturer. Enough said.

5. BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia) – has all the money (more than RM2 billion) allocated for this purpose been distributed? Some opined that part of the funds will be channelled into BN’s general election campaign machinery. No prizes for guessing, though, as BR1M is much shrouded in secrecy. All those who applied for this RM500 aid should be getting this cash because only those eligible will apply. Therefore, it defies logical explanation when there are still people who fail to obtain this cash aid. Thus, this has given rise to speculation that applicants staying in opposition areas where BN has no chance of winning will not be given this aid. This then begs the question where the remaining undistributed allocated funds will be chanelled to, a question which the BN government will surely find difficult to answer.

Next comes the Concept Scam:

6. 1Malaysia – the most prominent Concept Scam which is engineered to create a mind-numbing cult following with everyone chanting “1Malaysia, 1Malaysia” in a hypnotised state similar to what goes on in cult sessions. There is no solid foundation to this concept although Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has the gumption to state that this is a philosophy. Even those in his own camp do not adhere to this philosophy, not to mention practise it wholeheartedly 24/7. 1Malaysia is thus a concept to delude the masses, to cheat the people into voting for BN.

7. GTP (Government Transformation Programme) and ETP (Economic Transformation Programme) – these twin transformation programmes have transformed the pockets of government cronies from millionaires into billionaires and maybe even trillionaires. As for the rest of the ordinary rakyat, all we get is nothing but hot air.

8. NKRAs (National Key Result Areas) and NKEAs (National Key Economic Areas) – lengthy names but more of the same fluff.

9. NEM (New Economic Model) – is this dead and buried?

10. EOC (Equal Opportunities Commission) – this IS dead and buried. It should have been part of the NEM but was omitted due to intense pressure-lobbying from certain quarters.

11. Talent Corp – much money has been channelled into this corporation to promote Malaysia as a place of golden opportunities in order to attract Malaysian talent living overseas to return to these golden shores. Has the success rate of Talent Corp been published? Seems to have gone into near-oblivion.

12. E-mail scam – why must money be paid to a certain company just for sending out e-mails when there is free-of-charge e-mail service readily available on the world wide web?!

13. The 13th general election – this has been labelled the “mother of all battles” by the BN leaders and therefore it follows that this must be the mother of all scams because it involves money, concept (BN’s sloganeering) and the future of the nation; this is big-time scamming indeed. In this scam, foreign workers are given citizenship and their names inserted into the voter rolls to enable them to vote in the coming general election. This scam can result in the negation of Malaysian votes and therefore the true election results are subverted.

From the above listing, it leaves us no doubt that we are living in scam-country. The ideas that go into each scam is elaborate and simple at the same time. And really so many ideas!

By the way, has anyone noticed that Najib is the one and only prime minister who has spewed forth the most number of acronyms showcasing his so-called bold initiatives?

It is time for the rakyat to wake up to all these “bold initiatives” which are in fact well-designed scams. It is also a salient point to note that suddenly the SARA and BR1M scams are running concurrently so close to the general election. Is there anything to this? Mind you, these scams can generate much funds for the government.

All said and done, we must put an end to all these scams. Otherwise, it will seem that we enjoy getting duped by a bunch of crooked professional scammers.

Selena Tay is a FMT columnist.

‘King’ Taib still spouting empty promises

(Taken from Free Malaysia Today)

February 4, 2012

What wealth can Taib Mahmud promise Sarawakians when the state has already been ripped off?

KUCHING: When Abdul Taib Mahmud became Chief Minister on March 26, 1981, he promised he would turn Sarawak into the “richest state” in the Federation of Malaysia.

Sarawak then had plenty of resources – oil and gas, timber and land.

But today, 31 years later, Sarawak under Taib has become the third poorest state in Malaysia.

And the question here now is: where have the state’s resources gone and to whom?

At a Chinese New Year dinner to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the Federation of Kuching and Samarahan divisions’ Chinese Associations on Thursday, Taib again proclaimed that by 2030, Sarawak would become the “richest state” in Malaysia.

His declaration, however, rings hollow. Taib and and his family’s vast network of businesses that cuts across global borders and the unimaginable wealth amassed puts him firmly as one of the richest in men in the world, wealthier than even England’s Queen Elizabeth. His wealth allegedly originated from Sarawak reources.

Responding to this proclamation, Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bain said: “Has he (Taib)become so desperately short of ideas that he is recycling his speeches from 1981 when he became the chief minister?

“This is the sort of promise a fresh-faced leader would make upon assuming office, when he is full of vigour and inspiration, and driven by visions of development and progress for his state and people.

“That Taib should still be spouting his empty promises 31 years after taking office is proof that he has been and is a failure as leader of the state.”

No reason to let BN continue

“Let him answer these simple questions: Why is it that you have failed to achieve this status for Sarawak in the 31 years you have been chief minister?

“What exactly have you and your ministers been doing all these years aside from enriching yourselves and your families?

“Why should we give you and Barisan Nasional another 18 years when you have failed us so badly for the last 31 years?”

Bian, who is Ba’Kelalan assemblyman, said that in his speech, Taib called on the people to look at the success rather than the failures in the past.

“What success is he referring to? The most significant statistic and one that speaks volumes about Taib’s reign is this: Sarawak has the dubious distinction of being the richest state in natural resources but at the same time, one of the poorest in the country.

“Sarawak also has the dubious distinction of having a chief minister who is reputed to be wealthier than the Queen of England.

“The shocking revelations made over the past year about the Taib regime’s wealth, businesses and properties in 25 countries around the world is an indictment of the corruption that has blighted this once pristine land.”

Taib has ‘robbed’ the state

Recalling Taib’s pre-election speech in April last year, Bian said at that time Taib had promised that Sarawak would become the richest state by 2020. It was part of the state BN’s manifesto.

“So, why now has the goalpost been moved forward 10 years in the space of less than a year?

“Does Taib actually keep track of the nonsense he feeds to the masses? Does he actually have a plan in place or is he making up stories in his old age?

“In his speech at the dinner, Taib also said that every community in the spirit of give and take can find a place in our struggle to build a better future.

“Many Sarawakians can attest that Taib, his family and cronies are exceptionally accomplished in the practice of ‘taking’ – amassing obscene amounts of wealth from land grabs and awarding contracts to family-controlled companies.

“They have effectively robbed the people of their lands and livelihood so that the once-proud natives are reduced to struggling with poverty and hardship.” 

Only Pakatan can help Sarawak

Bian added that Taib’s claim that Sarawak will become the richest state in country by 2030 was “spot-on” but only if Pakatan Rayat and its leaders come into power.

“I have to agree, however, with one point made by Taib. He is absolutely spot-on in saying that Sarawak will be the richest state in Malaysia by 2030 (or even 2020) because the state has better leaders coming up in the future.

“What he omitted to say was that these leaders are from Pakatan. Our leaders are people-oriented, and not self-serving opportunists like many of the current BN politicians.

“Our leaders are motivated by altruism and not by greed. Our leaders are committed to undoing the damage done by Taib and his ilk.

“Our leaders are determined to make up for years of neglect and abuse of the natives by the government.

“Our leaders have policies to develop and prosper the people and the state.

“I fully support the call of Taib to help these leaders so that they can come up and take the challenges to build our country together,” he said.

Call to set up Native Land Tribunal

My colleagues and I welcome the suggestion by Tan Sri Richard Malanjum that a Native Land Tribunal be set up in Sabah and we call for the same to be set up in Sarawak. The statements made by Tan Sri Richard at the Symposium on Sabah Native Land Rights at Universiti Malaysia Sabah fortify the views expressed by us in our Media Release dated 16 January 2012 in which we expressed our support for the call by the Bar Council for a specialized Indigenous People’s Court to be established.

Whether it is called the Indigenous People’s Court or the Native Land Tribunal, the important thing is that this forum should provide an appropriate process to investigate land claims brought by the natives of the land. As pointed out by Tan Sri Richard, there are certain limitations to having such cases heard in Civil courts, such as the requirement of strict compliance with the Evidence Act, unfamiliarity of judges with native adat and culture, and lack of judges.

This proposed Tribunal or Court should comprise of qualified individuals preferably standing on par with High Court judges. Of utmost importance is that they must be well-versed in the adat, customs and culture of the people. They must be given the power to hear cases which involve non-natives, unlike the current Native Court which does not have such power. Their remedial power must be equivalent to the High Court’s to grant injunctions and unlimited award and damages, which again is restricted in the current Native Court.

The composition, ambit and procedure of the proposed Native Tribunal or Indigenous People’s Court are open for debate and discussion. What is clear is that there is a pressing need for this specialized tribunal or court given the recent calls by various parties for its establishment. It is our hope that the Chief Justice will heed the calls and initiate steps to carry out the proposal.

BaruBian

Chairman

PKR Sarawak

State Assemblyman

N 70 Ba’ kelalan