Sarawak Reenacts Independence from Britain

Pointed reminder to the federal government that the state has its own history

Last Monday was the 50th anniversary of Sarawak independence from Britain. Although it wasn't a gazetted public holiday, the local newspapers over the preceding week highlighted the upcoming reenactment of the independence ceremony, in which the last British Governor Sir Alexander Waddell formally handed sovereignty over to Tuan Haji Openg, the first Yang di-Pertua –governor—on behalf of the people of Sarawak.

The ceremony, forgotten in the past, appeared to be a pointed reminder to the national government in Putra Jaya that elements in both Sabah and Sarawak are demanding a more assertive approach to the governance of their own affairs.

The British took over the role of protecting Sarawak in 1888, formally becoming a colony in July 1946. On 22nd July 1963 Britain granted Sarawak full independence, where it became a sovereign state in its own right.

Many, if not most Malaysians are unaware that Sarawak was indeed, if only for a short time, a fully independent state before it entered into the Malaysia Agreement to form the Federation of Malaysia along with Sabah, Malaya, and Singapore, which formally came into effect on 16th September 1963, the actual birth date of Malaysia. Sarawak's, like Sabah's status within the Federation was defined by the 18 Points Agreement, which gave Sarawak (20 points in Sabah) sole responsibility in governing many aspects of its territory.Read more.

Najib Owes Rural Folks, Sabah And Sarawak, Time To Correct The Imbalance.

Hantu Laut

BN, won by the skin of its teeth riding on rural and semi-rural votes and battered by the rural-urban divide and massive Chinese votes swing. 

He would have two-thirds if the swings weren't of epic proportion.

I don't think the Chinese expect anything from the government. The Chinese being more independent and self-sufficient will know how to take care of themselves.

It is the rural folks that have been shafted for years that need help. They have been played out over and over again. It is time to correct the imbalance.

Now, that the dust have settled, Najib is in a bigger quandary on how he is going to reward his supporters.

His party won on the backing of rural folks and saved from losing the Federal government by the fixed deposit states of Sabah and Sarawak.

Would Najib return the favour ?

Opportunity doesn't knock twice, Najib should give greater care to those who supported him. From now on he should push for greater development in rural areas in Peninsula Malaysia and more aggressive development in Sabah and Sarawak. Without these two East Malaysian states he would have lost Putrajaya.

Sabah and Sarawak have the poorest infrastructure in the whole country. Bad roads, poor health care, inadequate water and electricity supply and rural population that live below subsistence level. Every essential items cost more than Peninsula Malaysia.

Sabah roads are in terrible conditions, bad construction and poor maintenance culture have made our roads as bad as any third world country and the situation become even more appalling in rural areas where rural roads are either badly gravelled or dirt roads, which become dangerous and impassable during rainy seasons bringing a lot of hardship to the rural people.

The same sad state of affairs prevails in other sectors like health care, power supply and clean water supply are just as horrendous. Port and airport facilities are still behind acceptable standard.

Only 39% of roads in Sabah are sealed compared to almost 90% in Peninsula Malaysia. 

The Federal government have taken Sabah and Sarawak for granted and neglected the states for far too long and it is time they wake up and take immediate remedial action to correct the inequitable distribution of development expenditure, or face serious retribution in the next general elections due in 2018.

No pain no gain. Part of the problems are Sabah leaders, patronising too much to Federal leaders, afraid of making demands  and wanting always to be in the good book of the prime minister. This personification of self-preservation have hindered developmental progress of the state. 

Unlike Sarawak, Sabah lost its claws the day they brought UMNO into the state. The state exists at the whims and fancies of Federal leaders. 

It is time for Sabah and Sarawak to make demands to the federal government to deliver its promises and better treatment. Najib owes it to us.

Najib should:

1.Increase Sabah and Sarawak representation in the Federal cabinet by appointing more Federal ministers from the two states. We want important ministries, not window dressing. There is no need for deputy prime minister. We don't want stooge ministry, just give us any of the principal ministries.

2.To build international standard dual-carriageway linking East-West and North-South Sabah and to be completed before the end of this term.

3.Allocate more funds to build and seal rural roads to acceptable standard.

4.Build more hospitals and clinics in rural areas.

5.Build more schools in the rural areas and build more residential schools in towns to enable children from the interior to attend secondary education that is not presently available in rural areas.

6.Provide cheaper power and clean water to the rural areas.

7.Complete the Pan Borneo highways as promised. The road should bypass Brunei for ease of travel for both Sabahans and Sarawakians. The present route that passes through Brunei is ridiculously cumbersome needing at least eight immigration checkpoints.

8.Increase oil royalty. We don't want the unrealistic and unreasonable 20% promised by Anwar, just increase the oil royalty by 3% to 8% for Sabah and Sarawak. This will help the states to use the money to bring more development to the rural areas.



Sabah being the poorest state in Malaysia may be a presumptuous assumption, not all that true. However, there are still pockets of people in the rural areas that live below the poverty line, out of choice, self-infliction of the dependency syndrome, rather than total government neglect. Idleness being a major contributing factor to such despondency. 



In many other countries if you own land, you are considered well-off as land can be your life-support, or even give you more than enough for your own consumption if you till the land and grow the right crop.

In Sabah, vast stretches of land in the rural areas are either left uncultivated, or rented out to migrants to cultivate. 

Many arable land are rented out to Bugis or Timorese migrant farmers for quick and easy money. It goes to show the idle nature of the natives here. If these migrants can till the land, pay rent and profit from it, why can't the landowner till their own land.

It is the government duty to provide infrastructures to every nook and cranny of the country, not just in urban areas. 

The government should pay more attention to rural constituencies and to bring greater social justice and development to the rural folks.

BN May Lose or A Hung Parliament If Sabah And Sarawak Don't Deliver.

Hantu Laut

Najib may lose the government in the 13th GE if Sabah and Sarawak failed to deliver the states to BN . Najib's dream of retaining the two "fixed deposit" states would go up in flame if he can't stop his lawmakers jumping ship.

Not all lawmakers that have jumped and those contemplating leaving are popular with the people but the psychological war would do enough damage to BN supports in the two states.

Adding to the already tense situation is former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad unwelcome comments on various issues that do more harm than good to Najib and the BN.Maybe, it's time for Mahathir to disappear into the shadow or keep his opinion to himself and let Najib decides what he wants to do.

Mahathir seems to be picking up tempo again and is on a collision course with Najib, reminiscence of what he did to Pak Lah before the 2008 General Elections. He may have been partly responsible for BN poor performance then.

Mahathir 's statement on the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah has ruffled feathers, particularly  KDM leaders, both within and outside the BN. 

The illegal immigrants issue is a political tool often used by KDM leaders to garner support from the KDM community and Mahathir opening a can of worms won't make happier days.

The bigger problem is in Peninsula Malaysia where the BN is facing an uphill battle to regain its credibility among the non-bumiputra communities with the most vociferous opposition coming from the Chinese community. The urban Malays are equally disenchanted with the government whom they see nothing more than a band of thieves.This perception, shared by many Malaysians is a death knell for BN. Najib's propaganda machine failed to counter the perception. 

UMNO leaders are so inebriated with power, they are caught in a time warp that they could not escape from. The more than half a century running the nation have made them complacent, inertial, bankrupt of new ideas and politically out of sync with the people. They have become incapacitated, drifting in uncharted waters and have no idea how to deal with the oppositions. The opposition's war of attrition is gaining ground with the voters.

Their refusal to embrace the Internet in a big way shows the archaic mentality of party leaders.There is no influential pro-BN portal such as pro-Pakatan web portals the likes of Malaysiakini, Malaysian Insider and Malaysia Today. Free Malaysia Today, the new "enfant terrible" has also seen marked increase in its readership the past year. Besides the news portal, there are hundreds of pro-opposition blogs voluntarily helping the opposition in its war of attrition.

Many pro-BN blogs fall by the wayside because they, like UMNO politicians, will only work if they get paid handsomely.

Arrogance and 'bodoh sombong' abound in UMNO. They have a Home Minister who is out of touch with the world, a misaligned Deputy Prime Minister who is politically divergence from the Prime Minister and a misinformed Minister of Information who planned to turn a National Day celebration personifying the ruling party more than the nation and the people.

Some of Malaysia's billionaires and millionaires may already be covertly financing Anwar and the opposition as insurances in case Pakatan Rakyat come to power,  they will not be left out.

The same happened in Sabah in 1985 when Pairin's barely 47 days old PBS took on Berjaya, some Chinese towkays gave money to both sides, to protect their business interests. PBS won with a single seat majority.

If Sabah and Sarawak failed to deliver at least two-thirds each of their MP seats, Najib can kiss good-bye the government, or if any consolation for Najib, Malaysia may end up with a 'hung parliament'



,

Penang,Sabah And Sarawak Will Become One Republic

Hantu Laut

Pandering to the opposition's crock of shit. 

Read, what grostesque article a "too smart for his own good" wrote.

"It must also be stated that secession has always been on the minds of the people of Sabah and Sarawak ever since day one when they joined the Federation of Malaya and Singapore on September 16, 1963 or what is known more popularly now as Malaysia Day".

Where this guy coming from? Who appoint him to speak for Sabah and Sarawak? If he is a Sabahan, he is a bloody disgrace, if he is not, than he should not speak for Sabah. 

Other than that crazy Jeffery Kitingan and those of his ilk, no other Sabahan ever contemplated secession. It's a fait accompli, too late to undo, unless, people like the writer would like to start a bloody rebellion.

"There is strong speculation, based on current and future political indications, that the three Malaysian states of Sabah, Sarawak and Penang may opt to go their own way similar to how Singapore pulled out of Malaysia in 1965".


I can't believe I am actually reading this piece of crap but than what can one expect from a crappy website that accept any kind of garbage just to fill up its webpages. 

In the West where people are more educated this writer would be considered a nut case and ridiculed but in Malaysia the uniniatiated and the pseudo-intellectuals have the hapless tendency to believe everything they read. 



The writer was short of recommending Penang, Sabah and Sarawak to becoming one republic with Lim Guan Eng as the first president.

Mahathir was right.Malaysians can't handle too much freedom.As  the Malay saying "Dikasi betis mahu paha" the new found freedom have made Malaysians lose their self-restraint.

What's the use of democracy if your country is forever in turmoil.

Malaysia is now embroiled in political turmoil never seen before that can lead to nasty outcome.

I would rather have leaders like Lee Kuan Yew and Mahathir Mohammad, though autocratic, do things for the greater good.

Read more here.

NCR Land:The AG Is Right, Stupid!

Hantu Laut

A Sabahan, a federal minister, either he does not know the law, pretended not to know the law, or intentionally telling a lie to his people.Politicians playing to the gallery are nothing new, tools of the trade.

Quote:

"The natives have been here well before laws were made… It’s only when the British came here were laws made, but tribal communities have thrived pre-independence, pre-colonial days, they have thrived and developed the system of culture themselves, the Penampang member of parliament said.

“So this includes ownership of properties, of land, they developed it and for you to say there has to be a cut-off point for this is not correct because all the native laws and customs pre-date laws made by legislature,” Dompok told reporters after witnessing the presentation of printed KadazanDusun language calendars to SK Putaton here yesterday and when asked to comment on Roderic’s statement which many Sabahan leaders disagreed with the state AG." ...Unquote

Read more here.

Obviously, this leader of the Kadazan people want this state to live by the law of the jungle and trying to usurp the law of the land.Natives customary rights (NCR) are well covered in the Sabah Land Ordinance which the Honourable Minister did not bother to familiarise himself with before he concludes that the State AG was wrong.

The AG was right that after 1930 no state land can be considered as NCR land unless the complainant comply with the requirements under the Sabah Land Ordinance of which the relevant sections are shown below:

13. Enquiry as to native rights.
-------------------------------

Upon the receipt of any application for unalienated country land it shall be the duty of
the Collector to publish a notice calling upon any claimant to native customary rights in
such land who is not yet in possession of a registered documentary title to make or send
in a statement of his claim within a date to be specified in the notice. If no claim is
made the land shall be dealt with as if no such rights existed.

14. Collector to decide claims.
------------------------------

Claims to native customary rights shall be taken down in writing by the headman or by
the Collector, and shall be decided by the Collector.

15. Definition of customary rights.
------------------------------------

Native customary rights shall be held to be -
(a) land possessed by customary tenure;
(b) land planted with fruit trees, when the number of fruit trees amounts to fifty and
upwards to each hectare;
(c) isolated fruit trees, and sago, rotan, or other plants of economic value, that the
claimant can prove to the satisfaction of the Collector were planted or upkept and regularly
enjoyed by him as his personal property;
(d) grazing land that the claimant agrees to keep stocked with a sufficient number of
cattle or horses to keep down the undergrowth;
(e) land that has been cultivated or built on within three years;
(f) burial grounds or shrines;
(g) usual rights of way for men or animals from rivers, roads, or houses to any or all of
the above.

16. Procedure when rights established.
-----------------------------------------

(1) Native customary rights established under section 15 shall be dealt with either by
money compensation or by a grant of the land to the claimant and in the latter case a title
shall be issued under Part IV
(2) Where the Collector decides that native customary rights established under section 15
shall be dealt with by money compensation, the affected land together with all buildings,
erection and crops thereon shall vest in the Government free from all encumbrances and shall be deemed to have been surrendered by the lawful claimant thereof upon such decision
being made.

Every country must have established laws that organise, regulate and bring order to society. No modern nation can live on archaic laws.If one is to go by Bernard Dompok's argument that these archaic and unwritten native law must be preserved than he should also consider bringing back head-hunting to Sabah and Sarawak, a tradition that these groups of natives used to practised in the past.

Here, another ignorant journalist, if you can call this type of writing journalism, or just another highly embellished political tub-thumping to hoodwink the people, typical of many Malaysian so-called journalists, never do research or check the facts before embarking on their journey of political brickbats, serving their paymasters blindly.They should just called themselves reporters who report verbatim.

It reminds me of the reporter who think ultra vires as something insulting the dignity of the sultan that got Karpal Singh into trouble.The writer also tried to impress his readers that he is a man of letters as to quote something completely irrelevant to the subject matter as William the Conqueror proclaiming all of England as crown land, lest he forgets that Sabah and Sarawak were also known as crown land under British colonial rules.

His glossing over Article 153 of the Federal Constitution is completely irrelevant and has nothing to do with the land laws of Sabah and Sarawak which is different from the Land Laws of Peninsula Malaysia.

Sabah and Sarawak have their own Land Ordinance which supersede any Federal Land Ordinance.Lands are state controlled and Article 153 has no jurisdiction over land matters in both states.Article 153 is more on education,civil service, businesses, etc, encompassing the NEP (affirmative action for the Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak)

NCR laws are not carved in stone as asserted by the minister to be in perpetuity from time immemorial.

Compliance of the law is the rule of the game and paramount to establishing whether the claimants have customary right over the land.There is no such nonsense as blanket cover of customary rights over lands in both Sabah and Sarawak as what the minister is trying to impress his supporters.

Malaysia's Mahathir Defends Sarawak Chieftain

Charges of looting Sarawak could just be electioneering, he says

Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has defended Sarawak’s embattled chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, questioning calls by international NGOs for investigations of Taib’s vast fortune.

"When an election is near, you get funny things like this coming out," Mahathir told reporters at a press conference Tuesday. "If it is just a political game to try and undermine somebody's political image then I think it is not right."

If the allegations are true, the 86-year-old Mahathir said, the authorities could be expected to take action. In May, Swiss authorities announced they were investigating accounts held in Swiss banks by the Taib family for evidence of corruption. Shortly after that, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission announced it would also investigate Taib’s holdings, although observers in Kuala Lumpur said it was unlikely that the MACC would follow through, Indeed, one source told Asia Sentinel recently that the investigation had “gone cold.” A Taib spokesman said the funds had been legitimately deposited and that there was no evidence of criminality.

Many political observers expect Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to call national elections in the early part of 2012, possibly in March. Sarawak, the country’s largest state, is key to efforts by the Barisan Nasional, the country’s ruling national coalition, to maintain a healthy majority in parliament. Both Najib and Mahathir earlier this year reportedly tried to dissuade the scandal-ridden chief minister to quit before state elections.

When Taib refused to step down, both had to criss-cross the state, campaigning for Taib’s coalition. However, the coalition produced a two-thirds majority in the state assembly. Although he had publicly offered to step down, the magnitude of the victory impelled him to stay in power.

Mahathir’s defense of Taib was generated by the fact that on Tuesday, NGOs from six different countries issued a joint letter demanding that Malaysia’s sultan appoint a royal commission of inquiry and that authorities arrest and prosecute Taib and 13 members of his family for massive fraud, theft, corruption, illegal appropriation of land and abuse of public office. They allege that the looting of Sarawak’s rich timber and other natural resources has earned Taib’s family billions of US dollars through investment in as many as 400 companies in 25 countries.

They also demanded that a multi-agency task force be appointed to attempt to repatriate the vast sums from other countries to the people of Sarawak.

Research released earlier this month by the Switzerland-based Bruno Manser Fund said official documents show the Taib family stake in 14 Malaysian companies alone is worth US$1.46 billion. The fund has uploaded all of the documents onto the Internet. They can be found here. Billions more are believed to be held in other countries.

The fund said its research only covers publicly available information from Malaysia’s Registry of Companies and other official documents and the total of all of the Taib family’s holdings could run well in excess of that amount.

“Not counting their more hidden wealth, this puts the Taib family firmly into the category of one of the richest families in the world and makes them far richer than the Queen of England (whose assets are a mere half billion pounds),” the fund said.

In all, according to the fund, named for a Swiss environmentalist who disappeared in Sarawak in 2000 while trying to aid the Penan tribe, the family also has stakes in companies in Australia (22 companies), Bermuda (1), the British Virgin Islands (7), Brunei (1), Cambodia (1), Canada (9), the Cayman Islands (1), Fiji (3), Hong Kong (7), India (2), Indonesia (3), Jersey (1), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1), Labuan (1), New Zealand (5), the People’s Republic of China (2), the Philippines (1), Singapore (2), Sri Lanka (1), Thailand (2), the United Arab Emirates (1), the United Kingdom (4), the United States of America (6) and Vietnam (1).

Allegations are that as chief minister, Taib granted timber access permits to a plethora of companies, most of them owned by ethnic Chinese, that denuded much of the state of its tropical rainforest. The two NGOs previously reported that Taib's children are the shareholders and directors of numerous companies controlling residential and commercial buildings in Canada, Australia, Britain and the United States together worth hundreds of millions of US dollars. Many of the assets came into their possession when they were in their early 20s and were still college students with no visible access to legitimate resources to invest.

Taib has been chief minister, finance minister and planning and resources management minister of since 1981 and he hardly conceals his vast wealth, riding around the capital of Kuching in a cream-colored Rolls-Royce sedan.

Taib, his four children, eight siblings and his first cousin Hamed bin Sepawi have stakes in 332 companies worth several billion US dollars in Malaysia, the report says. “The Taib family’s share in 14 large companies’ net assets alone has been calculated at US$1.46 billion (RM4.6 billion). The three largest Taib family-linked companies are the 84 percent Taib-owned Cahya Mata Sarawak (net assets RM2.4 billion), the 25 percent Taib-owned Custodev Sdn Bhd (net assets RM1.6 billion) and the at least 35 percent Taib-owned Ta Ann Holdings Bhd (net assets: RM1.4 billion). Read more.

Sue Taib If You Dare

Hantu Laut

If you can't walk properly, don't try to run, you may stumble, fall and break your neck.Read this sixes and sevens story.

I do not know Taib personally, you can sue him all the way to hell as far as I am concerned, if you have a case.

As West Malaysian would you have a case if Sabah and Sarawak Immigration refused you entry unless you fall into the categories of people under Section 65 of the Immigration Act 1959/63.

Read the relevant section below.

General powers of State authority

65. (1) In exercising his powers under Parts I to VI as a special law for an East Malaysian State the Director shall comply with any directions given to him by the State authority, being directions—

(a) requiring him not to issue a Permit or Pass, or a specified description of Permit or Pass, to any specified person or class or persons, or to do so only for a specified period or on specified terms and conditions;

(b) restricting the making of endorsements on a Permit, Pass or Certificate; or

(c) requiring him to cancel any Permit, Pass or Certificate issued to a specified person, or to deem a specified person to be an undesirable immigrant, or to declare that a specified person’s presence in the East Malaysian State is unlawful, or to order a specified person’s removal from the State.

(2) WheretheDirectortakesanyactioninobedienceorpurported obedience to any directions given under subsection (1), and there is an appeal to the Minister against that action, the Minister shall not allow the appeal without the concurrence of the State authority.

(3) An order under section 55 shall not have effect as a special law for an East Malaysian State, except so far as its provisions are by the same or a subsequent order applied to those purposes with the concurrence of the State Authority.

Restriction on citizen’s right of entry into an East Malaysian State

66. (1) Subject to subsection (2) and to sections 67 and 68, a citizen shall not be entitled to enter an East Malaysian State without having obtained a Permit or Pass in that behalf unless—

(a) he belongs to the East Malaysian State;

(b) he is a member of the Federal Government, or of the Executive Council or Legislative Assembly of the East Malaysian State (or of any Council having similar functions in the State);

(c) he is a judge of the Federal Court or of the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak, or is a person designated or nominated to act as such, or he is a member of any Commission or Council established by the Federal Constitution or by the Constitution of the East Malaysian State; orImmigration 59

(d) he is a member of any of the public services of the Federation, or of the public service of the East Malaysian State, or of a joint public service serving the East Malaysian State, or is seconded to any such service.

(2) Where a citizen is entitled to enter the East Malaysian State under subsection (1), the citizen’s children under the age of eighteen years and (if he is a man) his wife, if entering the East Malaysian State with, or to be with, the citizen, shall not be required by subsection (1) to obtain a Permit or Pass in that behalf.

(3) Where a citizen is not entitled to enter an East Malaysian State under this section, Parts I to VI, in their operation as a special law for the East Malaysian State shall apply to him as if he were not a citizen:

Provided that a citizen arriving in Malaysia in the East Malaysian State or in the other of the East Malaysian States, and proceeding to a part of Malaysia which he is entitled to enter, shall be entitled to such Pass as is reasonably required to enable him to do so.

(4) The burden of proof that a person is entitled to enter the East Malaysian State under this section shall lie on him.

I rest my case.

Shame On You Sarawak Report

Hantu Laut

Only suckers would read and believe this blog with a penchant for prevarication,fabrication and blatant lies.

Only this blog reported Najib was snubbed by the the British PM, no British mainstream media or blogs carry such story. Of course, the pro-opposition blogs and news portal joyfully picked up the fabricated story from Sarawak Report.

The writer whom I presumed is the pesky lady with an axe to grin against Malaysia did not realised that it was the British PM David Cameron that invited Najib to visit Britain.How so can a host of his stature snubbed a state guest invited personally by him? Obviously, the writer, whoever he or she may be, is a pathetic liar.The headline is a slap on the British PM's face not Najib.It reflects the British PM as uncouth and unstatesmanlike.

Najib Snubbed By UK PM?!

The flash crowd that turned up to boo Najib’s event at Mansion House (the official residence of the City of London’s Mayor) was larger than yesterday’s outside Downing Street. They had been joined by Amnesty International, who have spoken out about the treatment of the Bersih demonstrators at the weekend. Amnesty commands considerable respect in the UK. The Malaysian [...] Read more.

Obviously, not only it is a blatant lie, but also bad choice of word.

SNUB = rebuff, ignore, or spurn disdainfully - an act of showing disdain or a lack of cordiality by rebuffing or ignoring someone or something

Najib Razak, outside 10 Downing Street in central London" title="Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron greets Malaysia's Prime Minister, Najib Razak, outside 10 Downing Street in central London" class="vlz" height="522" width="512">

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (L) greets Malaysia's Prime Minister, Najib Razak, outside 10 Downing Street in central London

Najib Razak (C) on July 14, 2011 in Whitehall, London. The Malaysian Prime Minister is on a four day official visit to the UK and has met his British..." class="DL-photo DL-photo-inside" height="296" width="439">


With Queen Elizabeth.

With all the evidence above do you see Najib being snubbed? Only the foolhardy Clare Rewcastle Brown and Sarawak Report dare to lie to serve their own political agenda and that of the oppositions.

There was no genocide in Malaysia, no reason for Britain to rebuff Najib.

What Najib did to stop an illegal rally was nothing compared to George Bush and Tony Blair, both have killed more innocent people and are still roaming free.These two war criminals should have been apprehended and tried for crimes against humanity.

Rebranding of PAS, Who Is The Biggest Loser?

Hantu Laut

The results of the recent PAS party elections showed that PAS has discarded its Islamic tag kicking out the ulamas from its top leadership in order to better spread its influence among non-Muslims and other bumiputras.

DAP's rising popularity and unprecedented success in the recent Sarawak elections has given PAS members the inspiration and realization that using the Islamic robe may not go down well with non-Muslims, urbanised Malays and bumiputras of Sabah and Sarawak.It is time to exchange the Islamic robe for a more secular attire.

PAS learned very fast from the recent Sarawak state elections.Its Islamic credentials struck fear in the hearts of East Malaysians.The two states has strong Christian population.Its performance in the Sarawak elections was disastrous. With its new image it can now cast a wider net in the two East Malaysian states using the Erdogen ( Oxford Dictionary should include this noun in its next edition) name tag.

Who would be the biggest loser with PAS new cosmetic makeup?

Why cosmetic? Because behind the new image lurks the leopard with the same spot, the influential syura council is still dominated by the ulamas.The ulamas can still make a come back when time is ripe for them to do so.

If PAS came out the biggest winner collecting the most number of parliamentary seats in the 13th General Elections than the biggest loser would be Anwar Ibrahim who would lose his chance of becoming prime minister.The premiership would either go to Hadi Awang or DAP's favourite horse, the liberal minded Mohammad Sabu also popularly known as Mat Sabu.

As former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohammad wrote in his blog posting that the biggest winner is not PAS but DAP and Karpal Singh who managed to convert PAS to drop its Islamic tag and take the secular road.Karpal Singh has won the day and he needs not die to allow PAS to govern the nation.

DAP, as the second biggest party emerging from the 13th GE (General Elections) would have undue influence on who would be prime minister from the PAS stable.PKR would be the most junior partner in the coalition if Pakatan could muster enough seats to form the government. Anwar would not be able to demand the premiership to be given to him.

How do conservative Malays view PAS new image?

Do not rule out the possibility that PAS new image may actually works against it and works in favour of UMNO.

PAS may gain from some non-Muslims votes but may lose greater part of its Malay votes if conservative Malays deem supporting PAS is supporting DAP to greater height and political power and weakening of the Malay political power.Ardent DAP supporters would vote for PAS candidates in the hope of strengthening DAP grip in the coalition government if it materialised.

The March 2008 General Elections and the recent Sarawak polls are testimonies of how powerful the Chinese can be if they took a united stand.In its entire existence DAP has not seen its political fortunes rising to a dizzying height, capturing Penang for itself and powerful coalition partner in Selangor and Perak when Perak was under Pakatan. It grabbed almost all seats under the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur.In Sarawak elections it won 12 out of 15 seats contested.It's due to get solid block of the Chinese votes in the 13th GE decimating MCA and Gerakan.

I would not speculate on the judgement of Anwar's sodomy trail.It can go both ways.I expect the trail would drag on until after the 13th GE.The BN would be in imminent danger of losing the elections if Anwar is incarcerated before the general elections.As it is Anwar's influence has diminished somehow but sending him to prison would make him a hero and precipitates the people's anger.

If UMNO leaders think sending Anwar to prison would lessen Pakatan's chance of winning the elections they are mighty wrong.Anwar may be the devil he is but majority of Malaysians and even the holier than thou PAS leaders and supporters believed in his innocence.Anwar is also the link between PAS and DAP. Without his political manoeuvring the partners deep-seated differences could derail the coalition.

PAS has yet to be accepted in the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak which would rather stay with the devil they know.Sabahans and Sarawakians biggest fear, particularly the Christians, is if PAS become the biggest partner in Pakatan taking over UMNO's role.The recent re-branding of PAS failed to excite the East Malaysians.The results of the 12th GE was a telling sign why Pakatan did not do well in Sabah and Sarawak.

Except for the DAP which will gain grounds in Sabah and Sarawak in the 13th GE, the other partners, PKR and PAS will not do well.I expect the KDM in Sabah and the Dayaks in Sarawak would stay put in BN.

The cold war in UMNO Sabah would also have a bearing on how the KDM would vote. If Najib's nominee Shafie Apdal stands in a state seat in the 13th GE than he is destined to be the chief minister replacing Musa Aman.There are talks that the KDM leaders are not in favour of Shafie after what happened during Mustapha's time and that there would be a new influx of immigrants using the back door.The story may have no bearing at all but the fear against illegal immigrants is real and more entranced in the KDM people.Najib needs to chose his candidates very carefully.

UMNO should not fear PAS new image, they could use it to their advantage if they know how.

Anwar Gets SNAPPED: The Failure of an Opposition Leader Comes Home to Roost

By Leon H. Wolf

In a development that should be viewed as welcome by supporters of one of the relatively few functional Muslim-majority democracies in the world, signs are continuing to mount that Anwar Ibrahim’s opposition coalition may be beginning to crumble. Earlier this month, Anwar was sharply criticized by Sarawakians for only offering the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) three seats, which many Sarawakians considered to be an insultingly lowball number. Anwar attempted to deflect criticism for this move by claiming that he had an agreement signed in writing with the President of SNAP in which SNAP agreed to only contest three seats. SNAP’s response, essentially, was to call Anwar a liar:

Sarawak Nasional Party (SNAP) has strongly rebutted PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s claims that it had signed an agreement with the party, to contest only in three seats a few months before the recent Sarawak election.

SNAP Youth chief Dayrell Enterie said Anwar’s statement was “totally incorrect”.

“This statement of his (Anwar) is totally incorrect as neither SNAP nor its president (who was erroneously named Stanley Jugol in the Malaysiakini article) had entered into any written agreement whatsoever on seat allocations with PKR.”

Fortunately (or, one suspects, unfortunately) for Anwar, his claim was not that he had a formal understanding or a verbal agreement with SNAP regarding the allocation of seats, but that he had an agreement in writing. Therefore, this whole matter ought to be easy to clear up for Anwar – all he has to do is produce the written agreement and all will be well. Given SNAP’s flat denial of its existence, and given Anwar’s failure to produce the written agreement when he first claimed it existed, it is not difficult to guess whether or not Anwar is lying about this agreement.

More ominous than SNAP’s flat rebuttal of Anwar’s specific claim, though is the clear signal from SNAP that it is willing to walk away from Anwar and PKR, if necessary:

“SNAP wishes to reiterate that it is not a push-over party for any West Malaysian entity nor is SNAP a Pakatan stooge,” he said in a statement mailed to FMT.

These political troubles are anything but welcome for Anwar, who is trying together a bizarre coalition with disparate interests – almost none of which are any sort of good news for Western interests or for the ultimate fate of Democracy in Malaysia, especially given that Anwar has been apparently caught on a DNA test doing what the kids today refer to as “pulling a Dominique Strauss Kahn.”

It is hopeful that the political fissures now beginning to show will signal the beginning of the end for a man who mysteriously remains a cause célèbre among some of America’s hopelessly naïve elites. Anwar Ibrahim is lionized amongst the usual suspects in the United States because he was previously jailed on a sodomy charge, which was overturned in 2004. Lost in the wake of the celebration over Anwar’s release amongst these same people is the fact that Anwar was simultaneously convicted of corruption on a scale that would make William Jefferson, Duke Cunningham, and Edwin Edwards blush. This conviction was not overturned and in fact was upheld on appeal.Read more.

Anwar Ibrahim, (Shut Up) We Are Autonomous – DAP

KUCHING – DAP Sarawak has the autonomy to make their own decision concerning State DAP matters and PKR Sarawak should operate as such too, said Chong Chieng Jen, Sentosa State Assemblyman when asked on PKR defacto leader, Anwar Ibrahim who commented that the shadow cabinet is just a proposal.

Chong said he was not sure why Anwar should make such statement as the discussion on Sunday on the Shadow cabinet was carried out with the Vice president of National PKR, Datuk John Tenewi Nuek, Ibi anak Uding and PA to Baru Bian, Vernon Kedit.

Maybe Anwar was not briefed at that time. “I am not in the position to comment on PRK but in Sarawak, the matters concerning us would be decided by us. I also do not see the issue here. The PKR were with us during the meeting and they even make some changes,” he said.

Initially, he said PKR Batu Lintang See Chee How was given the Tourism portfolio but when a call was made by Vernon to him, See said he is more interested in Environment thus the portfolio was added to him.

Chong said even Baru Bian was consulted when the list was finalized and had agreed to it.

“It is a shadow cabinet and everyone was entrusted to do more of what they were assigned. The responsibility is huge and we will look at the performance of each individual. There is no withholding anyone doing more than was assigned. Even in future we could make a swap if one is better in the other on the posts,” he added. Read more.

When Politicians Talked Stupid

Hantu Laut

Politicians, their skin's moisture varies according to the political climate and their political sentiments changed according to the level of mercury, the hotter it is, the more mercurial they are, juggling political innuendos, similes and looming nemesis of their political rivals, even if pigs could fly and no matter how absurd the prophecies are.

Pantai Manis Assemblyman and former minister in the Sabah State cabinet said there is no doubt Sabah has progressed a lot under the UMNO-led BN government but casual observation show signs that caused unrest in the Middle East can be found in Sabah.He may be disappointed the genie with the magic lamp may not grant his wishes and emotional prediction.

Rahim, other than a dime, a dozen of UMNO leaders in Sabah, has ambition to be chief minister of Sabah.Having fallen out with Chief Minister Musa Aman he was dropped from the state cabinet after the March 2008 General Elections.

Desperation, can be one's own worst political enemy. Anwar Ibrahim had made the same comparison of this beloved country, hoping for the Middle East contagion to reach Malaysia, so Malaysia can get the people's power epidemic to help him topple the government. He must be very disappointed as the genie with the magic lamp did not grant him his wish too.

Even the abominable Raja Petra Kamaruddin was more pragmatic in his opinion telling the world that such uprising would never happen in Malaysia.

Than you have a leader of a political party in Sabah joining Ibrahim Ali playing the race card but in a different spectrum.

The Deputy President of LDP Chin Sui Phin who is constantly at loggerhead with Chief Minister Musa Aman attacked Musa and blamed him for his party woes for not being given enough ministerial position after the resignation of Peter Pang from LDP who was appointed deputy chief minister when Raymond Tan of SUPP had to relinquish his post when SUPP pulled out of the BN.Chin has only one target, Musa Aman and it is rumoured that he is fighting a proxy war for someone else which he vehemently denied.

Chin should have himself to blame and is silly to expect better treatment from a man he has viciously attacked and now using the race card as an excuse to rattle the Najib's administration to take action against Musa quoting Sarawak as an example of lost of Chinese support.Chin's memory may be short of the truth and long on personal vendetta.

What happened in Sarawak is nothing new, the BN had lost majority Chinese support in the March 2008 General Elections under Badawi.The DAP won 28 parliamentary seats which is 13% of the total seats in parliament and took control of two states government, Penang and Perak.

DAP garnered more parliamentary seats than PAS, getting only 23 seats.

In PRU13, DAP, most likely would capture almost all Chinese seats wiping out almost the entire Chinese-based parties in BN. Knowing their days are numbered MCA and LDP are trying hard singing the Chinese song.Maybe, a little too late.

MCA, Gerakan,SUPP and LDP are all in dire straits.The Chinese voters rejection in PRU13 would be unprecedented.

To counter the DAP threat all marginal Chinese seats traditionally given to these BN component parties would be returned to UMNO to maximise its chance of winning the greatest number of Malay seats.The parties can only contest in Chinese dominated constituencies which would see many fatalities.

MCA has gone completely gaga in its attempt to redeem itself with the Chinese community. MCA leaders even dared to call Taib Mahmud, in spite of him getting two-thirds majority, to resign. Literally, borrowing the opposition's call for Taib to go.MCA leaders should look at themselves in the mirrior.Why the Chinese deserted the BN?

Loss of Chinese support in Sarawak was not entirely Taib's fault, it's the West Malaysian contagion primarily brought about by MCA and Gerakan's failure in Peninsula Malaysia.The same epidemic would soon spread to Sabah, if it is not already there.

Without any doubt, loss of overall Chinese support for the BN was mainly due to MCA and Gerakan not Taib.

In desperation of making redemption with the Chinese, MCA attacked Utusan which triggered a backlash from Perkasa, seen as an affiliate of UMNO, although the top leadership denied of such connection.Perkasa protested and demanded that MCA be kicked out of the BN.

In PRU 12, Sabah and Sarawak were spared the racial polarisation.These two states have always enjoyed racial harmony and religious tolerance with the ebb and flow and has the greatest number of intermarriages in the country where race has always been in the backseat.

So, don't blame us for what you guys in the Peninsula started first. It's a West Malaysian disease blowing our way.

Guan Eng, Aru You Joking Or What? Race Not A Factor.

Hantu Laut

Race is not a factor says Lim Guan Eng about the Sarawak elections here.

Would you believe him or would you let him pulled that wool over your eyes that race was not a factor! How in hell can DAP garnered 12 seats and PKR only 3 and PAS 0, if the people did not vote on racial line.

This father and son team is truly amazing. Drowning in their own stupefying intelligence.Do they think Malaysians are that stupid?

He said “Those trying to twist the result into a racial issue are acting irresponsibly. The results of the 2011 Sarawak Election have proven that the desire and movement for change is not confined to one community alone but spread across the various communities of Sarawak"

Liar!

Who is he trying to fool saying “All Sarawakians declared in a loud voice that they have had enough of Taib and his brand of monopolistic politics"

Without doubts the oppositions have made some inroads but did Taib not get two-thirds majority and most Malays and non-Malay natives voted for his party? Did or not the majority in PBB contested areas increased more than in previous elections? Did PBB candidates lose any of the seats contested?

If what he says is true why than PKR and PAS did not do well in Sarawak?

While BN successfully retained its two-thirds majority its popular vote dipped by eight per cent to 54.5 per cent, indicating that its hold over the hornbill state, long considered its “fixed deposit”, slipped considerably.

That drop of 8 percent was mainly Chinese votes so don't try that statistical trick.

Even Bridget Welsh analysis using the term semi-rural instead of semi-urban is a spoof. She failed to mention significant Chinese presence in these areas that helped to swing the votes to the opposition.

Guan Eng, who you trying to fool, there is serious racial polarisation in the country. You and your father had a hand in it other than those in Perkasa,Utusan and UMNO.

You and your father have chosen subtle brainwashing and indoctrination to rile up the emotions of the Chinese in this country.

Believe me, unless something out of the ordinary happened between now and PRU13, DAP will get almost all Chinese seats.

After that, you can come back and tell me if race is not a factor.

Tipu !

Hantu Laut

My darts on the results of the Sarawak state elections was closed to the bull's-eye.My earlier prediction of Taib winning his seat and the BN retaining its two-thirds majority was not far-fetched either.

I expect SNAP to pick up 1 or 2 seats. Obviously, the party have lost all credibility with the electorate.Almost all its candidates have lost their deposits.

I gave DAP 8 to 10 seats but they did better than that, capturing 12 seats comfortably.The large crowds at its rally did translate into votes and is the only party among the coalition partners that have made significant inroads into Sarawak politics.

PAS, who do not know between East and West, got their heads in the mincer..... zero as predicted.

Worst of the lot was PKR.Greedy and zealously over estimated its own strength. Even with Anwar confidently saying that Pakatan led by PKR can pull it off and take over the state government, as in his usual body of lies, could only garner 3 seats and that's with the help of DAP. His party performance was shamefully dismal, winning only 3 seats out of 49 or so seats contested.

Taib has proven the doomsayers wrong.He may be the most corrupted chief minister but he has managed to wag the dog on the corruption issue and got himself re-elected with resounding majority.

Obviously, Anwar and Pakatan's dirty war against Taib failed miserably.

Now, the accusations of 'tipu' would commence shortly by Anwar and his gang with claims of vote rigging, votes buying and litany of other election misdemeanors by BN.But let us ask how could DAP have won so many seats if there were cheatings by the ruling coalition?

How Sarawakians Going To Vote Today

Hantu Laut

Can the BN retain its two-thirds majority or lose the government? It's a million dollar question with a simple answer.

Major swing to the opposition is expected in Chinese dominated areas.

Last night at a function a Chinese friend asked why are the Sarawakian Chinese against Taib Mahmud which he says he could not understand because Taib has favoured the Chinese all along giving them huge tracts of timberland and state projects and yet they wanted him out.I am afraid only the Chinese in Sarawak can answer his question.

The beneficiaries of Taib's largess could just be a small circle of Chinese towkeys, the larger Chinese population do not see the benefits going to the whole community. There certainly are economic spin-offs that filtered down to other Chinese- owned businesses but the Chinese chose to ignore it.

Taib's spoiled image are confined mainly in urban areas or wherever there are good Internet connectivity.The massive campaign against Taib were mostly Internet based.His image in rural areas have not been seriously shattered. In the rural areas the main source of news are still from government controlled TV networks.

There are about 15 Chinese dominated seats up for grab.As there is no certainty that Pakatan can capture the state to form the government the Chinese are not likely to hand over all 15 seats to DAP, there will be some areas left for the BN.

The likely scenario is that DAP may be able to pick up 8 to 10 seats.PKR and PAS, on the other hand, may have serious problem convincing Sarawakians to let them have a big say in state politics.

Sarawakians are still suspicious of giving full mandate to Peninsula based political parties.If they allow Pakatan to win and take over the state government they would be making the same mistake as Sabah.The state administration would practically be controlled from Kuala Lumpur and the chief minister would become a puppet on a string.

PKR may get some seats but not significant enough to put a dent in the BN's fortress.SNAP may take a few, but still not significant to combine with Pakatan to form a viable coalition.PAS will get nothing at all in view of its Islamic stanch.

Taib Mahmud has it all worked out that Sarawakians will only allow some oppositions but will not sell out the state wholesale to any Peninsula based party, be it Pakatan or UMNO.

In The Land Of The Blind The One-Eyed Man Is King

Hantu Laut

I can't believe this kind of spinning can come from a purportedly intelligence man like Haris Ibrahim

He said the two-part interview aired during prime time on Wednesday and yesterday was heavily edited and distorted in favour of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to give him a “squeaky clean” image to the people in rural Sarawak, who have only access to mainstream media, ahead of the state vote.

Did Ibrahim read what Raja Petra wrote in his blog and what he said on TV, where were the great divide, the variance between the two, or he just watch the TV and spun a story that the tape was hyped by the UMNO controlled network.

If you want to spin a yarn just make sure you first learn to do it properly.

Give Najib A Chance

Hantu Laut

“No religious community should be subjected or forced to conform to the religious rules of another religion. Religious freedom is the very essence of justice and fair play, and forms the very foundation of any great democratic nation,” said the MCCBCHST (Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism)

A message to the government amply given at the right time.

Najib, maybe, our only hope for religious freedom in this country.Going by his past actions he has the will to follow through what he promised.I believe the people should give him a stronger mandate to enable him to deal with the extremists within his fold.There are elements in his own party that pushes their own religious philosophies without any consideration for other religions.They either needed to be tamed or booted out.

If Malaysians think Pakatan Rakyat would be a better alternative for religious freedom than the are very wrong.There are two elements in that coalition of convenience that I don't trust, Anwar Ibrahim and PAS.

Anwar has the versatility of a chameleon that can change colours to suit his surrounding.PAS, has openly declared that they would want an Islamic state and hudud law implemented if they get Putrajaya.When it come to the crunch of keeping the premiership Anwar would side with PAS.The secular DAP would be left high and dry if PAS and PKR have clear majority to keep the government.

I hope the people of Sarawak would vote wisely and not vote with their feet.

Beware of "wolves in sheep clothing" and do not throw the "baby out with the bathwater"because of one man.

Give Najib a chance to prove himself.

Pakatan's Saturday Night Fever

Hantu Laut

The beast rares its ugly head at every elections........phantom votes, tempered electoral rolls, votes buying, cheating, intimidation and last but not least an Election Commission subservient to the ruling party......accusations hurled at the government by Pakatan Rakyat at every elections.

I can't understand how Malaysians got suckered into believing that these accusations were all true.Pakatan feeds on lies and delusions.They eat lies for breakfast, lunch and dinner and than they shit lies all over the country.

If they were true how in hell the opposition managed to wrestled 5 states and denied the BN of two-thirds majority in the 12th General Elections.

Read this.

Will Pakatan get the 'Saturday Night Fever' this Saturday.

With the exception of DAP who may capture significant number of seats, the rest of the gang may need to be hospitalised.

Sarawakians are no hillbillies as Pakatan made them out to be.There won't be any tsunami either.Sarawakians can think for themselves. The East Malaysians know when is the right time to change the government.

Najib Can Deal With Taib After The Elections

Hantu Laut

Taib Mahmud is suffering from delusion of grandeur.Sarawakians should not fear that Taib would still be running the state after the elections.

There is a recipe for this 75-year old recalcitrant and I believe Prime Minister Najib should not hesitate to give it to him. I hope he would do so for the sake of the people of Sarawak.

Taib refusal to step down had caused much anguish and uncertainty to the people of Sarawak.He must have heard the widespread voices of dissent against his continuing leadership but he chose to ignore it.

Whether the call for his exit is as widespread as the oppositions made it out to be is hard to tell.Putting that aside, even if BN win comfortably he still should go.

Without any doubt he and his family had treated Sarawak as their personal fiefdom and taken indiscretion to the bounties of the state with impunity.He has shown total disregard to the Prime Minister by ignoring the appeal for him to step down.He was given a way out but refused because of his arrogance and probable family pressure to stay on so as to protect the business empire that is so vast it begets the question on the integrity of its acquisition.

This is the man who also "bit the hand that fed him" and fought against his uncle and benefactor Abdul Rahman Yakub who raised him since he was a boy.

He sailed through and survived the "Ming Court Affair" but he may not survive this one if BN failed to secure the two-thirds majority and if he lost significant number of votes in his own constituency.

The Prime Minister, who would not say it now, can deal with Taib after the elections.He may have no choice but to step down or face the music, or both.

Can BN keep Sarawak? - Next

Geobbels And The NCR Land Grab Bullshit

Hantu Laut

As they say lies repeated many times can become the truths.

More so with the simpletons and those with less power of reasoning.

The oppositions are toiling hard to capture the hearts and minds of the simple kampong folks with charge of corruptions in the establishment, which is fine because those are facts that we can't denied, but they have also embarked on a more dangerous journey, fanning the religious flame in mainly Christians Sarawak that the Federal government is anti Christians and extolling rising Christians antipathy on the Malay Bible controversy.

The oppositions is in desperate mode and is resorting to Goebbels type propaganda.

One of Geobbles propaganda principles is that "a propaganda theme must be repeated often, but not beyond some point of diminishing effectiveness and propaganda to the home front must create an optimum anxiety level and it must reinforce anxiety concerning the consequences of defeat"

The oppositions had warned the people in Sarawak that should they be defeated Sarawakians would lose more NCR lands and would live worse than pigs if they continue to support the BN as this article written by one Stephanie Sta Maria portrayed the hovels of the Iban's people are worse than pig sties.This is journalism at its worse.Unrefined and dangerous. It is a disturbing hate propaganda with dangerous racial and religious overtones.

Geobbels helped Hitler into power by exploiting mob emotions that eventually led to the Holocaust. The same dirty tactic employed by Pakatan in Sarawak raising the level of anxiety among the local population already inflamed by the constant barrage of propaganda of the controversial NCR land grab bullshit and the Malay Bible issue.

Though, I don't agree with the government on the Bible issue, the opposition politicising the issue is dangerous.The issue should be left to the church and relevant government authority to work out without allowing politicians to add fuel to the fire. I am for the ISA. I would rather throw 10 troublemakers in jail than allow the whole nation to go up in flame.

I am not a fan of the Western brand of democracy.They have no business to tell us how to run our country.The political landscape, people, culture are different from theirs.Democracy is not cut and dried, it can be modified to suit the imperatives.

“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over" another Geobbels propaganda technique.

Obviously, Sarawakians lack the power of judgement so much so they have to depend on a bored housewife and a self-proclaimed protagonist of Free Sarawak living 7000 miles across the globe to tell them they have lost everything in their own country, a nutter who prefers to see the natives in loincloths and living on tree-tops and view them as tourism products of the 21st Century.

What is her stake in Sarawak that makes her so concern about things she has absolutely no clue about other than listening to a few disgruntled natives.Did she visit Sarawak frequently to get first hand knowledge of the actual situation, or is she another Bruno Manser wannabe with a remote control in her hand?

That's exactly what that venomous serpent called Clare Brown wanted of the Dayaks, Ibans and the Penans of Sarawak to be, kept in the jungle as tourist attractions, claim all of Sarawak as NCR lands so no development can come to Sarawak to displace them from the jungle and people like Clare Brown and her ilk could come to Sarawak and view the Ibans, Dayaks and Penans as exotica of the forests.

The whole of Sarawak should be NCR lands if Clare Brown had her ways.There should not be any logging and timber processing industries, there should not be any lands given out for oil palm, agricultural and other industrial purposes, there should not be any land given to other Sarawakians other than the hunter-gatherers tribes and there should not be any economic development on the land whatsoever.The people of Sarawak can live and hunt on their ancestral lands and survive on the kindness of the jungle.

The same with the Indians of the deep Amazonian jungles, the Papuans and the Bushman of the Kalahari, the Westerners much preferred these tribes to continue living in the stone age so they can come and see them and go home and tell their friends of the existence of such lost tribes and ancient cultures and more and more of them would come to see these strange creatures of the jungles and deserts.

Unfortunately, some Malaysian, including some very educated ones, think these are the people who care for them and are taken in by the wilful propaganda of mostly vested interests.

Why did I say the majority of NCR land claims are bullshit.

In Sabah, I know there have been many dubious claims of NCR lands. I am speaking from my experience as an ex logger, a businessman and a concerned citizen. The NCR lands controversy were created by greedy politicians.

During Berjaya's rule in Sabah former Chief Minister Harris Salleh had a kind of land reform for the landless.He gave 15 acres each on a communal application of several thousand villagers at one time.At that time I was doing logging in the Sugut/Paitan area and I saw an approval for 2000 acres approved for 15 acres each individual and given to the kampong people in the vicinity where I operated.Many such land approval were given out under the Berjaya government to help the rural folks own lands.Many have been sold for quick gain.

Harris, during his time also set up many projects for the benefits of the rural folks.There were Safoda, Kojasa, Ko-Nelayan and many other agencies to provide employment and economic help to the rural people.All these agencies eventually fell to the ground when the government changed hands.

When people are lazy there is nothing much you can do.Just travel around the state and see how much of kampong land lay wasted, uncultivated and overtaken by weeds and these are the very same people who complained they have no land.When they applied for land even before the titles are issued they have already sold the L.A and collected a small deposit from the purchaser, who are mostly Chinese with native certificates.

Where are those so called NCR lands that Harris gave to them natives? Do they still belong to the kampong people? Unfortunately, no! They are now oil palm plantations owned by West Malaysian companies.Can you blame Harris for this or blame the lazy natives?

These are native titles that bore no premium, which means the government did not collect any revenue. The land is in perpetuity, other than the very minimal annual payment of land cess, there is no other payment collected by the government. Lost of revenue to the state is enormous.

These type of lands are not meant for wide scale agricultural development by individual or companies, they are meant for individual native ownership only.

The government only give away land to corporations on lease basis and on payment of land premium.Leases are normally for 99 years.In Sabah, the government has stopped giving away 999 lease, which is considered freehold land.

Native Titles(NT) which is considered freehold is now much preferred by small plantation companies which can legally lease it for maximum of 30 years.They don't have to pay premium which can run to million of ringgits if the land were given directly to them depending on the size of the area. The other loophole is to sell NT lands to non-natives using native proxies.

Most disputes and protest are not really the villagers themselves, it is usually the "yang berhormat" from the area who wanted the land for himself so he could sell it for quick gain.He uses the kampong people to rattle the state government.

This happened all over Sabah and worst under PBS when huge tracts of land were given to politicians and their cronies which eventually end up as oil palm plantations mostly owned by West Malaysian companies.Today the same politicians who have had their hands in this web of deceit are pretending to champion the NCR lands disputes.

I can't speak for Sarawak, but my guess, it's probably in the same sorry state.

In a recent case in Sabah, sadly, the High Court awarded customary rights to a group of NCR claimants who, strangely enough, came to court fully dressed in their traditional garbs probably to impress the judge that they are natives and hunter-gatherers.

If you are Sabahans you know very well no natives of Sabah use their native costumes as an every day attire.They rarely do and only use it on special occasions during celebration of Harvest Festivals,tamu besar, tourism attractions or if there were religious rituals.

On the East Coast of Sabah those claiming customary rights seemed more at home in Sulawesi rather than the jungles of Borneo.

I am not saying that the judge decision is wrong but it certainly will have a bearing on future land matters.The precedence may open a can of worms and make it difficult for the state government to develop the state when land came under dispute.Any land given out for development could be challenged as NCR lands and would stifle economic development in the state.

It must also be a fact that, if the state so decide, NCR lands are not alienable to individual native even if he has live on the land for many generations.He can continue to live and till the land without registered title of ownership which is what customary right is all about.