Sabah, land below the wind - One of the Poorest States in Malaysia
Published on: July 07, 2012 at 13:55 PMSource by :HERALD MALAYSIA ONLINE
Sabah State remains as one of the poorest in Malaysia despite its abundant natural resources.
The oil rich state contributes more than RM15 billion in oil resources annually to Petronas and the Federal Government, but only receives a meager five percent in return as developmental aid.
The division between the Peninsular states and East Malaysia goes far beyond geography. There is a huge division in socio-economic and political development.
For 48 years, the Sabah State government (pro-Federal government) has eroded the rights of the Sabah people. The people have yet to enjoy their rich resources to the fullest.
The presence of undocumented immigrants with dubious ICs and voting rights; gerrymandering of constituencies and boundary delineations; poor governance; poverty and rampant land grabbing of Indigenous people’s ancestral lands are some of the pressing issues in the state today.
Sabah (known as North Borneo then) gained its independence from British Crown colony on August 31, 1963. From September 1, 1963 to September 15, 1963, for 15 days, Sabah was truly independent. On September 16, 1963, Sabah joined together with Malaya, Singapore and Sarawak to form Malaysia.
Sabah Today
Many native Sabahans have lost their land and livelihood, and have migrated to the Peninsular to seek a better life across the seas. Many of them end up being exploited for their labour and cheated by employment agents who charge them exorbitant fees.
Large scale development like mega-dams, logging and land-grabbings contribute to the poverty, unfair policies, and exploitation of Sabah’s natural resources and degradation of the environment. Eg. The government of Sabah approved the implementation of the Kaiduan Dam Project in Ulu Papar in Sabah in February 2008. This will involve converting 350 square km of land into a water catchment reserve and flooding an area of 12 square km. It is one of the 16 proposed dams under the Sabah Water Resource Management Master Plan targeted in 1990s by the then Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Osu Sukam.
SUHAKAM received the highest number of complaints of alleged infringement on the rights of native land in Sabah.2 Land grabbing incidents have been observed in places like Sukau, Matunggong, Bangi, Sandakan, Tawau, Lahad Datu, Keningau, Tenom, Kota Belud and Papar.
There have been cases where natives occupying their ancestral land for more than two generations have been evicted and their lands given to major peninsular-based plantation companies.
Many Indonesians and Filipinos have been given Malaysian Identity Cards without a proper citizenship process despite their short period of living in Malaysia.
It is strongly suspected that they are being used to add votes to ensure the ruling government stays in power.
In the 1990s, 600,000 foreigners had received Malaysian citizenship and voting rights.
It was reported that some of the incentives that people received in exchange for their votes were, zinc sheets for roofing, blue water storage tanks, sewing machines etc. In 1990, Tun Dr Mahathir himself said that those communities who did not vote for BN would be refused federal funding.
We must be concerned!
Vote buying is a total disregard of the basic right of voters to a free, fair and clean election. It is a blatant corrupt practice and undermines the integrity of our votes and the democratic electoral process.
Land grabbing deprives the indigenous peoples of their ancestral land rights and in turn deprives them of their native customary rights, lands, cultural heritage and their livelihood. Moreover rampant logging, construction of mega dams and indiscriminate development of plantations are actually detrimental to the environment and the eco-system.
Basic services, infrastructure and utilities like water, electricity supply, schools, roads, bridges etc. must be provided by the government and not be used as incentives to extract votes for the government party.
Do something about it!
Learn about the real issues of Sabah and share this with your friends and family.
Initiate simple actions or join campaigns which advocate for the protection of indigenous people’s rights, including their right to land, resources, basic amenities and others.
Educate your children, relatives and friends on the real history of the formation of Malaysia to have a better understanding of the rights of the indigenous peoples.
Take time to get to know our friends from Sabah, their cultures and their issues.
Duplicate and distribute this leaflet to your friends and families.
The Sarawak Story
Issues faced by the people of Sarawak
Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia, rich with natural resources such as oil, gas and timber.
It has a population of 2.4 million of different ethnicity such as the Iban, Malay, Bidayuh, Chinese, Orang Ulu, Kelabit.
The poverty rate in Sarawak is 30.28 per cent, which is among the highest in Malaysia, compared to Kelantan (7.5 per cent) and other states such as Sabah (less than 10 per cent.)
Seventy thousand people in Sarawak have no birth certificates and MyKad, therefore are denied the right to education, work, health services, security, government assistance and voting rights. Most of them are poor.
It is alleged that thousands of foreigners have been provided with MyKad by the Malaysian government on condition that they vote for BN in the general elections.
Ancestral lands owned by the indigenous people have been illegally acquired by the government on the basis of development.
For 48 years, the wealth of Sarawak has been controlled by corrupt leaders and their cronies.
The Result
State wealth is not equally distributed by the state government.
Disproportionate development has resulted in its people being denied education and basic amenities such as:
electricity, clean water and roads especially in rural Sarawak where most of the population live.
The Land Code of Sarawak also differs from the other states in Malaysia. It was unfairly passed without the consent of the indigenous people and designed to enable the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Taib Mahmud to seize indigenous land in the name of development.
Not Just A Sarawak Problem!
After 48 years of independence, the majority of the population of Sarawak are still located in rural areas without basic amenities and infrastructure. They are still marginalized from the economic and social development policies of the state and federal governments.
Corruption, nepotism and illegal land grab of native lands by the ruling elite have negatively affected the economic and social development of Sarawak.
NCR lands have been awarded to crony companies linked to the ruling government for privatized development such as commercial cultivation of oil palm and hydroelectric dams.
The construction of the Bakun Dam has resulted in the destruction of the environment and negatively impacted.
The livelihood of thousands of people in the Bakun Dam area.
The endemic confiscation of native customary land/rights, the exploitation of natural resources and the lopsided government policies to enrich certain individuals at the expense of the general population of Sarawak have resulted in widespread rural poverty.
State wealth has been used to enrich a few individual families at the expense of the general population.
If the current political situation persists in the long run, Sarawak will eventually run out of natural resources and this will bankrupt the state.
This will also have a negative economical and social impact on the rest of Malaysia.
What can we do about it!
The struggle in Sarawak is for the basic right to amenities and sustainable wealth distribution for every citizen in the state.
As Malaysians, we should support the people of Sarawak in their struggle for economic and social equality, especially for the marginalized Indigenous People and their rights over their ancestral land.
This can only be achieved by changing the current political climate through a change in government.
Vote for the political party and candidates that champion the rights of the people of Sarawak at the state and national levels
Learn the culture and history of Sarawak. Their voices must be heard at the national level, not only in the village, but as a whole!
Duplicate and distribute this leaflet to your friends and families.
“We want development, but how can we accept the kind of development which demands us to forsake and forgo our rights to our land?” Tama Lawai, Kelabit Leader, 1992
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