Dayak leaders bagaikan hamba

Oleh Kantu Kasam

1. Sarawak Rangers were disbanded a day (15 September 1963) before the formation of Malaysia.

2. Formation of Malaysia - 16 September 1963. Sarawak is an independent state before the formation of Malaysia having gained independence from the British on 22 July 1963. Sarawak formed Malaysia with Sabah, Singapore and Malaya as equal partners in Malaysia.

3. Subtle but aggressive, the politic of assimilation began immediately after the formation of Malaysia.

4. Immediately after the formation of Malaysia, UMNO/BN disregarded the 18 Points Agreements.


5. The Dayaks were grouped under a new race called Bumiputra so that the Dayaks could be used to defend Ketuanan Melayu against the Chinese and Indian. While the Malays are protected under Article 153 of the Constitution, the natives continues to be sidelined and marginalized. The Dayak except a few leaders in PBB and other noisy BN parties have not benefited from Article 153. Now the Dayaks (Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu, etc) have lost their racial identities. Instead, the natives of Sarawak is now classified as Bumiputra Sarawak.

6. Three years later, in 1966 Stephen Kalong Ningkan was removed as the Chief Minister of Sarawak. His initial removal was ruled as illegal by the High Court leading to constitutional crisis in Sarawak.

7. Party PESAKA (Dayaks) and party Bumiputra (Malays) merged to become PBB to deny Dayak from becoming the chief minister of Sarawak. Any attempts to pursue the chief minister-ship outside PBB would be destroyed, e.g. SNAP, PBDS.

8. Ten years later, the Petroleum Acts was introduced to support the Malayan development.

9. In the 1970's - the Malay Malayan teachers were sent to Sarawak to commence assimilation & Islamization. There are now some 8,000 Malay Malayan teachers in Sarawak depriving Sarawakian of job opportunity.

10. The UMNO enforces the teaching of Bahasa Malaysia which now has become Bahasa Melayu not to empower the Malaysian with knowledge but to assimilate the non Malay into Malay. The Constitution of Malaysia clearly states that anyone who speak Malay & practice the customs (Baju Kurung, etc) of the Malay is a Malay. Thus, a Dayak who convert to Islam is a Malay. Therefore, people like Sylvester Entrie could no longer claim himself to be a Dayak Iban. The Dayak loss the most with regards to this policy as the Chinese and Tamil have their own school systems to protect their identities.

11. Politic of economic - natural resources of Sarawak is another drive for UMNO/BN interest in Sarawak. Sarawak politicians could no longer touch the oil & gas sectors other than being rewarded as directors in Petronas and its subsidiaries, they grabbed the timber, land and rivers of Sarawak. The rural natives could no longer hunt for wildlife, fish in fresh river due to the damage cause to the natural environment by noise, the bulldozers, chemicals, etc.

12. The big companies are now dominating the land development despite the low returns to the NCR land owners. It is proven that small holding would give a better income to the land owners but this is discouraged by the BN leaders. Why? The BN government do not want the Dayaks to own lands. The BN government is appealing court cases that are won by the NCR land owners. Then, with the mass migration of foreign labors working in the big companies, it is highly probable that these foreign workers shall one day become naturalized Malaysia as what we have seen in Sabah to protect the Ketuanan Melayu. The foreign workers (some 113,000) are now more than the Orang Ulu and close to overtaking the Bidayuh. The Dayaks and the Chinese will loose their political power forever when this happen. The Dayaks will loose their identities too as the foreign workers could just overthrow them in the small village. The case of Madura immigrants in Kalimantan was a testimony of this. The Dayaks will loose more viz other races as the Chinese are more independent, adaptable and stronger economically. If we do nothing, we will have a new Sarawak. WELCOME TO A NEW SARAWAK.