To survive, Taib must keep natives in political wilderness
By Free Malaysia Today
For 30 years Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mamud and his ministers have kept up the story that they are “trying their best” to offer birth certificates and identity cards to natives.
They have ludicrously claimed that they unfortunately can’t reach the natives in the interior.
Residing in Middle Baram, one Penan headman in response to the Sarawak Barisan Nasional leadership’s claim said: “Everyone else knows where we are… if they want to they can reach us any time.
“But the authorities always come up with excuses. Now it is nearly 50 years after independence and these excuses are sounding ridiculous.”
Now, with another state election due, Taib is up to his same old tricks, claiming there will be a registration drive soon.
But, each time there has been a similar pretence, numerous malpractices by officials have prevented tribal people from obtaining their identity cards.
“The officials demand RM800 for every identity card…. we know it’s illegal… and they know we don’t have that sort of money,” said another Penan headman.
“An identity card is our birthright and should be free.”
One veteran human rights activist familiar with the situation described Taib as “an old man spinning the same laughable tale”.
“Taib is an old man and as they say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks… he thinks he can get away with the same laughable old story and that people will again believe him,” he said.
Shocking truths
But things are changing here in the interiors of Sarawak as more and more activists and politicians engage the attention of Sarawak’s 60,000 unregistered indigenous folk.
Elections watchdog Malaysians For Free Elections (Mafrel) has been dutifully visiting these “unreachable” voters and their recent reports on the problems of gaining registration in Sarawak make shocking reading.
According to them, tens of thousands of citizens have been denied birth and identity certificates, meaning they have restricted access to education and health.
At the same time, many others who do have identity cards have been barred from registering as voters.
The state’s tactic is to make registration as difficult as possible by limiting the ways people can sign up and encouraging ridiculous levels of bureaucratic obstruction.
And if someone does eventually manage to overcome the many hurdles — including the inaccessibility of the registration offices and the many confusing documents that are required to get themselves identification cards and then on to voter-registration — they are then informed that it will take at least six months before they actually become eligible to vote!
According to another activist, keeping the natives away from the ballot boxes was Taib’s way of staying in power.
“Taib is frightened at how people might vote. The indigenous people are now more aware of their rights than in 2006.
“They are now demanding their birth rights even if they have to march to Kuching to get them,” said the activist.
Pockets of clashes
A very likely occurrence considering the recent incidents that have triggered rumours of widespread discontent in the wilderness and a probable uprising.
Already Sarawak has in recent months seen several pockets of clashes in the interiors between natives and government-licensed and illegal loggers over the state’s ineffective implementation of Native Customary Rights (NCR) land laws and corrupt government officials.
In the latest incident, 500 angry Ibans from five longhouses in Sebangan and Sebuyau in the Simunjan district stormed the site and office of logging concessionaire Quarry Concrete Holdings Sdn Bhd in a bid to protect their communal forest and land.
