Holding on to the ‘fixed deposit’

By Karim Raslan, The Star

Still, my Sarawak jaunts prompted me to write about the fundamental paradox of governance in Malaysia — namely that the more prosperous, urban communities are less likely to vote Barisan Nasional — leaving the coalition dependant on its rural support base.

 

LAST year I visited Sabah and Sarawak twice, and wrote five columns about the two states. Indeed, much of what I’m going to say today is drawn from my earlier columns; there are times when you have to repeat yourself.

The trips themselves were eye-opening.

Kota Kinabalu was buzzing and laid-back while Sibu had it’s neatly maintained dynamism.

However, Kuching with all its ugly official buildings felt pompous and off-putting.

Still, my Sarawak jaunts prompted me to write about the fundamental paradox of governance in Malaysia — namely that the more prosperous, urban communities are less likely to vote Barisan Nasional — leaving the coalition dependant on its rural support base.

In short, urban Malaysians of all races — the biggest beneficiaries of BN’s leadership — have become its toughest critics, and our cities are now full of querulous and demanding voters.

Well, the upcoming Sarawak elections are essentially about this paradox.

Can BN run two different campaigns; persuading urban voters of their commitment to transformation while handing out goodies to the rural population?

Part of the problem is that BN’s cadres are only familiar with developmental politics — winning by promising projects.

All too often, they are ill-prepared to argue their case against the Opposition directly.

For example, apart from the Shabery Chik-Anwar Ibrahim debate back in 2008, I’ve rarely seen our politicians debating in public.

This must change especially with the advent of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

There’s no doubt that he’d be a formidable debating opponent for Anwar and most Malaysians are itching for such a match-up in the next general election.

While the Sarawak polls represent a preview of what’s to come, it is likely that BN will win these polls comfortably — because of the large number of rural seats.

However, the real issue is indeed whether or not BN will retain its two-thirds majority.

Here’s the crux: urban Malaysians in Sarawak and elsewhere are no longer dependent on BN for basic amenities like water or electricity.

Many now work in the private sector and so don’t need state largesse.

Because of this, they’re able to exist independently from the BN patronage machine that their parents relied upon.

Educated and well-informed, they have started questioning BN’s style of governance.

They deplore the controversial use of public funds and want greater transparency.

The same dilemma is slowly emerging in Sarawak.

Take Sibu again, for example. As we all know, the city’s voters rejected BN in spectacular fashion at the by-election last year despite Najib’s charm offensive.

This was a calculated, considered move by Sibu’s predominantly Foochow Chinese community, who knew they could manage without government assistance.

However, the same is not true of the small longhouse communities outside the city. The disparities are stark.

Roads shrink and eventually disappear in rural Sarawak. Running water is also a major problem — especially during the dry season.

Many of the longhouses must rely on large water tanks and rain-water traps to survive.

In certain cases, the local rivers have become polluted by the industrial-scale use of fertilisers in nearby plantations, or pig farming.

Difficulties in enforcing Native Customary Rights also often result in the dislocation of these communities. This haphazard access to public utilities and property rights have made rural Sarawakians dependent on developmental politics.

Here, it is mostly about the basic necessities.

Sarawak’s rural poor realise that only the state government of the day can help them, hence they continue voting for BN.

Therein lies the contradiction for BN: providing these services would mean an inevitable loss of rural support.

As a consequence, Sarawak’s uneven development reinforces BN control, with rural communities wary of challenging authority.

As I’ve said before, development is not a reward, it is a right.

The political cost will be great but BN has no choice if it really cares for the rakyat; we simply cannot go on like this.

But with Najib unprecedentedly leading the charge in Sarawak, the game is definitely on.

The stakes are certainly very high. Whatever the case, let’s hope the people of Sarawak get a better deal.