Sarawak BN played a role in ‘bullying’ the people too, says Chong

The Sarawak DAP chief claims Sarawakians were ‘bullied’ not only by the federal government, but also the BN-led state governments in the 1980s.

(FMT) – Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen has claimed the state Barisan Nasional played a role in “bullying” ordinary Sarawakians and exploiting natural resources.

Chong claimed that since the 1980s, the federal government had taken advantage of Sarawak’s oil and natural gas at the state’s expense.

“It is also true that during the same period, Sarawak BN and its cronies took advantage of the state’s natural resources, namely timber and land, at the expense of Sarawakians,” he said in a statement.

Chong was responding to Sarawak deputy premier Dr Sim Kui Hian who said that it was the “bullying” during former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration that had left the state with little choice but to increase its revenue to support its development.

On Monday, Mahathir said Sarawak should help more backward states to develop, now that it had achieved high-income status.

Mahathir said that in the beginning, both Sarawak and Sabah were poor and relied on federal support. Now that they had grown more prosperous, he said, it was time for them to support the poorer states.

Sim, however, thanked Mahathir for the “bullying” and said that it was now time for Sarawak to develop its infrastructure, give back to its people and “look after ourselves first”.

Chong accused Sim of telling only half the story, saying that the bullying by both the federal government and Sarawak BN had been a “double whammy” for the state’s people.

“At national level, the federal government took away our oil and gas rights, giving pittance in return.

“At the state level, the Sarawak BN government (now Gabungan Parti Sarawak) took away our timber resources, mining rights, land rights, and the right to participate fairly in government procurement opportunities,” said Chong, who is the state opposition leader.

After BN’s defeat in the 2018 general election, Sarawak’s BN allies decided to leave the coalition and formed their own regional coalition, GPS, with a focus on promoting Sarawak’s autonomy and interests independently of the federal BN coalition.

Chong said the double bullying was the “true cause” behind the state’s dilapidated schools, clinics, backward infrastructure development and lower income levels compared with West Malaysia.

“Such exploitation was made possible because of the super-strong ruling party and a very weak opposition during that era (1980s), both at the federal and state level,” Chong said.

He also said the fragmented West Malaysian political landscape now ensured that the federal government could no longer bully Sarawak.

“On the other hand, a super-strong GPS-led state government will see a return to the Sarawak BN era of the 1980s and 90s when common Sarawakians were bullied by their leaders and their rights trampled upon and exploited,” he said.