Abang Openg is proving to be his own man - Kudos!
I like the fact that Sarawak is now being seen as an autonomous nation whereby Singapore wants to set up a Consulate office in Kuching - this is what the MA 63 agreement envisaged.
Why Sarawak, which is 120 x the size of Singapore and which had endless resources, a tiny population of less than 1 million in 1960 - (70% indigenous Iban and other tribes and 30% Chinese ) - which was majority Christian and separated 1000 km by the South China Sea could allow itself to operate like a vassal state of Malaya with its Muslim Malay monarchial system is something which defies logic.
The formation of Malaysia in 1963 in retrospect, proved to be so disadvantageous for Sarawak which has seen the grand scale exploitation and virtual colonisation of the soul of Sarawak by a foreign Malay nation.
All of this was due to the machinations of the British who did not want Sarawak to be an independent country. They played psychological warfare on the ruling elites of Sarawak saying it needed “protection’ from the threats of Indonesian invasion and the best way was to be part of Malaya.
2 years after the formation of Malaysia, Singapore pulled out in 1965 because Lee Kwan Yew was disgusted with the “Ketuanan Melayu dan Islam” ideology which was gaining a foothold which he saw as discriminatory and a betrayal of the promises made during Merdeka. At the time the Chinese population of Malaysia was larger than the Malay. It suited UMNOs quest for hegemony to see Singapore out of the picture. Singapore was unceremoniously ‘kicked’ out of the Federation by Tunku.
UMNO felt Singapore without any resources would be a destitute Island nation dependent on Malaysia but this suited the desires of LKY who had a vision for a Singapore as a secular, democratic republic. This rest is history, suffice to say that Singapore is the one of the richest country in the world with standards of education, health, transport and public infrastructure amongst the best the world not to mention the Singapore dollar is more than 3 x the value of the ringgit.
Sarawak can easily become a “Singapore" if it adopts a non-racial, secular and meritocratic and republican mode of governance. Unfortunately, the UMNO leadership colonised Sarawak for so long but since the recent implosion of UMNO, we are seeing the seeds of Sarawakian autonomy taking shape.
The British colonial engineered experiment with Sarawak joining Malaysia 60 years ago, has seen the grand scale exploitation of forests, oil, gas and land for the benefit of Malaya and British commercial interests in a vastly disproportionate manner. The indigenous tribes of Sarawak have their own languages and comprised 70% of the population in the 1960s, with the Chinese comprising 30%. Christianity was and still is the majority religion.
The standards of education were deliberately dumbed down with standards of English being allowed to erode to be eventually replaced by ‘foreign’ Malay. In the eyes of the UMNO hegemon, Sarawak was ’theirs’ to exploit to the hilt. This is the typical 'coloniser settler’ mindset - the indigenous population, their lands and history had to be air brushed out of the picture.
Let it be known and put into perspective, that the Ibans have pushed out of their lands many times the land mass of Palestine. The Ibans and Penans were bulldozed out of their ancestral lands by “settlers” who grew oil palm, logged their forests, mined their lands and polluted their rivers, flooded their lands to build dams which do not serve their purpose. They do not live in lands which have Western historical significance, they are not inspired by religious injunctions, they do not have weapon or are inclined to use them which is why thy are not on the ‘radar’ of world conscience.
Abang Openg is gradually asserting Sarawak's autonomous status and is looking to rekindle the spirit of the MA 63 agreement. I am hoping the interest in forging closer relations with Singapore will be beneficial to the development of Sarawak and rightfully see a vast improvement in the well being of the indigenous people there who have been exploited with the collusion of local corrupt elites for far too long.
Maybe one day Sarawak will see the benefit of being an independent country just like Singapore.
ANONYMOUS
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