In Sarawak, the Dayaks are not bothered whether Taib goes or stays to die in office

Except for a few Dayak intellectuals sitting in comfort in town, the great majority of Dayaks in Sarawak couldn't care less about Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, a second-generation Muslim from the tiny Melanau Dayak community. Taib is the grandson of a Christian.

All that the Dayaks are concerned about is that the Taib Family does not seize their NCR land under one pretext or another; do what Umno has done in Sabah to change the demographics against them; or that political parties in Peninsular Malaysia (or Malaya), especially Umno, do not try to seek representation in the state assembly in Sarawak.

The Dayaks grieve over what is happening to the Dusun community – including the Kadazan or urban Dusun and the Murut – in neighbouring Sabah.

The Dayaks are determined to prevent their NCR land ending up with Peninsular Malaysian companies.

The Dayaks also don’t want to see the construction of mosques in their areas and they certainly don’t want to allow members of their community who marry Muslims – often the result of date rape – to take up residence in their traditional kampungs.

If it can be helped, the Dayaks don’t want Sarawak to be in Malaysia which they feel is dominated by a Malay Federal Government, but that’s another story. They are well aware that their oil and gas resources and other revenue will be theirs for the taking if Sarawak is not in Malaysia. Meanwhile, they like the Chinese want to avoid the Federal Government and Peninsular Malaysia like the plague, having as little as possible to do with them.

Easier to let him die in office

Taib has been power for more than three decades and it makes little sense to the Dayaks to chase him out at this juncture when he doesn't have that many years left and that's assuming that he wants to die in office.

There was a time when the Dayaks supported the Malays in a bid to overthrow Taib. That was in 1987, dubbed the Ming Court Affair by Taib. The Ming Court along Jalan Ampang in Kuala Lumpur was the hotel where many Dayak and Malay state assemblymen gathered to plan a no confidence motion against Taib. Unfortunately, they were persuaded by Taib's maternal uncle and predecessor, Abdul Rahman Yaakub, that he could lead them to victory.

Rahman betrayed the plotters and Taib seized the initiative to call for snap elections supported by the ostensibly multiracial but Chinese-based and dominated Sarawak United People's Party (Supp). Today, Taib is sheer poison to the Chinese and Supp, for having out-witted and out-foxed them.

Who really wants Taib out

Hence, it's largely the Supp -- except for some Malay factions eyeing the Chief Minister’s post -- who are really itching to get rid of Taib, who in turn, has further turned the tables on them by getting the Dayaks in particular behind him.

The Dayaks, if not the Malays, agree with Taib that “the Supp types are jealous of Natives who do well in business, whether by hook or crook, like them”. As far as the Dayaks are concerned, what's bad for Supp -- the Taib Family having a finger in every pie in Sarawak -- can only be good for them even if they don't directly benefit. It will take the “high and mighty” Supp down more than a peg or two, according to the Dayaks, to have someone like Taib squat on them (Supp) as well for as long as possible.

The Dayaks of Sarawak are not anti-Chinese or jealous of the latter community being in business, unlike the obsession of the Umno-led Malay-speaking communities in Peninsular Malaysia with the Chinese. The nearest thing to a political ideology that Umno has is “jealousy of the Chinese in business, and jealousy of the Chinese in general”.

Even so, the Dayaks know that the Supp has been single-handedly keeping them down by being in cahoots with the Muslim members of the Melanau Dayak community who call the political shots in Sarawak. Had it not been for Supp, Stephen Kalong Ningkan would have served out his term as Chief Minister of Sarawak and the Sarawak National Party (Snap) and non-Muslim Natives would have served Sarawak, one after another, as Chief Minister.

Despite the Dayaks in Sarawak not at all being like the anti-Chinese Umno-led racist Malays in Peninsular Malaysia, Supp has not only done everything possible to keep the Dayaks down in the gutter but have been very derogatory towards them even up to today.

Hence, there's very little sympathy among the Dayaks towards Supp.

In fact, it's a wonder that the Dayaks have not turned completely anti-Chinese like the racist Umno Malays in Peninsular Malaysia. This speaks volumes for the capacity of the Dayaks to be democratic and forgiving towards their political enemies.

NCR land

Another major reason why the Dayaks and the Supp don't see eye to eye is NCR land.

Supp, since time immemorial, have engaged in land grab operations against the Dayaks. Most of the time, they have managed to do this in cahoots with the state government, Taib in particular. Thanks to Taib, Supp leaders and members are holding on to some of the most prime land in Sarawak and this is theft on a grand scale which must be dealt with and reversed at some point in the future.

Supp must not think that they can get away with theft of NCR land and continue to act with impunity.

A different viewpoint for the Dayaks

If all Dayak state assemblymen were to get together across party lines, they will be a force to be reckoned with in Sarawak especially as they form over half the population in the state.

Already, every political party in Sarawak across both sides of the divide has Dayak members in substantial numbers. This has had the effect of better organising the political grassroots in the community along more democratic lines and ensures the longterm stability of the community and the state.

In contrast, the Malay community is politically weak because they are represented only by the Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).

It’s the same story with the Chinese who, until recently when they opted for the Dap, had thrown in their lot with the Sarawak United Peoples Party (Supp) which is close to destruction as a party for the community. Supp recently elected a Dayak, Richard Riot, as its Deputy President for the first time since most of its legislators today are from that community.

So, the Dayaks have more important things to worry about then to go along with the Supp and Malay desire to get rid of Taib.

In fact the longer that Taib stays in power, the better it will be politically for the Dayaks, since all hell will break loose among the other communities in the state when he eventually goes. That would be poetic justice indeed! Order can only come from chaos.

It’s unlikely that the Dayaks will go along with any attempt by Taib and Rahman to foist a political dynasty on them in perpetuity since the intellectuals within the community will resist any such move with every means at their disposal.

This includes making common cause with the Chinese and throwing their lot behind the Dap since their own politicians too cannot be trusted.

Malaysia Chronicle