Do not blame the East Malaysians for supporting BN

 

If certain West Malaysians are perplexed, annoyed or disappointed as to why most of their East Malaysian friends keep on supporting BN when the national coalition appears to have lost its appeal on the mainland, all they need to do is to put themselves in their shoes.

Jaikol Situn, Barrister-at-Law (Gray’s Inn); LLM; LLB; BA (Hons)

Political bickering should have toned down by now since the 13th General Election is done and dusted, but as I am still getting all sorts of insinuating and often offensive remarks about my fellow East Malaysians for having thrown BN a lifeline yet again, I am obliged to respond accordingly. If certain West Malaysians are perplexed, annoyed or disappointed as to why most of their East Malaysian friends keep on supporting BN when the national coalition appears to have lost its appeal on the mainland, all they need to do is to put themselves in their shoes.

The East Malaysians account for just 20% of the Malaysian population of 29 million, or roughly equivalent to 7 million people, the majority of which are Dayaks (Iban, Kenyah, Penan,  etc) and Kadazandusun-Muruts, the natives and original people of Malaysia. If you are aware of how minorities in other parts of the world choose their government, they generally keep faith with the incumbent presumably for continuity and political stability, even if misconceived and misplaced, rather than aligning themselves with an untried alternative government with rather grandiose ideals.

You might think my observation is nothing new, but put religious issues into the equation, and you would appreciate a more complicated scenario. This is because at least 75% of these natives are Christians. In Sarawak, Christianity account for at least 40% of the State population, and if you take away the 1.5 million illegal immigrants in Sabah, a similar percentage exists there. To illustrate my point, the election results of P169 Kota Belud perhaps show a typical voting pattern amongst the Christian electorate.

Kota Belud had 51,467 registered voters of which 45% were of the Kadazandusun/Christian ethnicity, 50% Muslims mostly of the Bajau and Sama community and the rest Chinese, Sino-Kadazandusuns and others. The results of the election based on 84% turnout, were as follows: BN 21,768; PKR 16,673; STAR 2,709; Independent No.1 (Muslim) 979; Independent No. 2 (non-Muslim) 185; and spoilt votes 1,109. On the logical assumption that Kadazandusuns/Christians were more likely to vote for either BN or STAR, you can deduce that at least 11,000-12,000 (or 56 - 61% of Kadazandusuns/Christians) voted for BN, whereas the majority of Muslim voters defected to PKR and the Muslim Independent candidate.

My analysis is further corroborated by the fact that Kota Belud is the stronghold of the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) Church, a denomination which has a large following in both States and has its headquarters in Lawas, Sarawak. Adherents to the faith have been using Bibles in the Indonesian Language before independence. They are well-known for being highly principled and pious. I know this for a fact having so many Christian relatives and friends in the Kota Belud area. From the vote count breakdown, we can be pretty sure that a lower percentage of Christians voted for PKR on the basis that despite the “Malay Bible” controversy instigated by BN, they were not so keen on PR taking over due to their preference to maintain the status quo as I have earlier mentioned. Contrary to what people like Ibrahim Ali have been barking about, the Christians in East Malaysia are actually staunch supporters of BN much like the Christians in Syria who are loyalists of President Assad, or the Christians of Iraq who once supported Saddam Hussein.

Of course money politics was partly to blame and it cannot be denied that BN have created a society that is over-dependent on Government support and handouts, but to the Christian natives, this too may have a divine explanation. If a BN agent came for a visit to a long house in a far flung tribal village on the eve of an election and gave them RM50 each (who knows, it might have been much more) as alleged, these meagre amounts would be like manna from heaven, and prayers and supplication duly answered, and would therefore gladly return the favour. To these God-fearing Malaysians, they would not have cared less even if the money was negligible. Their religion has taught them to appreciate little things in life and not to expect more. Indeed, a Sarawakian Chinese friend of mine who lived amongst the natives opined that Christianity was one of the major obstacles of PR winning overall in Sarawak.

I have heard people in the national capital venting their frustration and anger on East Malaysians by making unkind remarks such as “Let them rot for supporting BN”. Quite frankly, these natives, particularly the Christians, would not mind doing so. They are used to living in harsh and God-forsaken environments in the jungle of Borneo, mind you. Furthermore, those of the Christian faith draw strength and comfort from two or three powerful verses of their Bible. Firstly, that “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”, and that it is difficult for a rich man to enter heaven, and secondly, that Jesus actually encouraged his followers to support the government of his day by saying “[His] kingdom [was] not of this world”. Do not be surprised if many natives follow these teachings to the letter.

So, our West Malaysian friends who are unhappy with the election results are well advised not to point fingers at their East Malaysian counterparts for PR’s failure to wrest control of Putrajaya. If you were in their position, you could not blame them for doing so. Be enlightened on the fact that to most West Malaysians, their political struggle is mainly for equality, fairness, respect and pride, but to most Sabahans and Sarawakians, particularly the natives, their political struggle is for sheer survival. To those of the Christian faith of whatever ethnicity in these two States, their political struggle or understanding is also heavily influenced by biblical teachings. Therefore, the inability to appreciate, understand and deal with the rather complicated political issues faced by East Malaysians would be fatal for any political party vying for their support, as PR have probably now realised or learnt.