Would you sell your vote too? Say for RM48,000?

A PKR campaigner has pleaded for understanding for Sarawakians amid brickbats being thrown at them over the money politics issue.

The campaigner, Leon Lee, told a forum in Kuala Lumpur on the Sarawak election last night that he was shocked by the social media response from Peninsular Malaysians after the May 7 state election.

Lee said among the ‘gentler’ remarks had called Sarawakians ‘stupid’ for purportedly selling their votes for RM300, while others implied that they deserved a corrupt government for engaging in money politics.

“Sometimes we need to understand what the Sarawakians are facing – the harsh realities, the difficulties of life that they are facing from day-to-day.

“Only when we understand, then we have a chance to win. If we continue to bash and call them ‘stupid’; every time they don’t vote for you, you don’t identify the root causes of it and you will never win,” he said.

To illustrate his point, Lee asked the audience to raise their hands if they are unwilling to sell their votes for RM50.

After many hands had gone up, the raised the amount to RM1,000, then RM30,000, and finally RM48,000. At the end of it, only few people in the audience still had their hands raised.

The RM48,000 figure, Lee explained, is based on the average annual income in Kuala Lumpur, according to some sources that claim it to be RM4,800 a month, which he has rounded to RM4,000 a month.

This is what it’s like for a rural Sarawakian to receive RM300, he said – a year’s wages.

According to the Department of Statistics, the median household income in Kuala Lumpur is RM7,620 per month as of 2014, while the median household income in Sarawak is RM3,778 per month.

Lee explained that after a five-hour longboat ride into the interiors of Sarawak, one would find no electricity, treated water, phones or Internet connection.

'A can of Coca-Cola is a luxury'

Here, he said, the people earn about RM300 a year, but can get by on the meagre sum by engaging in subsistence farming and fishing and they are self-sufficient.

The little money that they do earn, he said, comes from bringing their surplus crops on the long journey to the market.

“What are all this money used for? Luxuries. To us, a luxury may be an iPhone, the latest Galaxy S7 (smartphone) and all those stuff.

“To my beloved fellow Sarawakians, a can of Coca-Cola is a luxury. Those are the things that you cannot plant. No iPhones, definitely.

“So RM30 goes a long way. RM300 goes even further. You don’t have to sell your vegetables, you don’t have to take a five-hour longboat ride just to sell your vegetables and bring back RM30, keep it in your village until you have about RM150, go back to town and buy a radio – Radio is a big time luxury there as well,” he said.

Lee pleaded on the audience to understand that Sarawakians are not stupid, but the realities they face are different. Until Malaysians appreciate this, he said, the discussion cannot move forward.-Mkini