Wish the Penan could be as happy...on Najib's birthday

As Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak celebrated his 57th birthday on Friday, the folk in a remote highland village in Sarawak are wondering if he still remembered the promises he made a day ago that life can and will get easier for them.

On Thursday, the PM’s high-powered entourage had swooped in by helicopters into Long Banga village in the infamous Baram district, where illegal logging activities are rampant and openly sanctioned by corrupt state officials.

No wonder then, as Najib and his minders landed, the disenchantment felt by Sarawakians was evident.

The sprawling state is still largely poverty-stricken. Despite joining the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, the rural folk, in particular the Penan, have to live in backward conditions without easy access to basic electricity and water. As for education, it is still a luxury that many dream of for themselves and their children.

Nevertheless, as part of the large-scale production put on for his official visit, some 2,000 villagers were persuaded to greet him. And for every birthday wish that each might have politely offered, at least three others wondered when would it be before they get to finally sample some form of comfort, some modicum of modernity, basic infrastructure and amenities?

“Dear PM, please visit the longhouses with no electricity. Better yet, stay overnight there,” was the undertone that ran through most of the messages tweeted to him when he arrived two days ago.

For the Penan, whose complaints go deeper and range even wider, including rampant rape of their women folk, this was the misery of their plight. “Exciting for you,but certainly not for them, especially when their daughters are the rape victims of state-endorsed illegal loggers.”

Yet, Najib was unfazed, closing an eye to the obvious artificiality of the event stage-managed by the Sarawak government to celebrate his birthday.

Perhaps with an eye on the 10th state elections that must be held before May 2011, Najib did not disappoint these leaders. He promised a slew of goodies including a RM100 million road to connect the villages in the Baram area to coastal town Miri.

He also allocated RM6 million to build a mini hydro-electric dam for Long Banga, RM1 million for a road linking the village to an airport, and RM500,000 for a mobile medical clinic.

“I am so touched that some Penans walked for 2 days to attend my function in Long Banga, Baram,” the PM later tweeted to the rest of the nation.

But while the Taib administration might be happy with the goodies announced, the people of Sarawak especially the tribal folk doubt that they will get to see much of the federal allocations promised by Najib. Too often have they seen money that was supposed to make their lives better hijacked into the personal bank accounts of their state officials.

Back in the peninsula, where at least 300,000 East Malaysians have flocked to work due to the lack of job opportunities in their home states, the cynicism was even greater and more open.

Not only are the better educated sickened by corruption of the current governments led by Chief Minister Taib Mahmud in Sarawak and Musa Aman in Sabah, they point to the federal government’s glaring refusal to help the Penan women.

Despite the slew of evidence gathered by NGOs of the systemic rape of Penan women by illegal loggers, who have already bribed their way into the good books of the state government, Najib and his federal Cabinet have also unfortunately chosen to close an eye.

“Sad to say, this is another massive publicity stunt. Najib has only gone on a trip that was pre-arranged by officials. He is not even willing to confront the tragic conditions faced by the Penan and admit the problems caused by the politically-connected timber concessionaires as this could put him at odds with Taib,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

comments of Wong Choon Mei in MM