Sarawakians looking for work in Cambodia? Shocking!

Several months ago, an old pal from Sarawak contacted me asking whether I was keen to take up an editorial position in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia.

He told me that he has been looking for me for some time as the newspaper he was attached to needed editors. We had lost contact for quite a while.

“No, not at my age. I’m not that adventurous now,” I replied in a WhatsApp message to him, respectfully declining his offer.

Seriously, Cambodia? The land of Pol Pot and the “killing fields”. Even if I were younger, I doubt I would make the move to Indochina. For a holiday, yes, but to live and work there doesn’t sound very inviting nor look promising to me. Unless, of course, I’m so desperate with no more food on the table.

“Desperate” is the word that comes to mind when I read the story of the 44 Sarawakians who are now imprisoned in Cambodia for what was officially alleged to be “involvement in illegal online gambling”.

Their plight was first highlighted on Feb 7 by Julau MP Larry Sng who said these victims aged between 18 and 20, were promised high-paying jobs before they were brought to Cambodia last year.

“These 47 young Malaysians (44 of whom are Sarawakians) are from poor families who are victims of a human-trafficking scam and are being held in a Cambodian provincial jail without trial and without the Malaysian Embassy (in Cambodia) being informed,” he said.

According to Sng, they were held for a week in a lock-up and then transferred to a provincial jail 446km from the capital on Dec 16 last year.

Sarawakians leaving for greener pastures in foreign countries for study or work is not something surprising. Neither is migrating overseas. But I’m actually shocked that young Sarawakians have to go to Cambodia to look for jobs.

I’ve not heard of Sarawakians or Malaysians migrating to Cambodia. At least, no friends that I know of. The opposite is true, isn’t it? Many from Indochina, like the Indonesians and Bangladeshis before them, are in Malaysia in search of a better life and a higher-paying job than back home.

My next all-important questions: Are conditions in Cambodia, including the economy now, so much better than in Sarawak? What jobs are available in Cambodia that these young Sarawakians cannot find at home?

Here, I’m mindful that the 44 who were arrested were very young (aged 18 to 20). What kind of academic qualification could they possibly have at that age? What kind of jobs could they be offered with little or no paper qualification at that age?

It’s a different story with my friend who went to Phnom Penh to take up a senior executive post in a newspaper. He is probably on contract, will work a couple of years, earn his US dollars and return home.

There is another friend from Sarawak who is working in Papua New Guinea (a real Third World nation, as we all know) but again, it’s a different story when the boss is a fellow Sarawakian and the PNG company is also owned by him.

Sng described the 44 arrested as from poor families. I take that to mean B40 families, the group which is most in need of government assistance.

My 44 fellow Sarawakians went to Cambodia for one reason and one reason only – to earn money and help their struggling parents and siblings. Unfortunately, they were duped and got into trouble.

Growing wealth gap

Yes, it’s true. Some of my fellow Sarawakians are desperate. And they are desperate because they are poor.

Discussing poverty and the sufferings of those trapped in its quagmire is always sad. It’s sadder when people you could call your own are helplessly in need through no fault of theirs, perhaps.

As I touch on this subject, it’s heartening to hear Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s warning that it would be disastrous if the wealth gap between the rich and the poor is not addressed in the long run.

“An important factor that might lead to calamity in our country is if the country’s income gap between poor and rich is too wide. That is why the federal government today is working hard to close this gap and ensure the wealth is evenly distributed among the people,” he said in his keynote address at the Premier Unity Gathering in Penang yesterday.

Indeed, Mahathir and his “administration of hope” have to seriously give a valid answer to the one question Sarawakians have repeatedly asked: Why is Sarawak still the poorest state in the country after more than six decades of independence?

Honestly, I do not expect a satisfactory answer if ever Putrajaya bothers to respond to that poser. But we, Sarawakians, must also concede that the bulk of the blame lies with us.

We keep on electing the same parties filled with corrupt, greedy and unscrupulous politicians to lead us. They become rich, the rest of us are left by the wayside. Isn’t it time to wake up, we paloi Sarawakians?

Come the next state elections, due in 2021, before we go out to cast our votes, I suggest that we knock our heads on the wall to awaken us; then look in the mirror and seriously ask ourselves, “Am I going to be paloi again?”

Let’s make sure that five years down the road, no Sarawakian will ever be so desperate as to go to the “land of the killing fields” to look for work again.

The 47 Malaysians are expected to be home safe and sound in the days ahead as our foreign minister is now personally looking into the case, according to official updates.

My final word of advice to our young, desperate Sarawakians - if you must go abroad to work, never choose a Third World country. In fact, for any country you want to go to, remember that the grass will not necessarily be greener.

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FRANCIS PAUL SIAH heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) and can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com - Mkini