NEP - Another Misfortune for Bidayuh

The share of national wealth is a long time issue where this has bring up to State of Emergency in 1969. Refering back into this agenda by the UMNO, the target of the ownership of bumiputera's shares in Public Listed companies , for me it is beautiful enough:

NEP Benchmarks	1970	1990	2004
Bumiputera equity	2.4% (RM477m)	19.3% (RM20.9b)	18.7% (RM73.2b)
Overall poverty	52%	17.1%	5%
Rural poverty	59%	21.8%	11%
Household income	RM660	RM1,254	RM2,996

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_New_Economic_Policy

From the statistic, the GNI (Gross National Income) gives us an improvement on per capita income of the bumiputera. The government has achieve its target in distributing equal wealth to every single bumiputera.

Who are bumiputeras? Malay and Sabah and Sarawak aborigines. The bumiputeras are those who are easy and relax rather than working very hard to get better living. Depending on subsidies, is the another attitude of "escapetism" and laziness among the bumiputera. Instead of giving away government business to the bumiputera, the government has forgotten the second-class communities who are the main economic contributors. The Indians and Chinese as the non-bumiputera citizen. The slave of economic policy are those who pay for taxes and getting hard to get any return. The bankruptcy of Perwaja Steel and MAS are the fault of NEP implementation where we have lost so much money. Was Eric Chia guilty of the discrimination? Yet to know why but he was found not guilty then.

Tun Mahathir in his book "The Malay Dilemma" stating much more on racial equity and the economic imbalance among the Malaysian citizen. As an economic doctorate, he believe that the economic equality must be practiced to sustain the harmonic country.

Now, after the 12th General election the implementation of RMK-9 will be on board. My only question is that will we Bidayuh gain some benefit from it? Will it be the opportunity for us to gain from billion ringgit of government wealth which is from our taxes? We will see five years after. We will count how many bidayuh millionaires or at least second board in Bursa Malaysia.

It is time to think of our position in the eyes of National Economic Policy. We are better enough than Indians and Chinese where the license of "Bumiputera" and for me it is a luck. But somehow we are not counted in the NEP. Maybe we are non-bumiputera and perhaps, it is better to not have any status or else we will surrender ourself to the economic slavery and discrimination.

I still remember my interview for Royal Airforce candidate in Sungai Besi few years back. Only two of us bidayuh, one chinese and three Malay. Both of us are rejected due to small problem and yet the long-sighted malay boy was selected because he is bumiputera. He is not going to be a jet fighter pilot but he will be the air traffic officer. Well, we can do that too since we have smaller problem, and yet we ended up with three nights transit in Ampang.

As long as you are bumiputera, you can get what you ask. But as long as you are bidayuh, there is nothing much you can do. Be like an ant. Toil harder to get good living. It is hard to get land title, high position in government sectors, government contract, etc.

The "Ketuanan Melayu" is the threat of non-malay bumiputera. So to the peninsular Orang Asli where they are excepted from the national wealth. The dagger seems to be horrible and sharp enough to cut every opportunity to get a penny of government. Maybe it is a payback from British colony and years time of restoration of need to take to get back the wealth. It is their fault to allow the "Strait Agreement" with the British.

We have been cheated to be a bumiputera. Being unemployed bidayuh graduate is my regret to sign in RM 30K loan and now I have to work hard to get rid from it. There must be no different if we do not have the bumiputera status.

1. We still pay RM 1 at the clinic counter as others do.
2. We still pay taxes and fees like others do.
3. We still send our kid to school like others do.
4. Still have to seat 5 times of exam to get a N17 post like indians did.
5. Still get 30% discount to have a house like others did.

The different might be:

1. Hard to get scholarship.
2. We speak bidayuh instead of Bahasa Melayu (known as Bahasa Malaysia before).
3. We will work hard like chinese and migrated out of Malaysia.
4. We rent a piece of land to plant crops.
5. We are more cunning like those businessmans.
6. We march with the indians to protect the temple.
etc..

The NEP the economic imbalance and unequal among those bumiputera. Sabah is the poorest bumiputera's state and yet under UMNO and Barisan Nasional administration. It is not the fault of the Kadazan, Dusun and Murut to adopt UMNO but the Barisan Nasional fault to take advantages from the sabahan ignorance.

There is no Ketuanan in Sarawak because the Iban and the Bidayuh are the majority. The Malays make up 21% of the population in Sarawak and they are abide of the rights and practices of the aborigines. Therefore the wealth contribution should be equal and not to benefit only one race. It is wrong to take someone belonging and never return it back. It is such a frustration for the victim.

The Paid of Balkan Bloody Fighting

PRISTINA, Kosovo - Revelers fired guns, waved red-and-black Albanian flags and set off fireworks over Kosovo Sunday after parliament proclaimed independence in defiance of Serbia and Russia, which condemned the declaration of the world's newest nation.

A decade after a bloody separatist war with Serbian forces that claimed 10,000 lives, lawmakers pronounced the territory the Republic of Kosovo and pledged to make it a "democratic, multiethnic state." Its leaders looked for swift recognition from the U.S. and key European powers — but also braced for a bitter showdown.

Serbia called the declaration illegal and its ally Russia denounced it, saying it threatened to touch off a new conflict in the Balkans. Russia called for an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council, which met later Sunday.

In the capital, Pristina, the mood was jubilant. Thousands of ethnic Albanians braved subfreezing temperatures to ride on the roofs of their cars, singing patriotic songs and chanting: "KLA! KLA!" the acronym for the now-disbanded rebel Kosovo Liberation Army. They waved American flags alongside the red Albanian banner imprinted with a black, double-headed eagle.

Many dressed in traditional costumes and played trumpets and drums, and an ethnic Albanian couple named their newborn daughter Pavarsie — Albanian for "independence."

"This is the happiest day in my life," said Mehdi Shehu, 68. "Now we're free and we can celebrate without fear."

By contrast, police in the Serbian capital Belgrade fired tear gas and rubber bullets in skirmishes with protesters who opposed the declaration. Groups of masked thugs ran through downtown Belgrade smashing windows and ransacking tobacco stands. At least 30 people were injured, about half of them police officers, hospital officials said.

Hundreds of protesters rallied outside the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade. Others broke windows at McDonald's restaurants and at the embassy of Slovenia — which holds the European Union's rotating presidency. Later in the evening, police kept a group of protesters from approaching the Albanian embassy.

Kosovo had formally remained a part of Serbia even though it has been administered by the U.N. and NATO since 1999, when NATO airstrikes ended former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are ethnic Albanian — most of them secular Muslims — and they see no reason to stay joined to the rest of Christian Orthodox Serbia.

The European Union and NATO, mindful of the Balkans' turbulent past, appealed for restraint and warned that the international community would not tolerate violence.

President Bush said the United States "will continue to work with our allies to the very best we can to make sure there's no violence."

"We are heartened by the fact that the Kosovo government has clearly proclaimed its willingness and its desire to support Serbian rights in Kosovo," Bush said while on a visit to Africa. "We also believe it's in Serbia's interest to be aligned with Europe and the Serbian people can know that they have a friend in America."

Underscoring fears of renewed unrest, an explosion lightly damaged a U.N. building housing a courthouse and a jail in Kosovo's tense north, home to most of its roughly 100,000 minority Serbs. No one was injured. An unexploded grenade was found near a motel that houses EU officials.

In the ethnically divided northern city of Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbs vowed never to let Kosovo go.

"The Albanians can celebrate all they want, but this stillborn baby of theirs will never be an independent country as long as we Serbs are here and alive," said Djordje Jovanovic.

Kosovo is still protected by 16,000 NATO-led peacekeepers, and the alliance boosted its patrols over the weekend in hopes of discouraging violence. International police, meanwhile, deployed to back up local forces in the tense north.

Sunday's declaration was carefully orchestrated with the U.S. and key European powers, and Kosovo was counting on international recognition that could come as early as Monday, when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels, Belgium.

But by sidestepping the U.N. and appealing directly to the U.S. and other nations for recognition, Kosovo's independence set up a showdown with Serbia — outraged at the imminent loss of its territory — and Russia, which warned that it would set a dangerous precedent for separatist groups worldwide.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has argued that independence without U.N. approval would set a dangerous precedent for "frozen conflicts" across the former Soviet Union, where separatists in Chechnya and Georgia are agitating for independence.

Serbia's government ruled out a military response as part of a secret "action plan" drafted earlier this week, but warned that it would downgrade relations with any foreign government that recognizes Kosovo's independence.

Meanwhile, Serbia's government minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic, said Serbia would increase its presence in the roughly 15 percent of Kosovo that is Serb-controlled in an apparent attempt to partition the province.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu sought to allay Serbs' concerns, telling them: "I understand today is a fearful day for you all, but your rights and your property will be protected today as it will be always."

At a special session of parliament boycotted by 10 minority Serb lawmakers and televised live nationwide, sustained applause erupted after the rest of the chamber unanimously adopted the declaration of independence, which was scripted on parchment.

They also unveiled a new national crest and a flag: a bright blue banner featuring a golden map of Kosovo and six stars, one for each of its main ethnic groups. Few of the new flags were seen Sunday on Kosovo's streets, where the old Albanian banner still dominated.

"We, the democratically elected leaders of our people, hereby declare Kosovo to be an independent and sovereign state," the proclamation read.

"From today onwards, Kosovo is proud, independent and free," said Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, a former KLA leader. "We never lost faith in the dream that one day we would stand among the free nations of the world, and today we do."

"Our hopes have never been higher," he said. "Dreams are infinite, our challenges loom large, but nothing can deter us from moving forward to the greatness that history has reserved for us."

Like Sejdiu, Thaci reached out to ordinary Serbs, but he had stern words for the Serbian government.

"Kosovo will never be ruled by Belgrade again," he warned.

Thaci also signed 192 separate letters to nations around the world — including Serbia — asking them to recognize Kosovo as a state.

Kosovo's leaders signed their names on a giant iron sculpture spelling out "NEWBORN" before heading to a sports hall for a performance of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" by the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra.

International officials warned their staff to stay indoors and avoid "happy fire" as some revelers shot handguns into the air.

"I feel stronger," said Ymer Govori, 36, carrying his daughter on his shoulders to celebrations downtown. "I have my own state and my own post code," he said, "and it won't say Serbia any longer."

The True Color of My Nation

Yesterday was my second PTD exam in Labuan and there was an article discussing about the issue of Malaysian development and lifestyle. It was a glimpse to me and made me think of what Malaysia was in last few years where moral was the subject of reference and students are taught to say a prayer in some missionary schools.

Malaysia has changed and developed so much better than other South East Asia countries in the continent. As the example to other Islamic countries, Malaysia was recognized as a multi-racial, multi-cultural and so much multi-things. The education system has improved where all states have at least university-colleges and lots of schools regardless of what type of school it is.

Billion of ringgits have been spent to build world's tallest building (was), first-class F1 circuit, big airport, MSC, ports, roads and so forth. Government spent a lot to ensure that Malaysia is well developing and a "good" place to live. Billions will be spent for all planned corridors on RMK-9 to make sure we are not out of money.

The era of development has brought us to another paradigm shift where we have forgotten of who we were before. We used to shake others' hand in the street but now we are scared of snatch thieves. We used to invite our neighbor to our kid's birthday party but now we are scared of them too much because they might be drug pusher or arm robbers.

Everybody is living in fear on their mother land. We fear of riots, murderers, child's abductors, rappers, motorcyclist gangsters and so much more to be scared. Tourist has been blown up brutally, a murdered and rapped cute child has been packed in a bag, pretty college student has been raped and murdered recklessly and so much more to say.

Malaysians have forgotten the true picture of their country that has been painted by its basic philosophy, Rukun Negara. Religion is not the platform of belief anymore. The freedom of religion has been questioned by some other parties and not least some of the materials have been banned. The used of the word "God" are questioned and are made special to only a group of believers.

The "fear" to the divine rulers also seems to be absurd where we do not recognized our king as a top ruler. Some parties tend to control the power of the king and used an opportunity to stop us to talk to our king in time of trouble where nobody seems to care.

The rule of law has been exploited by some group and makes it as their strong wall to hide. The guiltiest are freed by the law. The innocents have been punished because of their disability to protect themselves. The appointments of the high judges are made by some group of people who have the interest and not by the king. Corruption is getting worst though the government has setup the ACA for many years. Only anchovies caught and where are the whales ? Wow, this is another good thing to see in Malaysia.

Teenagers do not respect the elders anymore. Schools are the place to fight instead of respect for the holiness of the knowledge and wisdom. They called their parent "old-folk" instead of father and mother. They watch pornography instead of watching good movies or proper movies. Entertainment is the first choice rather than religion and social activities. They are getting wild even on the road. Danger ahead is nothing as long as the stuntman is on the live show. Are they the nation’s next leaders? Malaysian will be ruled by stuntman in few years to come.

Is this going to be the same in one or two years to come? What if Malaysia achieve it vision 2020, is the situation going to be the same?

The imbalance of development has made Malaysians forgotten of who they are. Parents are busy with money matters, children are getting more rebellious, churches, mosques and temples are getting silent with no more activities. Politicians are busy with vacations and business instead of people's voice as long as the job is done.

It is a hope to see Malaysia to be a safe place to stay or live. We are free to have our religion's practices and belief without fear of other religion threat. Free to walk on the street without fear of murderers and kidnappers. Children play in the playground happily and get back home for homework and dinner. Adults smile to the elders on the street or help a blind to cross the road.

The first class mentality should be preserved and therefore we will not be lacking of goodness to be a Malaysian.

The Fear of the Bidayuh after the 12th General Election

The time has come once again to cast vote after Abdullah Ahmad Badawi being appointed as the Malaysian Prime Minister, the successor of Tun Dr. Mahathir. Is this coming general election will determine another "term of fate " of the Bidayuh under Barisan Nasional ? During the last general election, most of the Bidayuh constituencies are governed by the Barisan Nasional candidate. The reason are:-

1. Bidayuh need more development since they are living in the remote area. Therefore, vote for Barisan Nasional was an alternative for the development although it was slow and sometimes withered before blooming.

2. Bidayuh need education development and changes since there are less educated Bidayuh especially graduated from local universities compare to other tribes. Therefore, vote for Barisan Nasional was an alternative to gain education development especially the construction of more schools and fund.

3. Bidayuh are taught to vote those who can help them. This is the basic political education where people vote for the capable. Some voted for opposition and the next term the opposition party join Barisan Nasional, which has made them disappointed.

so much more to comprehend...

As long as there are government, Bidayuh will never get hungry. Therefore Barisan Nasional is the very hope to survive. Since many years Barisan Nasional is the only answer to Bidayuh tribe.

This is the Bidayuh political scenario. A wise man graduated from oversea and came back to hometown and work with government regardless any kind of position and some setup their own business (doctors, lawyers. etc...) They are the tribe's idols and joining any political party for their constituencies. Some were contested and some resigned after a period of time.

Almost all bidayuh political leaders can be found in any party. Not Keadilan, PAS, DAP or others tribe's opposition parties. Some are with SUPP, some are with SPDP, PBB or PBDS and so forth. They are separated by the differences of philosophy and vision for the Bidayuh tribe and perhaps not to gain self benefit. Since may years the situation remain the same and nobody dare to be in one party because of certain unexplainable "fear".

Fear of no seat allocated if we are in one political party. Therefore split is better so that all Bidayuh constituencies will be taken care by Bidayuh themselves. But their bosses are Chinese, Iban, Melanau and no bidayuh boss. Therefore the fear to the boss is more extreme than the fear of responsibility to the Bidayuh welfare.

Some leaders did talk about the unity among the tribe and yet there are separation among the tribe and this has become the great fear to the Bidayuh to be remained under the Barisan Nasional governance. How do you talk about unity if you cannot promote it to you close Bidayuh friends?

The number one enemy among the Bidayuh Tribe is Barisan Nasional. There are no other causes to this matter. Does Taib Mahmud cares about it? I don't think so as long as Sarawak is still under control. Therefore, there must be a solution of this.

Though Dayak Bidayuh National Association has been formed since many years, it still cannot give a simple answer of Bidayuh separation. It has done so many works to improve the Bidayuh life but yet they are still separate by self agenda politicians.

What happen after the next coming general election will determine what we are going to be in next few years under Narisan Nasional.