The Rajas of Sarawak and Sabah

MALAYSIA TODAY SPECIAL REPORT ON THE NEP

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Have you heard of Raja Brooke of Sarawak? I mean Brooke, the Mat Salleh, not berok, which is a species of apes. Well, we now have a new Raja in Sarawak. In local circles he is known as ‘Silverhair’. And Sabah too has its Raja. In local circles he is known as ‘Pakistani’, for what reason I am not too clear.

And these two Rajas have absolute control of all the economic activity in Sarawak and Sabah. No one does business in either Sarawak or Sabah without a sizeable shareholding falling into the hands of their family or friends. The Rajas of Sarawak and Sabah have turned nepotism and cronyism into a fine art form.

Does not the Anti-Corruption Agency know what is going on? Of course it does. But there is no corruption involved here. What is involved is the Barisan Nasional government is bringing development to the poor people, in particular the Bumiputera community and natives, and in Sarawak and Sabah this does not necessarily means Malays. What is involved is that the Bumiputera community are being given projects and contracts because the New Economic Policy (NEP) says it must be given to them. Yeah, sure!

The Malays are in fact the minority in Sarawak and Sabah. But they hold political power. Those who are less than 30% of the population decide the fates of the other 70%. But the majority are beginning to realise that it is but a handful of Malays, those close or related to those in power, who are really benefiting from all this development. And the majority are beginning to realise that it is but a few Chinese tycoons, who are using these so-called Bumiputeras as fronts, who are making the billions under the umbrella of the NEP.

And these two Rajas of Sarawak and Sabah work through nominees. There are many nominees of course. But two such nominees of the Rajas of Sarawak and Sabah who made waves in Sabah recently are Ting Pek Khing of Sarawak, dubbed ‘King of Airports’ and ‘King of the Bakun Dam’, and the Chu Brothers of Sabah, the 'Kings of privatisation'.

And what waves have they created in Sabah? Well, Sabahans know what waves we are talking about. To those outsiders who may not be aware or interested in what is going on in an ‘unimportant’ state like Sabah, read the five Daily Express news reports in the addendum below:

5,000 at protest rally - 19 March 20062)
Dompok joins in urging govt re-think - 24 March 20063)
'Upko can leave BN if unhappy' - 25 March 20064)
PBRS to submit views, proposals - 27 March 20065)
Relocating airport worth second look: Cash - 27 March 2006

Okay, what is the issue here? Well, simple, 1,000 poor people are being displaced on the excuse that they are squatters and illegal immigrants occupying a piece of land owned by the government. As a mark of protest against this move by the Sabah State Government, 5,000 people, Barisan Nasional leaders included, organised a demonstration. "Musa is probably the first Sabah CM to face open public protest over what is seen as an ‘unpopular’ government decision by some quarters," said the Daily Express in its report on the demonstration.

Of course, if you were to read the five Daily Express news reports below, it might give the impression that this is a ‘routine’ matter involving illegal immigrants who have illegally occupied government land and the government wants them out and resettled to another site.

That is what the Sabah State Government wants you to think. Actually, they want to extend the airport and they want that land for the airport extension. And who are those that are being displaced to make way for the airport extension? Local Bumiputeras of course! And who are those who have been given the contract to extend the airport? Ting Pek Khing of Sarawak and the Chu Brothers of Sabah.

There is big money involved here. The airport contract comes to almost RM1 billion if variation orders and other ancillaries are included. We all know Ting made big money from the Bakun Dam project and other giant projects and airport contracts he has been awarded. Ting is no stranger to controversy. The Chu Brothers, however, are hardly known outside Sabah.

Well, the Chu Brothers are well-known in Sabah as Musa Aman’s nominee and front-men. Amongst just some (and there are many more) of those Sabah State Government projects and contracts they have been given are:

1) Privatisation of Sandakan water supply - value RM500 million.
2) 15 years road maintenance contract of Sabah State roads - value RM600 million.
3) 3 years road maintenance contract for Jalan Pantai to Maligan in Sipitang - value RM18 million.
4) Construction of Donggongan to Kimanis highway - value RM200 million.

Yes, that’s right. Ting and the Chu Brothers are beneficiaries of billions of government jobs. And Ting and the Chu Brothers represent the Rajas of Sarawak and Sabah. And they have benefited from billions because of the Eighth Malaysia Plan (RMK8). And this is what the NEP is all about -- Chinese tycoons get richer while landless Bumiputeras and natives of Sarawak and Sabah get displaced by dams and airports.

Do the Malays still want the NEP extended? Yes, they do! Do the Chinese still want the NEP abolished? Yes, they do! Maybe a better question to ask would be: do the Sarawakians and Sabahans still want ‘Silverhair’ and ‘Pakistani’ as their Chief Ministers? Well, I think it’s a stupid question really. Of course they do. And, the next election, Barisan Nasional will still sweep all the seats in Sarawak and Sabah. Then they will implement the Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK9). And the NEP will continue. And the towkays will get richer. And the Bumiputeras and natives will remain landless.