This article about the Penan woman Ms J who lost her life after continued bleeding after giving birth was unspeakably horrific.

Despite continued 'treatment' over a period of several weeks by a Sarawak government medical dresser, this woman tragically died because the dresser failed to summon an emergency helicopter to bring her for treatment in Miri or even Marudi.

This is a quite heartrending tale of government incompetence, irresponsibility, lethargy and abandonment of duty of care. If this had happened in any truly democratic and accountable country, then the people responsible would be charged and probably dismissed from service if not actually jailed.

But there is more to ask here. The Resident of this division of Sarawak is a man called Ose Murang. Residents are generally regarded as having a 'fatherly' responsibility over the people in their areas especially those that are poor and needy as the Penans most certainly are.

So what was Ose Murang doing at the time that this woman was slowly dying in great pain and agony? Well, I suppose he was glowing in the knowledge that he had just recently been granted a Datuk-ship presumably for services to his people.

It is quite relevant that nearly all the congratulatory messages in the newspapers for him being awarded his Datuk-ship came from timber companies.

Now one wonders where Datuk Ose's priorities actually lie - with his people and dying Penan women or with the timber tycoons?

But there is even more to this. Ose Murang's wife is a Ms Valerie Mashman, now presumably Datin Valerie Mashman and Datin Valerie is none other than the Honorary British High Commissioner to Sarawak

So one wonders what the British government might say about one of its diplomats being the wife of a blatantly incompetent person such as Datuk Ose Murang who as Resident of this division of Sarawak is presumably ultimately responsible for the untimely and horrifying death of this Penan woman.

Tell us Datuk Ose, would a helicopter fail to be summoned if it was you or Datin Valerie that was lying bleeding in the jungles of Sarawak for two weeks?