'Why the delay in turning in this report? Why do we need to pressure the government to go public with this? This is sickening.'

Gov't report confirms Penan girls were raped

John Smith : (Women, Family and Community Development Minister) Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, you yourself must shoulder a good portion of the blame. You were in government for more than 10 years, and surely knew these poor communities need closer schools, clinics and better infrastructure.

There are such communities across Malaysia yet you let billions be wasted on mega-projects instead of the people who really needed help. BN has had more than 50 years to provide equal access to education and healthcare to all - more than enough time by anyone's standards.

Myop101: So what now? Is the government going to take action? Will they lodge a police report? Releasing a damning report is one thing but using the law to administer justice is another. If those in power refuses to do the needful, I beg Sarawakians to consider whether they will continue to be supportive of an indifferent government which sides with rapists.

Abu Bakar: Shahrizat, you are a woman and probably a mother too. Have some compassion and pity for those Penan girls. How bad can it be for human beings to lose their land, the sources of their livelihood, to cook and drink from polluted water, and to have their womenfolk repeatedly raped? If we Malaysians have brains better than the cow, we should be ashamed of being at par with wild animals.

Merpati: For once, Malaysia, please do these people some justice. Please take care of these people too. They are also fellow Malaysians.

Ruben: Just yesterday there was a beautiful article about the Penans themselves helping people poorer then them. Our government does not care until it is forced to reveal. It does not care if the forests that belong to the Penans are plundered and now this.

Cpw: If not for the Keadilan Wanita chief forcing the issue at hand, it would all be swept under the carpet. Now, Shahrizat has come in. Why the delay in turning in this report? Why do we need to pressure the government to go public with this? This is sickening.

Bob: Shameless indeed! Why did it take one year to investigate? How many additional victims are there because of the delay? We know you prefer to cover up and ignore the issue, but it has been a thorn in the flesh over the years. But then, how many more years will it take to see action?

Wira : This is so sickening. The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (Shahrizat and her predecessor) took almost nine months after completion of on-site investigations just to make the report public.

Now tell us what the ministry and the police are going to do about this? Is it going to end up like the recommendations of the royal police commission and inquiry on the Lingam tapes?

Dbctan: Such cover-ups are shameful beyond words! Can we even trust our ministers and authorities to stand up for what's right and do the needful?

Jacob George : Disgraceful indeed! Everyday some report continues to hit home the same point. We are a nation in denial. As a nation we have lost our way. We have lost sight of truth, transparency, good governance, the need for accountability, ethics and for those either elected to public office or for those in the civil service to work as professionals entrusted to do a job free from political influence and expediency.

Kong: The only way to have change in Sarawak is to vote out the current government which has its iron grip on the state. No Penan issues will be handle humanely by the current government.

Magnus : If I were a Penan hen, why would I trust or be willing to cooperate with the greasy-palmed gatekeeper who I knew was opening my chicken-coop door and allowing the logging company's foxes in there to roam in and out of that coop when they wanted to plunder the contents?

NGO activist Colin Nicholas

is to be commended for his idealism and commitment to help these exploited and voiceless Penan women. But he is scaling a humungous mountain of complicity and ignorance. Still, good luck to Colin in his fight for justice for these Penan women, and to serve those lumberjack rapist bastards with their just desserts.

Imraz Ikhbal : In life, it is often the choices we make, whether individually or collectively, that dictate the outcome we experience. My heart feels the misery and shares the anguish of the Penans.