YOURSAY | ‘East M'sians, stop voting for those who keep you poor.’

Anonymous #33227154: Why people from Sarawak and Sabah are suspicious of people from the peninsula is really a mystery, and misguided.

We are all Malaysians, and we want a good, capable and uncorrupted government so that we can have better lives for ourselves and our future generations.

We all deserve a better future - everyone in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah.

Anonymous_dbc139d6: Well said, Irwin Umban. Yes, I am very close to Sarawakian and Sabahan friends, who are proud of the traditional engagement between the two states.

Yes, the BN government really puts a very snail's pace development in these two states, which deserve more. However, change must come from within the community.

Anonymous_71c49d0e: I am a Sabahan and I'd like to say that it is partly our fault. It is sad really, what is happening. We have leaders who are selfish, lacking in credibility, and who are greedy.

PBS, PBRS and other BN component parties make me so angry - why are you all so spineless? I have lost faith and respect for every single one of you.

If Sabahans are suffering today, it is your fault. You voted for the Goods & Services Tax (GST) and the Anti-Fake News Bill in Parliament. You are in BN just to make up the numbers and collect ‘dedak’. Shame on you.

If you truly care for Sabahans, you would leave BN. Regular Sabahans are ready for change, with or without you. Ethnic and religion-based parties are no longer relevant.

If you want to keep holding on to the past and to old grudges, then please step aside for the sake of our future, or stay in the past.

Justice: What Sarawakians must understand is that it's not the "Malayan people" who had cheated them and robbed them of their rights. An easy way to see this is the loss suffered by Sarawakian natives (bumiputeras) of their customary land.

It's not the "Malayan people" who had gave logging licences, the licences for planted forests and the leases for oil palm plantations to the big companies owned by the Chinese tycoons and families of the former chief minister on the customary land of the bumiputeras, but the leaders of PBB who have held the post of the CM of Sarawak and ministers in charge of land and forest matters.

The people of Sarawak who had been so blindly voting for the PBB in every past election should confront, question and hold these leaders to account for their blatant and continual hookwinking and betrayal of bumiputeras in the state.

Ask also why, despite PBB being essentially a bumiputera party, the Sarawak bumiputera especially in the kampungs and longhouses still have no tar-sealed roads in or leading to the interior of Sarawak.

Treated water supply and electricity supply is also still not available in many longhouses and kampungs. Ask the PBB leaders where have the wealth of Sarawak gone, such as the billions of ringgit made from timber or logging?

The bumiputera should learn and understand that voting BN as the aforesaid examples have shown, is like giving a thief the key to your house or giving a parang to a robber who will use it to rob you.

David Dass: The truth is that the entire lot of policies of the present government needs to be reviewed.

All parties adopt some version of the same policies that have been in place for decades. The country has changed a great deal since 1971. That was the year the NEP (New Economic Policy) was implemented.

At that time, the Indians were mainly in the estates and in the government service. At least 30 percent of the Chinese were in the civil service and in the armed forces. Both Indians and Chinese served in the police and in the armed forces then. The Malays were mainly rural dwellers.

In 1971 we only had one university, perhaps two. At that time, Sabah and Sarawak were wealthy states. The non-Muslims were the majority in Sabah, as they still are in Sarawak. Hence the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 and the 20-point and 18-point Agreement respectively.

Those agreements were to emphasise the special position of those states within the Federation. That was the basis on which they joined Malaysia.

Today we have more than a hundred universities and colleges with approximately one million undergraduates. We have 35 medical colleges or faculties and many law faculties.

Today foreign workers have replaced Malaysians in the estates. And foreign workers have replaced the Chinese in the construction industry. And there are many foreign workers in the service and hospitality industries. Indian barbers come from India. And Indian restaurants would cease to exist without cooks and workers from India.

There are estimated to be five million foreign workers in the country. That raises many questions. The principle one being, where are the Malaysian workers? Have they all moved up the employment ladder?

We know that is not true of the Indians. The school drop-out rate is high. Not many make it to universities. Many Chinese have left the country. There are less than 5 percent of Chinese and Indians in the civil service and the armed forces today. Most Malaysians are fixed income workers. Many are low fixed income workers. Cost of living issues affect many.

In this backdrop, PAS pushes for hudud law and ultimately an Islamic state, although that is against the constitution. Race and religious rhetoric dominates our politics. But it is a play only by politicians and religious zealots.

On the ground, people get on well with one another as they struggle with the challenges of their daily existence. There appears to be an overwhelming demand for less divisive politics, better governance and greater focus on bread and butter issues.

Not just for Sarawakians, but for the whole nation.

Prudent: Irwin, you have made a very good point. So what can you do about this? There is hardly any internet connection in the longhouses in the interior.

The kleptocrats' strategy is to ensure that your people stay ignorant and poor. I suggest that you go to the longhouses with a group of your like-minded friends between now and May 9, and inform them.

Jing: Yes, it's a simple tactic: just keep the rural folks ignorant in both East and West Malaysia. Otherwise, how are they to win?

Anonymous Hotplate: Irwin, you and your Sarawak friends and relatives can go especially to the rural areas and tell the people about BN's dirty tricks and cheating.

Show them proof and ask them to go for change. Tell them how the politicians they had voted for had amassed huge wealth, leaving Sarawakians to remain poor.

Sarawakian: You speak the truth, Irwin. That's why my organisation and myself have spent tens of thousands educating the rural folk and supporting opposition candidates, especially in this GE.

Dont Just Talk: As the saying goes, you can cheat some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time.

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