Obviously, some people in Sarawak, in sharing the electoral victory of Pakatan Harapan (Hope Alliance) at Federal level, are going overboard in rejoicing it. True it has created an awkward situation for Sarawak, which has got an overwhelming mandate of the people under Barisan Nasional in May 2016 State election, has to work with the Pakatan Harapan led Federal Government, which is not expected to be sympathetic to it.
But Pakatan Harapan’s success in Sarawak, with due respect, cannot be considered a major success. True it managed to win Mas Gading, Punca Borneo, Lubok Antu , Saratok, Julau and Selangau apart from keeping its own seats of Stampin, Bandar Kuching, Sarikei, Lanang, Bandar Sibu and Miri.
Suffice for the people to celebrate the victory the Sarawak way. After all DAP, which has got the lion share of the victory by winning seven seats while PKR won three and Independents two, did not contest as candidates of Pakatan Harapan but as candidates of DAP, PKR and Independents respectively in Sarawak.
The loss of Puncak Borneo, comprising the State Constituencies of Tarat, Mambong and Serumbu, could be avoided had the leaders committed themselves to work as a team and put their efforts to ensure the victory of the candidate in the constituency in the election. But it was not to be.
What explanation can be given on the defeat of BN Candidate in Serumbu, a PBB seat, in Mambong, a UPP seat a BN friendly party, and Tarat also a PBB seat. The candidate might be new and inexperience but he had been selected through a strenuous process. His weaknesses, like any other human beings, should be explained fully by the more experience party elders.
Generally, PBB has the machinery and manpower to keep its seats as proven in all constituencies that the party contested in the just concluded GE14. Obviously, the leaders in Tarat, Mambong and Serumbu must take full responsibility for the loss in Punca Borneo.
More importantly, the defeat of BN in two of the three Parliamentary constituencies in Bidayuh areas does not reflect well on the leadership of the community.
PKR’s victory in Lubok Antu, Julau and Selangau was a bonus for the party. It could exploit the quarrel within PRS in those constituencies to win the seats. Firstly, it was certainly not a wise decision to sack deputy President and vice President of the party just days before the nomination day. The decision had the smack of arrogance and over confidence, which party members did not take it lightly.
The people respect the decision of voters to give more seats to DAP and PKR, which are expected to be gratified and humble with their success as the people of Sarawak. Why go overboard with the victory to such an extent of implicating a person holding the highest office on the land in politics. He deserves loyalty and respect from the people, whom he has served for more than 50 years in various capacities.
It is disrespectful, impolite and rude to say the least, to accuse a public figure, who is holding an apolitical office, of wrong doing using old and outdated allegations from Sarawak Report, the rubbish being run by a foreigner, who has no love and loyalty to Sarawak. Worse, the writer is only pretending to know about Sarawak.
Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib’s immediate successor, Datuk Patinggi Adenan Haji Satem, the fifth Chief Minister of Sarawak, used to say it would take a long time to list out things that his predecessor had done for Sarawak as the fourth Chief Minister from March 26, 1981 to February 28, 2014.
Basically, all the development plans and programmes that have or are being implemented were his ideas and aspirations. The State has indeed been very lucky to have a leader like him, who is not easy to find.
He believes, if the history of Sarawak is to be written in future, the chapter on Tun Abdul Taib will be the most significant one in it. He has succeeded in transforming the state from back water to what it is today, prosperous, confident and sufficiently developed. Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib has shown the people and the State the way forward.
Datuk Patinggi Adenan, who has known Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib for more than 50 years, describes him as the man of all seasons like a renaissance, whose knowledge is not only deep but very wide. Talking to him is an education by itself. That is the mark of the man. The people, who have the opportunity to talk to him on any subjects like history, politics or any other subjects, will learn something from what he has said.
The politics of development, as the state’s philosophy of development, was introduced by the fourth Chief Minister of Sarawak, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud (now Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Governor of Sarawak) whose primary concern, since he took over the helm of the State government on March 26,1981, was to pull Sarawak out of the back water of development into its mainstream. He had been preoccupied with the idea that Sarawak must run faster than other states in order to catch up with their progress and advancement.
The rate of poverty in Sarawak in the early 80s was about 60 per cent and unemployment among the people especially youth in villages and longhouses were very high. The demographic pattern of the State was about 80% rural and 20% urban.
The situation gave rise to an explosive feeling of dissatisfaction against the government, which was being accused of pursuing politics of favoritism. Consequently, instigating racial and communal feelings was the best weapon to win support, though a highly divisive support, in any elections.
The new way forward must necessarily be to mobilise the people and orientate them towards development. Besides, the way forward was also to motivate youth to have more confidence in themselves and be prepared to accept changes and reinvigorate members of the civil service and synergise their services with the demands of development. It was indeed a tall order.
Lest, the people, who tend to go overboard, forget politics of development is synonymous with the leadership of Pehin Sri Abdul Taib (now Tun Abdul Taib, the seventh Governor of Sarawak), a veteran politician, who has already put in 44 years of his life to public services both at the state and federal levels.
Besides, his 31 years as the Chief Minister of Sarawak, he had also served in the federal cabinet in various capacities and under four Prime Ministers for 13 years. Of course, the people comprising more than 30 ethnic groups all know he started his political career at the age of 27 with his appointment as the Minister for Communications and Works on July 22, 1963 in the first post –Independence State Cabinet.
He was of the firm view that politics in Sarawak, like those in the rest of the country, must be based on sincere desire to achieve something to fulfill “Merdeka” with good economic growth and development that could bring positive changes to the people.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib has been pursuing the politics of development as the basis of his struggle because to him the other forms of politics, with a lot of rhetoric or worse empty talks, do not bring development benefits to the people, state and country. Hence, sincere efforts must be made to reduce politicking among the people because, in any political fights, it is the people who get confused the most, their line of thinking and attitude will be distracted.
As the Chief Minister, he was also of the firm view that racial and extreme religious practices and politics that tend to divide the people must be fought by all people. These two things cannot be compromised as the development of the future cannot afford to accommodate negative elements.
* Development for the people
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib believes whatever political views that the people entertain, must not prevent them from agreeing, as a matter of principle, on the question of development for the people. Unfortunately, politics had gone quite far that some leaders of the opposition thought that they should continue to harp on development issues to suit political agenda and score political points on the ground.
Generally, the people must stop indulging in petty politics and instead work together in matters of development for the overall progress and prosperity of the people. Those persisting with petty practices in order to score political points will only have themselves to blame if they cannot deliver the goods to the people. This is the reality of the future.
His mammoth task as the fourth Chief Minister of Sarawak was to propel, reshape and develop Sarawak, which is almost the size of peninsular Malaysia, but still under-developed and had small population of 1.5 million people only. The small population was scattered in 5,000 pockets of settlements over a wide area. Besides, the State inherited a very poor network of roads.
He knew, apart from having a strong political will, his administration must have efficient administrative service with good delivery system and enjoy a strong support from the people. The people were living in villages and longhouses, which were distant apart with the distance of anything between three to 100 miles.
Essentially, his immediate task was to bring the various ethnic groups together. In other words; earnest efforts must be made to nurture harmonious relationship and goodwill among about 30 ethnic and sub-ethnic groups in the State as unity of the people must become the cornerstone of the progress and advancement of the State towards the year 2020 and beyond.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib realised that the political situation must be made healthier, strong and stable and justice must be accorded to all people regardless of their racial origins or religious beliefs or their locations as the prevailing means of serving the people, state and country.
To him the common struggle must be motivated by the desire to preserve the unity and solidarity of the people and ensure that no community should be left out of the mainstream of development. Only the politics of pragmatism can bring about a transformation that brings improvement and the betterment of life for the people.
Undoubtedly, Politics of development will be Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib’s lasting legacy but no less significant is his philosophy of confluence of rivers or where rivers meet. It is the philosophy of confluence of aims, aspirations and political movements that exemplify the concept of power sharing through the merger of strength.
It takes cognizance of the fact that Sarawak, which forms a third of the country, has a diverse background with the people comprising of about 30 ethnic and sub-ethnic groups and localities. Therefore, conscientious efforts must be made to promote goodwill and harmony among them to ensure that they will stay united and move forward shoulder to shoulder with each other.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib believed any movement that tends to confuse people and get them to be bogged down in useless squabbles and turning them away from the necessity of participating in the process of adjustment to the new situation, is an anti-development activity; the people who follow anti-government propaganda will be left out in the process of development.
He said whether the people like it or not our lives have been so intertwined by our interdependent on each other in various fields, be they in economics, politics and other fields. The people have got to make a success of this co-operation. Nothing else is a better alternative in the way we look to our future.
* No racialism or religious extremism
Essentially, his policies are meant for all people, all sections of the community. This country does not have to be trapped in wrangling between races and groups as they have ample of wealth to be shared by all. It is the problem of how to distribute it. Our politics should not be based on how to deny others and grab as much as possible for ourselves but rather on how to realise the potentials of this country.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib used to say the government being led by him is obliged to fight against any form of racialism or religious extremism because they are like cancer that saps the energy for development. The people must put maximum efforts behind the developmental drive.
In this regards, the development programme, which is new and innovative in concept, if successfully implemented, can give maximum impact to the people. Hence, conscientious efforts must be made to fight against conservative forces or correct any misunderstandings, natural or induced, on the ground.
Besides, efforts must also be made to introduce new concept of development, which entails new ways of doing things to reflect the commitment to bring the people of Sarawak to the mainstream of development.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib said this country has no majority from any particular groups of people. Therefore, the people should avoid arguing that certain groups can become a majority or certain groups should dominate and there should be politics of dominance of one group over other groups.”
Admittedly, it is an attractive way of trying to wrestle power but does not provide a guarantee to a smooth development of the future as development must be able to increase the size of wealth and develop good distribution machinery for the people to benefit from it.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib believes that politics of development has provided a common forum, which could bring all parties together to learn how to compromise and get the leadership to contribute towards better ways of implementing policies for the benefits of the people.
Even in his own party PBB, which has more Bumiputra leanings, the leaders, in their discussions of major policies, talk about the interests of other communities too. In other words, they want to ensure that justice must prevail in the way the government deals with all communities.
Actually, politics of development outlines roles of elected representatives, civil servants and community leaders in the process of development. For example, it requires elected representatives of the people to weigh between short-term and long-term benefits and make efforts to convince the people that a long-term programme, which can have comprehensive coverage of the whole state, is more important than short-term ones.
Understandably, politics of development requires civil servants to interact with people. Those who are aloof and having no social activities will not be able to undertake complicated tasks. Hence, civil servants must be encouraged in their social and sporting activities. For example, district officers are expected to give as much leadership as anybody else in their respective districts, not only inside but also outside their offices as they have to blend in with activities of the people.
In this regards, civil servants must have the inclinations to hold discussions among themselves and willingly to come out with new ideas. Gone are the days when a civil servant, doing things out of his own initiative, could be rebuked for not waiting for instructions.
Politics of development also propagates that civil service must be able to implement development plans, particularly those with sophistication, with greater courage, dedication and open-mindedness. The old style of looking for precedence in files is no longer suitable now, in the ever changing situation with different problems and new challenges.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib believes that politics of development has been able to create Sarawak’s style of politics where the people only fight when there is something to fight for. Otherwise, they do not have to fight bitterly. The people may fight hard in the elections but they don’t carry their bitterness after they are all over; that is a very important attitude for the maintenance of democracy.
Generally, politics of development emphasises on the roles of people in development, raising their absorptive capacity and developing the right attitude and discipline with a strong inclination to participate in the process, which entails the exercise of some form of leadership, in as many areas of development as possible.
Essentially, the people must understand and adopt the discipline required in the process of implementing it. In this regard, they must perceive the process as more than just providing money or making provisions for development. It is the marrying of capital, raised by the government, with efforts of the people. Any development can benefit the people provided they get involved in the process.
ANAK SARAWAK
