COMMENT | Sarawak, Sabah strike back at racists, bigots

COMMENT | Former Sarawak chief minister, the late Adenan Satem died six years ago in 2017. Many Sarawakians and others still remember him with great fondness and reverence for his short, yet fruitful and meaningful tenure as chief minister.

To me, perhaps one of Adenan’s most powerful and endearing contributions as Sarawak’s chief executive was to stand up to certain extremist groups in the peninsular who had incited racial and religious sentiments.

He would have none of their nonsensical racism and bigotry.

Adenan was always proud to declare that racial and religious tension was non-existent in Sarawak. According to the chief minister, racial harmony and religious tolerance are well known in Sarawak because there are no extremists and no one plays god in the Land of the Hornbill.

At one point, Adenan even issued a very serious warning, stating that “Sarawakians have good reasons to say they want to leave Malaysia” if the silliness and stupidity of some political zealots were not halted.

This was at a time when the Allah issue erupted again, followed by the furore over a politician’s callous call to burn the bible.

Several important underlying factors stood out in Adenan’s tough stance against extremist groups in Peninsula Malaysia.

It was clear that Adenan had earned the respect of then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and with the premier’s support, the chief minister’s bold statements were taken seriously at the federal level.

On record, Adenan was the first chief minister of Sarawak to openly and publicly take on those fanning racial and religious hatred.

I do not recall Adenan’s predecessor, who was chief minister for 33 long years, taking up such issues during his watch.

Adenan had also banned certain known extreme personalities from entering Sarawak. This time, exercising his immigration authority as chief minister had the full and unequivocal support of Sarawakians.

What is also obvious is that when extreme groups started to fan hatred against those of other races or creeds - Sabah and Sarawak are hardly taken into the equation. To most of them, Malaysia only means the peninsular.

They also conveniently forget that there is no official religion in the two Borneo territories and that the majority of Sabahans and Sarawakians are Christians and non-Malay/Muslims.

‘East Malaysia rejects extremists’

This vast difference in demographics between Peninsula Malaysia and the Borneo regions has always been misunderstood, possibly by design, by religious fanatics.

They cannot just bulldoze their views or attempt to impose their Islamic rules on those of other faiths, certainly not where the “nons” are the majority.

These zealots must also be told that there is no so-called “green wave” in Sabah and Sarawak. As far as I know, all the PAS candidates who had contested in Sarawak elections over the past many years had lost their deposits.

Oh yes, the grass is also green in Sarawak but I only see blue waves (not green) splashing into our long, beautiful coastline.

Here, I would humbly suggest to the PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang to send his many newbie MPs to Sarawak to learn about religious tolerance and the many unique cultures of Sarawak’s diverse ethnic groups.

I believe Sarawak’s Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah will be happy to host PAS clerics to a lecture titled: “Why it doesn’t make you less Muslim if you were to visit a church or a temple!”

Karim has been very vocal over the past week in responding to the issues brought up by radical groups, and rightly too.

It is also what I would describe as a continuation of Adenan’s legacy of tackling the fanatics and radicals at eye level. It’s a “don’t you dare!” warning delivered right into your face.

I’m also glad that Karim has backed Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh after she came under attack for her ministry’s involvement in the “Jom Ziarah” programme.

I consider Yeoh a personal friend and can vouch for her integrity and diligence as a person of faith as well as a public servant.

In no way would a person of Yeoh’s calibre and intelligence cross any red line. I’m sure the minister is more than capable of defending herself, so I’ll leave it at that.

I must also commend former Sabah chief minister Salleh Said Keruak for speaking up for Sabahans on the issues in question.

He pointed out that intermarriages are common among Sabahans and many have relatives of a different faith. They will be attending family events like marriages in places of worship other than their own.

This has never been an issue in Sabah and there is no reason why this should not be allowed, said Salleh.

The Sabah leader also shared a video, a 59-second clip taken in 2018 depicted a man breaking fast in a church in the United Arab Emirates, saying that he felt that he should share it with all Malaysians with the hope that it would bring them closer amid attempts to drive them apart.

Speaking about his experience, the man said: “What I saw this evening is Muslims stepping into the Christian world and Christians stepping into the Muslim world. All I saw were smiles. All I saw was happiness.”

Indeed, in Sabah and Sarawak, all we see among our people of various ethnic groups and creeds are joy and happiness as we celebrate our different festivities together.

Over this Ramadan, I believe that the Christian community will host the breaking fast event in a Christian centre for their Muslim brethren in Kuching. I expect a similar event in Kota Kinabalu.

It’s very sad and depressing too that the same could not be held in certain states in the peninsula where the fanatics rule.

If some people do not want to see smiles and happiness around them but choose to be unhappy and miserable, what can we do?

FRANCIS PAUL SIAH is a Catholic from Sarawak and he thinks that Malays/Muslims are among the nicest folks around. He can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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