Sarawakians are going to the polls this Saturday. It is the 10th state election.

I urge the voters to come out and vote without fear. Make use of your citizen's right to determine the state's next leadership.

The voters have the responsibility to give hope to their future generation.

I have always had a passion for Sarawakians as I did my pastoral ministry in Sarawak, based in Kuching, in the early 1990s for four and a half years.

As West Malaysians, we went into Sarawak with our passports as if we were entering into another country. I applied for a work pass.

Regrettably a high ranking immigration officer who was a Christian turned me down. Subsequently my whole family had to resort to flying in and out every three months. Time and money wasted in such a ridiculous hassle!

We realised that Sarawakians were people who felt insecure with outsiders, including West Malaysians.

They thought that West Malaysians were trying to steal their rice bowls.

Even for the people who were given business passes, they needed to fly out every six months. Such an investor-unfriendly policy will eventually cripple their economies.

There is much connection between investment and economy. If Sarawakians look from the point of "money being siphoning out" as their priority concern, then efforts will be made to ensure that outsiders cannot stay there for long.

If they were to look from the point of "opportunity for economy growth", then will they welcome those outsiders!

Wherever there are business activities, there is growth and prosperity.

About four years ago my wife went back to Kuching after years of absence. She was appalled to see that there was not much development ever since we left.

In fact, it seemed that the city was getting more stagnant. I was not surprised to hear that. The strict immigration laws had either caused businesses to pull out or no new ones wanted to come in.

Today we see lots of Sarawakians and Sabahans working in West Malaysia. Such a scenario just speaks louder than words.

Who made the Sarawakians so kiasu (scared of losing) then? The corrupt ruling representatives, of course!

Sarawak has the richest natural resources in Malaysia, including timber and petroleum.

Yet it is the second poorest state in the country, after Terengganu! By the way, Terengganu also has rich oil fields. So either the leadership of Sarawak is incompetent or they simply abused the state resources.

Evidently it was found to be of the latter.

It is sad that citizen there at large have been instilled with such thoughts as rejecting the "rice bowl robbers" until they were convinced it was the truth.

And subsequently they accepted the "fact" that they are poorer and less competent than the West Malaysians. By riding on the heresy, the now desperate Barisan Nasional leaders have told the voters to reject political parties from West Malaysia.

By giving such advice, they were actually denying Prime Minister Najib Razak ‘1Malaysia' concept.

East and West Malaysians have been divided for too long. Instead of uniting the people, these bankrupt leaders were dividing us.

So it is time for a new leadership to provide governance. Even as Pakatan Rakyat is pushing for a "Malaysian Malaysia", Sarawakians must consider this time round to make a change in government.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin claimed that BN's policy of ‘Transformation' is better than PR's ‘Ubah' (Change).

If BN never provided enough basic infrastructure in the past 48 years, what ‘transformation' then can you expect from them?

It is disgraceful to hear from PR campaigners about their traveling experience on rough road journeys which as if they were riding on boats!

Both Najib and Muhyiddin should travel by roads instead of by air. They should experience the shameful state of Taib's ‘development'.

Sarawakians should become the catalyst for a federal change. Do not miss the opportunity of a lifetime.

When the old generations have been deprived of much benefit, enough is enough, think of the future generations.

The vast resources of Sarawak are given by God to every Anak Sarawak. Claim back what are rightfully yours.

The only means of bridging up the gap between the east and west is to enlarge the cake of economy in Sarawak.

If Penang which has not much natural resources and yet PR ruled Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng can make it the best state in the investment index, how much more can Sarawak aspire to, what with its rich natural resources?

We pray for a bright future in Malaysia. All Malaysians should be prosperous. By then there should be no more differentiating each other as an East Malaysian or a West Malaysian. We are all Malaysians, and truly Anak Bangsa Malaysia.