It appears that in the rural areas of Sarawak, the people are so poor that they will gladly accept a few ringgit to vote for the BN, something which no opposition party or independent candidate is in the position to offer them.

Forget about all the 'support' that they give to any opposition candidate during the campaign period. This is merely to up the ante so that more money and promises are forthcoming from the BN (and if they are lucky, from the opposition candidates as well). They think that they are being smart. They, of course, fail to realise that they are only deceiving themselves.

This act of self-deception will have drastic consequences for them over the next five years but will they ever learn? It has been going on for the last 40 over years as far as Sarawak is concerned.

Ironically, especially in the Malay/Melanau constituencies, it is not even necessary for the BN to pay anything other than for some token food and drinks for the voters. These are the voters who will believe anything and everything that the BN, and the BN-controlled media, will tell them.

The BN has proven yet again that it can fool most Sarawakians all the time.

The situation is so bad that in some, if not most, of these areas, the saying goes that even if you put a monkey under the BN symbol, it will win. And there are many BN YBs who are arguably worse than monkeys. The only reason they are picked is to be 'yes men' to the chief minister. Just give them their 'bananas'.

The federal-level BN is only too happy to let the chief minister, arguably the most corrupt and richest politician in the country, to get away with it as long as he delivers the goods each election. How, is never the question.

The people of Sarawak have still not woken up to the reality of just how much their timber, land and other wealth and resources have been stolen by Taib Mahmud and his cronies, and their oil and gas by the federal government.

The disparity in development levels between Sarawak and the other states in Malaysia is obvious even to the casual observer. Sarawak is at least 25 years behind in most areas.

It is doubtful that the 9th Malaysia Plan's avowed intentions of eradicating poverty, etc, will work, since most of the allocations meant for Sarawak will be stolen by the monkeys who have just been voted in the just-concluded 2006 state elections. Or rather by the zookeeper, Taib Mahmud and his cronies and family.

As long as oil and gas revenues keep pouring in, the federal government will, of course, keep quiet.

After all, the people of Sarawak are paying for it themselves. Where else in the world can you find people paying to get cheated and stolen from?

That is democracy. The people of Sarawak deserve what they get.

Sarawak! Oh, Sarawak!