Weekly columnists like me are constantly tormented by the lack of subjects to write about. When the deadline approaches, I sometimes freeze into an angst-filled blank in what is often termed as a writer's block.

The pending Batang Ai by-election is very much welcome because it is a windfall of issues on which a rush of endless ideas is ready at hand for the political observer. Then again, as the sole Sarawakian on the Malaysiakini team of columnists, I feel duty-bound to tell readers what I know and feel about Sarawak to the outside world from my perspective.