COMMENT The big political picture for Sarawakians is more than a little different than what is seen in Putrajaya.

This somehow seems to escape the attention of the patronising and condescending crowd in peninsular Malaysia as they push their discredited self-serving political agendas in the state.

NONE The political rigidity in ‘parochial' Sarawak - nationalism is the favoured politically correct term - is only counterbalanced by the gung-ho mindset in Sabah which is equally parochial but with a definite difference, as its saving grace.

This is not speaking in riddles.

Sabah, unlike Sarawak, still sees itself since the last general election as the proverbial tail that wags the dog. But it has been unable so far to persuade the latter to keep it company in quest of a brave, new world.

Umno, even as it numbers its days, can thank its lucky stars that this elusive Sabah-Sarawak unity has given it an extended and undeserved lease on life in Putrajaya.

All it takes is for something to snap in Sarawak, it may be inevitable if not imminent, and Umno will be history.

Political mindset

The Sarawak political mindset was clearly demonstrated in the just concluded Sibu parliamentary by-election where Sarawak DAP convincingly trounced the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP).

All the signs were there but scattered, albeit subtle and even discreet, and it would take more than even the experienced Sarawak hands in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah to read them.

NONE The powers-that-be in Sarawak have to virtually bare their souls for the world to see where the state is headed as the three-decades-old administration of the aging Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud (right ) comes to a close.

These are yet to be explored and debated in writings on the May 16 polls, when the shamelessly and totally compromised Election Commission (EC) beat a hasty retreat with its tail between its legs. Heads will roll here for the BN's loss of Sibu.

Still, the drubbing that the SUPP received at the hands of DAP Sarawak had less to do with the latter and more to do with the ruling coalition and personalities, both at the state and federal levels.

Drubbing? Trouncing? That's what it would be if the highly suspicious 2,429 postal votes were discounted considering that even independent candidate Narawi Haron managed to garner 36 votes against the insulting 70 - for DAP.

So, it's not true to say that the opposition Pakatan Rakyat won Sibu by a small 398 vote margin although it looks that way on the surface as BN consoles itself disbelievingly while licking its wounds.

Indeed, the surprise is that the BN did not go down totally crushed and humiliated, and for this the coalition can thank Umno's 'Department of Dirty Tricks' (DDT) and the EC. Still, Najib thinks they have not been "creative enough" and hence the electoral loss.

Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) hamstrung by the ailing Taib, had to play second fiddle as the two federal top guns, Najib and Muhyiddin, rudely muscled in and virtually took over the show in Sibu.

Toothless bulldog

SUPP was like a toothless old bulldog limping along. PBB looked the other way and died in shame and humiliation over Umno's rude entry. The other Sarawakians were also nowhere in evidence on the BN side thanks to Umno.

There was deep resentment among the Muslim Melanau political mafia and their long-time allies, the 5,000 Dayak longhouse chiefs in Sarawak, their main prop in the power game.

True, the Melanau elites are proxies for the ruling elite in Putrajaya. Still, it's a mistake for any Orang Malaya to think that the Sabahans and Sarawakians will ever love them.

sibu by election 120510 najib at temple possession 1 Najib ( left ) was at his best in his usual manner and style, offering little substance, totally content to indulge in his newly-found passion - bribing us with our own money - as he did in Hulu Selangor recently and earlier in Bagan Pinang.

In a way, Sibu shows shades of the political tsunami in Peninsular Malaysia in 2008, which swept a shocked opposition alliance into power in the four richest states in the country.

Simplification and sweeping generalisations won't just do however and in fact is a gross disservice to the long-suffering opposition supporters in the country. The million ringgit question that comes to mind, of course, is what's really cooking under the seemingly calm exterior in Sarawak.

Umno, for one, can certainly forget about going to Sarawak to replace PBB just as it replaced Usno in Sabah. Sabahans like Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan and others have done their work well here in constantly reminding Sarawakians that Umno should be a no-no in their state. Not that they needed any reminders or persuasion on this.

On the warpath

The Dayaks will never stand for Umno in Sarawak - they think of it as an invasion by the Orang Malaya and takeover of their land and women - and can be expected to go on the warpath should PBB be forced to do an Usno. The Dayaks know only too well what has happened in Sabah since Umno entered the state.

Najib had dropped strong hints in the run-up to Sibu that Umno had no choice but to enter Sarawak to "save it from the opposition".

This is the same political scam that former Umno president and prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, now Najib's ‘chief political advisor', pulled in Sabah in order to get his hands on the parliamentary seats there to make up for his party's losses in peninsular Malaysia.

Not trusting the local Muslims made up of Dusun including Orang Sungei and Bisaya, Bajau, Suluk, Irranun, and Barunai, among others, Umno has been alleged to freely issuing MyKads to illegal immigrants and entering them in the electoral rolls as Malays.

This has been flogged to death elsewhere in the courts and the media. Every Indian Muslim, Pakistani and Bangladeshi illegal immigrant in Sabah is now "Malay" along with the other "Malays" from the Philippines and Indonesia.

So, Sabah's second War of Independence is in progress on all fronts and the Sarawakians know this all too well and experience its anguish as well.

The Dayaks in particular are not going to lose their country to Umno in the same way that the KadazanDusunMuruts have done thanks to Usno president Mustapha Harun and PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan, also the Huguan Siou (paramount chief) of the KadazanDusunMuruts.

Mustapha realised too late the federalisation of Sabah and joined PBS in a huff, more a desperate move, before he breathed his last and died planning how to kick out Umno from Sabah.

Najib and Muhyiddin should lead even more political campaigns in Sarawak so that the opposition alliance can increase their tally in the state.

They are off course better off focusing on running the economy, a sore point with the people in Sabah and Sarawak, but they won't do since they now have Perkasa for company and life is more fun for them this way. Pulling the wool over the people's eyes while the Treasury is being raided is their speciality.

And intended or not, the politicking over the use of ‘Allah', cowhead stomping, pig-head hurling, host-spitting, church torching and Bible burning, can only be good for the opposition in Malaysian Borneo.

The irony of it all is that people in Sabah and Sarawak wouldn't touch PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim - the alleged crown prince of the MyKad scam in Sabah - with even a 10-foot pole.