MALAYSIA DAY Today's Malaysia Day celebrations ring hollow among the rural folk of Sabah and Sarawak, as they continue to trudge through a hard life that doesn't look much different from 47 years ago.

As the governments, political parties and NGOs organise numerous events to commemorate the formation of Malaysia for the first time, many in East Malaysia will continue to do whatever they have been doing simply to survive before night descends on their rickety homes.

And with no potable water or electricity supply or even proper roads to connect them to the rest of the world, they probably don't even realise that the big cities are "honouring" the contributions their home states have made in creating the country.

orang asal walk 130908 adrian lasimbang Indigenous Network of Malaysia (JOAS) president Adrian Lasimbang ( far left ) stressed that this is the reality facing at least 50 percent of those living in both Sabah and Sarawak, which collectively account for roughly six million people.

"The federal government has to do more than declare a public holiday. It needs to put in a serious programme of work to develop both Sabah and Sarawak," he said when contacted while running a mini-hydroelectric project in the Bakun area.

"All this while, Sabah and Sarawak have been like milking cows for the west (Malaysia)... I've done a lot of work in the rural areas, and even for basic things the government has failed to provide."

Adrian said much of this is due to a deep disconnect between the needs of the natives living in rural areas and top government officials who haven't a clue as to what the rural folk want and need.

"The problem is that a lot of the senior government people are from West Malaysia and they don't understand the dynamics of the communities here.

the antidote article sarawak native people 270509 01 "The natives can do things themselves, they just need some help. But when people ask for a gravity water system, they give a centralised system that doesn't even work.

"Even if they appoint locals to top posts in state departments, they (federal government) tend to create posts that supercede the powers of the state departments... the locals are not empowered to make their own decisions."

Respect the 18, 20-point agreements

Malaysian Voters' Union's Ong Boon Keong agreed that federal interference in the state affairs of Sabah and Sarawak has severely hampered opportunities for the rural folk to catch up with the rest of the country.

Ong, who has been conducting a continuous voter registration campaign in Sarawak's hinterlands, pointed out that despite the state being the fourth-poorest in the country, its resources have been siphoned off to fuel development in West Malaysian states like Selangor.

mafrel penanti by election pc 190509 ong boon keong "This has to change, and the first thing is to go back to the 18-point and 20-point agreements signed with Sarawak and Sabah during the formation of Malaysia.

"Unlike the social contract in Semenanjung where it is not written, these are written documents that have not been honoured," he said.

Ong ( left ) echoed Adrian's sentiments that the senior civil servants are mostly West Malaysians who don't understand the significance of the points raised in the agreements, leading to a failure in implementation.

He admitted that it may not matter much whether West Malaysians or locals hold such positions, but stressed that those appointed should be honest and capable and not put there to push a political agenda.

‘Malaysia has failed Sarawak'

Lawyer and social activist Baru Bian lamented the unfulfilled promises of equality in social and physical development between West Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, saying that there is nothing much for Sarawakians to celebrate.

"We look at Malaysia Day with sadness, and anger to a certain extent... Sarawakians think that Malaysia has failed us," he said.

NONE Baru ( right ), who has fought for native rights over native customary rights (NCR) land for at least a decade and is now the state PKR chief, said their local leaders are as much to blame as the federal government in Sarawak's "backwards" progression, with selfish intentions overriding the needs of the people.

"How can we say we are proud to be Malaysians with the Petronas Twin Towers among the tallest buildings in the world, when thousands of Sarawakians have no proper houses?

"What we should realise as Sarawakians is that we have been short-changed. We must accept this fact and not live in denial... all Sarawakians must fight for our place in Malaysia," he said.

Seeing the silver lining on Sept 16