ANTIDOTE Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has been quoted by Astro Awani and the Borneo Post as condemning the perception by "outsiders" that Penan people are uncivilised nomads.

"I was drawn to the assumption of Bruno Manser, the self-proclaimed champion of the Penan, who claimed the Penan were nomads, wearing loincloths (cawat) and deprived of civilisation. That is not true because I saw how modern they are with my own eyes," Najib said on April 30, while campaigning for the Sarawak state election in rural Suai.

Najib's view, formed during a visit lasting a few hours to a "showcase" Penan longhouse, drew headlines. The local press did not compare this with the late Bruno Manser's experience of living with Along Sega's nomadic Penan group from 1984 to 1990, as described in his book, diaries and lectures.

Najib went on to share more of his expertise on the Penan: "I have seen some clever Penan, fair complexion and some pursuing their studies at higher learning institutions and even at universities."

Most prime ministers would be made a laughing stock if they attempted to conflate being "clever" and having a "fair complexion".

Most prime ministers would know that obsession with skin colour is a source of injustice. A practical example of this "pigmentocracy" was demonstrated in an academic study in Pennsylvania in the United States: lighter-skinned female prisoners spent, on average, 12 percent less time behind bars than darker-skinned prisoners.

But Najib appears to have a different view, judging by his remarks in Suai...