And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.
― Haruki Murakami, Japanese writer
Pakatan Harapan used Gawai Dayak to further their politics in Sarawak. They made full use of RTM Sarawak to cover their every presence in the villages and longhouses. They certainly have been successful in hijacking Gawai Dayak.
Will they do the same to Hari Raya? They just might because that’s Malayan politics for you. Nothing stops them, not even religion.
It all goes with word from the other side of the political divide just before Gawai that PH is focusing on taking over the Sarawak government. They are strategising to vanquish the state government.
Money, I am told, is the least of their problem. They are ready to spend whatever it takes to get the votes.
The battle ahead will be the mother of all battles. The Malayans are coming, and in a big way. They are coming to conquer and to rule.
Being the central government, they have everything – money, TV, the newspapers. Everything!
GPS must take stock. GPS must strategise, too.
GPS must move as one and not leave each component member to act in isolation. PBB, PRS, SUPP and PDP need to coordinate their activities. The leaders need to be seen to support each other in all the seats.
There are no more sure seats, but GPS can make sure the seats remain with them if all four component parties work as a team between now and the next state election.
GPS must win the coming state election, and if I may say, at all cost.
GPS cannot afford to lose because Sarawak must continue to be ruled by Sarawakians if the fight for Sarawak rights as enshrined in MA63 is to be realised. These rights will be confined to history if PH comes to power.
Lost along with these rights will be Sarawak’s rights to its oil and gas, its natural resources and all those rights that have been eroded over the years.
PH is used to giving false promises, they will do it again. Sarawakians must be told they must never fall for PH promises.
If PH comes to power in Sarawak, Sarawakians will not have Sarawak exclusively to themselves. The Malayans will do away with our immigration rights, something that many PH leaders take issue with.
Without our immigration rights, Sarawakians will lose their competitiveness in almost every field of life. We will not be able to compete for jobs, for contracts, even for places in universities and colleges. We will probably be taking up menial jobs in the plantations, jobs that we have been giving to foreigners.
One thing for sure, we will no longer be ourselves anymore. The state laws will be changed to accommodate the demands of Putrajaya. Our land laws will be changed to allow companies to operate.
Don’t forget, they are eying one million hectares of our land. So, to those landed natives who are critical of the state government, don’t dream that PH will issue every piece of your land with title.
Sarawakians, always be reminded of the unfulfilled GE14 promises; the cancelled projects; the dilapidated schools that Putrajaya has failed to address; the attempts to usurp the power of the state in the matter of the High Court Registry headquarters and the keeping out Malayan lawyers from practising in Sarawak; and the failed Bill to amend the Constitution.
Gawai is over; and Raya, too, in a couple of days, time to seriously look at how best to defend this state from outside powers.
Our forefathers were taken for a ride, but that was 50 over years ago. It’s the digital age now, our current leaders are capable of standing on their own.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
