Of the five prime ministers since 1963, Najib is the only one who really cares for Sarawak and Sabah’s wellbeing. He recognised September 16, a date dear to the people of Sarawak and Sabah as Malaysia Day. He allocated funds for construction of the Pan Borneo (Highway), while the other four past prime ministers, including Tun Dr Mahathir couldn’t care less.
– Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing, late PRS president and deputy chief minister
Pakatan leaders keenly observed the court proceedings involving high profile cases of both former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.
To them, it could be the light at the end of the tunnel, after being ousted from the government following a 22-month tenure at Putrajaya.
They harped on the imprisonment of Najib as well as the guilty verdict of Rosmah – saying it was them who delivered the justice.
They are saying that the people did not make the wrong choice to elect Pakatan in the last general election (GE14).
They are saying that despite the lacklustre stint in Putrajaya – one that they have openly admitted to – it is all worth it to see the kleptocrats being put behind bars.
They are saying that a new Malaysia is finally possible, and that the public is now confident in the judiciary after the verdicts delivered were in their favour, politically speaking.
Some would say Pakatan would not be singing to this tune, if the decision were not in their favour – they would say it is gross injustice as well as an affront to the system of the judiciary.
Some would say that if it were their leaders being put behind bars, we could expect nationwide protests, rallies and riots.
That is the coffee shop talk. After all, we can’t stop people from talking and analysing the development that has come to light.
But what remains important is that for Sarawakians and Sarawak, it is as good a time to reflect on how we should feel about this.
It is little secret that the state was considered a Barisan Nasional (BN) “fixed deposit”. That is how confident the Barisan leadership was in our ability to deliver results.
Sarawak, to Barisan with its unity among the electorate and the maturity in choosing their leaders, is a breath of fresh air.
The sixth prime minister, during his stint visited Sarawak the most compared to all his predecessors, including one who had been in power for 22 years.
He made about 60 official visits to the state and set foot on 160 locations throughout Sarawak during which he never came empty-handed. There was always good news for Sarawak.
Under the Barisan administration, although funding for development was not as much as we would have liked, it was there. It had to a certain extent, transformed some areas in the state.
Sarawakians too were among the beneficiaries of aids such as Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia. Being a student last time, we would also benefit from Baucer Buku 1Malaysia. It was not a lot, but it definitely helped.
These were just some of my recollections. I hope I am not being melodramatic and reminisce the old days, but I think many shared similar sentiments.
It was almost as if the tides were turned and the country went all doom and gloom post-GE14.
“We are now an opposition state, do you know what that means?” asked my father when driving me to the airport after I returned home to cast my vote in 2018.
It didn’t dawn on me then, but in retrospect, it is now.
The Sarawak government took a bold step to declare itself as Pakatan Harapan (PH) “friendly” and was ready to work with the newly-minted federal government in the interest of the people.
Perhaps the high and mighty Pakatan leaders in Putrajaya does not understand what “friendly” means.
Sarawak was among the states which were severely affected by a number of project cancellations, including the ones that already had its funding approved by the previous federal government.
This led to absence of sorely needed development projects – some of which were long overdue.
Children were held to ransom by not having their schools repaired until the state government repays their debts to the federal government.
We almost had a split at the grassroots levels with the establishment of the federal village community management council (MPPKP) – an affront to the current village safety and development community (JKKK).
All this were among many other things which happened during those 22 months in case some had short-term memory and had difficulties in their recollections.
Being deeply wounded is an understatement. It’s one thing to take on your political rivals but it’s another to mistreat an entire state.
The question now is, how should Sarawak feel? I leave it to our conscience.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
