Blog reader Mary, who says she was one of the victims of the resettlement in Sungai Asap, shares with us the plight of those displaced in Sarawak. Much of what she says ties in with what NGO activists have reported in the past. I reproduce her comments verbatim:
I am one of the victim that had been replaced in the new place (Sg Asap). I was still small that time which i don’t understant what really going on. My dad agree and my mum disagree made them fight like hell over it and made them splits. So, my dad follow those people who moved and my mum join the rest not to move and fight for more benefits. I really don’t understand the situation, most of people seems to get so excited to move. Now…. I must say that my mum were right!! Sg Asap’s villagers start to complains over a lot of things (Basic Needs) and my mum in the old place has no problem with anything.
Sungai Asap; Don’t like that place! People get even more suffer in getting food sources (everything is money) compared to our old place… Food are easy to get freely (from river, forest = natural food). Aware with kampung people who used to pactice simple life and does not have job affected them cruely. Compensation money (Not that much) is not last longer in their bank account because they spends it without earning. Water and electricity bills got to pay even burden kampung people who doesn’t have any job. I was thinking we should get everything free… We deserve a better life!! After all, we had sacrifice given out our land for what they used to say, so called DEVELOPMENT… Government use to promise us a lot of things that blinded our people and now most of them not come true;
1) Good Compensation = What we get still not enough if count per head in a family.
2) Free electricity & clean water = Those bills at our door every month.
3) Free houses (Long house)= They had deducted our compensation for the house! Plus +++ The Long House quality is suck!!
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I’m from Sg. Asap. The situation there are worse. People are suffering. Everytime we were going back to hometown we will face the same issue.. No clean water supply and the road condition … Oh my GOD… why this happen!!
Re the comment by Sarawakians: The core issue in Sarawak is governance and distribution within Sarawak. Don’t fall for the federal-state ploy, although there are of course serious issues there. This can be seen, e.g., when one compares the average household income in Sarawak with that in other states. Below are the numbers for 2004 as published in the 9th Malaysia Plan, and sorted by average household income from highest to lowest: Income Poverty Rate Selangor 5,175 1.0 WP KL 5,011 1.5 Penang 3,531 0.3 Johor 3,076 2.0 N9 2,886 1.4 Melaka 2,792 1.8 Sarawak 2,725 7.5 Sabah 2,487 23.0… Read more »
let me tell u guys a real story…. there is this kampung situated in kuching town ( not up to city standard yet).. this kampung has her own Balai Raya for 20 years ++ or so…sunddenly the BN gov. need this particular land for development so the gov. have to take back the land & demolished the kampung’s Balai Raya…without any replacement. guest what development took place on the land? the land were given to a assistant minister to built his millions of worth mansion but unfortunately it only 80% completed as the assistant minister felled into coma for 9… Read more »
During my five years tour of duty in Sarawak. I clock more then 80,000 KM travel by road. I used to change 8 tyres a year for my 4 x 4 (all terrain (A/T)) . I flew almost every week using all type of MAS aircraft and helicopters reaching all small and big airports. I explore almost every small and big town. I cruise almost all the small and big, short and long rivers. I cross almost all ferry services crossing the rivers. I visited numbers of long houses and meet thousand of dayaks and natives.I listen and understand their… Read more »
A little off topic here. May I suggest ALL bloggers to use pitch dark background in their blogs to signify the darkest moment of Malaysia on the day Najib is appointed PM(in the event that he is)?
M not a blogger so I hope u or someone will take the lead. If possible include Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today ..etc.
I’m a Sarawakian. I have been to Sg. Asap and other places worse off. I’ve lived the villagers and my own relatives are still living in deplorable state. But come election, they will either don’t bother to vote, or they keep voting for the same goon who has given them RM10 for ‘bus fare’ and promised them better roads and water and electricity supply that came 20 years too late. What do you say about that, my fellow Malaysians? Not so easy to blame them for their misfortune. I can’t blame them for keeping voting for the same symbol; ‘dacing’… Read more »
Damn government!…so pain living in this corrupted nation! Again to built another dams(so-called SCORE)…DAMN…BN, step down CM!!!
Actually I’m more curious about if the oppositions were to win the elections, will we be fairly allocated our share of the money that we truly deserve. I’m seeing the peninsulars getting richer and fatter whereas here in Sarawak, we are getting poorer (which is evident …well…. if you just come here, the scene will tell you the story) even though we have rich resources of oil…..don’t you think the wealth distribution is a bit off. I mean will the opposition view us as partner or just another disposable money maker? Will that affect the peninsular’s allocation of wealth meaning… Read more »
Those who initially objected to the Bakun Dam including civil rights and NGOs people were branded by the Taib government as being agents of foreign countries, traitors and trouble makers,anti-development, opposition tools,etc. Over the years they have been proven right again and again. Even today when the problems are so obvious and the people there are suffering, the state government don’t lift a finger to ease their burden. By the time the state are done with the 50 or so dams that they insisted the state need, these suffering people will be reduced to begging in the streets while Taib’s… Read more »
This people are systematically eradicated from their native land and caged in sungai asap. Liquor, tuak and cap langkau easily available for them consume heavily. There is nothing on sungai asap compared with their old living place. Dayak says, jungle is like supermarket where they can have everything now sungai asap just like desert for them. I pray to Allah S.W.T please help this people.
It is so petiatic and unfortunate, 3mil of UMNO … 27mil M’sian citizen systematically. We are yet waking up and it’s all upon our own greed and lust.
I went there, I saw their misery. I believe we must help this poor innocent our fellow human being. Deep in my heart I cry for them. Please help them. Trust me
Not to mention the houses in Perth by our dear PM and in Saudi bought by a certain Javanese!
(Think of the) land (taken from) the indigenous people (plus our EPF, water, Tenaga etc), how can people still blindly vote them in? …
People like this got no home and yet, many politcians got homes in Bukit Damansara and Kenny Hills.
Mind you, houses there are now starting around RM5 million.
Some got even a portfolio of houses in those two areas.
How can one afford to own such homes is beyond me especially when the public service remuneration is pretty low.
And here you have someone struggling to live.
Maybe the contributor could post pictures to highlight the problems? This would make it more convincing. There should not piecemeal solutions and the affected people should stick together!
Good that the unseen impact of such development is brought out in the open.
The people should really WAKE UP especially the people from Sabah and Sarawak. Our present government doesn’t give a damn about our welfare. They are only interested about projects and more projects which they term as “development”. In actual fact these developments only benefits a few cronies and the rakyat were left to suffer. Come the next GE.. let us make sure that this unbalanced scale gets thrown deep into the South China Sea.