Who owns the Land of the Hornbills?

Travelling around Malaysia, we got to hear the stories from Middle Malaysia (or what I like to believe is the true Malaysia, as opposed to Klang Valley Malaysians!).

One story which I feel deserves being told (over and over again) is the one about Sijah Ejut, the Iban tuai rumah (village head) from Sibu, Sarawak. And it is only apt that I this story get focused on now.

This is especially so when allegations on corrupt Sarawak leaders are surfacing on how indigenous land is being sold for huge profits (utilising devious legal techniques to make even more profit!).

Sijah Ejut comes from a village just 30km from the town of Sibu. We met her in town, then took a drive with her to pay a visit to her village. And things got interesting as soon as the drive started.

Driving out of the well-developed Sibu, the roads are fine and the highway smooth. About 10 minutes out, the roads suddenly disappear and everything turns into gravel.

Our sedan cars suddenly started suffering and we immediately regretted stinging on normal cars instead of renting SUVs or 4WDs to get us around.

At the end of our 30km drive, a drive that would take us 25 minutes in the Klang Valley, we actually spent more than 2 hours on the Sarawak ‘roads’ to cover that distance.

By the time we arrive in Sijah’s village, which has several long houses in the area, we notice a jarring lack of basic infrastructure. There is no electricity or even running water.

Then we remembered that aside from the lack of roads to the village, we noticed that although electricity poles were erected all along the way, the cables were just hanging disconnected.

This neglect for the Iban and rural community in Sarawak has been going on for so long. Because of the lack of infrastructure, believe it or not, Sijah only got an IC at the age of 27.

And because of this, she had to stop schooling at the age of 16 and her all her dreams and ambitions came crumbling down. She wanted to be a teacher.

Sijah and her fellow villagers are indigenous Iban. Under the Constitution, they are categorised as Bumiputera or Sons of the Land.

Their forefathers and ancestors have lived on the land for centuries and are still living there right up till today.

In fact, they are more Bumiputera than Malays.

Even if they weren’t Bumiputera, they are still Malaysians, hence our own people. And is this how we treat our people? By neglecting them and only thinking of our own pockets?

It really doesn’t matter whether the alleged wrongdoings by the leaders are true or not, it is already a big perception boo boo.

Leaders need to be those who protect the rights of the people, especially the weak and the oppressed, instead of looking out for themselves and getting rich.

What has happened to Sijah and her fellow Iban villagers is a disgrace. The allegations that have surfaced implicating Sarawak’s leaders is a disgrace.

There’s nothing else that can be said.