Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said Sarawakians must have the determination to ensure the state play a bigger role to the nation’s prosperity and unity and to ensure the country remain successful. He believed Sarawak’s success in the past 50 years had enabled it to transform itself from the backwaters to an industrialised state and to remain successful for the next 50 years and more.
To transform Sarawak into a modern and industrialised state, he said everybody knew this must be led by a team of future generations that would be able to prepare themselves to lift Sarawak into a very successful and prosperous state. Equally important was to safeguard the unity of people of various races in the country, he continued.
“We should have more determination to serve our state with greater confidence and make it the top state in the whole country able to contribute towards the betterment of Malaysia as a whole. He said this when officiating at a special event to commemorate July 22 – Sarawak’s Independence Day from Colonial Rule and Celebration of 50 Years of Sarawak Independence in Malaysia, at the State Legislative Assembly building here yesterday.
Well the ex CM and “Governor”, quaintly colonial term, has certainly enjoyed fifty years of prosperity. The one time penniless law student and minor member of the Crown Law Office is now worth billions. Quite an achievement. And not alone in this. His friends have also benefited hugely from his years in power and can be seen to rally round for photo ops like this one.
BUT, and it is a huge BUT, who else in Sarawak has benefted in any way from those fifty years? The Dayaks are still subsistence farmers as are most Malays and other native communities in the State. They still live as they did in the past in longouses and kampongs while Taib and his cronies live in palaces far grander than anything the Rajahs had or the colonial officals who followed them.
The plain truth of the matter is that over those fifty years Taib and co have plundered the State of nearly all its natural resources and kept its peoples deprived except for a few paltry bribes when that inconvenient colonial relic, election time, comes round.
Of course it is basically the fault of the people of Sarawak who have been content to allow a mega robber on the Marcos or Ponzi scale to steal their heritage and hide it all round the world in anonymous comanies and tax havens. As you sow so shall you reap and Taibs final reward is still to come. For the others self help is the best help so wake up. get off your bottoms and take back what has been stolen from you. You can do it; easily, at the next election. Complaint or compliant. YOU choose.