Rise in Malay votes in sight for PKR....

First-time candidate for Nangka, Norisham Mohamed Ali, 29 (right), must have been feeling the pressure when he gave his ceramah in Sibu two nights ago. Not only were there 500 pairs of judging eyes watching the baby-faced oil and gas engineer's every move, sitting on a plastic chair right behind him was his big boss, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Sitting with his legs and arms crossed and his chin resting on his hand, Anwar must have thought long and hard about the party's chances in Nangka, a constituency with 48 percent Malay-Melanau voters.

While much of the more densely-populated parts of the constituency envelope a part of the Sibu town centre, driving out of the town for maybe less than five minutes, one might encounter a twilight zone of a different civilization and culture.

Along Jalan Kampung Datu, just a stone's throw away from the edge of Sibu city, one will find rows and rows of kampung houses built on stilts (though with practical purposes - it floods in the area regularly).

Gone is the shaky SUPP territory that may just fall in the clutches of DAP come polling day - we are in the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) heartland now. Nangka has never fallen to the opposition in recent years.

Considered to be the stronghold of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's own party, former deputy speaker Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah had held the seat for three terms until he was unceremoniously dropped from candidacy. Some say that he has gotten too big for his britches. “I never see him around unless it's time to be re-elected,” said a chatty 75-year-old man when met on the street.

Though happy to spill the gossip on Awang Bemee and which villages had received land titles almost immediately after the Sibu by-election last year that DAP's Wong Ho Leng won, the suntanned elderly Malay man suddenly clammed up when asked about Taib. “I think he's okay. I don't know. I think there's a 50-50 chance in Nangka,” he said before bidding farewell.

Undercurrent of dissent

Other Malays in the area polled had almost similar sentiments. A shy goreng pisang seller just down the road also only gave a muted response when asked about Taib. Smiling nervously, she said she wasn't sure when asked if he was still popular.

While life is not exceptionally hard for them, save for the occasional flooding and rising cost of goods, the Malay Nangka folk were not terribly in want as compared to their Iban counterparts living just an hour's drive away without running water or electricity. “But they have a lot of problems. There is a lot of poverty, unemployment and the floods that come in two or three times a year,” said Norisham when met on his walkabout yesterday.

Though the people met at Kampung Datu did not seem to have anything bad to say about the ruling coalition, they were not as ecstatic as, say, the mood right before the 2004 general election which delivered BN the best results ever since 1956. Norisham, who squares off with fellow political novice and cardiologist from PBB, Dr Annuar Rapa'ee, meanwhile acknowledged that it would be a tough fight for him and for PKR.

The party still appears to be a foreign concept to the people of Nangka, without much party flags and banners around. Things appear to be the same as well in other areas of Sarawak down south, such as Asajaya and Sadong Jaya (contested by PAS), about 60km away from Kuching.

There may be some unhappiness but all in all life seems pretty decent around here, with BN flags fluttering about in the wind. There is no real sense of brewing dissatisfaction as there is in Chinese areas in Kuching or even Bidayuh areas.

However, PKR is quick to bank in on the lack of basic infrastructure that has been hounding the area, with spray-painted banners demanding the state government to repair rickety bridges and to issue land titles.

Standing nearby was a small wooden shack selling petrol and recycled cooking oil in Coke bottles. The nearest petrol station is 30km away, hence fuel here retails at RM3 per litre. “I don't know. We write in to complain all the time, but I guess the chief minister does not bother,” said a Malay woman in her early 40s manning the shop.

Rising political awareness

Though Taib's alleged vast amounts of ill-gotten wealth may still seem far-fetched for the simple folk of rural Sarawak, it is the small cases with their own local village authority that has gotten some of them enraged.

In Demak Laut, about 40km away from Kuching with 91 percent Malay voters, the fishing villagers of Kampung Seberang Bako have never been this angry. Living in dilapidated wooden houses on the water, the main industry is belacan and cincalok-making, with many of them under government programmes by Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama).

A man transfixed to TV3's Buletin Utama when met in his house revealed that it is not the government that they are angry with, but the local leaders, some of whom are linked to PBB. He said that the local village authority (JKKK) had pocketed the allocation meant to fix their fields and halls meant for cottage industries. “People are so angry with him that someone splashed paint onto his house recently,” he said with a chuckle.

While he had nothing but nice things to say about deputy PBB president Abang Johari Openg (“He even came to visit the sick”), two flags are hung on a tree in front of his house - PBB and PKR. “If I could, I'll hang all sorts of flags. It doesn't matter which flag I hang because we vote with our hearts, and not just by looking at flags,” he said, while claiming that half of the village support PKR and the other half PBB.

The house sits on land for which he only received Temporary Occupational Licence (TOL) for four years ago after decades of applying. In the past few days, Abang Johari was in the kampung and the neighbouring one to give out more TOLs. The man, who is in his sixties and lives with his four sons and their families, said many still don't have leases and fear having their land taken over like some people they know in nearby Senari where compensation is still owing.

In January the Kuching High Court found in favour of plaintiffs in a 10-year drawn-out battle for about 1,500 acres of native customary land in the Malay coastal village of Loba Rambungan near Kuching. This is a landmark case as other NCR claims had involved Dayak land, and is likely to open the floodgates with many Malays living on “heritage land” which the Fama man said has been passed down from their grandparents' grandparents. This is an issue capitalised on by PKR in many of the Malay-majority seats, to some effect.

Suddenly, a snippet of the Anwar “sex video” came on in Buletin Utama. Laughing at the piece, he said, “Everyone knows that this is a lie. We are not just recently exposed to politics, we've been around for quite a while.”

Speaking of the young local PKR candidate Ali Hossen Abang who is facing off against PBB's Hazland Abg Hipni, the Fama man later said, “It's good that PKR is contesting, so the government can finally hear what we want. When it's election time, there's all kinds of projects.”

Blood ties and religion

One mooted is in downtown Malay-majority seat Satok where PKR newbie Ahmad Nazib Johari, 35, is taking on political heavyweight and possibly the most accomplished Malay leader in Sarawak BN - Abang Johari - who is contesting there for the eighth time.

Here, the government moots a tourism hub “not unlike Venice”, which could provide higher income for the local youth, many of whom Syariah lawyer Ahmad Nazib claims are either unemployed or earning as low as RM400.

Blood ties are, however, important among the community, with many met claiming support for Abang Johari because they have some sort of distant relationship to him and are keen for him to take over as chief minister.

Whether this will happen remains to be seen, with sources close to PBB claiming that Abang Johari's allocation for Satok, let alone other Malay areas, is limited by the state such that he is forced to turn to the federal government for funds. “It's part of Taib's plan to keep Abang Johari weak especially after a falling out before, but (Abang Johari) seems to be in his good books now,” said the source who spoke under condition of anonymity.

For middle-aged Fatimah Suyong, who has lived in Satok all her life, even blood ties will not make her cross the 'dacing' come polling day on April 16.

“Abang Johari is a good man but what good is it if he cannot speak up to Taib? Taib is a malaun (cursed man), stealing everything. “When we are buried we are judged by God so we have to beribadat and not support graft,” she said enthusiastically. “I go to my neighbours and family and tell them this, but some dah berkarat (are rusty), they can't change their mindset.”

Official statistics combine Malay and Melanau communities at 27.5 percent of the electorate, making up 26 Malay-Melanau majority seats. It is estimated that six of these are Melanau-majority.

PAS is contesting in five Malay-majority seats while PKR is standing in the rest. Most are also contested by PBB.

source:malaysiakini






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