Penans being spoiled by foreign NGOs

Once I thought I would be quite happy to sit back and take things easy during my retirement. I did just that until quite recently when I become increasingly agitated by attempts by foreign NGOs, with the support of some local individuals, to smear the good name of the state. 

Penan students studying

I fail to understand, for example, why the nomadic life of the Penan community is such a big issue outside Sarawak, especially in Scandinavian countries. Thanks, perhaps, to a scoundrel like Bruno Manser, a school dropout from Switzerland, who has been trying to influence the Penans because of their unsettled traditional way of life, to live with him like Orang Utan. The authority should catch and keep him together with Orang Utan in Semenggok wildlife protected area or Lanjak Entimau Wildlife sanctuary in Lubok Antu.  There are lots of literatures about Bruno Manser as being a very lazy person. He is an outcast in his own society and tries to find fame and respect among the Natives of Borneo. He should go to the Amazon or Papua New Guinea where the Natives still cover their private parts with bamboo sheets. But why choose the Penans?

A Penan Village in Batu Bungan

In my earlier years in the Civil Service, I had opportunities to meet Penans in  Long Napir, Batu Bungan, Kakus and other places. What the pretenders of Penan champions do not know is that there are only about 500 out of 10,000 of them who still insist on living their traditional nomadic life. A big a majority of them who have decided to lead a more settled life like those in Suai, Niah, Lesong Bunut in Belaga call themselves Punans and claim themselves to be different from their nomadic brethrens.  Most of them are in middle income group like other communities in urban or sub-urban areas. The community can boast of having millionaires among the members.

Shahrizat at Batu Bungan

Generally, they are friendly but cunning people. I remember during a visit to Long Napir in Ulu Limbang in early 80s, we were welcomed in an open space under the hot sun. The Ketua Kaum (chief of the community) apologized that we had to stand under the hold sun because the government had cut all the trees. After that we were invited to their longhouse that had been built for them by the government. By tradition, the Penans don’t stay in longhouses but in makeshift huts. Their houses were dirty and unkempt with lots of dogs, which they regard as saviors in their life in the jungles.  Again the chief apologized to us for their dirty houses. They told us that the houses had been built for them by the government, which should also maintain them. That was not the attitude of simple minded and helpless people. They had been spoiled by pretenders of champions of the community, the like of Bruno Manser.  

Regrettably, the issue of the Penans has been thrown at the State without knowing that the State is at quandary of deciding what to do with the community. If the Penans are allowed to roam about like animals in the forests, the State will be accused by human rights groups of not carrying its primary   responsibility to help the Penans. Now that the government is try to help the nomadic Penans to settle down, some people in the West think that they   should be left like Orang Utans in the jungles.

Ezra Uda, first Penan graduate

What rights have foreign NGOs got to instigate the Penans to go against the authority, worse to paint an ugly picture of their state and country in Scandinavian countries?  As a local with my long years of exposures and experience in public service and established NGOs, I can safely say that most of the Penans have settled down. Some of them are earning good incomes by participating in the development of oil palm estates. Only 500 Penans are still wondering as nomads in the forests.

Penan millionaire - Hasan Sui

In early 80s, the State government introduced what was called Window of the World project to allow Penans of ages between six to 14 years to sit in the same class in school, something that was not allowed under the education law, but made exception for the Penans. Now the government can run normal classrooms for them just like other Malaysians in Sarawak. Now they are a number of them in the Civil service; some of them have become district officers or hold other senior post in the Civil Service. Generally, they are quite smart people when they can be brought to schools. Undoubtedly, they are increasingly becoming part of Anak Sarawak (people of Sarawak) in Malaysia.  

Seloma Jalong - a Penan businesswoman in Bario

The view on low logging and peat forests development being championed by NGOs in the west is nothing more than efforts to impede development in fast developing countries like Malaysia, the state of Sarawak in particular. For example, a study by Professor Shield of Australia shows that trees will not grow in perpetuity by not cutting them. Eventually, the trees will have holes in their trunks and die. 

Penan students in SK Marudi

They should be cut on sustainable basis, which the state is practicing, in order to get some revenue to build roads and develop infrastructure to supply electricity and clean water to the people. As a developing country, Sarawak, Malaysia by extension does not have the luxury of having well protected forests without some economic development. The State has been harvesting the forests based on sustainable management principles.

3 Penan students enrolled in PPKS Lutong

Sarawak, with a total land space of 12.4 million hectares, is devoting a total of 6.4 million hectares to permanent forests and national parks.  Very few countries in the world allocate more than half of their land area to preserve forests. The state is enforcing the forestry policy, which has been formulated based on the recommendation of ITTO,   to look after the forests on sustainable basis. 

Segi Nursing- Jennifer Kawas, Cecilia Balan, 

Joanita Aren and Esther Philips

Even indigenous forests are being harvested on the principle of sustainable management, which forbids cutting of trees below certain sizes. In layman term, it simply means cutting of trees varying from seven to 14 trees per hectare. It can be done for the simple reason that most of Sarawak forests are undergoing second harvesting process. Again not many countries can have secondary  harvesting of the indigenous species.

Christina Ubang of Long Win to Segi College

Sarawak is practicing both the sustainable management of trees and preserving the bio-diversity of trees. Most of the countries in temperate climate have done away with the second part of loggings; they do not have the ability to preserve the biodiversity nature of their forests. Now the State is trying to absorb more people with relevant skills and expertise into the timber industry to serve even in the remote parts with the overall efforts to protect the natural resources. 

Martin Willy Paren, sent to PPKS Lutong for 

Sijil Electrical Engineering.

The State is taking the necessary step to convert about 20% of the indigenous forests to be planted with quick growing species that can grow anything between five to seven times as compared with the indigenous trees. It can be projected that forests being planted with quick growing species of trees will be able to produce seven times more trees than the indigenous ones.  In other words, Sarawak can give out more woods in the next 20 years to 25 years.

 The development of green economic zone within Sarawak will form an integral part of the economic plan that will  stretch up to the year 2030 for Sarawak. The development of SCORE alone is expected to develop five trigger points Mukah, Tanjung Manis, Simalajau (renamed Samalaju) Ulu Baram and Tunoh. The development of those in Ulu Baram and Tunoh both in the interior of Sarawak will be agricultural in nature. Efforts will be made to encourage the local people to remain in the respective areas by encouraging them to participate in the development of timber and oil palm plantations and tourism industry.

Haini (2nd right)- Nursing Penan Student in Swk GH

For example, in the construction of hydro dams, every dam will create a lake that has got very high tourist potentials. Hence Kapit division, which can be expected to have two or three hydro dams, will have vast tourism potentials. The reversal of movement of population from Kapit will begin with the completion of Bakun and the development of oil palm estate in Tunoh. Even the people with good qualifications will come back to work and provide the grass root leadership among the people.

Roger Wang- PPKS Lutong

A number of articles in newspapers acknowledge that Sarawak has been able to attract large investments for the development of gigantic industrial projects in SCORE, an area about one third of its size. The corridor comprises the hinterlands of Ulu Baram and Kapit have huge hydro potentials that can generate more than 20,000 Megawatts of electricity. Besides, the corridor also includes Balingian in Mukah and Nanga Merit in Kapit that have about ½ billion tons of coal reserves that can be exploited to supplement energy from hydro power. That will bring the energy potentials to 28,000megawatts.

Octovia Matius (Long Balau ) 

to Kolej Yayasan Sabah

However, such a huge production of energy requires an integrated plan to  induce big investors to invest in high energy consumed industries like aluminum smelting,  production of mechanical pulp and paper, glass and sand related products.   The essence of SCORE is to marry the interests of consumers of electricity and producers of reasonably cheap electricity. The development of huge industries will necessitate the development downstream industries to support them.

Azlina Esak practicising inoculation.

The development of SCORE may require a total investment of RM330 billion within the space of 20 years. Its success will be able to boost up Sarawak economy to the level of getting five times the per capita income of Sarawakians by the year 2030. By the year 2020, the State will be able to achieve three times the level of GDP from today. That will give the State the ability to increase the present level of per capita income roughly round about US9,000 plus to nearly US30,000. That will fall in line with the overall plan to transform Sarawak economy together with the rest of the nation to become high income economy.

benuasains

pictures source: http://penantongtana1.vox.com/