The country cannot afford to have people with the gap of information among them. For example, some young people in Peninsular Malaysia still ask their new friends or colleagues or university mates from Sarawak, much to their disgust, whether they still live on trees?
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| Chinese New Year 2011 at Miri Fan Square |
Obviously, this is typical example of the gap of information as those concerned do not have interests to know about Sarawak as a modern State, with every potential to become the fastest growing state in the country. They do not have interests to know that even 200 years ago, it was difficult to find somebody living on trees in Sarawak. Now young children, those in urban areas in particular, yearn to have play houses on trees.
Admittedly, with 4% of poverty remaining, some people may yet to afford houses and squat on State land but still they do not live on trees. Obviously, the problems of having no interests in knowing about places outside ones’ own must be corrected.
Generally, the people must consider themselves first and foremost as Malaysians. For us in Sarawak, we are Malaysians of Anak Sarawak or Anak Sarawak Rakyat Malaysia. This is called emotional loyalty, ready-made emotional loyalty.
This is attributable in part to the education system that has brought the people from longhouses, traditional villages first to Batu Lintang and later to Kanowit secondary School schools and Tanjung Lobang Secondary school. The elite schools were St Joseph’s and St. Thomas’s secondary schools. The other like Dragon secondary and Simanggang secondary schools came in the early 60s. The schools brought together the Bidayuh, Iban, Melanau, Orang Ulu, Chinese children to meet and interact among them.
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| Mukah Kaul Celebration |
Some of them could be less than 10 years old and had to stay in schools; something that did not happen anywhere else in Malaysia. At one time Sarawak got one of the biggest populations of school boarders because the Government must make education available to the rural people; education was not a problem to urban population. There were and still are Bumiputras in Chinese schools too.
Therefore, the local people comprising of various ethnic groups, religious beliefs and different background, could know each other in schools, through inter-marriages; for example, there are more inter-marriages between orang Ulus and Bidayuhs now; the Bidayuhs used to be confined to Kuching in the South and the Orang Ulu in the North. But somehow they meet and get married. This is what is happening in Sarawak, it is good; this is typical example of Anak Sarawak. The concept of Anak Sarawak is very important. And when the local people go to Peninsular Malaysia, they tend to group together because they are more familiar with each other and have a strong feeling of comradeship among them.
Obviously, because Sarawak is separated far apart by South China Sea from Peninsular Malaysia, the people in both regions do not have a similar background of interacting with each other. They begin to interact quite late at secondary school, college and university levels only. Sarawak has been sending children to study in secondary schools in Peninsular in the mid-70s. The process may be slow but it provides the basis for the people to consider themselves first as Anak Sarawak, citizens of Malaysia.
The concept of Rakyat Malaysia cannot be taken lightly. Sometimes we don’t appreciate how lucky we are as Malaysians. For example, everybody, unlike in some countries, has the right to go to school. The grading of a school is being made depending on performances of students. More importantly children can come up all the way to the university. Internationally, Malaysians, whether they come from Sarawak or Sabah feel more Malaysians than as Sarawakians or Sabahans. For example, Pehin Sri Abdul Taib recalls when he saw another Malaysian, even in the early days as Minister in New York, he took immediately steps to cross the road to introduce himself as a Malaysian.
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| National Level Gawai Dayak Celebration 2011 |
Generally, Malaysians should consider themselves fortunate to have been able to inherit the uninterrupted national development that was started during the time of the late YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak until now. The development in Sarawak started by Tan Sri Datuk Amar Stephen Kalong Ningkan, Dato Tawi Sli and Tun Abdul Rahman and being pursued vigorously by Pehin Sri Abdul Taib until now.
Nearly a third of Malaysia is Sarawak, which has a population scattered over a wide area in over 6,000 settlements comprising of traditional villages and longhouses. About 60% of the villages and longhouses, each has less than 50 families. The demographic pattern posed a huge problem to the early development of Sarawak namely how to get the economy moving. Then the persistent question was how to build roads to connect nearly 6,000 settlements throughout the State? It would take about 200 years to do so. Then the State was poor and it did not have money for the purpose.
More importantly, the State Government had to think of how to spread education to the people, those in remote and isolated areas in particular. Generally, it had to work hard to uplift the standard of health and socio-economic well beings of the people with the scattered nature of the population. No other states in the country face that kind of situation; even the smallest village in Peninsular Malaysia is only one or two miles away from a centre of big population.
Chief Minister, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, often admits that the high incidence of poverty of more than 40%, when he first took the helm of the State Government on March 26,1981 preoccupied his mind. He was concerned whether he could conquer poverty or not. Since then the incidence of poverty has dropped to about 4%.
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| Hari Raya Aidilfitri Open House |
He says in view of the scattered nature of the population, the state has to introduce the Flying Doctor Service to provide medical and health services to the people in remote areas. It will take 100 years to build health clinics to cover areas in the State. Besides, the government has to introduce services of mobile clinics by boats to reach areas with big population in remote areas along the banks of numerous rivers.
Obviously, Sarawak, with the introduction of Flying Doctor Service has found a solution to give health services to people in remote areas. Australia has been doing the same thing. The service is not necessary in Peninsular Malaysia where a place can be within reach in one hour by land.
It is the same with the management of schools. For example, the State used to have schools in the early days that were built by the people. For example, a Penghulu (community headman) might get the people in a longhouse to build a school out of branches and trunk of trees in order to meet the demand for primary schools in traditional villages and longhouses. That was how Sarawak managed to build enough primary schools for the people in rural areas; no place was deprived of primary education.
Then education had the school mother system, where a woman could be employed to cook and take care of young children in a boarding school. That was again a peculiar feature of education in Sarawak. A few longhouses might share a school that required young children to go by boats or walk on land to school. It was a difficult life for them and their parents. That was the greatest challenge of Sarawak; no other states had got that kind of experience.
Some school children still face financial problems like paying for travelling expenses by land, river or air from their home towns to enter colleges or universities in towns or cities; some will require expenses to attend interviews either for courses or jobs. Such expenses, which cause a lot of difficulties to school children, are not covered by any loans or scholarships in Sarawak.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib, who is also the State Assemblyman for Balingian, says he has created education welfare fund for Mukah to give financial assistance to school children for travelling expenses to attend interviews or enroll themselves at polytechnics, colleges or universities while waiting for loans or scholarships.
He says each state assemblyman or a Member of Parliament, who are being made members of the Board of Directors of the Welfare Education Fund in the Division, can donate RM10,000 or RM20,000 every year towards the Fund, which is being operated by the District officer.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib says the fund involves a very simple operation. The teachers can report problems being faced by their students to the Fund, which is also linked to Yayasan Sarawak to deal with loans of scholarships. The setting up of the fund should be able alleviate some of the problems being faced by students in rural areas of Sarawak.
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| Christmas Parade in Miri |
He is happy that more and more people are being taught to use Internet, which has been introduced in the State quite recently. Prior to that the rate was only 2% but now Mukah Division alone has nearly 50% of Internet penetration while Miri has over 70%. The Internet service, if properly used, can bring better communication to the people even in rural areas. However, the people are yet to appreciate the need to use Internet properly. For example, they have the tendency to use the Internet to play game rather than to surf for information from relevant government departments.
Generally, the State has sufficient on-line communication facilities. For example, Yayasan Sarawak, which administers scholarship and loan schemes for education, has already introduced on-line service at district and divisional levels, while individual department or agency is also being provided with the facilities. But it takes time to train more people to use the facilities properly. Besides, the people, who have acquired sufficient technical skills or academic qualification, must also learn the soft skills, which among other things emphasizes on proper etiquette in dealing with each other.
benuasains
*Photos Source:
google.com.my
