It is like a sea of red – to describe a large number of people wearing a red T-shirt who turned up for an enthusiastic and historic event that took place at Rumah Ex-Penghulu Balai (now known as Rumah Peterson Jawa, at KM81) in Selangau, on March 23 at around 5pm. Although the preparation for the event has begun much earlier.
Sea of red, because almost everyone who was present, was wearing a red T-shirt!
This is the second launch and Selangau is chosen because it is Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun’s political stronghold. The first launch had taken place much earlier in March this year in Lubok Antu, at Dr Johnical Rayong’s Balai.
This highly anticipated event was received with much enthusiasm by Datuk Joseph Entulu’s staunch supporters. He was grinning from ear to ear; happy with the way the event had turned out.
Many people turned up.
You can see people patiently lining up waiting for the arrival of the “big guns”. Everybody was clad in a red T-shirt with the letters PSB (an acronym for Party Sarawak Bersatu) stamped on the right shoulder and the party logo on the left. And those with mobile phones ready to snap the pictures of the big guns!
The hosts of the event, especially the women and men, were dressed in their traditional costumes and ready to receive their distinguished guests, with tray in hand filled with special tokens (manic necklaces adorned with special symbols to represent the importance of the individuals, for whom the necklaces were for) and also as a token of appreciation for choosing their longhouse to grace the event.
The guests were Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, Datuk Masir Kujat, Datuk William Nyallau, Dr Johnical Rayong, Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun, Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh and Datuk Tiong Tai King, among others.
Rumah Ex-Penghulu Balai comprises 30 or so bilik-families and the ex-penghulu is known to be Joseph Entulu’s staunch supporter.
It was reported that the number of people who turned up for the event were roughly around 6,000 or more. The reports may be stretching the truth a little bit about the number of people attending the event, but if I were to put a ballpark figure, it would be around 4,000 or so.
Each YBs brought along with them their staunch supporters. The people in and around Selangau areas were gathered at Rumah Ex-Penghulu Balai (the venue of the launching of PSB) as early as 10 am. However, the party’s honorary guests – Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh and his compatriots arrived around 5 pm.
He was received with Iban traditional ceremony which resembled the ceremony of welcoming the great warrior. He and Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun together held a spear and slaughtered a pig as a symbolic gesture at the bottom of the stairs before entering the longhouse.
He along with his compatriots started to shake hands with the audience who had been patiently waiting for their arrival.
The atmosphere was a joyful and celebratory one. Everybody was laughing, hugging, greeting and thanking each other for making an effort to be there to support the party.
Everyone who was present couldn’t wait to shake hands with the big cheese at the party. Everyone was practically bouncing off the walls so to speak.
Once everybody was seated, the party president stood up and delivered his speech in Iban and Malay. Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh is very fluent in Iban but for this occasion, he chose to speak in Malay more due to the presence of non-Iban supporters who were there.
He thanked them for the enthusiastic welcome and for the hard work that everybody had put in for making the event a success and for the full cooperation given to him and his party.
They then proceeded with dinner and followed by the launching of the party.
He also received an envelope containing application forms from the grassroots. It was claimed that the number of applicants was more than 7,500. Quite impressive for a rebranded party.
My only hope is that the party’s leaders will not lead their supporters up the garden path when it comes to fulfilling their promises if they win the election.
Why a rebranded party?
Previously, PSB was known as UPP or United People’s Party. Then, it applied to the Registrar of Societies to change its name to Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) as an effort by the party leader to revive the party’s image to make it more appealing to Sarawakians, which is also corresponding with the fight for Sarawak’s rights.
To the sceptics, the party is likened to old wine in a new bottle.
The party has to make sure that it can hold a candle to its supporters when the time comes, otherwise, it will come to a bad end.
There are a lot of sceptics out there who are questioning the genuineness of the party in claiming to represent the interests of Sarawak.
It was called ‘termites’ by some unequivocal voices within Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), or labelled as gunting dalam selimut (a Malay Proverb which can be likened to enemy from within), and there were even calls by some of the GPS component parties to expel its leaders and strip off their rights as political representatives of their respective constituency, as in taking away the development projects allocated to them previously.
Its political counterpart, the GPS is cheesed off with PSB’s actions and they have every right to do so.
Notwithstanding, I disagree with the calling to pressure the Chief Minister to take away the development projects which have been allocated to their constituents. Why punish the people?
Why do the people have to bear the brunt of this frustration?
This is similar to the Malay expression which says, Marahkan nyamok, kelambu dibakar.
If PSB is truly insincere, let the people and time decide. After all, people who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others.
Food and drink were plentiful and abundant. In fact, food and drink were delivered by lorry to the longhouse, where the venue for the gathering was. From what I gathered, money was not an issue in this gathering. A T-shirt was distributed for free for those who wanted it.
No expense was spared!
The party obviously went all out in order to please their audiences.
After that, each of his compatriots gave a speech, in turn, to inform the audience of the objectives and vision of the party. Datuk William Nyallau, Datuk Masir Kujat, Datuk Joseph Bntulu Belaun and Dr Johnical Rayong each delivered their speech with confidence and encouraged their supporters to stand behind them and support the party in the coming state election, which is due in 2021. As expected, the ex-PRS leaders took the opportunity to clear the air as to why they decided to leave the PRS.
The party also expressed its gratitude and appreciation for the huge turnout. The party also gave the people the assurance that the party will work hard on protecting the people’s interests and will work with everyone who is protecting the interests of Sarawak as a whole.
PSB further assured its supporters that it would not be collaborating with political parties from West Malaysia. PSB also advised their supporters to ignore rumours about the party and assured them that those political rumours are meant to destroy the party’s image.
The longhouse ruai was packed with people in red T-shirts. You can also see the party’s flags and red and yellow balloons hanging everywhere!
Outside, you can see a huge area, nearby the longhouse, cleared to make way for a car park.
The weather was very hot and humid but that did not deter people from attending the event.
Some decided to stay outdoors, because of the heat.
The audience was hopeful, at least those who were arguably been marginalised by the parties that claimed to represent their interests.
Given the number of huge turnouts, the honorary guests from the party were confident that the party will have a bright future. They grinned from ear to ear, when they saw how well the people received them.
People’s expectation and spirits were so high. It was reflected clearly in the tones of their voice and their expression by the way they described their Iban leaders who were present.
They were sceptics, however, but their voices were drowned up by the voices of enthusiasm. And they were others who were there because of curiosity and wanted to enjoy the ride while it lasted. After all, free entertainment was provided, food and drink were plentiful.
The party has to ensure that it can hold a candle to its supporters when the time comes, otherwise, it will come to a bad end.
PSB is now switching to a higher gear and out there pounding the pavement since the launch of its party in Sri Aman.
The celebration continued throughout the night even after the honorary guests left.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
