For many years I have been peeved by comments by Malaysian visitors from the Peninsular who cannot differentiate between Sarawak and the country as a whole.
Time and again after taking my ex-colleagues in journalism, friends and former classmates on excursions in and around Kuching, some would make a comment like, “Oh Sarawak is so different from Malaysia!”
To the person who made the comment it is only natural because Sarawak feels like a different country.
It’s not that Sarawakians dislike Orang Malaya – literally a person from Malaya and an endearing term we use to describe our brethren from across the South China Sea – but it’s their misreading or sheer ignorance of Malaysian history.
Many think that Sarawak and Sabah were just two small states or entities that ‘joined’ Malaysia, when the Federation was ‘formed’ by the countries of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak on September 16, 1963.
In fact many Malayans still believe Malaysia Day should be backdated to August 31 when Malaya became independent in 1957.
For general knowledge, Sarawak is as large as Malaya. Sarawak and Sabah together are one and a half times the size of Malaya.
Besides that, Sarawak and Sabah have been the ‘cash cow’ that nourished and developed the country.
In a country which discriminates between the Malayan Bumiputeras from the Sarawak natives which include local Malays, Ibans, Bidayuhs, Kedayans, Orang Ulus and at least 20 other dialectical sub-groups, who can blame them?
To the younger Peninsular Chinese, they would find Kuching refreshingly multi-racial. They’d find no obvious racial discrimination especially that which is practised in some of the states in the north of Malaya.
Visitors from Kelantan, for example, would be appalled to see eating shops or open-air markets in Kuching where both Muslims and people of other religions have businesses because to them this is haram (taboo or forbidden).
But who can blame them when Malaysians from the ‘West’ have to use their passports or identity cards to enter Sarawak lest they be deemed illegals!
The truth is that despite having to undergo the formality of producing their ICs to enter Sarawak, these visitors will discover it is this “protectionism” that enables the state to be run as a truly democratic entity.
As Sarawak’s self-appointed ‘tourist guide’ ever since I was ‘adopted’ as an Anak Sarawak in 1967 – I have PR (permanent residence) status and am accepted as a Sarawakian – I can empathise with our counterparts!
Like many Malaysians who packed their bags and left for greener pastures, I have two sisters and a sister-in-law who have PR status in England and Australia respectively. We are still family. As they say blood is thicker than water.
I am also fortunate to have lived in various parts of the country having been born in Penang and schooled in Seremban, Malacca, Kelantan, Alor Star and Kuching.
Having undergone a history of trials and tribulations including confrontation with our immediate neighbour and the signing of a peace accord that ended a bloody communist insurgency while re-building itself, Malaysia has come a long way.
And I can say for sure that over the many years of my life, almost 50 years as a journalist, has imbibed me with a sense of expectancy and hope.
With the new PH government there appeared to be some promise of change. But change cannot come if all prejudices, regional or racial, are not eradicated from society.
If our people in the East and West can live and let live, we can bond and be one nation.
If we can do away with the famous Ketuanan Melayu (meaning that a large majority of Malays in Malaya claim to be the country’s master race) and be prepared to be equals – then there is some hope.
If the federal government sincerely wants to educate our rural poor they should not keep the best teachers in Malaya and send the second stringers to the ‘jungles of Sarawak’.
Yes, the situation has improved somewhat unlike the Umno days when a minister could and would tell you in the face that you are not good enough!
Looking back, we can look at Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Ballad of East and West’ for inspiration. This is the story of two sworn enemies who later became a brotherhood of two individuals from different countries.
As the story goes, Kamal, the son of a tribal chief from North West India (now Pakistan) stole the prized mare of a British colonel and was pursued by the colonel’s son who commands a troop of guides.
During the chase the colonel’s son was trapped and was at the mercy of Kamal and his band of rebels.
Prepared to die to fulfil his filial duty to bring back his father’s mare and restore some pride to the army, the young man challenged Kamal to a duel.
But the older Kamal in his wisdom chose peace as opposed to confrontation.
Impressed with the maruah (honour) and gallantry of the colonel’s son, Kamal returned the mare and offered his only son as ‘hostage’ as the duo returned to the British camp.
Kamal’s son was met with a hostile reception at first, but after the British heard the true story of the two young men, who were by then ‘blood brothers’, he was received with respect.
The colonel praised this type of attitude where fellowship and respect for each other reigned supreme.
Indeed if our young leaders through their examples are willing to place true Malaysian brotherhood and unity above all, then the twain shall meet.
As Kipling’s ‘The Ballad of East and West’ goes:
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
“Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment seat;
“But there is neither East nor West,
“Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face,
“Though they come from the ends of the earth!”
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
