A solution for the Dayaks?
Written by Seliong anak Wau
The almost 6,000 Iban supporters following YB Gabriel Adit to PKR made it to the national news. The figure may yet be verified but in the report of his speech, Adit, a four-term assemblyperson, told the crowd that the main reason for joining PKR was due to the “political castration” of the Dayaks under the BN state government. We castrate animals in real life. The purpose is to stop reproductive function in male animals. How do we “politically castrate” people?
Is Adit’s statement representative of the majority of Dayaks’ sentiments? Do the Dayaks feel they are being castrated in some ways?
Adit’s view may lack consensus; that is very obvious. If Adit represents the dissatisfaction of the Dayaks, there are Dayaks from the side of the political divide. If Adit’s supporters are passionate about Dayak’s rights as well as alienation, there are Dayaks who feel the present administration had been fair and generous to the Dayaks. But Adit’s statement is a step further: political castration.
Land matters
If we interpret this term correctly, political castration is the key to several issues in the state. The treatment of Dayak’s land is paramount. The Dayaks, especially the majority Ibans, feel they have been cheated and betrayed in the development of their native’s land. The basic questions of land titles have been answered with all forms of excuses. In this land development, the Dayaks have to give up their rights to the land for a minimum of thirty years with additional option for further thirty years. For a total of sixty years, the present generation of Dayaks would be dead.
There are two dangers here; unknown boundaries and future changes in land code.
The issuance of titles eliminates these dangers completely.
Many Dayaks are questioning the terms of land development. To them it’s lopsided. Firstly they signed without qualified lawyers explaining the contents. Secondly, the language of reference is English. Thirdly, rural Dayaks are not included to provide inputs to the manner of the development. This resulted in squabbles on boundaries, fruit and rubber trees fell, encroaching into other people’s land etc. More than 100 related legal cases are outstanding. Finally, many Dayaks have not received the promised returns for the development of their land.
Surprisingly, there are no huge plantation companies in Ngemah. It is not accessible by road as yet. This poses a serious question; are Ngemah Dayaks deciding as proxies for other Dayaks? Do they speak for their fellow Dayaks from Baram, from Lubuk Antu etc? If they do, Adit’s view might be held by the majority of the Dayaks.
Employment
Dayaks are generally not interested in the national news. What happens in Selangor, Kuala Trengganu, Penang and other places of the Peninsula do not interest them. But they ask practical questions, like why are jobs found only in the Peninsula, and why are there no Dayaks serving as officers in the town?
Adit’s view on political castration seemed to emphasize this point. Firstly the riches of the state are not proportionately returned for development. Factories and industries are found only in the Peninsula. Can some be allocated to us? This view of “compensation” is more severed among the Dayaks. Their surroundings have been destroyed by loggings and plantations. For their hardship, what do they get in return? They lament over destroyed wildlife, destroyed fishing grounds and muddy rivers. Dayaks complained, but nobody listens – is this the castration Adit referred to?
On the second point, Dayaks generally find it difficult to “infiltrate” the civil service. Just a test case: during the Hari Raya season, government offices virtually come to a stand-still. You don’t have such scenario for Chinese New Year and Gawai Dayak. We have to ask Adit if this is the castration he referred to.
Others
Political castration is most effective when done at young age. Is education and vocational trainings made more difficult for Dayaks? We really don’t know the figures. Of course in the Peninsula, it is just hearsay that Malay students do not face difficulties in obtaining financial aid. Did Adit referred this or did he mean things like vocational schools, matriculation, ITM and Universities admission? Maybe he referred to overseas scholarships? Again, let us ask YB Gabriel Adit once we see him.
There are other issues that Dayaks generally are not happy about. We must not forget that Dayaks are not the rowdy, ungrateful specimen. It takes a lot to offend a Dayak, but once angered, it is equally hard to pacify. Once a Dayak is suspicious, he has a very short fuse and so are every body elsewhere. Right now the Dayaks are generally in that mode; suspicious and short fuse.
Conclusion
Political castration is not the solution for the Dayaks. It provides some spaces and temporary respites for the administration. In a huge pen of goats, some males may escape castration and they would immediately fulfil their roles as the uncastrated males as soon as possible. AHA… maybe that is the solution for the Dayaks. Do the Adit’s way.
Is Adit’s statement representative of the majority of Dayaks’ sentiments? Do the Dayaks feel they are being castrated in some ways?
Adit’s view may lack consensus; that is very obvious. If Adit represents the dissatisfaction of the Dayaks, there are Dayaks from the side of the political divide. If Adit’s supporters are passionate about Dayak’s rights as well as alienation, there are Dayaks who feel the present administration had been fair and generous to the Dayaks. But Adit’s statement is a step further: political castration.
Land matters
If we interpret this term correctly, political castration is the key to several issues in the state. The treatment of Dayak’s land is paramount. The Dayaks, especially the majority Ibans, feel they have been cheated and betrayed in the development of their native’s land. The basic questions of land titles have been answered with all forms of excuses. In this land development, the Dayaks have to give up their rights to the land for a minimum of thirty years with additional option for further thirty years. For a total of sixty years, the present generation of Dayaks would be dead.
There are two dangers here; unknown boundaries and future changes in land code.
The issuance of titles eliminates these dangers completely.
Many Dayaks are questioning the terms of land development. To them it’s lopsided. Firstly they signed without qualified lawyers explaining the contents. Secondly, the language of reference is English. Thirdly, rural Dayaks are not included to provide inputs to the manner of the development. This resulted in squabbles on boundaries, fruit and rubber trees fell, encroaching into other people’s land etc. More than 100 related legal cases are outstanding. Finally, many Dayaks have not received the promised returns for the development of their land.
Surprisingly, there are no huge plantation companies in Ngemah. It is not accessible by road as yet. This poses a serious question; are Ngemah Dayaks deciding as proxies for other Dayaks? Do they speak for their fellow Dayaks from Baram, from Lubuk Antu etc? If they do, Adit’s view might be held by the majority of the Dayaks.
Employment
Dayaks are generally not interested in the national news. What happens in Selangor, Kuala Trengganu, Penang and other places of the Peninsula do not interest them. But they ask practical questions, like why are jobs found only in the Peninsula, and why are there no Dayaks serving as officers in the town?
Adit’s view on political castration seemed to emphasize this point. Firstly the riches of the state are not proportionately returned for development. Factories and industries are found only in the Peninsula. Can some be allocated to us? This view of “compensation” is more severed among the Dayaks. Their surroundings have been destroyed by loggings and plantations. For their hardship, what do they get in return? They lament over destroyed wildlife, destroyed fishing grounds and muddy rivers. Dayaks complained, but nobody listens – is this the castration Adit referred to?
On the second point, Dayaks generally find it difficult to “infiltrate” the civil service. Just a test case: during the Hari Raya season, government offices virtually come to a stand-still. You don’t have such scenario for Chinese New Year and Gawai Dayak. We have to ask Adit if this is the castration he referred to.
Others
Political castration is most effective when done at young age. Is education and vocational trainings made more difficult for Dayaks? We really don’t know the figures. Of course in the Peninsula, it is just hearsay that Malay students do not face difficulties in obtaining financial aid. Did Adit referred this or did he mean things like vocational schools, matriculation, ITM and Universities admission? Maybe he referred to overseas scholarships? Again, let us ask YB Gabriel Adit once we see him.
There are other issues that Dayaks generally are not happy about. We must not forget that Dayaks are not the rowdy, ungrateful specimen. It takes a lot to offend a Dayak, but once angered, it is equally hard to pacify. Once a Dayak is suspicious, he has a very short fuse and so are every body elsewhere. Right now the Dayaks are generally in that mode; suspicious and short fuse.
Conclusion
Political castration is not the solution for the Dayaks. It provides some spaces and temporary respites for the administration. In a huge pen of goats, some males may escape castration and they would immediately fulfil their roles as the uncastrated males as soon as possible. AHA… maybe that is the solution for the Dayaks. Do the Adit’s way.
SOURCE: DAYAK BARU
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