Press Statement: SABAH AND SARAWAK NGOS CONDEMN MAHATHIR FOR INSENSITIVE & RECALCITRANT REMARKS
Joint Statement 28th October 2024
The Presidents of BOPIMAFO and SSRANZ NGOs strongly condemned former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir for his deeply insensitive and offensive suggestion that Sarawak, now deemed a “high-income” state, should share its income with Malayan states.
Dr. Mahathir’s remarks show a shocking disregard for the suffering endured by Sarawak’s people, suffering largely exacerbated by policies enacted during his tenure.
The former Prime minister seems to ignore or deliberately dismiss the grim reality that Sarawak and Sabah were left among the poorest states in Malaysia, despite their vast oil and gas resources being exploited to fuel Malaya’s growth since 1976.
Such a statement only deepens the rift between East and West Malaysia, undermining relations already frayed by decades of resource inequity and federal neglect.
The news report of his remarks on 28 October 2024 sidesteps the critical historical and economic disparities Sarawak has faced as part of Malaysia, and the systemic plunder of its resources.
Sarawak’s so-called “high-income” label is a gross misrepresentation that fails to reflect the daily struggles of most Sarawakians, who continue to suffer from underdeveloped infrastructure, high poverty rates, and a severe lack of essential services.
Although federal data may paint an improved picture of per capita income, it conceals the fundamental reality that much of Sarawak’s wealth has been siphoned off for federal use, with minimal reinvestment in the state itself.
This ongoing extraction has left vast areas of Sarawak impoverished and deprived of the very benefits generated by its resources.
Despite Sarawak contributing immensely to Malaysia’s oil and gas revenue, it receives only a 5% royalty under the Petroleum Development Act of 1974. This has stymied Sarawak’s economic autonomy for decades, leaving it reliant on federal allocations instead of allowing it to fully leverage its resources.
Recent efforts to implement an oil and gas sales tax bring in only a fraction of what Sarawak actually generates—wealth that has long been funnelled into developing Peninsular Malaysia.
The notion that Sarawak should now “share its wealth” with poorer states is an insult, disregarding the fact that this wealth has never truly benefited Sarawakians but has been systematically siphoned to Malaya.
The federal government has capitalized on Sarawak’s oil resources for national projects that largely exclude the very state that produced this wealth.
Calls for Sarawak to support other states are premature and offensive when it has only just begun reclaiming control over its own resources through initiatives like the state-owned Petros. These long-overdue steps toward autonomy are necessary for Sarawak to achieve true development and address the historical inequities imposed upon it.
This exploitation of Sarawak and Sabah's resources is among the reasons why the federation’s unity has become increasingly fragile. Achieving parity with Peninsular Malaysia means Sarawak should retain a much larger portion of its revenue to alleviate poverty and reverse the underdevelopment that still afflicts its people.
Dr. Mahathir’s remarks show a shocking disregard for the suffering endured by Sarawak’s people, suffering largely exacerbated by policies enacted during his tenure.
If Malaya had honoured its part of the MA63 bargain, Sarawak and Sabah would have long ago become high-income states like Singapore!
His statement is a reminder of past injustices, and he owes Sarawak and Sabah an apology for the immense harm inflicted upon them during his time in power.
His insensitive and recalcitrant attitude toward the community's concerns only deepened the mistrust of the federal government, as he refused to acknowledge or address the issues they faced.
End of statement.
28 October 2024
Daniel John Jambun President Borneo's Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo)
Robert Pei President Sabah Sarawak Rights Australia New Zealand (SSRANZ)
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The Chinese of Sarawak and Sabah do not speak for the majority of the indigenous (real) people of Sarawak. Th Chinese settlers in all of South East Asia have appropriated to themselves the 'rights' of others and the 'right' and a presumed 'authority' to speak for the entire state.
They are not endowed with any of these presumed 'rights' or the 'authority' either lawful or moral nor a mandate to speak for the people of Sarawak and Sabah.
When the Chinese of Sabah and Sarawak talk of the "suffering" of any peoples they mean the denial of their claims to privileges to plunder for themselves what they see as their exclusive rights to natural resources and assets of the state, including the right to exploit the native peoples of the state. And the word suffering is often only used in context of the denial of their privileges to exercise their ruthless exlploitative tendencies against natives, indigenous peoples and the state itself.
This is the reason all of ASEAN (except for Singapore and Malaysia) have banned Chinese vernacular schools, their religious cultural icons, symbols and language throughout ASEAN on the pain of criminal punishment.
The South East Asian Chinese are no diferent of the mainland Chinese. They become a state within a state and live and prosper to the exclusion of their hosts.
They must be stopped at all costs. Now the Malays know why other countries in the region and abroad detest Chinese migrants. They are like locusts and a cancer to any society gracious enough to give them shelter and succour. An ungrateful lot they are.
Long live Mahathir and his achievements for the Malays and Malaysians.
Everyone knows Mahathir sees Sabah and Sarawak as ATMs. He has no love for two states that he could not control 100% directly.
We recall his Project M in his effort to Malayanise Sabah.
Mahathir is shameless and to hope or expect him to apologise for all the vile things he had done during his premiership, is to hope that pigs can fly.
I spit on him and if given the chance, I will spit on his grave when he dies which should not be too long now.