Big Seller, Little Seller

• 4 February 2017
• 0 comments

A while ago it might have seemed odd to see a Malay politician selling out to communist China. Not any more. After Najib set the trend by getting Beijing to bail him out of his massive thefts from 1MDB Communist China is no longer seen as a menace by Malaysian politicians but rather as a convenient source of money.

So when BN Sarawak’s Abang Johari holds out his begging bowl in China’s direction he is servilely following in arch thief Najib’s footsteps. Of course he, and his predecessors, have form on this. For decades the timber resources of Sarawak have been sold off dirt cheap to Chinese interests. So any new sell out will take the same form.

Why should China and Chinese businessmen take any interest in Sarawak if not to grab what remains of the State’s natural resources? Or are they just the new Asian face of Father Christmas? It will be a hard sell to convince many Sarawakians of that!

Johari also tries to puff the tourism card. Given that most of the assets that might attract tourism are already in the hands of his Chinese cronies that is understandable, if ignoble. But if he expects the native peoples of Sarawak to abase themselves, their habitat and their customs for ren min bi he may be in for a nasty surprise. Especially if, as will of course be the case, the natives get no more than the usual ten ringgit election bribe and he and his Chinese friends pocket the rest!

If he genuinely wants to show off Sarawakians to tourists he should concentrate on using his own, minority, community.