History Has Lessons

• 20 April 2016
• 0 comments

When James Brooke arrived in Sarawak he found a situation that almost exactly parallels that existing today. Sovereignty over Sarawak south west of Brunei belonged nominally to the Brunei Sultanate. Its only interest in it was to get what could be got without spending anything. This was achieved by allowing a small  Malay/Melanau community to get what it could and pay Brunei its share. Sound familiar?

Sovereignty today rests with Kuala Lumpur and specifically with the crook dictator Najib. He, like those old Sultans, is content to take from Sarawak what he wants; namely its priceless oil and its purchased members of his parliament; while allowing the present day Malay/Melanau mafia to steal everything else.

The pre- Brooke Sultans had not bothered themselves about law and order in Sarawak. That cost money and paid no dividends. So piracy flourished, controlled by the Illanun/Bugis who specialised in that field, just as their Kuala Lumpur claimed descendant does today.

The White Rajahs changed all that over the next century. They enforced law and order, sorted out the pirates and gave Sarawakians the time and peace to pursue their ancestral way of life. Good!  But it came at a price and that price was acceptance of Brooke rule without dissent. A white Sultan for a brown one.

The point of this little history lesson is to show how it is that, in the 21st.century and in a nominally democratic society a small gang of criminals, controlled by the Malay/Melanau minority, can exercise control over the whole State and people of Sarawak. Of course the gunboats of yesteryear are no longer the weapon of choice for enforcing that enslavement. Their place has been taken by the banknote; and Brooke ukases by insincere flattery mixed with intimidaton. “My dear friends. Vote BN once more. You know we are your best friends and here are a few ringgit and some warm beer in a water butt to pay for your support. If you  dont vote for us you will get nothing”

The Brookes and their justice are long gone. But the crooks of yesteryear are still firmly in place. Still stealing whatever they can get. And these days it is not just damar and other forest produce.  It is your forest. Your lands. Your future and that of your children. These BN crooks will not stop their criminal ravaging of Sarawak until you stop them. It is easy. Vote them out in May.