10 July 2024
On Today Show
— Dennis Along, Resident of Long Terawan Baram/Social and Political Activist – Sarawak Constituency Demarcation Under Scrutiny: Calls for Fair Representation and Reduced Assembly Seats
— Elia Bit from PENA (Penan Empowerment Networking Association) – NGO PENA's Elia Bit on Citizenship Rights for Children Born Abroad
— 【FORUM：COMMUNITY VOICE】Nicholas Mujaj, General Secretary of SADIA – Navigating Legal Battles: The Role of Negotiators in Indigenous Land Claims
Topik Pada Hari Ini
— Dennis Along, Penduduk Long Terawan Baram/ Aktivis Sosial dan Politik – Persempadanan Semula Kawasan Pilihan Raya Sarawak Dalam Pemeriksaan: Seruan untuk Wakil Rakyat yang Adil dan Pengurangan Kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri
— Elia Bit dari PENA (Persatuan Jaringan Pemerkasaan Penan) – Elia Bit dari NGO PENA mengenai Hak Kewarganegaraan untuk Kanak-Kanak Lahir di Luar Negara
—【FORUM: SUARA KOMUNITI】Nicholas Mujaj, Setiausaha Agung SADIA – Mengharungi Pertarungan Undang-Undang: Peranan Perunding dalam Tuntutan Tanah Adat
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Special Randau
1. 6 members of parliament from Parti Peribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) who expressed support for PMX and were later dismissed by their party remain as members of Parliament. There is no need to hold by-elections, said Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul. Johari concluded that, although they gave their open support to the Prime Minister, they remained members of the Opposition Parliament after being dismissed by their respective parties.
2. The re-delimitation of electoral areas in Sarawak is unfair and manipulated by GPS. Therefore, Dennis Along urged the EC to take seriously the public's suggestions and objections regarding the re-delimitation of Sarawak's constituencies that will be held soon.
3. The Auditor General's Department should investigate more failed public projects in Sarawak. Said the coordinator of Sahabat Alam Malaysia in Sarawak - Jok Jau Ivong. A large number of rural water supply projects in Sabah and Sarawak failed to be completed even though financial allocations had been spent. The Auditor General's report reported that RM1.5 billion of water supply projects in Sarawak and Sabah failed to be completed. This should be thoroughly investigated said Jok Jau.
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Dennis Along, Resident of Long Terawan Baram/Social and Political Activist.
Sarawak Constituency Demarcation Under Scrutiny: Calls for Fair Representation and Reduced Assembly Seats
Dennis reported that the vice-chairman of BERSIH 2.0 Sarawak - Ann Teo held a Roadshow related to the re-delimitation of Dun and Parliamentary constituencies in Sarawak. Ann Teo was in Miri Sarawak on Saturday last week and her presence to give information on the re-delimitation of the electoral area received a very encouraging response among the people of Miri and its surroundings. After attending the clarification session, Dennis suggested that the unfair manipulation and demarcation be stopped and a new fair demarcation be implemented. Eight years ago the demarcation of the Sarawak state assembly constituency increased the number of Sarawak state assembly seats to 82 seats. But unfortunately the demarcation is very unfair. As a comparison, the Gedong area where the Premier of Sarawak is the representative of the people, the area only has more than 10 thousand voters while the Senadin area in Miri has a total of 70 thousand voters. This is an unfair situation. The value of 1 vote of a voter in Gedong is represented by 7 votes for the residents of Senadin. So are some other areas. We, the people of Sarawak, demand that the EC do a fair demarcation of electoral areas (the number of voters should be almost the same) and the number of dun and parliament seats be reduced. The logic is that the dun seat is reduced because the number of voters in Sarawak is not many and the Sarawak dun only meets twice a year and each time it meets for only 8 days. But the Sarawak assemblyman enjoys a decent salary and remuneration throughout the year. By reducing the number of Sarawak Dun seats to 41 (41), the amount of government expenditure will decrease and the distribution of the number of voters will be more or less equal. Thus no political party can easily manipulate the low number of voters and easily win the election. According to Dennis again. If you look at this moment, most of the state assembly seats won by GPS/PBB have small areas and not many voters. This is done in such a way that PBB/GPS can easily win the DUN area involved. We urge the EC to be fair and take suggestions from the people seriously and not just accept demarcation suggestions from GPS/Sarawak state government. The voice and suggestions of the people should be prioritized over the suggestions of political parties like GPS.
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Elia Bit from PENA (Penan Empowerment Networking Association)
NGO PENA's Elia Bit on Citizenship Rights for Children Born Abroad
Elia Bit from the NGO PENA supports Suhakam's desire to gain royal support to block changes to citizenship laws. It is better not to frequently amend the existing laws.
According to Elia, regardless of whether the mother or father is married to a foreigner and gives birth abroad, the child should automatically be recognized as a citizen. This is to ensure that the rights of the mother or father are not eroded due to frequently changing laws.
For example, the power under the state government has often been used to deny the rights of indigenous people in Sarawak because citizenship issues have not been resolved transparently. Therefore, it is suggested that for state-level citizenship cases, independent bodies should be appointed to manage these citizenship issues.
Elia urges the MADANI government to be more attentive to these citizenship issues, which are very concerning to the public, especially those in mixed marriages and indigenous people who lack identity in this country.
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【FORUM：COMMUNITY VOICE】
Nicholas Mujaj, General Secretary of SADIA
Navigating Legal Battles: The Role of Negotiators in Indigenous Land Claims
Mujah focuses more on laws related to land or the rights of indigenous peoples, which are often changed to deny the rights of the indigenous people. As someone heavily involved in the struggle for indigenous rights, Nicholas Mujah has brought indigenous issues to the international level to reorganize according to what was agreed by UNDRIP, especially during judicial reviews in court. Every time native land cases are brought to court, laws are always changed to defeat the indigenous cases, meaning that the legislation is frequently amended.
In many NCR lands that have been seized but replanted with the same crops as before, this is a form of trade or commodity. This commodity is very important. If indigenous people want their rights back, what should they do? They must become good negotiators because so far, they have not reached that level.
An important issue that indigenous people must know is when they claim land that has been theirs for generations, but the land has been given to a company. What is their stance? They must understand that from the legal and customary perspectives, they already have rights, and they should not give up because they have a legal system. Even though the robbers' rights are legitimate because they were given by the government, do not forget that they have customs. That is why if they do not understand the existing customs, it is easy for their rights to be taken away. Mapping of customary land is also very important and should be done by every indigenous person. Actually, the national law already recognizes that they have rights to their land, which is why their struggle is based on customary rights.
They must defend these rights by being good negotiators, as this is their weapon, and this should be practiced. But if their negotiators are not equipped with evidence, this is why they often lose because current laws are influenced by politicians who have been given a mandate by the people.