By Pushparani Thilaganathan | FMT
COMMENT Plaza Inn, atop a coffeeshop in Sibu, is flanked by a ‘skyscraper’ and a string of nightclubs on the other end. Evenings are short and the streets are mostly deserted by 9pm.
Life is a straight road. Dawn breaks around 6am, shop shutters rise and the first whiff of brewing coffee reaches up to the hotel room if the windows are open.
If it rains, like it did most nights and some mornings, the mesh of scents is refreshing! Here, where churches are rampant, work is god and toil is truth.
There is no room for perceptions. Only impressions.
But somehow this truth seems to have eluded Barisan Nasional if news reports of how and why they lost their grip on a constituency after a quarter century of presence, is anything to go by.
BN lost because people couldn’t stand the arrogance and power they exuded – from the bag carrying errand boy all the way up the ladder to the ‘kiss my hand’ homage-yearning ministers.
And neither did the voters believe the opposition, Pakatan Rakyat Sarawak – a coalition of DAP, PAS, PKR and SNAP – to be righteous and blameless.
Sibu simply voted for what they believed to be the better of two evils.
The known devil
It was Saturday, the eve of the by-election. I came downstairs to the coffeeshop for my regular ‘cuppa’.
Just as I was being served, sirens rang and a Mercedes Benz ferrying an important BN official whizzed pass.
”Celaka…hari hari bising,” mumbled Misra and carried on with her work.
You can tell a local from a Peninsular Malaysian, said Misra who works at the coffee shop and earns RM400 a month.
“They have a lot of money. They talk loudly..they walk differently,” she said.
In the run-up to the Sibu parliamentary by-election last Sunday, Peninsular Malaysians accompanying their political warlords arrived in droves.
?Their arrival was a boon to business but a bane to the social fabric of this small town community which had never ever seen the likes of ministers, much less the prime minister and his deputy at such close quarters.
Notwithstanding, this money-muscled entourage came with extensive baggage and police protection. Reports said Sibu had 1,000 policemen in town.
High on the list of baggage and most pertinent to the locals was the contentious ‘Allah” issue and Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s continuity.
Both issues the BN and its candidate refused to talk about or explain. Every door that BN closed was a window to be opened for the opposition.
According to church-going Joseph, a Chinese, “(we have) so many questions to ask…”
But only the opposition coalition was prepared to answer.
PAS’ Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad and Kota Raja MP Siti Maria Mahmud had met up with several church groups to explain PAS stand on the issue.
The open discussions was a thirst-quencher and believed to have been among the turning points for the Chinese votes. Majority of Sibu’s voters are Christians.
The unknown angel
They say life is not without its risks.
When you ride the mighty Rajang river and battle the voluminous waters that perennially flood your waking hours, risks is in the blood and fear a momentary hiccup.
Testing out an unknown angel in the form of the Pakatan Rakyat Sarawak coalition is a small risk especially in view of the fact that the state elections is imminent.
Sarawak has to hold its state elections before June 2011.
As such any ensuing discomforts as a result of their collective decision is seen as only temporary.
?Yes, Pakatan has its share of baggage, but fortunately for them, it was not directly relevant to local life.
Sibu is a quiet community. The Ibans speak softly, sometimes you sense shyness and inadequacy but they warm to honesty.
The Malay Melanaus are more confident than the Ibans.
They live closer to the city and are more exposed to the Chinese community. More often than not they are prioritised by government-run agencies over the Ibans.
The Chinese lord the town in terms of numbers but they too are deeply divided.
There is very little real interaction on a social front between the baseline communities.
People are reticent but considerate, often making sure you’re aware of what you are eating, as both pork and Muslims are bedfellows.
Watching and listening help one read between the lines in this community.
In the recent by-election, what was most obvious was the grassroots acceptance of the opposition.
Many of the opposition parliamentarians and state executive councillors of Penang and Selangor were seen coming in taxis, eating at coffee-shops and living in mediocre hotels.
Many flew AirAsia, and word got around very quickly about how ordinary they were.
?But perhaps the most telling of all was Penang Chief Minister Lim Guang Eng’s persona.
Lim was an equal to ‘god-like’ Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. Equal to the federal ministers who visited Sibu during the by-election. But unlike them he had no entourage, police protection or formality about him.
He was warm, approachable and popular with the local Chinese community. They saw him as fearless and endearing, like a tiger.
With him, at the final ceramah on Saturday, were 60 other Pakatan grassroots leaders from all walks of life hailing a ‘common Malaysia, Malaysia for all’.
Here was the elusive 1Malaysia that premier Najib Tun Razak is struggling to achieve, but which he will not see given his own people’s fear of unity.
Okay…between the two devil….Sibuans voted for DAP..so what…why talk three ….talk four?
One resident said..it sounded exciting like Chinese New Year celebrations …and the Push… said “celeka..hari hari bising”….a complaint by a coffee shop worker.
Who cares…..Sibuans have revealed they are not easily fooled by a liar and cheater.
D tak laku MCA failed products r fighting 4 appointments as senators n deputy ministers, masuk pintu belakang
Thick skin one, just like KTK
PR, esp PKR, MPs n state assemblymen better buck up n b responsible n visible elected reps
Selangor n Kedah PKR reps – R things OK there?
Selangor: Can solve d sand issue there or not? Got corruption or not, like UmnoB/BN style?
It’s only a fragile faith n confidence that voters hv on PR; don’t take things 4 granted n mess things up
Another buy election coming soon in Pahang
This is probably the best testimony in a while for a self-effacing man: “Lim was an equal to ‘god-like’ Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. Equal to the federal ministers who visited Sibu during the by-election. But unlike them he had no entourage, police protection or formality about him.”
Remembering that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, then LGE has to be extra vigilant that human foibles and follies descend on humankind like the rain. It is always best to keep one’s feet on the ground, remember that one is clay and just keep doing the honest thing for the Rakyat.
To all PR MPs and ADUNs, just keep flying AirAsia, eat in coffeeshops and stay in 3 or 4 -star hotels. The Rakyat wants to see that u r careful with their money. BN can never, will never do this!!! They think the Rakyat owes them a living, with bonuses and perks like wine, women and songs as of right. If I may borrow Semi-value’s street lingo, BN podah!
I like YB Khalid Samad & YB Siti Maria who went around explaning PAS stand on UMNO’s propaganda on the use of Allah’s word by non muslim.Way to go YB’s.
I hate the shallow arguments of Khalid, the traitor of the Islamic religion. Go to hell YB’s.
Majority rules
http://www.malaysiakini.tv/video/19359/sibu-swan-city-of-peace.html
I am offended by malaysiakini who showed the swan as the symbol of sibu. In fact, none of us agreed on this symbol. Robert Lau imposed the symbol o us when he was the chairman of the municipal council. In my opinion, all these swans have to be removed shall PR came to power. These swans are symbols of dictatorship instead of showing democracy. They are equivalent to the statue of Stalin which was removed and destroyed following the fall of the Soviet Union.
Hi life is not a fairy tale dude, do you know that “Allah” is an Arabic word for “God”? It is used by Christians in Arab and in Indonesia, except in Malaysia? Don’t you think it is odd?
Hi buy-election, you can’t blame Malaysiakini because they are just reporting what they saw. And the fact that the swans are standing means that it is still the symbol until it is removed.
Majority of the Sibu voters voted against BN for the simple reason that they are fed up with all the Umno/BN’s bull shxts. Whether DAP/PR is the lesser evil I think it wasn’t at all in the voter’s mind. There’s no other best pleasure than to seeing the defeat of Umno/Bn in a by election or general election.Hence the Sibu people’s celebration immediately upon hearing the defeat of the BN candidate and not so much on the victory of the DAP candidate.
ekompute,we must understand why there are some less knowledgable people and there are some smarter people.So we must forgive this “life is not a fairy tale dude!”His comment about YB shows just how shallow his general knowledge is.
Sibuans voted to trust DAP and Lim Kit Siang…..more than UMNO B and Najib..period.
I agree with rahmanwang, if those who seek to change others’ view then they must be prepared to do the long walk. One man’s opinion is not necessary accepted by others as truth though it may appear to be nothing but the truth. Every coin has two faces and an edge on which many neutral party would cling to when they are uncertain of the REAL truth. The basic issue facing most Malaysians is our mind is moulded when we are young; in that environment it takes eon to change; especially if as you grow up, peer pressure continues relentlessly. Though I believe peer pressure will slowly diminish as we march into the 21st Century because of internet pervasive influence. Of course, this nation has got into such a quagmire, we do not have the time to wait for changes to take their course. But having observed the current powwer that be, it is obviously committing itself to the river of no return! They are deemed to be insincere in both their speaches and worst still their actions. Hence to withdraw their promises of ‘small money’ made during by-elections, the distrust can only grow. In locations where you have not make much effort to ensure growth, I would think those by-election promises should be delivered even if they have lost it. Now, having rescinded those promises, I wonder what they gonna tell the same people, come 13 GE!!!
Hi life is not a fairy tale dude, is “go to hell YB’s” something consistent with Islam? If I am not mistaken, orang Islam yang warak tak akan bercakap sebegini… correct me if I am wrong.
And if you are not warak, why are you so so-called “pro-Islam”?
PR will be succesful one day to form the government if “The CAT” systems is implemented continuiosly. results will be seen and the rakyat will notice it. the rakyat that chosen PR is not the “UNGRATEFUL CHINESE” as what sub contractor FROG ALI keep on shouting but “UNGRATEFUL CHINESE, MALAYS, INDIAN, IBAN, MELANAU and others” whom had realised how BN had manipulated the country.
The money saved from corruption will be enough to do whatever the PR envisioned for without and budget deficits and the m’sian people will sure have a better life. I see one day more and more BN leaders will join PR, once they had woken up to their conscience . For the time being we need people like you, LGE, Tok Guru, Anwar Ibrahim, Karpal and Gobind Singh and all the sincere PR leaders to soldier on for all of us hope one day a country of the name MALAYSIA is for all MALAYSIAN where politician will never ever mention and divide the people base on race.
“Lim was an equal to ‘god-like’ Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. Equal to the federal ministers who visited Sibu during the by-election. But unlike them he had no entourage, police protection or formality about him. He was warm, approachable and popular with the local Chinese community. They saw him as fearless and endearing, like a tiger.”
LKS is an icon in Malaysian politics… no one can deny that. He has seen many prime ministers come and go but he outlasts all of them. ISA doesn’t frighten him and he can’t be bought, as evidenced by the fact that DAP never joined Barisan Nasional, unlike Gerakan, a cat more dead than alive today. Kudos to LKS!
Sorry, the above passage was regarding LKS’s son but my comments was regarding LKS. Anyway, LGE is a chip of the old block… in many ways like his dad.
ekompute,
u sound like Montersball , hero worship the father and the son , wanna be YB subang candidates for Dap?
ekompute…glad that idiotic good for nothing Chenghjo got some brain to know we sound alike.
And do not forgive..fire on.
We can forgive after 13th GE.
We have suffered enough under UMNO B crooks and you give in one inch…they want a yard..a mile and your soul.
Faark “life is not a fairy tale” like no tomorrow…and let those god fearing guys forgive him.
Kopitiam fellas are all in mind and spirit to faark all and love none UMNO B hypocrites…until after 13th GE.
After that…we all can also pray to God for forgiveness and really learn how to forgive and forget..and not like those crooks.ask for forgiveness and repeat same sin over and over again for decades…insulting and disrespecting Allah.
Yes those are not true Muslims…but crooked political hypocrites….all from UMNO B and many of their members coming here as nice guys to talk cock.
Remember Teoh Beng Hock…Kugan ….Mongolian model and that poor 16 year old student.
What will their love ones say…forgive and forget….when justice not done?
Remember all the billions stolen from Malaysians.,. not one real crook gone to jail yet.
You want to learn to forgive now or after 13th GE?
And on religions….most UMNO B hypocrites know next to nothing except Islam and these uneducated low class rural folks simple believe what are told to them..by smart cunning selfish city life well educated racists.
These racists also know next to nothing about religions….except Islam.
You go ahead and fire on. I will challenge them to prove they know next to nothing about comparative religions..including all the big mouths UMNOB ministers….foremost of all..Najib..so well educated..but know next to nothing about religions.
The only world leaders whom I recall understands all..was the late President Arafat.
If Mahathir and Najib was that sincere they would have attended so many Christian celebrations…especially Christmas mass.