What Young Sarawakian Means to Us - RAJAH RAQAFLUZ

Sarawak since it nationhood in 1841 is a democratic, secular state of law with a historic, deep-rooted and wealthy culture dating back more than 175 years, the continuation of numerous regional division established in a swathe of territory extending from Kuching to the  interior reaching as far as Kapit and Lawas region.

Two great states founded by our nation, the Sarawak Government (1841-2014) and Malaysia federation (1963-2014), became models for the world. With its unbounded tolerance and love, it adopted the principle of Peace in the Homeland, Peace in the Federation, on matters such as liberty, human rights and justice. The Sarawak nation want peace, tranquility and love in the world.

Of course, like many other states, our Sarawak naion and Malaysia federation has overcome hard times and has undergone intense struggles for democracy. The Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition administration is in its 50th year, and the transition to a multiparty democracy has yet to be fully established. As of 2008, the aftermath of General Election 13, the country has been enjoying a new spring and is governed according to the legal and democratic norms in the principle of two-party system. The Malaysian spring on 2013, aftermath of General Election 14 with its pluralist democracy, is reflected in the parliament and local administrations with substantial majorities' votes in the elections have been achieve by opposition front of Pakatan Rakyat and United Borneo Front.

An environmental rearrangement scheduled for dam construction, Native Customary Rights (NCR) land development turned into a protest action for reasons such as the lack of proper public relations works, the planned project not being submitted for the approval of the residents of the village, city and some of our citizens not regarding the steps being taken as acceptable. Our valuable young people making use of their democratic right to protest freely were exposed to a mistaken and harsh attitude on the part of the police in the first days of the protests. 

In brief, no action using terror and violence, that raises tensions in Sarawak and the entire Malaysia federation and that damages public order and peace is acceptable in this country, as it would not be in any other democratic country.

Sarawakian young people with sincere environmental beliefs involved in the dam construction protest, fine young people, young people with broad horizons, intelligent young people, these are Sarawakian people. They have a modern conception of religious harmony. They are against extremism and bigotry. They are ultra modern. Sarawakian are people of love. They are compassionate, they feel affection for dogs and cats and trees, and feel sorry for the poor. They enhance their own culture. They are kind and respectful toward one another.

Sarawakian people attach great importance to these characteristics, liberty and democracy. The whole world knows this is what makes Sarawak as well as Sabah different from Malaya and other countries in the region. Indeed, is that not why the Western and Eastern world points to Sarawak as a role model for harmoniuos countries?

The verse of the Koran that reads "There is no compulsion in the religion" (2:256) shows that the faith foresees the most highly developed democracies.

In particular, the way for the democratic structure we all want to see to flourish for Sarawakian is for Sarawak to be progressive and enlightened character to be shown as a role model in the region.

Rajah Raqafluz (Pen name) is the admin for "STAR TODAY". Believe in STAR Sarawak and United Borneo Front (UBF), advocate of Borneo Agenda, Friends of the Trust and a firm follower of Harunyahya.

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STATE REFORM PARTY (STAR): COMPILATION 05 - COPY AND SHARE IT!

Rajah Raqafluz (Pen name) is the admin for "STAR TODAY". Believe in STAR Sarawak and United Borneo Front (UBF), advocate of Borneo Agenda, Friends of the Trust and a firm follower of Harunyahya.

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STATE REFORM PARTY (STAR) SARAWAK: HISTORICAL NOTES FROM LIMBANG - LINA SOO

HISTORICAL NOTES FROM LIMBANG

Protest against Council Tax and Representation to the Cobbold Commission against the Malaysia Plan

In 1961 SUPP Limbang organized a peoples’ protest against council housing tax. A few hundred of them turned up to protest against paying the tax. More than 300 of them got detained at the police station. Stephen Yong, Sec-Gen of SUPP came to Limbang and asked for their release. All were released within one day. The people refused to pay up, and the Council could not do anything, so the matter was gantung.

When the Malaysia Plan was announced in July 1962, the Chinese representatives were invited to attend a meeting. The Chinese were asked to support the Malaysia Plan by a leading personality in Limbang. When the people asked him why they should support the Plan, the personality said that if they didn’t, Indonesia would invade and take over Sarawak. This person who supported the formation of Malaysia would go on to amass great wealth. Those who opposed the formation of Malaysia would be hunted down, arrested and spend the best part of their youth in prison.

When the Cobbold Commission arrived in Limbang, three representatives from the Chinese community – KT Lim Kim Tee, TH Loi and ST Chang met the Cobbold Commission and informed them that they had sent in their petition under SUPP to voice their opposition to the Malaysia Plan. In the Limbang petition, 2/3 of the Limbang population including 100% Kedayan opposed the Malaysia Plan; and they wanted Sarawak independence. Yet the Cobbold Report will be silent on the petition.

Nationalist heroes of Limbang in 1962/63 – Kedayan, Malay, Iban, Murut/Lun Bawang, Bisaya, Chinese, we salute you. You lost the battle for independence 1962/63 but your fight for freedom, liberty and sacrifices will be remembered. 

Pic: courtesy of Chua Limbang. this is a re-post. I once took the river trip from miri/brunei to limbang, midway river journey there is the immigration pondok, we had to show our passports, it sure is unusual to meet an floating ICQ, where swak and brunei waters meet.

Lina Soo is a candidate for State Reform Party (STAR) for P196 Stampin, Sarawak in GE-13 and the author of popular book "Sarawak the Real Deal"

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To become World Cup Champion, sports must be made obligatory by the state - RAJAH RAQAFLUZ

Actually sports must be made obligatory by the state. 

For example, generally sports is only for an hour per week at school: It must be every day. Every day at least  an hour, or an hour and a half, must be reserved for sports. This is necessary for a healthy youth. Or it could be once every other day, because it is important that the young are healthy and strong, both physically and mentally. 

“A healthy mind is in a healthy body.” Scientist and scholar is a person who understood the importance of sports.

Campaigning for this would have no effect. Implementation works. 

There could a one-day break but if sports classes are obligatory, then the problem is solved. Two hours: We can build nice facilities at schools. 

Encouraging sports alone would not work; making it an obligation is a must. If a person is left to decide on his own, it is very difficult to do sports. 

People are generally lazy. If we do this, children would thank us later.

Rajah Raqafluz (Pen name) is the admin for "STAR TODAY". Believe in STAR Sarawak and United Borneo Front (UBF), advocate of Borneo Agenda, Friends of the Trust and a firm follower of Harunyahya.

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STATE REFORM PARTY (STAR) SABAH: "Increasing RM500K Limit Does Not Improve Education Standards" - YB DATUK DR. JEFFREY KITINGAN

Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan is the Chairman of STAR Sabah and State Assemblymen for N33, Bingkor, Sabah.

He also contested in P180, Keningau garnering 11900 strong votes

KOTA KINABALU -  “The DPM cum Education Minister’s move to increase the authorization limit of State Education Directors is welcomed and a right move in the right direction but it does not help to improve declining education standards and too little in the case of Sabah and Sarawak” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, commenting on the limit increase from RM500,000.00 to RM5.0 million annually.

Although welcomed whole-heartedly, it is hoped that the increase is not window dressing and done to appease the growing discontentment with the Education Ministry’s central control and declining education standards.

However, the decision to increase approval limit does not in any way improve the education and learning standards although it leads to reduction in lead time to improve school facilities and it removes the need to refer to Putrajaya for approval.

This alone emphasizes the fact that education needs to be de-centralized and the States need to be empowered in education.

At the same time, the increased limit does not really help Sabah and Sarawak as it is too little.  

This is principally due the fact that schools in Sabah and Sarawak have been neglected for the last 50 years. 

On the other hand, the biased development and spending strategies by the Malayan/Malaysian federal government has seen schools in the Peninsula been upgraded tremendously over the last 50 years and with new schools built all over the Peninsula.   

In Putrajaya and the newer schools in other states, even primary school are better than colleges in Sabah and Sarawak.  From the outside, one would think that these primary schools are colleges.   Inside, especially secondary schools, many have state-of-the-art facilities.

The two incidents on school opening day in Sabah clearly reflects the problem of education in Sabah and the need to return education to Sabah control with its own Ministry of Education.  

The federal Education Ministry is not suited to manage education in Sabah.

The first incident at SMK Kundasang where 1,000 students were stranded without a school would not have happened if the power to decide to build the school buildings lay with an autonomous Sabah Education Department under the control of the Sabah government.

  The new school was to be completed in March 2013 but as at January 2014, construction work had not even started.

On 4th January, the Sabah State Education Director visited SMK Kundasang to have a first hand look himself.   But was he able to do anything or was he powerless to do anything?

         

Alas, it is not to be as it is under the bureaucracy and remote control of Putrajaya.

So, the problem at SMK Kundasang is not unexpected as it happened when this bureaucracy and remote control is compounded with a neglect and no-priority policy for Sabah by the federal government.

The other incident was at SJK(C) Che Hwa in Kolombong, Inanam where the Chinese students only represented 42% of the new intake compared to the 58% bumiputra enrolment.  

In addition, 90% of students had their pre-school education in Chinese. 

This schooling scenario with a large non-Chinese student enrolment in a Chinese school in Sabah is typical throughout Sabah. This is further confirmed in SJK(C) Chung Hwa Likas, where 151 or 51.9% out of the 291 Primary I students were non-Chinese.

However, the federal education policy’s biasness towards Chinese schools in the Peninsula has left Chinese schools in Sabah in a lurch. Chinese schools in Sabah cannot be equated with the counterparts in the Peninsula.

Yes, the Sabah government performs much better than other State governments with grants of up to RM130,000 for Chinese schools but this is done for political efficacy to draw votes of the Chinese community.   With these grants, the Umno/BN government have exploited it to the hilt politically and used as a boast that the opposition cannot do better.

Education is a government responsibility. As the opposition is not in government, of course, it cannot do better.

Give the opposition to helm the Sabah government and Chinese education may be fully funded.  

Giving grants of more than RM130,000 would be a certainty compared to the Umno/BN government. When in government, the opposition can certainly do better than Umno/BN now.

While the Umno/BN government boasts of this grant, in reality, it is only a token sum.

Many a parent and teacher in Chinese schools will tell you that a substantial part of their school time is spent thinking of fund-raising due to insufficient government support. For an enrolment of 1,000 students, the grant works out to only RM130 per student annually.  

This is pittance compared to the RM3,831 the federal government spends on each student in national-type primary schools and RM5,093 for each secondary student annually based on the 2012 national education budget of RM54.59 billion.

Both incidents clearly proves that education needs to be re-established under the control of the Sabah government.

At the same time, the Sabah government need to seriously review and re-assess the education policy and administration in Sabah and move towards the re-establishment of Sabah’s own Ministry of Education and a vision towards building towering Sabahans that will drive the growth of Sabah into a developed nation status.

The regress and falling standards of education in Sabah needs to be arrested and addressed and the current export of Sabah youths to the Peninsula and Singapore to do factory jobs need to corrected.

As the DPM cum Education Minister had expounded that the increase of the approval limit is a move towards the de-centralization and empowerment of the State Education Departments, it need to be expedited so that education is returned to the Sabah government as envisaged and provided under Point No. 15 of the 20-Points.  

The Honourable DPM is strongly urged to consider this move expeditiously.

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STATE REFORM PARTY (STAR): COMPILATION 04 - COPY AND SHARE IT!

Rajah Raqafluz (Pen name) is the admin for "STAR TODAY". Believe in STAR Sarawak and United Borneo Front (UBF), advocate of Borneo Agenda, Friends of the Trust and a firm follower of Harunyahya.

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STATE REFORM PARTY (STAR) SABAH: “How Will Najib Tackle Runaway Inflation in 2014?” - YB DATUK DR. JEFFREY KITINGAN

Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan is the Chairman of STAR Sabah and State Assemblymen for N33, Bingkor, Sabah.

He also contested in P180, Keningau garnering 11900 strong votes

“How Will Najib Tackle Runaway Inflation in 2014?” - YB DATUK DR. JEFFREY KITINGAN

KOTA KINABALU - “While everyone is focused on the recent policies of the government resulting in total price hikes in almost every item, the ringgit has been depreciating alarmingly almost unnoticed by most ordinary man in the street” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, noting that the Ringgit has fallen by one of the biggest margin in 2013 since the 1997 economic meltdown.

Based on statistics from Bank Negara Malaysia of the rates from the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market in Kuala Lumpur, in December 2013 alone the Ringgit lost almost 2% against the US Dollar from 3.2230 to 3.2815.

 From 02 January 2013 when the exchange rate was RM3.0375, the resultant depreciation of the Ringgit is 8.03% for the whole of 2013.

While the falling Ringgit is good for exporters who will be getting more Ringgit for their exports, the main concern is for the ordinary citizens who will have to pay more for imports into Malaysia.

In reality, exporters do not get the full benefit of the falling Ringgit as shrewd international importers will be asking for prices in lower US Dollar for their exports from Malaysia due to the falling Ringgit.

For the ordinary consumers, the falling Ringgit is going to cause higher prices for consumer goods especially imported ones.

On food items alone, Malaysia imports about RM12 billion annually.   Without any add-on in other costs, the falling Ringgit will cause Malaysians to pay an additional RM1.0 billion for the same food items in 2014.

Coupled with the price hikes caused by the recent policy changes announced by the federal government, Malaysians could be faced with runaway inflation in 2014.

“One shudders to think what inflation will be like in 2015 when the GST is to be implemented?” queried Dr. Jeffrey.

Creating a Laboratory to study on Living Costs may not be effective if their members are paid high salaries with plush and air-conditioned offices in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur.

Their understanding and resultant policy ideas may not be reflective of the person on the street who are going to bear the brunt of the price increases and rising inflation.

The worries of ordinary Sabahans and Sarawakians caused by rising prices will even be more serious given the already higher costs and higher cost of living in the Borneo States caused by many other factors which are not present in the Peninsula including the crippling cabotage policy.

“How will PM Najib tackle the runaway inflation that is coming in 2014, especially for Sabahans and Sarawakians?

Please don’t forget that Sabah and Sarawak will be contributing RM26.6 billion and RM45 billion in oil and gas revenue to Petronas and the federal government in 2014.”

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Kind words for Chief Minister of Sarawak, Pehin Sri Taib Mahmud

Surat An-Nur, Verse 22

Those of you possessing affluence and ample wealth should not make oaths that they will not give to their relatives and the very poor and those who have made hijra in the way of God. They should rather pardon and overlook. Would you not love God to forgive you? God is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

" Those of you possessing affluence and ample wealth should not make oaths that they will not give to their relatives and the very poor and those who have made hijra in the way of God " God says that they should not stop giving them their possessions and money. "

Look, God says that they should help them financially, and even if there is a mistake done, God says that they should pardon and overlook it. There might be some mistakes, but there is no need to confront them; try to save them, show them the way to salvation. Do not try and crush them.

Almighty God says; "...Would you not love God to forgive you?" We would love God to forgive us. "God is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful." If you want God to forgive you, you should be forgiving as well, you should not be vindictive.

They will be given whatever  punishment they deserve and they will serve that time, but the rest is enough, there is no need to hold a grudge, or feel hatred or desire revenge. If they repent later on, they will be your brother.


Rajah Raqafluz

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