• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
The Nut Graph

The Nut Graph

Making Sense of Politics & Pop Culture

  • Projects
    • MP Watch
    • Found in Conversation
  • Current Issues
    • 6 Words
    • Commentary
    • Features
    • Found in Quotation
    • News
  • Columns
  • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Found in Malaysia
  • Multimedia
    • Audio
    • Pictures
    • Videos
  • Corrections
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Vault
    • Found in Translation

Penan Support Group: Govt denials “appalling”

By Penan Support Group

July 15, 2010

THE Penan Support Group (PSG) is appalled that Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Heng Seai Kie has refuted the findings in the PSG’s mission report uncovering more cases of rape and sexual exploitation among the Penan. Heng cited minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s “fact-finding mission” on 13 July to the Baram region and the lack of police reports as proof.

We find this denial and misinformation problematic for several reasons. First, the minister’s visit was not a “fact-finding mission” to investigate the allegations of new rape cases, but to merely “have a feel of the place”, to quote a report in The Star.

Second, the minister did not meet any of the members from the Penan communities cited in the PSG report. She spent only one hour on her walkabout of Batu Bungan, an accessible village near the prime tourist spot of Mulu National Park. This is nowhere near any of the three remote villages the PSG mission members visited during their investigation.

The deputy minister’s denial joins a chorus of similarly outrageous statements made by various officials since the PSG report was released. These include Sarawak Land Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr James Masing, who threatened rape victims with arrest if they refused to cooperate.

The reasons for the lack of police reports in this matter are thoroughly documented in the PSG report. Not least of these reasons is the Penan’s deep mistrust of state authorities due to years of poor response to grievances related to land rights, poverty, and access to basic services.

Penan woman with her child
Penan mother with her adopted child (Pic courtesy of Sofiyah Israa)

We reiterate that it is precisely these denials that prompted the PSG fact-finding mission to document and investigate the wider context to the sexual abuse and exploitation of Penan women and children. To fixate on individual perpetrators and criminal investigations alone will not stop the sexual violence from recurring if the systematic exploitation of the Penan persists.

Development policies which have allowed the encroachment of indigenous peoples’ lands and destroyed their livelihoods and culture have led to dependency, impoverishment and the disempowerment of many Penan. This is the wider context of the sexual violence and exploitation being raised. In areas where the state has given logging concessions to logging companies, the power wielded by these companies over the indigenous peoples in these areas is immense.

For instance, many Penan children are dependent on logging companies for transport to school because the state has failed to provide schools closer to these communities or adequate transportation to the nearest schools. This makes the children even more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Until the state takes serious steps to reassess its development policies and ensure the people’s rights, welfare and protection, this type of violence will continue.

Considering these facts, we urge the prime minister, when he visits the Baram region next week, to visit communities working with both the state and independent groups such as the PSG to receive a holistic picture. We recognise that visits to the Sarawak interior takes weeks to prepare, and hence are concerned that time constraints will limit the opportunities for engagement with as many people as possible.

Penan Support Group

15 July 2010

The Penan Support Group comprises 35 non-governmental organisations in Malaysia.
[related-posts]

Filed Under: Letters to the Editor Tagged With: Baram region, Heng Seai Kie, James Masing, letter to the editor, Penan Support Group, Penan women and children, Shahrizat Jalil

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lainie Yeoh says

    July 15, 2010 at 7:08 pm

    I want Heng Seai Kie’s immediate resignation, what more from the ministry of women, family and community development. Why do we have these highly ranked ministers who at best use their position to perpetuate harm?

    The way I see it, our government barely treats Penans as humans, much less Malaysians.

  2. Andrew I says

    July 15, 2010 at 10:08 pm

    They come up with the most fanciful names for ministerial portfolios.

    Here’s one: Minister of Denial.

  3. mykantree says

    July 21, 2010 at 9:21 pm

    What is happening to the Penan of Sarawak and the Orang Asli reminds me of the Red Indians of the USA. At the way things are going, they will be many times worst off than how the American Red Indians are today.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent Comments

  • Wave33 on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Adam on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Andre Lai on The Nut Graph stops publication

Recent News

  • The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Nasihat tentang sepupu yang mengganggu perasaan
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: The Sunni-Shia split and the answer to Muslim unity
  • Why Malaysia needs the national unity bills
  • Challenging government in the digital age: Lessons from Kidex
  • Najib’s failure
  • Babi, anjing, pondan: Jijik orang Islam Malaysia
  • Kidex and the law – What the government’s not telling you
  • Beyond Dyana Sofya
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: Does Malaysia need hate speech laws?

Tags

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Anwar Ibrahim Barisan Nasional BN Bukit Selambau by-election dap Deborah Loh Ding Jo-Ann Election Commission elections Found in Malaysia Found in Quotation Gan Pei Ling government high court Hishammuddin Hussein ISA islam Jacqueline Ann Surin Khairy Jamaluddin KW Mak Lim Guan Eng Malaysia MCA Menteri Besar MP Watch Muhyiddin Yassin muslim Najib Razak Pakatan Rakyat Parliament Parti Keadilan Rakyat pas Penang Perak PKR police politics prime minister Selangor Shanon Shah Umno Wong Chin Huat Zedeck Siew

Footer

  • About The Nut Graph
  • Who Are We?
  • Our Contributors
  • Past Contributors
  • Guest Contributors
  • Editorial Policy
  • Comments & Columns
  • Copyright Policy
  • Web Accessibility Policy
  • Privacy Policy
The Nut Graph

© 2025 The Nut Graph