THE indigenous peoples in Long Teran Kanan, Sarawak have been engaged in a legal battle with an oil palm plantation over their native customary land for more than a decade. In 1996, Rinwood Pelita Plantation, a joint venture between Rinwood and Sarawak’s Land Custody and Development Authority, bulldozed everything on the community’s land. Outraged, the […]
Sarawak
“They think I don’t know Malay”
BORN on 1 June 1982, Mohd Azlan Iskandar started playing squash when he was eight. He turned professional in 2001 and has won 11 professional titles since then. The Asian champion is currently ranked 18th in the world. His highest ranking was 11th, in September 2008. The national number one is also setting up his […]
Violence against Penan: How the government ignores indigenous rights
THE phenomenon of indigenous women like the Penan being violated is not peculiar to Malaysia. Indeed, there are parallels in other countries, including a developed nation like the US. In their 2007 report, Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA, Amnesty International (AI) reported that indigenous women […]
Sibu – another referendum
DATUK Seri Najib Razak called the Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election a referendum on his premiership. The justification was rather obvious as it was formerly a Barisan Nasional (BN) stronghold with an ethnic composition mirroring Peninsula Malaysia’s. The campaign was largely fought by Umno, even though the BN’s candidate was from MIC. Sibu has also been […]
Malay? Chinese? Just Nancy!
(All pics below courtesy of Nancy Shukri) NANCY Shukri is the Member of Parliament for the Batang Sadong constituency in Sarawak and Wanita Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu secretary-general. Formerly the political secretary to Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, she was active in the Sarawak Federation of Women’s Institute (SFWI) and various non-governmental […]
Sarawak voters’ concerns
AS a Sarawakian, I am constantly frustrated by comments on Malaysian news websites and blogs by West Malaysians telling East Malaysians that they “get who they vote for”. These comments are inevitably made whenever human rights issues affecting East Malaysia are discussed. Most of these comments are made by people who probably have little regard […]
My East-West Allah
Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God, First fill your own house with the fragrance of Love. – Rabindranath Tagore MY first reaction to the news that a church was attacked was one of disbelief. Most East Malaysians, I think, would be confused as to why this is even […]
Life in Long Lamai, Sarawak
RAPE. Blockades. Native rights denied. Such topics inevitably come up in news about Sarawak’s Penan community, such as the recent highlighting of the rape, sexual harassment and exploitation of Penan girls and women by workers of logging companies. But there are also other less prominent issues that the Penan face day-to-day in their idyllic villages […]
Making Sarawak’s interior safer
THE Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS) welcomes the proposals emerging to tackle the issue of sexual abuse in the interior of the state. All the recommendations from the Penan task force, the Sarawak Women and Family Council and the Sarawak Teacher’s Union will go a long way towards securing the safety of the girls. […]
Ministry supports programme for Penan
PETALING JAYA, 24 Sept 2009: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry is funding a Sarawak women’s group initiative to empower Penan girls. In a press release today, the Kuching-based Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS) said it would launch the second phase of its programme, Empowering Rural Girls, next month. Community leaders, such as […]
