Of Santa & Donkeys

Doesn't he look lovely? 

Malaysians love free things. Freebies, buy one free one deals, great giveaways and the whole lot. And of course there is Santa.

Don't worry, I am not implying all Malaysians celebrate Christmas, lest I be struck down, this is a totally different Santa.

Well, granted, this Santa is of similar stature to St. Nicholas, nice spare cold-resistant blubber and all ( though he doesn't live anywhere as cold as the South Pole). Like good ol' Santa, our Malaysian Santa also gives out presents, and is seemingly all powerful at granting wishes. However, that is where the similarity stops.

Our Santa has much bigger lips for one. He also has a penchant for numbers, particular the number One. He also has an amazing mode of transport, however his is even better than the original Santa's, a big, sleek metal car capable of dispersing seas ( Wow he's better than Moses too!) of other vehicles with his siren blaring reindeers. And he is even more powerful than Aladdin's genie, capable of conjuring up miles of highways, clean water ( Wah better than Poseidon!), electricity ( Thor is nothing la!), books, education, and so much more at a mere X. ( Stan Lee can jump in joy knowing the X-Men still live on)

Crossing Santa

The latest stop this Santa has made is in Sarawak, where he has promised Malaysians there a better future- so long as they supply him with an infinite amount of crosses. ( No, I don't mean those crosses, this Santa is not Christian). Apparently, like Santa asli, he too keeps a list of who has been naughty and nice. This is one of those rare occasions where crossing (pun intended) Santa is considered being nice. Not crossing him, according to his many minions, will result in loss of clean water, electricity, stagnation, no development and generally a terrible and miserable existence. ( ah this is one area he loses to Moses; Moses had locusts!)

And following that whole giving/ taking season, his compadre, chipped in the whole seasonal spirit, saying that if the MCA does not gain the support of the Chinese in the next General Expiration, his party will turn down any posts in the Federal Government. Is that a veiled threat? Vote for me or after that the Chinese will have no representatives from the government? Yet another Santa that goes ho! ho! ho! ( in that evil Jabba the Hutt way)

Santa the 2nd

These Santa's are treating us citizens like donkeys. They dangle the carrot before us, so that we obey. And when that fail, they threaten us with the whip, so that we will also obey. But the truth of the matter is, they should just STOP treating us like donkeys, because we are NOT. They assume we are dumb, that we will give in to threats and little gifts.

Well, you know what, I think the time has come to break free of these ideas, and show them we're horses, free spirits capable of running free. I think it is time for us Malaysians to prove to the world that we the citizens, are not going to fall for the dangling carrot and the stinging whip, when we know that a feast is before us. All we have to do, is reach out, and make a stand, show them we are capable of thinking for ourselves, and give them a good kick on their bums.

And then, these Santas will realise just who are the masters..... And who are the asses.

* Note: After writing this, I realise I may have been overly sarcastic and demeaning. However, please do know that all fun poked at politicians is simply in jest. I recognise that our PM is certainly making good efforts with the 1Malaysia campaign, and Mr. Chua certainly is an accountable, and responsible politician. However, the point of this sarcasm is not to demean them, but rather to highlight what I view as wrong in a way that is 1. humourous, 2. non-preachy 3. will reach deep in the hearts of these men.

If in the course of this post, I have offended anyone, I apologise, and please do know that it was not my intention to hurt, but to highlight.

The Social Contract: Cries of Sabah

Lately, I read about a family of farmers whose crop had failed. They were hungry,and unable to get food. In desperation, the uneducated father collected some toad eggs and fed them to the whole family in an attempt to stave off  hunger. By the time they had arrived at the hospital, which was a few hours later ( the father had to run as there were no roads), one of the children was dead, and the other two passed away within 10 minutes of their arrival due to poisoning.

I also read about a 70-year old lady who had to wait for a month to get to a hospital to treat her jaundice. She had no money for the taxi fare and so waited a month to sell off her chickens to have enough money to pay RM 50 for the transport to the hospital. She had to walk two miles to get to the road to get to the taxi. When she arrived, she was septic and had a gallstone lodged in her common bile duct.

One would normally to read about these situations in a World Vision booklet, or perhaps even Time magazine, highlighting the plight of the people in some far off country like Uganda, or the slums of India, or something like that. And as much as I would like to pretend such is the case, the truth is very much close to home. In fact, it is home.

This is Sabah. East Malaysia. Once one of the most naturally resource rich places in the world, now the poorest amongst the thirteen states of Malaysia.

In the 70s, for those Sabahans who lived in rural areas, poverty was a vicious cycle that seemed to never end. They planted their crops, and as they could not travel to the cities to sell the crops themselves, they sold them to middlemen who paid only a fraction of the true worth of the crops. When they fell sick, they sold away their sources of livelihood and valuables just to get transport to the city, and their condition very often dire by the time they arrived. They were unable to uplift themselves economically and socially because there was barely any education in these areas, and even if there was, the schools were much too far and inaccessible for them to make the trip.

Fast forward forty years, and what has changed?
Well, Sabah's first ever flyover was built a few years ago.
The illegal immigrant population now outnumbers the local population, 1.8 million to 1.5 million. A Sabahan even commented since Philippines might be interested in reclaiming Sabah, if a referendum were held, Sabahans would be dead for sure since there is an overwhelming number of Filipinos in Sabah.
Many of Sabah's educated youngsters have left the state for better job opportunities in Peninsular Malaysia.
Sabah has been stripped bare of natural resources: oil, natural gas, timber etc, yielding massive profits for the country, yet it remains a backwater of Malaysia.
Other than that, except for minor improvements, the socioeconomic situation of Sabah remains stagnant.

The answer is: It has changed- for the worse.

As a Malaysian, I feel ashamed that while we have been prospering over here with over high rise buildings, Twin Towers, shopping malls, mini markets, super markets, hyper markets; our brothers and sisters in East Malaysia still remain very much stuck in poverty. While a half hour blackout in Kuala Lumpur warrants a newspaper feature, Sabahans have to put up with constant blackouts, once a week, at least 72 hours a month.( SESB, the Sabah equivalent of TNB, apparently stands for Sabah Everyday Sure Blackout) While we KL-ites complain of cold water, and how we can't stand not having a hot water bath, many Sabahans still suffer from water rationing and shortages ( For instance, in Sandakan water is only supplied two days a week). While we complain of long bus waits and traffic jams, our compatriots who live in rural areas do not have roads and have to walk for hours before getting to a place where taxis are available.

And while the Malaysian government can donate millions of ringgit to victims of the Sichuan earthquake, and send an immediate response team to Japan, it has failed to channel and precipitate development in Sabah for the past forty years. While the Sarawak chief minister's son has 800 million ringgit worth of assets, a big part of Sarawak and Sabah's people remain entrenched in poverty. While we call ourselves an independent nation, the problems of the poor in Sabah are often solved by non-profit international organisations like Raleigh.

As a Malaysian, I am ashamed of the prejudices that we often hold against Sabahans: asking them questions like "Do they live in trees? Do they stay with Orang Utans?" Mistaking Sabah for Sarawak and clumping them together as Sabah Sarawak? As a Malaysian, I am disgusted that we have so often been ignorant of the situation of our own country, and ignored these pleas for help. As a Malaysian, I am saddened and angry that the Federal Government has heard these pleas and done nothing.

And now, I hope I am doing something by crying out, "Save Sabah!" The Federal Government has time and time again ignored the pleas of Sabah, but as Malaysian citizens, we must not. Throw away your prejudices, visit East Malaysia. Look past the rosy picture of things, and see Sabah's dire situation. Celebrate Malaysia Day for what it is: a promise to Sabah and Sarawak, a contract of partnership. Open up your minds and hearts and call out for justice for our fellow countrymen. If you want to be so proud of Mount Kinabalu, don't forget the people who live under its shadow.

To the BN Sabah representatives, you have never supported the interests of the people. You have enjoyed yourselves in the palaces built from the riches of the people, and forgotten about them. When Lim Kit Siang called for a Royal Commission Inquiry into illegal immigrants in Sabah, you did not support him although you knew he was speaking the truth.

An UMNO politician recently remarked that the Chinese and Indians of Malaysia should know their place, and honour the social contract Tun Tan Cheng Lock and Tun Sambanthan signed. Well BN seems to have conveniently forgotten about the other social contract they signed with the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, to treat them as equal partners in the federation of Malaysia.

Now, is the time to honour that contract.