Source: Sarawak Tribune, Monday August 29 1994
KUCHING - Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Haji Abdul Taib
Mahmud yesterday questioned the sincerity and motive of outsiders
who claimed to be the saviour of the Penan community.
Speaking during the launching of the book, Bruno Manser - The
Inside Story, Taib said foreign activists claiming to be fighting
for the local community only wanted a clause to attract the
imagination of the world at large.
The Chief Minister also condemned the fictitious stories spread
by such foreign activists. "The alleged fight for human rights
is the height of blaspheme of the human race," opined Taib.
"The government have been depicted as bad guys who are out to
hunt Bruno Manser and there were even stories of helicopter
chases through the thick tropical forest," he added.
Taib explained that the helicopter chase could not have happened
because of the forest canopy and the state did not have a law
which carried the death sentence for people like Manser who
overstayed. The outrageous claims came from the same people who
were trying to make a quick buck by highlighting the Penans"
plight and smearing the government's name.
Taib asked, "whatever happened to the money collected in the
names of the Penan people by these outsiders?" He added: "The
preservation of the Penans is not based on the interests of the
Penans themselves. The activists want a cause to attract the
imagination of the world at large."
He considered the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to have
an over-active imagination.
"They want the nomadic lifestyle of the Penans to be preserved
and oppose development of the race which should be in the
mainstream of development," he continued.
Taib said that the Penan community has shown that they welcomed
development and wished to settle down. "The government is helping
the Penans to achieve a transition from their nomadic lifestyle
to a semi-settled one and eventually to settle them and bring
them into the mainstream of development."
"Only Sarawakians can really understand the problems faced by the
Penans," he said, "and what Bruno Manser did was very damaging
to the future of the Penans".
Taib reasoned that Manser should have approached him personally
and reported the Penans' plight if he was really sincere about
his cause.
"Instead, he chose to acquaint himself with the NGOs which used
the Penan name for their own interest," he added. Tain clarified
that if the community's fate was left to the activists, the
Penans might be threatened by extinction because of the harsh
living conditions in the forest.
Bruno Manser - The Inside Story was written by local journalist
James Ritchie.
Earlier, Taib had a one-hour closed door dialogue with twenty
leaders and representatives of the Penan community, including
Penan Liaison Officer Datuk Hassan Sui.
Hassan said NGOs cannot disturb the cultural identity of the
Penans. He emphasized it was completely untrue that Penans did
not want development and were content to lead a nomadic life. The
numerous requests by Penans on multifarious projects from the
state government are ample proof that Penans like other ethnic
communities desire and are in dire need of development.
He castigated foreign NGOs that made Penans the tools of their
propaganda. He deeply regretted that these so-called well-
educated people were taking advantages of the less educated
Penans in the so called cause that left Penans in perpetual
poverty whilst they enriched themselves through the Penans.
He cited an example where his first child was now in university
and next year his second child would follow suit. This
conclusively proves that Penans are capable of progress and
development. This is the anti-thesis of what foreign NGOs project
to the world - that Penans are meant to be hunters in the jungles
incapable of taking advantage of the development and facilities
of modern civilisation.
In recognition of the academic achievements of Hassan's two
children, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Alfred Jabu, on behalf
of the Chief Minister, pledged a trophy and cash prizes for three
outstanding Penan students in their SPM (note: equivalent to "O"
Level education, compulsory in the Malaysian educational system)
examinations. Such awards will be given next year to encourage
the new generation of Penans in their educational pursuits.
--- * Origin: Hornbill's system - sarawak@pactok.peg.apc.org (90:600/108)--