There are 3 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Malaysia's 'forgotten' tribes face poverty, hunger
From: jip_id
2a. PETRONAS UNFAIR TO SABAH
From: jip_id
2b. PETRONAS UNFAIR TO SABAH
From: jip_id
Messages
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1. Malaysia's 'forgotten' tribes face poverty, hunger
Posted by: "jip_id" jip_id@yahoo.com jip_id
Date: Sun Jul 18, 2010 3:04 am ((PDT))
Malaysia's 'forgotten' tribes face poverty, hunger
AFP July 18, 2010, 2:34 pm
KAMPUNG BERTANG LAMA, Malaysia (AFP) - Just a few hours from the glittering Malaysian capital is a pitiful scene of hungry children and desperate parents, in an indigenous village home to the "forgotten Malaysians".
Naked youngsters with the tell-tale signs of malnourishment -- bulging stomachs and brown tinged hair -- sit listlessly in a hut, while others cling to their mothers as they suckle milk.
Welcome to Bertang Lama village, home of some of Malaysia's Semai people, an indigenous tribe mired in poverty and struggling to adapt as the multicultural nation races towards modernity.
The village, which houses about 300 people, is located close to Cheroh, a small town in central Pahang that sits along the Titiwangsa mountains which form the backbone of Peninsula Malaysia.
The Semai, once nomadic but now largely settled, are seeking recognition of their traditional land rights as well as basic needs -- piped water, electricity, medicine, education and tarred roads.
There is little food in the village where families live a subsistence life, hunting and gathering to trade in jungle products like rattan and agarwood.
Neither is there much money, as the forest they depend on is fast being depleted of its resources thanks to deforestation caused by logging, and the rapid expansion of rubber and palm oil plantations.
There are an estimated 45,000 Semai in Peninsula Malaysia, among some 150,000 indigenous people divided among 19 linguistic groups who live on the country's mainland.
Colin Nicholas, coordinator of the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns, said the people of Bertang Lama and others like them have become "the forgotten and invisible Malaysians".
Nicholas said the Semai played a valuable role in the British offensive against communist insurgents in the 1950s due to their stealth and tracking skills, but are now seen as irrelevant.
"Come elections, ruling party politicians make promises in exchange for votes but after that they renege on their words. Because of their small population, they are easily ignored by the government," he told AFP.
"The indigenous people have been pushed to the brink. Their situation will only get worse. After nearly 53 years of independence, the government is in a state of denial."
Not all Semai or Orang Asli people are impoverished, and some communities, particularly those located closer to urban infrastructure, have done much better in terms of education, employment and health.
But the plight of Bertang Lama village was highlighted when Lim Ka Ea, an executive officer with the Malaysian Bar Council visited recently and recounted her shock at the scene there in a newspaper article.
"The Orang Asli have been regarded as invisible by many people," she told AFP.
"What we do see in them is their 'primitive' form of lifestyle and the entrenched stereotype that they serve no purpose to the advancement of our nation except to make our tourism advertisements look exotic and attractive."
In the village, 11-year-old Jolisa returns home from the forest, armed with a machete and a bamboo basket on her back as she skips along with three other barefoot friends.
"We went looking for wild vegetables," she says.
"Yes I would like to go to school if there was one in our village," she replies with a smile to a visitor's question.
Nearby, inside a dilapidated hut, a naked two-year-old child with mucus dripping from his nose and an expressionless face holds a bowl containing only mashed tapioca, a flavorless starch, for his breakfast.
The chidren are mostly illiterate, and mostly hungry as their families can only provide them with vegetables and tapioca sourced from the jungle.
The village is located just 11 kilometers (seven miles) from a main road but it is a tedious drive along an unsealed logging track.
"We sell rattan, bamboo and agarwood sourced from the forest. But it is hard to find them now," says Yoke Ham, a 47-year-old father of 12 children who says his ancestors settled here hundreds of years ago.
"The average income per month is less than 300 ringgit (94 dollars)," he adds, as cryng babies drown out the chirp of insects.
Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is striving for Malaysia to achieve developed-nation status by 2020, earlier this month assured all Malaysians that no one will be left behind.
"I promise you, as prime minister I will be fair to everybody. We will help all communities to move forward. We will make Malaysia a high-income country," he said.
But the lofty goals mean little to Robina, who looks in her thirties but does not know her age. She holds her sick three-year-old daughter, Sinar, on her lap and appeals for help as tears roll down her face.
"My child has a fever. I have no money to buy food and rice for her," she says. "We have not had our breakfast yet. Life is difficult."
Messages in this topic (1)
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2a. PETRONAS UNFAIR TO SABAH
Posted by: "jip_id" jip_id@yahoo.com jip_id
Date: Sun Jul 18, 2010 3:06 am ((PDT))
Daily Express
INDEPENDENT NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF EAST MALAYSIA
Established since 1963
Petronas unfair to Sabah
Published on: Thursday, June 24, 2010
Email to a friend Printer Friendly
Kota Kinabalu: The best means of ensuring that Sabah's interests are not ignored in Petronas' dealings is to have a Sabahan appointed to its Board, said former Chief Minister Datuk Harris Salleh.
"It is believed that no Sabahan has been appointed by Petronas as a Board Member since its inception," he said in a statement, Wednesday.
He said it was more timely now as "I understand Sabah is at the start of an oil boom after a string of successful discoveries of deep water fields".
He believed the State's deepwater projects like Kikeh, Gumusut/Kakap, Ubahcrest, Pisangan, Malikai Sumandak, Ambalak, etc, would propel Sabah to be the biggest producer of crude oil in Malaysia.
He said the projections are that Sabah is expected to produce 500,000 to 600,000 barrels per day compared to the current national production of only 700,000 barrels per day.
"This is not inclusive of (ex-Petronas Chairman) Tengku Razaleigh's claim of a huge oil deposit found off Sabah, the biggest in South East Asia capable of producing one million barrels per day," he said.
With the massive expected production from Sabah and from its operations since 1975, Harris presumed the State would be fully engaged in the industry, with major oil and gas infrastructures, downstream industries and activities.
"But the major complaint is that Sabah has little to show despite its huge oil and gas reserves vis-Æ-vis Sarawak and Terengganu.
Sabah has only a methanol plant in Labuan Federal Territory whereas several states that do not produce oil like Pahang, Johor, Kedah and Melaka have extensive oil and gas infrastructures, industries and activities," he said.
Harris said another complaint about Petronas that he had received was that Sabah companies, particularly in the construction fabrication and service sectors, were being sidelined in most of the national oil corporation's onshore and offshore projects in Sabah.
As a matter of fact, almost all the contractors are from West Malaysia and Sarawak and the contracts given out run in the billions, he said.
"I, for one will not be able to accept that Sabah companies are deemed not capable of providing services such as maintenance, logistics, support, catering, fabrication, vessels, etc.
"All these services are clearly defined in the 1976 Petroleum Agreement under the 'Local Content' clause, that is, Sabahans be contracted to operate these services," he said.
To add insult to injury, these companies which were developed by Petronas in the late 1980s through the Vendors Development Programme have been bringing general workers from other states to work in Sabah production fields, he said.
"Are they saying Sabahans are not even capable of being general workers?
I wish to remind Petronas that this not only a violation of the 1976 Petroleum Agreement and the Local Content clause but that it is also violating our local ordinance and State law by acquiring workers from other states to apply for work permit before assuming their duties.
"It is believed that about 95 per cent of the workers are from other states and countries now presently working in Sabah waters.
The State Government should investigate this without further delay," he said.
He said another bone of contention by Sabahans against Petronas is that despite reaping billions of ringgit from Sabah, it has been somewhat reluctant to disclose how many scholarships it has given to Sabahans since its inception and whether the distribution of these awards had been done fairly.
In fact, it was recently accused by the opposition of literally robbing Sabah students by requiring them to pay RM20 for applying for scholarships online, regardless of whether the applications are successful.
"This is shameful when even Shell does not charge a sen from scholarship applicants and Shell has also been transparent in letting the public know who and how many received its scholarships yearly.
"It must be reaping tens of thousands of ringgit from these poor youngsters when applying through the computer costs no money since it is paperless."
Meanwhile, on the issue of the Blocks L and M, Harris said his personal opinion was that if Brunei is historically and legally entitled to these blocks, both the state and federal governments should follow the procedures to formalise the dispute.
On the other hand, if Brunei is entitled to have Limbang based on history and legality, then the Malaysian government should also look into it and resolve the matter without further delay.
"To my knowledge, Murphy Sabah Co. Ltd was awarded the two blocks in 2003 worth more than 100USD billion in oil revenue and that Sabah is entitled to five per cent.
"Now that the blocks have been ceded and Petronas has the right to jointly develop the fields with Brunei, is Sabah still entitled to the royalty or profits from Petronas?" he asked.
Messages in this topic (2)
________________________________________________________________________
2b. PETRONAS UNFAIR TO SABAH
Posted by: "jip_id" jip_id@yahoo.com jip_id
Date: Sun Jul 18, 2010 3:13 am ((PDT))
Daily Express
Published on: Thursday, June 24, 2010
Kota Kinabalu: The best means of ensuring that Sabah's interests are not ignored in Petronas' dealings is to have a Sabahan appointed to its Board, said former Chief Minister Datuk Harris Salleh.
"It is believed that no Sabahan has been appointed by Petronas as a Board Member since its inception," he said in a statement, Wednesday.
He said it was more timely now as "I understand Sabah is at the start of an oil boom after a string of successful discoveries of deep water fields".
He believed the State's deepwater projects like Kikeh, Gumusut/Kakap, Ubahcrest, Pisangan, Malikai Sumandak, Ambalak, etc, would propel Sabah to be the biggest producer of crude oil in Malaysia.
He said the projections are that Sabah is expected to produce 500,000 to 600,000 barrels per day compared to the current national production of only 700,000 barrels per day.
"This is not inclusive of (ex-Petronas Chairman) Tengku Razaleigh's claim of a huge oil deposit found off Sabah, the biggest in South East Asia capable of producing one million barrels per day," he said.
With the massive expected production from Sabah and from its operations since 1975, Harris presumed the State would be fully engaged in the industry, with major oil and gas infrastructures, downstream industries and activities.
"But the major complaint is that Sabah has little to show despite its huge oil and gas reserves vis-Æ-vis Sarawak and Terengganu.
Sabah has only a methanol plant in Labuan Federal Territory whereas several states that do not produce oil like Pahang, Johor, Kedah and Melaka have extensive oil and gas infrastructures, industries and activities," he said.
Harris said another complaint about Petronas that he had received was that Sabah companies, particularly in the construction fabrication and service sectors, were being sidelined in most of the national oil corporation's onshore and offshore projects in Sabah.
As a matter of fact, almost all the contractors are from West Malaysia and Sarawak and the contracts given out run in the billions, he said.
"I, for one will not be able to accept that Sabah companies are deemed not capable of providing services such as maintenance, logistics, support, catering, fabrication, vessels, etc.
"All these services are clearly defined in the 1976 Petroleum Agreement under the 'Local Content' clause, that is, Sabahans be contracted to operate these services," he said.
To add insult to injury, these companies which were developed by Petronas in the late 1980s through the Vendors Development Programme have been bringing general workers from other states to work in Sabah production fields, he said.
"Are they saying Sabahans are not even capable of being general workers?
I wish to remind Petronas that this not only a violation of the 1976 Petroleum Agreement and the Local Content clause but that it is also violating our local ordinance and State law by acquiring workers from other states to apply for work permit before assuming their duties.
"It is believed that about 95 per cent of the workers are from other states and countries now presently working in Sabah waters.
The State Government should investigate this without further delay," he said.
He said another bone of contention by Sabahans against Petronas is that despite reaping billions of ringgit from Sabah, it has been somewhat reluctant to disclose how many scholarships it has given to Sabahans since its inception and whether the distribution of these awards had been done fairly.
In fact, it was recently accused by the opposition of literally robbing Sabah students by requiring them to pay RM20 for applying for scholarships online, regardless of whether the applications are successful.
"This is shameful when even Shell does not charge a sen from scholarship applicants and Shell has also been transparent in letting the public know who and how many received its scholarships yearly.
"It must be reaping tens of thousands of ringgit from these poor youngsters when applying through the computer costs no money since it is paperless."
Meanwhile, on the issue of the Blocks L and M, Harris said his personal opinion was that if Brunei is historically and legally entitled to these blocks, both the state and federal governments should follow the procedures to formalise the dispute.
On the other hand, if Brunei is entitled to have Limbang based on history and legality, then the Malaysian government should also look into it and resolve the matter without further delay.
"To my knowledge, Murphy Sabah Co. Ltd was awarded the two blocks in 2003 worth more than 100USD billion in oil revenue and that Sabah is entitled to five per cent.
"Now that the blocks have been ceded and Petronas has the right to jointly develop the fields with Brunei, is Sabah still entitled to the royalty or profits from Petronas?" he asked.
Messages in this topic (2)
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