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| Datuk Sri Wong Soon Koh |
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| SMB Sacred Heart |
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| Sibu |
Sibu- Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has done a lot for the Chinese community in the state in his 30-year administration.
State Minister of Environment and Public Health Datuk Sri Wong Soon Koh said lately "some ill-intentioned people with different political agenda" had begun to twist this fact.
He said it had all started when Taib had recently said after trying his best to serve the community over the period, he still did not know "WHAT MORE" they wanted.
"This is what he had actually said.
"Now besides the ordinary people, some of those with stature in Chinese NGOs, those with high position tend to believe the claim that he has not done enough," he told reporters in a two-hour interview touching on a number of subjects at his office here Tuesday.
He said in trying to discredit Taib, they were trying to discredit the Chinese leaders in the state cabinet as his "puppets" and "stooges".
"Taib is a fair leader not only to the Chinese but 26 other ethnic groups in the state.
"He is always close to the ground. He takes the people's interests very close to his heart," Wong, who is expected to defend his Bawang Assan seat for the fifth time in the coming state election, said.
He said Taib's contribution to the Chinese community was very notable in education, in giving land for the construction of temples, reviewing land premiums for residential and agricultural land.
"For example in Sibu, he has given land for the constructuion SJK(C) Thian Hua in SibuJaya, the SJK(C) Thian Chin in Permai and the SJK(C) Su Lai.
"He has also given a RM200,000 grant to the Sacred Heart Chinese Primary School and grants of RM250,000 each to the SMK Methodist, the SMB Sacred Heart and the SMB St Elizabeth where the majority of the students are Chinese," he said.
Taib had also given land for the construction of the Hwei Ann Methodist Church and the Tien Ann Temple at Oya Road, he said.
On the land, Wong said Taib had reassessed and reviewed the premiums for residential, agricultural and commercial properties to make their current rates one of the lowest, if not the lowest in the whole country.
Wong, 68, who is also the deputy secretary-general of the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), denied claims that the party's elected representatives had failed to bring issues and problems affecting the Chinese to the attention of the state government.
"We have done our best. Some had been resolved and others have yet to be resolved.
"We cannot be too self-centred or too pre-occuppied with our own community's needs, as we live in a multi-racial, multi-religious society," he said.
"We have to be careful as a demand from one community can bring a counter- demand from another. This may result in countless counter-demands from the rest.
"When this happens, it can breed inter-racial ill-feelings, discontentment and chaos which we must avoid at all cost," he said.
In the Barisan Nasional, there was this spirit of power sharing, of consultation and of joint responsibility, Wong said.
"Taib as the head of the family ensures all communities are being taken care of as much as possible. We discuss regularly and decide collectively," he said.
"Mansang" Means A Lot To Rural Folk In Sarawak By Amrizan Madian
LUBOK ANTU - Forty years ago, Serit anak Kunchau, a 22-year-old youth then, was quite unclear about his future when he and other villagers in Deluk here, which is nearby the Sarawak-Kalimantan border, were resettled in a new area.
Today, Serit is the tuai rumah (village chief) of the re-settlement scheme of Skim Skrang in Engkilili here where some 500 families mostly Iban are enjoying a comfortable lifestyle, earning income from rubber tapping other agricultural activities and having access to schools, clinic and a good network of roads.
For Serit, this has been possible because of the visionary leadership of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in wanting to change the fate of people living in the interiors of the huge state.
According to Serit, socio-economic changes involving rural communities like in Skim Skrang did not happen overnight, but was the result of the close cooperation between the government and the people and the wisdom of federal and state leaders since the formation of Malaysia 48 years ago.
The factor of geography compounded by a lack transport infrastructure posed a major obstacle to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government in bringing development to about 2.5 million people living in rural areas in Sarawak.
Sarawak, known as the Land of the Hornbills, has more that 26 ethnic groups with the majority of them living in rural areas, but are fortunate that the government has ensured that they are not left out of mainstream development in Malaysia's quest to be a developed nation by 2020.
Met by Bernama, Serit said villagers in Skim Skrang were offered several agricultural projects by the government like rubber planting, growing hill padi, pepper and market gardening.
According to him, Skim Skrang was a long term plan by the government in looking after the Dayak community at a time when the newly-born nation of Malaysia was faced with a conflict with Indonesia (the Confrontation).
"We are grateful to have been able to live in peace and harmony and after 40 years, Skim Skrang has seen much development. Through the government's efforts we have good road infrastructure, schools, clinic, electricity and piped water," he said.
Another villager, Muntai anak Ganti, 65, admitted that the BN government had done a lot for rural communities in Sarawak though the facilities available might not be on par with urban areas.
"It will not be fair to the BN government if we were to say they have neglected rural people. Skim Skrang is living proof of the BN's track record in bringing development to rural areas," said Muntai, adding that she had witnessed first hand how the settlement was in the early days and now..
Meanwhile, Eddy anak Asok, 42, said only a strong and stable government like the BN could ensure continued progress for rural people in Sarawak.
"It is not easy to bring about development in Sarawak, we want "pemansang" (progress), we want "mansang" (to move ahead) together with other Malaysians. That is why we have total confidence in the BN to bring continued progress for us," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when visiting Skim Skrang recently had reassured the people that BN government would continue to give top priority for the socio-economic development of rural communities in Sabah and Sarawak, in line with the 1Malaysia concept which emphasised "People First, Performance Now".
Muhyiddin was only the second deputy prime minister to visit the resettlement scheme after the 1964 visit by the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, who was also Rural Development Minister then.
Presently, under the federal government's National Key Result Areas initiative, a total of RM5.68 billion has been allocated for Sarawak to develop basic infrasturcture, particulary roads to connect remote longhouses to the nearest towns.
Under the initiative, road coverage in Sarawak will be expanded from the 20,333 kilometres of road available at present to 21,250.5 kilometres by next year while piped water supply will increased from 57 per cent or 296,400 rural households in 2009 to 90 per cent by next year.
As for electricity supply, under the rural electricity supply project, penetration is targetted to be increased from 64 per cent involving 332,800 households in 2009 to 95 per cent next year.
And as Taib has stated many times, the people living in rural areas in the state, no matter how remote, can look forward to to a much brighter future ahead.
Lubok Antu has two state constituences - Engkilili and Batang Ai, both of which are represented by the BN.
-- BERNAMA
