As a journalist working fulltime for 25 years, I was mainly based in Peninsular Malaysia most of my working life, except for occasional short travel stints to Sabah and Sarawak, so much so I must plead ignorance on many things going on in the two East Malaysian states. To the extent I also feel sorry” for my fellow Malaysians who only came on board the Malaysian ship after chooisng to expand Malaysia to a bigger entity along with Singapore in 1963. Somehow, Malaysia does not make it any easier for its citizens of multi-ethnic origins to integrate, and if any Minister claims that NegaraKu is a united nation today, he surely must be either blind or speaking with one eye closed. Our country is soon to celebrate its 52nd birthday marking Malaya’s gaining independence from the British colonial masters on 31st August 1957 — could be only 46th for “Malaysia Day” counting from September 16, 1963 –but there are obvious barriers that stand in the way of the march towards fostering unity as One Nation. Here’s one entrenched requirment that irritates every patriotic Malaysian every time we need to fill up any forms for officlaldom. All that is needed is quick, national-minded political will to do away such barriers,but all East Malaysians got was a comment of reuqiring “careful study” equivalent to a “keep in file” automated response from the top public servant in the country to a simple proposal to remove a divisive irritant.So what ails my motherland? — YL Chong, Editor, CPI
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Proposal to remove ‘dan lain lain’ needs careful study: Chief Secretary
Published by The Borneo Post
June 15, 2009
SANTUBONG: Any proposal to remove the words ‘dan lain-lain’ (others) from official government forms needs to be carefully studied, says Chief Secretary to the government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan.
He said the proposal could be considered and implemented if it could help to achieve 1Malaysia concept that was strongly advocated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“We are now trying to develop a 1Malaysia society and we must ensure that no race is neglected in our efforts to achieve this concept,??? he told reporters after visiting Sarawak Cultural Village here yesterday.
Sidek said this when asked whether the ‘dan lain-lain’ should be replaced with words representing major races of Sarawak like Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu.
In a Bernama report front-paged in The Borneo Post on May 11, Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun was said to be calling on the government to consider dropping the term ‘dan lain-lain’.
In his Gawai message published in a one-page advertisement in the same newspaper on May 31, Entulu had repeated his call for the ‘dan lain-lain’ in government forms (for jobs, scholarship, etc applications) to be replaced with Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu.
To another question, Sidek said the suggestion by Information, Communicat-ions, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim to put Gawai Dayak on the world map as one of Malaysia’s national celebrations was a good idea.
Rais said last Saturday that the government wanted greater international recognition for Gawai Dayak to showcase the richness of the Malaysian culture.
This was why his ministry was looking at several approaches to raise the stature of Gawai Dayak along with other Malaysian cultural celebrations.
“Any effort to make Malaysia known to the world and which is of benefit to the country should be encouraged and if the Gawai Dayak celebration can promote Malaysia, we should all work together to achieve the target,??? Sidek said.
On the directive to government offices to reduce spending, Sidek said while it was necessary to cut spending, the government still needed to spend at the same time, “because private spending has been reduced, government spending should be increased to close the gap. However, we must ensure that our spending is prudent???.
Accompanying Sidek during the visit were his wife Puan Sri Wan Noorlina Wan Hussin, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Urban Development and Tourism Datu Ose Murang, State Immigration director Datu Robert Lian Labang, Sarawak Economic Development Corporation director Dr Sulaiman Husaini and SCV general manager Jane Lian Labang.