Sarawak CM should not take the Dayak for granted, but to be fair and just to them

Joint statement by Abdul Aziz Isa and Sanjan Daik

It was wrong for the Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg to issue a statement warning the public over the appointment of Board of Directors (BoD) of the newly formed Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros).

Aziz Isa (left) and Sanjan: Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari should not have issued a public warning, but to strife to solve the problem

The public expected the chief minister to announce the names of qualified non-Muslim Dayak to be sitting in Petros BoD but instead, issuing a warning to the public not to raise religious and racial issues.

This shows typical PBB leaders with Umno mentality. When the Dayaks keep quiet, PBB takes their patience for granted but when they voice out their concern, they are being accused of playing racial and religious issues.

It seems that Abang Johari is keen to play politics by taking it personally rather than handling it professionally.

To make it clear, no one is making this matter as racial and religious issues.

 Firstly, it was his fault for implementing Umno's policy by not naming non-Muslim Dayaks as members of Petros BoD that caused unsatisfactory feelings among the Dayaks in Sarawak.

This is because, for any major appointments, the non-Muslim Dayaks were always being sidelined and neglected by the Barisan Nasional government led by PBB.

This happens not just once but in many occasions ever since PBB took over the chief ministership in 1970.

It is a known fact that the Dayaks have been systematically discriminated against by the government.

Now, is it wrong for the Dayaks to voice out their concerns on this racial and religious advocated policy by PBB? How can it be called a racial issue when Dayaks demand for equal opportunities?

Secondly, it was Abang Johari himself who called Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas to look for a non-Muslim Dayak, a few hours after he received heavy criticisms from the public in social media.

As far as we are concerned, no one has ever mentioned about the issue of Muslim or non-Muslim.

People only started to question the absence of non-Muslim Dayak in Petros BoD after Douglas mentioned it in The Borneo Post.

 It was Abang Johari’s mistakes for making the announcement too early without properly consulting his Cabinet members. Can’t he see that most of Petros BoD is dominated by one race or one religion? Doesn’t he notice the racial imbalance in the composition?

In the eyes of the public, even if Datuk Mohd Medan Abdullah, one of five Petros BoD, is a Kelabit, he is still being seen by many as a Muslim/Malay.

The perception of the public is that for a person to be appointed in major appointments, he or she must first be a Muslim and change his or her name to ‘Bin Abdullah’ or ‘Binti Abdullah’. Only by then, he or she will be given the priority to be appointed by the government to hold higher position. Abang Johari can’t deny the public perception.

We don’t deny that for a person to be appointed to Petros BoD, he or she must be very experienced in oil and gas industry.

Experience is a vital thing, but equal opportunities among races should also be taken into consideration as well given the reason that this company is owned by the public.

As such, we are wondering, why non-Muslim Dayaks were not included in Petros BoD in the earlier announcement.

How come it took so long for Abang Johari to name a 'qualified' non-Muslim Dayak candidate for Petros BoD?

As a Chief Minister, shouldn't be difficult to look for a qualified non-Muslim Dayak candidate. We have two Dayak deputy chief ministers and two state ministers to assist him.  Is it too difficult to identify at least one qualified non-Muslim Dayaks who is not their crony or family members?

As such, Abang Johari should clear the air by announcing a non-Muslim Dayak in Petros BoD and not to take the Dayaks' patience for granted.

Note: Abdul Aziz Isa is a Special Assistant to Sarawak Pakatan Harapan Chairman Chong Chieng Jen while Sanjan Daik is Political Secretary to  Chong Chieng Jen and DAP Mambong Branch Deputy Chairman