Dayak
National Congress (DNC) president Mengga Mikui's Christmas Day's message
This
Year of 2014 is an eventful and challenging year for Malaysia and particularly
for the Dayak Community of Sabah and Sarawak.
Dayak
National Congress [DNC] has been in existence for just over one year. We in DNC
have been working very hard to serve the Dayak community. This first year of
our existence is a year of planning while attending to and addressing urgent
matters affecting the Dayak community.
Dayak
Identity
Our
Vision in DNC amongst other things are to create a new Dayak Identity. Our
Dayak identity at one point of time was a very controversial issue as there are
people within our own Dayak community, including leaders trying to discard the
use of the word “Dayak”.
Praise the Lord, today, we are proud to be known as
Dayaks. In any nation, all races must find its place. We the Dayak community
are part of this nation. As Malaysians our hope and aspirations is to be able
to contribute to nation building meaningfully.
This was the dream of our
forefathers when Malaysia was established. Our forefathers were persuaded to
support the creation of the nation of Malaysia on the basis that we all are
‘Equal’. And this we must always remember and remind ourselves as Malaysians.
Under this “Equality” concept, no one race is higher than other races and
neither is there anyone race lower than the others.
In
relation to and important to we Dayak community as natives of this nation, we
find it wholly inappropriate that when we fill in government forms there is
still no column for the ‘Dayak’ race. We can find there columns for “Malays”,
“Chinese” and “Indians” but there is no column for Dayak.
We find it perplex as
we have to fill in the column ‘Lain-lain’. It is our Christmas’ and New Year’s
Hope this coming year of 2015 will usher in glad tidings that the government
take notice of our existence and provide a column for Dayaks in the government
forms.
Reservation
Of Quotas
As
indigenous Malaysians, we always fall back on the Malaysia Agreement as our
foundation of our rights which have been constitutionally secured in Article
153 and 161A of the Federal Constitution.
Article
153 FC provides for reserved quota for the Dayaks of Sabah and Sarawak in:
(i)
Employment in the Public Service;
(ii) Scholarships;
(iii) Exhibitions and Educational or Training
privileges or special facilities;
(iv) Permits or Licences for trade or
business.
The
provision under this Article is paramount to the fulfilment of the Malaysia
agreement as well as the 18/20 Point Promises to Sabah and Sarawak particularly
Point 8 on Borneonisation:
“Point
8: Borneanisation
Borneanisation
of the public service should proceed as quickly as possible.”
We
therefore would like to remind the government of its obligation to Sabah and
Sarawak. The executives, officers and law enforcement officers in Sarawak and
Sabah must be lead by Sarawakians and Sabahans comprising of all the ethnic
groups. Enforcement agencies such as Customs, Marine, police, immigration, must
have the sufficient number of Dayaks employed to reflect their demography.
The
national registration laws applied in Sarawak must be headed by Dayaks of
Sarawak to ensure that application of the laws, rules and regulations are
tampered with local sentiments. Many Dayaks in Sarawak are still without
identity cards, birth certificates and other documents because officers of the
Department are dictated by superior officers from Malaya who are not familiar
with the local population.
There
must be sufficient numbers of judges, judicial officers, legal officers and
staffs at all levels of the courts from among the Dayak community appointed to
Judicial and legal service. The participation of Dayaks in the judicial and
legal service is very important to ensure that the Dayaks’ perspectives in the administration
of justice are taken into account.
Preferential
Treatment on Land Alienation.
Under
Article 161A the Dayaks of Sabah and Sarawak are given Special Position iin
regards to land as follows:
(a) Reservation of land for the natives of
Sarawak;
(b) Alienation of land of the natives of
Sarawak; and
(c) Preferential treatment of natives as
regards to alienation of land.
Contrary
to this Article 161A, native NCR lands have been alienated to companies
depriving the native of their lands. The preferential treatment has been put on
the back burner. Even the Courts in the country at times do not give much
meaning to this Article in preference to the companies.
Federal
Funds.
The
Federal government must comply with the Federal Constitution and federal laws to
provide Federal funds for development for Dayak areas must be channelled
directly to the Dayak community to ensure that there shall be no leakage or
diversion.
Federal
funds must also be made available to the Dayaks to be involved in any forms of
business enterprise.
Religious
Belief Matters.
The
religious beliefs and freedom of the Dayaks must be respected as enshrine in
the Federal Constitution. Other religions must not interfere with the religions
and belief of the Dayaks.
Malaysian
Palm Oil Board [MPOB].
MPOB
must stop discriminating the Dayaks oil palm planters and enterprise at the
behest of big plantations who dictated MPOB on the issuing and management of
MPOB licence. MPOB must employ and appoint the qualified Dayaks in MPOB and to head the agency in Sarawak.
MPOB must not side with oil palm plantation companies who are in dispute with
Dayaks over their NCR lands which are illegally occupied the companies.
Current
Issues.
Teachers
It
is our hope that more Dayak children are train as teachers. Dayak children must
not be discriminated against when selections are made to recruit trainee
teachers. At the same time the government must always remind itself of its
constitutional obligation under Article 153 FC and Point 8 of the 18/20 Points.
This will greatly assist the Sarawak Government in overcoming shortage of
teachers in Sarawak and the rural schools. Apart from that Dayak teachers have
no problem with adaptation in rural schools. We also suggest that unemployed
Dayak graduate youth are retrain to teach.
Business
Opportunities.
As
a community that had just been transformed from rural to urban, the Dayak
community must be assisted to take part in business. RECODA, SCORE AND Labuan
Oil & Gas Hub must assist and allocate quotas for the Dayaks.
Concluding
Remarks.
In
all these the government must remember that the Dayak community just want to
take part in the fruit of this nation. We also aspire that all races that make
up the Malaysian nation be able to live peacefully, respecting each other and
not just tolerating the others.
We
wish every Malaysian Christian a Merry and Blessed Christmas and New Year 2015
to all Malaysians.
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