SARAWAK United People’s Party (SUPP) politician Robert Lau Hui Yew had one regret when he walked out of the Dewan Negara for the last time yesterday – he will miss the opportunity to debate the Health White Paper.

Lau, whose three-year term in the upper house ended yesterday, said a copy of the White Paper was placed on his table on his last day.

In his farewell statement posted on his Facebook page, Lau said Sarawak’s healthcare system has been stagnant for a decade or two, primarily due to financial constraints and the growing population.

“This problem is worse for areas further away from Putrajaya or the Klang Valley where most new resources are channelled to,” Lau said.

Sarawak and Sabah, he said, suffer particularly badly from the lack of investment in equipment and physical infrastructure.

“This is an especially sore point for Sarawak as we have been the major contributor to national coffers,” he said.

Lau, whose hometown is Rajang in central Sarawak, said he is sad the flood mitigation project along Sungai Rajang that started in 2008 was never completed during his tenure.

“Sadly, two phases still haven’t been implemented, leaving the most important section, along the riverfront of the town centre, exposed to the regular overflow of Sungai Rajang, the longest river in the country.

“And yet floods are still a regular problem faced by the people of Sibu despite 60 years of Malaysia.”

Reminiscing, Lau said he delivered his maiden speech on September 7, 2020.

“It was rare for the royal address to be delivered so late in the year,” he said. 

The reason was parliament could not be convened earlier due to Covid-19 restrictions.

In his 2020 speech, Lau set out his task for his term broadly, touching on key national and Sarawak issues.

Lau said his first question in the speech was the nature of the Federation of Malaysia.

“Was it the federation as envisaged by the Federation of Malaya 1957 or that of Federation of Malaysia 1963?” he had asked.

“There are huge differences between the two. It was a glaring anomaly that our federal constitution used the definition of “federation” as that of “federation of Malaya” for 59 years until 2022, when this was finally amended.

“I am proud to have been one of the members to vote on and have witnessed that occasion.”

He said the second thrust of that speech was on regaining Sarawak’s autonomy over the management, administration and operation of education and healthcare in Sarawak.

“Over three years, I have constantly and consistently raised and touched on issues pertaining to (the) Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

“It is good to see that the awareness level of MA63 in the administration, and among the executives and lawmakers has increased over the years. One of the outstanding issues is on the one-third representation in parliament coming from Sarawak and Sabah.

“This was a promise made to the people of Sarawak and Sabah as an inducement to the people of these two Bornean territories to support the concept of formation of a new country,” he said. – June 22, 2023.