Commentary by Mustafa K. Anuar

The “Kembara Kenali Borneo” tour that Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah embarked on recently, is of immense significance particularly to the people of Sabah and Sarawak.

As the tour title suggests, it is an important occasion for the royal couple and Sabah and Sarawak folk to get to know each other.

In other words, the tour, which took the royal couple from Tawau, Sabah through to Telok Melano, Sarawak between September 3 and 13, was a crucial bridge-building endeavour that has national significance.

It was also during this historic trip that a number of common people in the Borneo territories reportedly handed letters of grievances over to the royal couple, which were then submitted to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for further action with the Sabah and Sarawak governments.

We would assume that many who sent the letters were those who hail from the interiors where healthcare is inadequate or absent, schools are distant from home, jobs are scarce, and developments as a whole are uneven. 

The act of submitting these letters might have raised eyebrows and a few questions.

For one thing, what are the grouses that the people see fit to be communicated to the king? Do they require urgent attention?

Does the action of the people concerned imply that they have had problems in getting the attention of their political representatives regarding the issues they are facing? Are the politicians inaccessible because of physical distance?

As we all know, people’s representatives have the responsibility to attend to the problems confronting their constituencies. In short, they are accountable to the people they supposedly represent.

Having said that, the concern shown by the royal couple towards the welfare of the Sabah and Sarawak people is indeed appreciated.

We are convinced that the royal couple would also exhibit similar concern towards particular groups in the peninsula if presented with an equivalent scenario.

For instance, somewhere on the east coast of the peninsula, there are people who are unhappy about a lack of infrastructure and public facilities and amenities, including clean, piped water.

This is apart from other challenges,such as unemployment, drug addiction and a high divorce rate.

In the west coast, there are groups of fishermen who are disturbed by certain development projects in their vicinity that would hurt their livelihoods as well as irreversibly damage the physical environment.

Similarly, a group of farmers in Perak also have their gripes too. It is alleged that more than 640ha of land, previously used to produce vegetables, had been “given to developers” over the last 15 years.

This not only deprives farmers of their agricultural land but also threatens food security in the country.

The rising prices of basic necessities are largely a testament to our overdependence on food imports and a neglect of our agricultural sector over the years. 

These are some of the challenges that affect the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Malaysians, which are expected to be addressed by the respective people’s representatives.

Obviously, the poor and the needy require more attention and help.

Indeed, the royal tour can be instructive in more ways than one. – September 18, 2023.