AS Malaysia moves closer to its 60th year on Saturday, Ba’Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian said many things that Sarawak’s forefathers were promised in return for their agreement to the formation of Malaysia remains unfulfilled.

“They were promised that Sarawak would be brought up to the same developed status of Malaya. That did not happen,” he said in a statement ahead of Malaysia Day.

“We lag behind Peninsular Malaysia in every aspect, from infrastructure to healthcare to education to economic opportunities and so on.

“Throughout the years, our oil and gas revenues have benefited Peninsular Malaysia much more than Sarawak.

“Therefore, I want to see more annual allocations for Sarawak to narrow the gap of development between Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.”

He said he wants to see the state’s rights on religion, immigration, education, citizenship, financial provisions, judiciary and the special position of indigenous peoples, which have been partly overlooked or possibly breached, settled immediately under the unity government.

The Parti Sarawak Bersatu secretary-general also has his own wish list and hopes for a “neglected” Sarawak.

Topping the list are four areas, which he said should be “devolved fully or partially”.

They are infrastructure, education, health and the issuance of identity cards or the right to citizenship.

Baru said the ongoing devolution talks on health and education that centred on whether all administrative matters could be handed over completely to Sarawak and Sabah, is not good enough.

He said it would be better if the two states have the right to determine the syllabuses taught in their respective schools “instead of following the schools in Peninsular Malaysia as their focus is at times not in our interests”.

“Sarawak was meant to have autonomy in policy and administration matters in the area of education, by virtue of the Malaysia Agreement, and many feel that it was a mistake for the state government to have relinquished this autonomy in the 1970s.”

In Sarawak, he said, education had been plagued by the sorry state of its schools, dropping educational standards, sub-standard textbooks, the lack of teachers and facilities in schools, especially those in the rural areas.

What is of concern, he said, is the creeping in of religious bias into the schools.

“I wish to remind our people and leaders that the Borneo states joined Malaya to form a secular Malaysia,” he said.

Baru said the people of Sarawak are now watching with unease and unhappiness the rise of extremism and intolerance in Peninsular Malaysia.

“There is an increasingly large group of those who wish to replace our secular constitutional democracy with an Islamic state governed by shariah law, and they weaponise issues of race, religion and royalty in their dangerous and divisive political agenda,” he said.

“I hope the unity government will continue to take a firm stand to ensure that Malaysia does not end as a Taliban state.”

On the devolution of healthcare, Baru said since it was also subject to the policy decision of the federal government, it put Sarawak in competition with the states in the peninsula for resources – infrastructure, healthcare professionals and equipment.

Many of Sarawak hospitals and clinics are in need of upgrade and maintenance, and more doctors, nurses and other support staff, he said.

Baru suggested education and healthcare be included in the concurrent list under Schedule 9 as a responsibility to be shared between the federal government and Sarawak.

On giving the state powers to issue MyKad and citizenship, he said Sarawak needs to have some degree of autonomy “as the citizenship woes of our stateless people are taking too long for the officers in Putrajaya to resolve”.

He said this is unfair to these people, many of whom are in limbo, being denied the right to schooling, jobs, bank accounts and home ownership.

Baru also said Sarawak’s transport infrastructure is a way behind that of Peninsular Malaysia.

The former works minister said Sarawak should also take over the infrastructure responsibilities from the Works Ministry “so that we can prioritise, plan and design our own connections, rather than making requests to the federal government and letting the ministry decide for us”. – September 12, 2023.