The morning after...
The April 7 by-election results were not much of a surprise, with the Pakatan Rakyat coalition winning the two Bukits and the BN taking the one Batang. The two giants are still caught in an impossible impasse.
The results are also symbolic of our national politics in its throes of a difficult transition.
The victories of PAS at Bukit Gantang and that of the PKR at Bukit Selambau, despite the feel-good factor of a new PM, and the return of Dr M to the limelight, demonstrate that the ordinary Joe of West Malaysia still seethes with quiet anger at the ruling Barisan Nasional.
The April 7 by-election results were not much of a surprise, with the Pakatan Rakyat coalition winning the two Bukits and the BN taking the one Batang. The two giants are still caught in an impossible impasse.
The results are also symbolic of our national politics in its throes of a difficult transition.
The victories of PAS at Bukit Gantang and that of the PKR at Bukit Selambau, despite the feel-good factor of a new PM, and the return of Dr M to the limelight, demonstrate that the ordinary Joe of West Malaysia still seethes with quiet anger at the ruling Barisan Nasional.
In those two by-elections, the three components of the PR coalition - PAS, PKR, and DAP - seem to work well on a seamless campaign, drawing support from a multi-ethnic constituency.
The sniping about the Islamic state at Kuala Terengganu has not resurfaced. Perhaps they have finally learned to work together as a viable and harmonious coalition.
The victory of Nizar at Bukit Gantang is particularly gratifying. It partly vindicates his unfair fall from power in the Perak state government, and puts paid to the lie that he is a DAP - and therefore Chinese - stooge.
Obviously, the majority of the voters there did not think him disloyal to the Perak sultan. It is always satisfying to see that lies do not prevail during elections in Malaysia. There is hope yet in our country.
Promote young talents
The victory of the young and little known PKR candidate in Bukit Selambau also vindicates Anwar Ibrahim's choice of candidate, despite massive objection from various quarters.
The unprecedented number of independent candidates did not make much difference in the final outcome, and the earlier fear of the PKR proves to be unjustified. Again, sometimes, we underestimate the wisdom of the common men and women.
Sometimes, it is good to promote young talents in electoral contests. They have no political baggage. They are certainly inexperienced - in corruption, abuse of power, and crony capitalism. A few years ago, who would have imagined Nizar as the new likeable face of PAS to the non-Muslims!
If I were the new PM, I would be worried. A halo of saintly glory has been bestowed upon his head by the mainstream media following his recent crowning.
Immediately, he released some ISA detainees and lifted suspension of two opposition publications.
He promised reform and asked for a freer press. But the voters of the two Bukits seem unimpressed, and neither am I. Najib Abdul Razak is now looking at the very real possibility of being the last Umno prime minister in Malaysia.
Fortunately for him, he still has the support of Sarawakians and Sabahans. The BN victory in Batang Ai saves our new PM from a total humiliation.
I do not intend to conduct a post-mortem on the PKR defeat. A post-mortem is conducted on the dead, and the PKR in Sarawak is far from dead, unless they choose to self-destruct through implosion.
I smelled the PKR defeat coming a few days before polling, but did not anticipate the last-minute landslide of support for the BN.
Of course, the Sarawak PKR suffered from a painful deficiency in resources and inefficient campaign machinery.
Batang Ai has a vast and difficult terrain, and the voters are widely scattered many longhouses. Without proper arrangement for logistics and an army of trained volunteers, it is well nigh impossible for the opposition to win the by-election.
This is where the BN tactic of holding three by-elections simultaneously has reaped dividend. With the PR coalition tied down in the two crucial battles in the two Bukits, the opposition coalition's resources must be stretched very thin.
Something had to give. It did, in Batang Ai, in the far-flung corner of the BN Empire!
BN's Maggie Mee
A tsunami of Maggie Mee did hit and flood the Batang Ai longhouses.
A singular symbolic act of such Maggie Mee occurred when Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar went to the longhouses, and personally passed out some identity cards to longhouse residents.
City folks will apply for and get their IC as a matter of routine. But many rural Dayaks in Sarawak have mountains to climb and oceans to cross just to get their birth and identity papers.
Their women give birth in the longhouse, and that would be the end of it. Going down to the towns to register the birth is too cumbersome and too expensive. Trying to apply for late registration later, they would be confronted by the thick pile of application forms, plus the demand for many supporting documents which they do not have in the first place. Many just give up and become stateless in their ancestral land.
For decades, Sarawak politicians have been screaming for the process of late registration of birth to be simplified, and for special units from the registration department to go to the longhouse in special registration exercise. Such calls have fallen on deaf ears.
Suddenly, the big minister from Kurlumpur (that is how the Ibans pronounce KL) deliver this crucial document to the doorstep of the Batang Ai longhouse; all the voters would be moved to tears of gratitude. An IC and a birth certificate in hand are much better than two wild boars in the bush!
In the last days of the Batang Ai campaign, a whole army of federal and Sarawak ministers have descended upon Batang Ai, dispensing with development Maggie Mee and cash in various names.
The rural Ibans are very honest and simple folks. They tend to respect all authoritative figures like government ministers. To take the gifts and then vote for the opposition seems like an act of bad etiquette. Being trustful people, they are also gullible to all kinds of promises, election after election.
Looking back at the outcome of the Batang Ai by-election, one can only conclude that whoever was the party candidate would not matter. In fact, Nicholas Bawin must be congratulating himself that he has been spared the humiliation of such a shocking defeat!
Long-term plan important
The PKR defeat in Batang Ai would not be a total loss, if they can learn the lessons from this disastrous outing. Attending free dinners and shouting slogans of change is one thing. Winning elections in the remote Sarawak jungle is quite another thing.
Instead of constant bickering, the Sarawak PKR leaders do have to sit down with Anwar Ibrahim about their long-term plan in Sarawak.
They will have to think about how to raise a large sum of money - especially from the Internet - long before the next general election. (A reader of mine sent me an email, asking what he and a group of rich friends could to help PKR financially in Batang Ai, a day or two before polling! It was too late.)
They have to recruit a new army of Sarawakian talents, from among professionals, retired senior civil servants, senior officers of the police and armed forces, budding entrepreneurs, serving or retired academics, and even senior university students. These would be your future candidates. I know of a few of these individuals waiting at the sideline. But to attract them, the Sarawak PKR has to become attractive first!
Then there is this unglamorous but crucial business of building the party organisation from the ground up throughout Sarawak.
You may have the best generals, but without an army of members and volunteer supporters to launch a full-scale war on the battlefield, the generals simply cannot win.
You have to prepare the structure and framework for people power in the non-election years, and not get excited only upon the arrival of an election. Party building is time consuming, laborious, and expensive. It is not as sexy as making powerful speeches before a big crowd, but it is the only way to go if you dream of taking power in Sarawak.
The defeat suffered by PKR is a reality check for them to go back to the drawing board and reflect upon their difficult predicament in Sarawak. The PKR modus operandi in West Malaysia will not work all the time in the Land of the Hornbill.
Just drawing big crowds in the large towns and in Kuching city will not bring victory in the next general election in Sarawak.
SIM KWANG YANG was the MP for Bandar Kuching from 1982 to 1995. He can be reached at kenyalang578@hotmail.com
