Will the federal government allow a referendum in Sarawak, like the Scottish referendum?
 
This was the question posed by the Chong Chieng Jen (DAP-Kuching) while debating the 2015 Budget in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Chong said the Scotland-United Kingdom situation, leading to the Sept 18 referendum, has parallels with the Sarawak and Sabah-Malaysia situation.

This referendum was prompted by the perception that Scotland had been unfairly treated by the British government, something which is also felt in Sabah and Sarawak.

And yet, Chong said, the British government dealt with the conflict with a referendum and not by clamping down on dissent by using laws like the Sedition Act.

As a result, Britain is kept intact peacefully, without the sort of violence experienced in the separatist movement in Northern Ireland, the Sarawak DAP chief said.

"How is the federal government going to address these sentiments of Sarawakians? Is the federal government going to suppress the feelings by resorting to the Sedition Act?

"Is the government going to allow a referendum to be held in Sarawak, like the Scottish referendum?" he asked.

Siding with the peninsula

According to Chong, the gripes of Sabah and Sarawak residents are not unfounded as most of Putrajaya’s policies side with the peninsula.

For example, he said, while West Malaysians complain of traffic jams, villagers in Sarawak do not even have access roads.

Similarly, he said, Sabahans and Sarawakians did not benefit from the RM400 million the government paid to highway concessionaires to keep toll rates low, nor will they benefit from the RM50 billion mass rapid transit (MRT) project.

"These sentiments of being unfairly treated and the fact that Sarawak is actually unfairly treated have resulted in movements like Sarawak for Sarawakians, Sarawak Sovereignty Movement, Sabah Sarawak Keluar Malaysia (SSKM)," he said.

Chong suggested that the best way to solve the problem is to address local concerns, including the Sarawak legislative assembly’s demand for 20 percent oil and gas royalty.

"All the sweet talk by (Prime Minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) about increasing the allocation for Sarawak is only hot air because when we look at the 2015 Budget, we do not see Sarawak getting more allocation…
 
"Let Sarawak decide on its own how to develop the Sarawak," he said.


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