Malaysians have generally taken for granted and accepted that the country had just celebrated its 43rd Independence Day.

What has not been acknowledged by the powers that be, among others, is that Sarawak only "joined" the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 and before that, there was only Malaya, not Malaysia.

This account of "marginalisation" of Sarawak is not confined to just the indigenous communities of this Land of Hornbill, but also extends to how the state as a whole has also been sidelined, with the collaboration of local Barisan political leaders.

Perhaps the recent punishment of Terengganu in the federation's stopping of oil royalty payment can be equally aimed at Sarawak, for the latter contributes significant portion of oil and gas money to the federation's "income" and in return, gets that five percent royalty.

The establishment and their mouthpiece will bring out the "special" agreement that supposedly guarantees the state's rights after joining the federation to try to differentiate it from Terengganu, but don't expect too much from that piece of paper.

Malaysia's political development over the past decade has rendered that agreement rather obsolete, especially since the prime minister wields overwhelming influence even across the South China Sea.

The 1963 signing of Sarawak to the federation sealed the fate of the island of Borneo to be divided into three territories. It was to lead to what is now Indonesian Borneo of Kalimantan, the Sultanate of Brunei and of course Sarawak and Sabah, the three nations carved out by the British colonisers of Malaysia and Brunei, and the Dutch of Indonesia.

Malaysia was born out of that signing. Sarawak is a state rich in natural resources, enriched with oil, natural gas, other minerals such as gold, and coal, and of course the infamous forest, the green gold to exploiters. The British colonisers are long gone; local tycoons, on the forest and mineral front, and the national oil firm Petronas, for the oil and gas, have long since replaced them.

For a state so rich in resources, with hardly two million "locals", it has one two-lane trunk road aptly called the Pan-Borneo highway. But by Malaysia's standards, it would be more like the Old Klang Road of the Klang Valley. Some of the supposedly rural roads of Malaya would make better "highways" than those of Sarawak.

Electricity, which Tenaga is able to produce a surplus of more and more for the yet-to-arrive demand is but out of reach for a major part of rural Sarawak.

Never mind that just one hour outside of Sibu, high-tension cables carry electricity to major towns and pass by longhouses of indigenous communities.

Message to you

For many Sarawakians, the message is clear. It goes very much like this:

"If you indigenous communities speak your mind on wanting your own forms of development, one that is controlled and managed by the local communities, the whole lot of you are being instigated by outsiders. After all, by nature, you do not want to control your own destiny but want governments and their cronies to make you rich, comfortable and be your own bosses.

"No, you rural communities will never get anywhere by hanging on to your "unproductive" Native Customary Rights (NCR) land. What you need is the government's know-how and an injection of private capital while you earn your RM8-12 per day of non-daily wage, working on your NCR land, the rights of which will be taken away from you anyway.

"Never mind that with your land, you are self-sufficient in your food, you see land as more than property to be sold to the highest bidder, or that your land carries social, cultural and spiritual significance that also provide continuation of your culture and tradition. And never mind that you are basically self-sufficient in your survival, for self-sufficient in our context is not productive!

"If you protest when we take your land, among others, we will not service your areas, and if you are a government-appointed penghulu or Tua-Rumah, then you will be removed for being anti-government. Never mind that you are basically carrying out your duty as the people's representatives and standing up for the people's wish and need to be in control of their land. Along with that, your little allowances will be gone, too!

"Should you find yourselves with no alternative after appeals for dialogue and discussion have fallen on the deaf ears of the governments, its agencies like the infamous and supposedly neutral police, and the logging companies and oil palm plantations, and you resort to symbolic human blockades, then the laws say you have committed a crime. Under such circumstances, you are guilty unless proven innocent.

"Of course, that is the mild treatment you get for going against the wishes of political leaders. More serious crimes of the state against the people has resulted in death from police shootings, alleged rapes, and deaths due to tear gas thrown at protesting villagers, and heaps of human rights abuse.

"But 'give us government time, for the government is always for the people!' Another excuse would then read 'government cannot do it alone", in reference to how tough it is for the government to give you poor lot development! We, the government, want you to be grateful and think that development is given, not your right.

"But never mind, as long as the great leader can speak about rights to development in front of the westerners, and indulge in rhetoric that bashes "western human rights" standards, then you lot should be happy enough.

"Well, we are still a young nation, so professed the great leaders, as it took the west centuries to get to developed status and we have already taken a shortcut and making the deadline at 2020. It's only 20 more years, but not to worry, your Sarawak government wants to lead you towards a developed state 10 years earlier than the Federation of Malaya! Perhaps that is to catch up on the six years we were behind the birth of Malaya."

So, the next time you check the nation's age, do remove the marginalisation first, please.

And, yes, a "belated" happy 43rd birthday to Sarawak.

CHENDANG HOLLIS is a freelance writer based in Kuching.