Winds of political change blow through Malaysian jungles FEATURE 08/11/2010

Winds of political change blow through Malaysian jungles

FEATURE 08/11/2010 LONG MUBUI — An opposition party poster hanging in a Penan tribal chieftain’s wooden longhouse deep in Malaysia’s rainforests signals winds of political change blowing across Borneo island. The Penan are among the most disadvantaged of Malaysia’s indigenous people, and have for decades fought a one-sided war against the powerful logging and plantation firms that are obliterating their ancestral land. But a political transformation in Malaysia, which threatens to unseat the coalition that has ruled for half a century, has put the Borneo island states of Sabah and Sarawak in a powerful position. And the poster in the Penan longhouse, promoting the leaders of the Democratic Action Party — one of a trio that make up the opposition alliance — is the sort of thing that has the government worried. Prime Minister Najib Razak made an historic visit last month to the interior of Sarawak to visit the Penan and other “Orang Ulu” — tribal groups known as “River People” as their homelands are located along remote waterways. The premier, who arrived with senior ministers by helicopter in the village of Long Banga, made multimillion-dollar pledges to fund projects including a long-overdue road, a mini dam and a mobile medical clinic..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100811com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Usurping congressional power FRONTLINE Arroyo clone FEATURE Winds of political change blow through Malaysian jungles MR. EXPOSE Pagcor jackpot focus US pilots fly Pakistan flood aid to win hearts and minds HE SAYS For Prisco HE SAYS Beyond Prisco