X. STATE FUNDING AND SUPPORT FOR MAUSHAN LIU SHAN BAN MEMORIAL

X. STATE FUNDING AND SUPPORT FOR MAUSHAN LIU SHAN BAN MEMORIAL

The State Government had to its credit recognized the glorious struggles of the daughters and sons of Sarawak in their struggle against domination and oppression by foreign colonialists. The most illustrious of these are Liu Shan Ban and the Chinese miners of Bau, the Great Rentap with his last stand at Bkt. Sadok, Rosli Dhoby’s and other Malay patriots’ personal sacrifices.

In the 50s and 60s, indeed into the 70s, there were others yet to be fully documented, who conducted equally valiant struggle against colonialism and neo-colonialism: Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce from the Malay community was a prominent fore-bearer.

I leave it to you YBs of SUPP on the other side, the benefit and credit of naming who your parties’ heroes were in their anti-colonialist and anti-neocolonialist peoples’ struggle. When you have put their names up, I believe we may join in our accolade for heroes from your party from this side of the House!

I hope the identification of your parties heroes will infuse your party leadership, especially the YBs in the house, yet untapped courage to fight for the rights of Sarawak and the peoples of Sarawak! I on this side would be prepared to join you and acclaim: these beloved past leaders of SUPP who have faced jail terms and made untold personal and family sacrifices, and not ever thinking of a sen of benefit for themselves. Upon their struggle, your party was built; and shame should be on anyone who squander away the legacy of their valiant pro-peoples’ struggles!

Are we, each and every YB in this house fit to carry the legacy of these heroes in their fight against colonialism and neo-colonialism?

Mr. Speaker, their struggles form the spiritual heritage which must for posterity inspire the peoples of Sarawak to defend their sacred rights and freedom from oppressive hegemony of all and any guise.

The Keadilan movement in Sarawak, of which I am the proud pioneer in this August House, draws particular strength from our illustrious past freedom fighters in our present contribution to the struggle for human rights, social justice and genuine democracy in a fully pluralistic society that Malaysia is and should rightly be. Keadilan would be too willing to cross partisan lines and support moves from your side to celebrate the legacy of genuine Freedom Heroes of all ethnic groups, and of other political parties in Sarawak.

Mr. Speaker, our call for struggle for social justice has been joined by the majority of the people at the very heart of Sarawak, the social, political and economic centre that Kuching is! In the run-up to May 20th 2006, Mr. Speaker, our candidate in Piasau put to the people of Miri the concept of Reformasi Berwarna-warni BumiKenyalang, drawing upon the legacy of our State heroes! Were he in this house today to represent Piasau, I may have let him deliver this part of the speech.

Today in this House, may I record my heartfelt appreciation for a group of dedicated persons who have so diligently and painstakingly preserved the historic site where Liu Shan Ban was buried; Liu Shan Ban, leader of the Bau gold miners’ uprising against oppressive taxation by the regime of James Brooke.

The historic uprising of the some 600 out of 4000 Chinese gold miners in Bau/ Tasik Biru in 1857 is well documented and needs little elaboration of recorded facts. These miners who had migrated from E. Kalimantan from around 1830, were imposed an oppressive Head Tax. Though the initial success of the revolt initially shook Kuching and the Brooke Regime, it was put down and was to result in the massacre of Liu Shan Ban, his men and families.

Mr. Speaker, the revolt reflects another point on which I sincerely request all honourable members of the House to ponder upon. When an obnoxious regime oppresses its subjects to the limit, through such measures as unreasonable taxation, asset confiscation, legally or through deceit, it may well provoke the people to desperate measures to protect fundamental rights. When poverty is widespread and threatens the essential needs of survival, then too, people become desperate enough to “chew up” high tension wires, road signs, drain covers, water meters, and what have you not! If these are not signs of profound sickness in Society, what is?

There must be a profound sense of alienation from mainstream society and total marginalization for such behaviour to become as widespread as it is now. We ask: Why are these people so anti-social? They may ask instead: why is the State so anti-social?

Abject poverty in a land of plenty, landlessness in an enormously vast land, evictions from homes, annexation of land, confiscation of means of livelihood, taxation beyond civilized norms, corruption of power, crony-monopolistic capitalism and State Enforcement Terror can only have castastrophic outcomes for any society and nation!

If any Government of Sarawak or of Malaysia professes to promote harmony, social stability and development, its utmost priority is to respect fundamental human rights and uphold social justice; be not fixated in promoting political and economic cronyism; not cling on to oppressive legislation such as Section 26, 27 of the Land Code to subserve such crony capitalist interests in future, and not actively devise more legislation after oppressive legislation.

Any responsible Government of Sarawak or of Malaysia, should on the other hand, govern for the welfare and progress of all people. True democratic choice informed by free media, right of organization and assembly, fair and clean elections are fundamental to progress, and vital to forestall popular revolt, be it constitutional or, God –forbid , extra-constitutional.

Keadilan’s political and social reform agenda through constitutional struggle, is, in Sarawak, to be integrally imbued with the spirit of the Freedom fighters of Sarawak. In time, we hope to promote their spirit of struggle for rights and dignity not only to Sarawak people but for all Malaysians!

I therefore call upon this House to support the erection of the Liu Shan Ban Memorial Mausoleum at his Burial Site at Tasik Biru, and that it be funded and maintained by the State Government. If the Ministry of Tourism is more ambitious, I believe the house can even support a Sarawak Gold Mining Museum to be part of a more ambitious Liu Shan Ban Museum Complex. This museum would be a fitting complement to the Petroleum Museum on Canada Hill, Miri, but bettered by the legacy of an ethnic hero.

Mr. Speaker, the fight against oppression of gold miners has also been celebrated elsewhere. In Victoria, Australia, the Eureka Stockade in the Ballarat-Bendigo region is at the very psyche of Australian nationhood, and inspires the current Australian Republican movement. The legacy of Eureka Stockade, the gold mine sites and museum brought them bountiful tourist dollars too.

That the struggle of oppression against colonial masters are common themes to the Eureka Stockade of Victoria State and to the Liu Shan Ban Bau Gold Miners’ Revolt, it would not be too far fetched for a Liu Shan Ban Museum Complex to seek association with the Ballarat Gold Museum. Malaysia would thus have a museum seeking common status with that at Ballarat.

Mr. Speaker, make no mistake that the brilliant legacy of Liu Shan Ban and other heroes of Sarawak is not the monopoly of my party, but belongs to all the peoples of Sarawak, indeed all Malaysians. I therefore sincerely hope that both sides of this house will do likewise in promoting the Spirit of Sarawak to the nation though their respective social and political channels!

Thus today I call on your support in this august House to take another important step by more prominently promoting a part of Sarawak history in her fight against oppression, and to infuse it integrally into Malaysian History proper. It is indeed a proud chapter, as proud as that of any other nation, for posterity and for the whole world to visit and see.