Bidayuh community will always be well-rewarded by BN — Riot
SERIAN: Human Resources Minister Dato Sri Richard Riot Jaem has assured that the Bidayuh will continue to be well-rewarded for their loyalty to Barisan Nasional ( BN).
TheSerian MP thereforecallson the Serian electorate to continue to make Serian parliamentary seat a BN stronghold.
Riot said the electorate in this Bidayuh-majority constituency had rejected the opposition outright during all the six terms he had been their elected representative.
He believed this trend would continue in the coming 14th General Election ( GE14) based on the convincing win achieved by BN in all three state seats within the Serian parliamentary constituency, namely Tebedu, Kedup and Bukit Semuja, in the last state election.
“Even though the Bidayuh are a minority group, the BN had rewarded them well because of their undivided loyalty.
“We are just 200,000 of Sarawak’s population of three million and Malaysia’s population of 30 million but the BN makes me, a Bidayuh, a full minister at the federal level and Tebedu assemblyman Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong, also a Bidayuh, a full minister at the state level,” Riot told the audience at Kampung Kakeng’s St Mary’s Chapel anniversary dinner and the official launch of the village’s Sarawak Federation of Women’s Institute (PPWS) unit on Saturday.
Riot said being a full minister meant he got to attend Cabinet meetings where important decisions affecting the country and the people were made.
“It was during one such Cabinet meeting that I sought the assurance of the top leadership that no Rohingya refugees would be sent to Sarawak, which put paid to social media speculations that these refugees were headed for Serian and Bau,” Riot iterated.
Earlier, Ketua Kaum of Kampung Kakeng, Johnny Nyaut, said 2017 seemed to be a year of good fortune for Riot.
“The Bidayuh, in particular the Serian electorate, are proud of your achievements this year. You were conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in July, and earlier in the month the Sarawak state government awarded you the ‘ Panglima Negara Bintang Sarawak’ which means you now have a double ‘Dato Sri’ title.
“Most of all, it was reported in the local papers recently that you will defend Serian seat.
“Yang Berhormat Dato Sri, we will help to give you a bigger majority come GE14,” assured Johnny.
Riot, who was accompanied to the dinner by, among others, his special officers Awang Landon and Robert Dapan, announced a grant of RM30,000 for the village.
He also approved an upgrade to the village hall wiring to be done before Gawai Dayak next year after the power switch kept tripping due to overload during the dinner.