Failure to legalise ‘Dayak’ part of government’s isolation process — PBDS Baru
KUCHING: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru ( PBDS Baru) believes that the failure to legalise the word ‘Dayak’ is part of the process of isolation by the government of the day.
PBDS Baru secretary-general Anthony Nais made these remarks in response to the recent statement from Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun, who viewed that giving the term ‘ Dayak’ the force of law was ‘important but not urgent’ and that its inclusion in the Malaysian Constitution ‘does not ensure anything’.
Anthony said he was not surprised by Entulu’s reaction as he knew him well when he was a Youth executive committee member and the publicity chief under Entulu during the era of the now- defunct PBDS.
He said he was upset with Entulu for saying that should he remain as Selangau MP after the next parliamentary election, and also if the Barisan Nasional ( BN) managed to get two-thirds majority in Parliament, it would be highly possible that he could talk to the Prime Minister on having a Bill to legalise the term ‘Dayak’ tabled in Parliament.
“We’ve gained independence well over 50 years now. What have our elected Dayak leaders done all this while to address the matter? It is only when other Dayak leaders raise issues that are detrimental to the welfare and existence of the Dayaks, that these leaders come out with comments merely for window dressing.
“I would like to remind Entulu, the Dayak community is now split into pieces. For the sake of Dayak unity and integration, please do something (to legalise the word ‘ Dayak’) instead of pursuing it after the general election,” he said.
According to Anthony, the Interpretation Ordinance 2005 divided the race ‘ Dayak’ into ‘ Iban or Sea Dayaks’ and ‘Bidayuh or Land Dayaks’.
“Officially, there is no such one race as ‘Dayak’ in Sarawak under the Interpretation Ordinance 2005.
“The Interpretation Ordinance 2005 Bill was tabled in Sarawak Legislative Assembly on June 14, 2005 and ( Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr) James Masing, (Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri) Alfred Jabu and the other Dayak leaders were well aware of the passing of the Ordinance and its effect. Why was there no objection from these Dayak leaders then?”
According to Anthony, Article 161A ( 6) and (7) of the Federal Constitution state that ‘native’ means, in the context of Sarawak, a person who is a citizen and either belonging to one of the races specified in Clause (7) as indigenous to the state or, if of mixed blood, deriving exclusively from those races.
The races to be treated for the purposes of the defination of ‘native’ in Clause (6) as indigenous to Sarawak are the Bukitan, Bisayah, Dusun, Sea Dayak, Land Dayak, Kadayan, Kalabit, Kayan, Kenyah (including Sabup and Sipeng), Kajang (including Sekapan, Kejaman, Lahanan, Punan, Tanjong and Kanowit), Lugat, Malay, Melanau, Murut, Penan, Sian, Tagal, Tabun and Ukit, said Anthony.
“Hence, Iban, Lun Bawang and Bidayuh are new terminologies and cannot be treated for the purpose of definition of ‘native’ – meaning the Iban, Lun Bawang and Bidayuh subsequently lose their rights as specified under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.
“It means if the amendment of the Interpretation Ordinance is allowed to apply, surely the Iban, Lun Bawang and Bidayuh will lose their rights over native customary rights (NCR) land and other privileges meant for the natives.
“My message to our Dayak leaders in Barisan Nasional is that labelling the Dayaks as ‘ Dan lain-lain’ ( Others) in the race column of government forms, has been insulting. To label them as ‘ Bumiputera Iban’, ‘Bumiputera Bidayuh’ or ‘Bumiputera Orang Ulu’ is also not correct as there is no such race known as ‘Bumiputera’.
“However, given that the provisions in the Interpretation Ordinance 2005 do not provide for the race ‘Dayak’, to label the Dayaks as ‘Dayak Iban’, ‘Dayak Bidayuh’, ‘Dayak Kayan’ and so on, is also not correct,” added Anthony.