Dennis Chua: Melanau King Grooming New Successor? Chua from chuascorner.blogspot.com siri 4
"Melanau King" Tan Sri Taib Mahmud a k a the fourth chief minister of Sarawak is believed to be grooming a new successor to his state's chief executive officer post.
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Hose & McDougall (1912) said in their Book titled "The Pagan Tribes of Borneo", "... the Kadayans, a quiet agricultural folk,skilled in various arts, but rendered timid by continual oppression."
And Kadayan do not write or blog a lot. But timid? no, they aren't actually. Humble and down to earth is a more proper word to describe us.
How about continual oppression? Yes, its true in the past. It was a reality for Kadayan that once called the "Orang Bukit". Most western observers in 19th century noticed this and they record it in their writings.
And even now. Chua uses us to undermine Malay in Malaysia by saying that Kadayan is just another Indonesian Immigrants.
--Kadayan Banaa
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Chua's article No. 2.
Date of publication: Monday, February 12, 2007
URL: http://chuascorner.blogspot.com - The the blog is no longer exist.
Melanau King Grooming New Successor?
By Dennis Chua
"Melanau King" Tan Sri Taib Mahmud a k a the fourth chief minister of Sarawak is believed to be grooming a new successor to his state's chief executive officer post.
This comes in the wake of Taib's two Melanau associates Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi and Datuk Seri Adenan Satem declining nominations for vice-president of their party, the United Traditionalist Indigenous People's Party or Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).
Taib is the party's president and has served as Sarawak's chief minister since 1981. He is the longest serving chief minister in Malaysia and played a key role in fighting for Sarawak's independence from Britain.
Effendi is the minister in the prime minister's department in charge of economic planning and the husband of actress, singer, model and producer Datin Seri Tiara Jacquelina Eu of Puteri Gunung Ledang (The Princess Of Mount Ledang) fame.
Adenan, of Indian, Kedayan and Melanau ancestry, is a former federal minister of natural resources and the environment.
All three are respected leaders of the Melanau tribe which traditionally dominates politics in the state.
The Melanaus, who originate from Mukah near Sibu in the Rejang River basin, form 18 per cent of Sarawak's population and are the third largest ethnic group in the state after the Chinese [Hokkiens, Hakkas and Cantonese] (30pc) and Ibans (30pc).
They are the largest Muslim tribe in the state - 77pc of them are Muslims while 23pc of them are Christians [out of 18 Melanaus, 14 are Muslims and 4 are Christians].
Sarawak's state governor, chief minister, state secretary, state legislative assembly speaker, and the mayor of the predominantly indigenous North City of state capital Kuching, are traditionally Melanau leaders.
Unless Adenan and Effendi make a surprise retraction of their decision not to seek re-election as party vice-presidents, the duo are now effectively out of the race to succeed Taib as party president and Sarawak chief minister.
One man who is widely believed to be in the running to succeed Taib as chief minister now is PBB treasurer Datuk Awang Tengah Ali Hassan who hails from Lawas at the Sabah-Sarawak border.
Awang Tengah is of Kedayan and Kelabit ancestry, and if he succeeds Taib as chief minister he would be making history by being the first non-Melanau chief minister of Sarawak in 30 years.
Sarawak's first 2 chief ministers Datuk Seri Stephen Kalong Ningkan and Datuk Tawi Sili were Ibans. They served from 1963-1966 and 1966-1970 respectively.
Ningkan hailed from the now-defunct Sarawak National Party (SNAP) which has now been re-christened the Sarawak People's Democratic Party (SPDP).
A portion of SNAP members led by the late Ningkan's family and closest friends such as former state environment minister Tan Sri James Wong Kim Min, have refused to join the SPDP and have formed a New SNAP in the Opposition.
The late Sili was with the PBB led by Taib.
Melanaus first clinched the chief ministership in 1970 when Taib's late mother's younger brother Tun Abdul Rahman Yaakub replaced Sili.
Abdul Rahman was the founder of the PBB, Taib's mentor and Sarawak's foremost independence leader.
He served as federal education minister from 1969 to 1970, before returning to his home state and running it until 1981.
Abdul Rahman was largely responsible for introducing the teaching of Bahasa Malaysia (Malaysian) in all educational institutions, but he also made sure the standard of English, the international language, did not suffer a decline.
After his retirement in 1981, Abdul Rahman spent 4 years (one term) as Sarawak state governor.
The Kelabit tribe, which forms a mere 1 per cent of Sarawak's population, inhabits the Bario Highlands in Lawas.
Members of this tribe are known to be among the handsomest and prettiest in Malaysia.
TV host, singer, model and celebrity Hannah Tan (or Hannah T) is one of the prominent Kelabits besides Awang Tengah.
Another was the late Dr Judson Sakai Tagal, an assistant minister in Taib's cabinet and a top leader of SPDP. He died in an air crash in his hometown Lawas in 2004.
Many Kelabits have moved to Kuching and have excelled in the legal and medical professions.
Back in the Bario Highlands in Lawas, they plant the high-quality Bario Rice and Bario Apples.
The Kedayans, who form 11 per cent of Sarawakians, are the historical masters of the state and of Sarawak's former overlord, Brunei.
The sultans of Brunei are the paramount chiefs of the Kedayan tribe which is the only tribe in Borneo which speaks a dialect of Bahasa Malaysia (Malaysian), the national language of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia.
The Kedayans form 10 per cent of Sabah's population and have provided the state with two chief ministers.
(Sabah's fifth chief minister from 1976-1985 Datuk Seri Harris Mohamad Salleh and Sabah's 13th chief minister who took office in 2003 Datuk Seri Musa Aman are Kedayans.
Musa is actually Kadazan-Kedayan mixed and is a cousin of Harris' wife Datin Seri Rubiah Khan)
Indonesian Borneo or Kalimantan which was formerly the Kedayan kingdom of Banjarmasin, is predominantly Kedayan, too.
Hamzah Haz, the Wahhabi Saudi politician who served as vice-president to Indonesia's fifth president Megawati Sukarnoputri (daughter of Indonesian founder president Ahmad Sukarno) was a Kedayan.
Banjarmasin, Sarawak and Sabah were appendages of ancient Brunei, the oldest sovereign kingdom in the world.
Many Kedayans, especially the women, have become successful recording artistes, actors and celebrities in Malaysia.
They include Saloma (Salmah Ismail), Anita Sarawak, her mother Siput Sarawak, Dayang Sofia, Jamal Abdillah, Dayangku Intan, Datuk M. Daud Kilau, M. Shariff, Fauziah Latiff, Dayang Camelia, Dayang Nurfaizah, Safar Ghaffar, Bob Usop, Nurul Hamid, Saiful Bakeri, Amylia Azlan, Paula Malai Ali and Dayang Erema Awang Moshdad.
Sarawak's first governor Tun Abang Openg Abang Sapiee was Kedayan. His son Datuk Seri Abang Johari Abang Openg is a PBB vice-president and minister in Taib's cabinet.
They are descended from the first sultan of Sarawak Datuk Andi or Raja Jarum, a prince of Brunei, and of Datuk Patinggi Abang Mohamad Ali, the Sarawak sultan and chief minister who invited the British to colonise the state.
Taib is not known to favour Abang Johari as his successor. The veteran politician is more inclined to pick one of part-Melanau or Kelabit ancestry.
The Melanaus and Kelabits are closely related. It is believed that the Kelabits are an offshoot of the Melanaus and the Kadazans of Sabah.
posted by eschua at 6:01 PM
Comments
kacang goreng - haaa......... |2008-06-13 23:09:23
so how about george bush and osama? are they kedayan too
noranissa binti marzuki - kacang jer |2009-06-11 14:25:57
kenapa wat kedayan university?
noranissa binti marzuki - hanbak bna... |2009-06-11 14:30:08
apa tah kjak kmuk sanak...mun gayau bwak2 juak nih..ingat2 juak kwn2 cnik..heeeehheee
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