Help Dayak Community

After45 years of Merdeka, the Dayaks in Sarawak are still lagging behind, not only in commerce and industry but also in all other social and economic aspects as well. However, the root cause is not due to the ineffectiveness of leaders of socio-economic organisations such as SDNU. Rather, it must be the lack of political leadership and direction, the absence of a united voice in Government that has brought this predicament upon the Dayak communities.

In the peninsula, Umno has been providing leadership direction to the Malays, MCA and Gerakan to the Chinese, and MIC to the Indians. Their achievements are there for all to see. Sadly, in Sarawak, this is missing. I am a Dayak and I now cannot point to a leader, political or otherwise, and say to my children that this is the Dayak leader/chief. In addition to those leaders in the fragmented Dayak political parties, we have Dayak leaders in PBB, PRS, SPDP and even SUPP which is a Chinese party. Yet the question remains: Where is the real Dayak chief who takes care of the Dayak communities? Before we can hope to progress and be at par, if not better than other races, the communities must be united both in spirit and goals.

Without a united voice in Government, the Dayak community is doomed to remain mere spectators as other races race along the corridors of political, social and economic progress. It is unfair to put the blame on leaders of social-economic organisations for the failure of the Dayak community to progress. The political leaders are the ones to blame. The Dayak leaders must ask themselves how long the communities will remain satisfied with mere leftovers of the economic pie. Or will they still be contented with playing second fiddle, hoping that circumstances will change some day?