Sarawak----the next point .

                                Political developments in Sarawak to day are
unsettling .To say that it is unsettling is an understatement .  If one looks at the emerging conflicting political and social values  among the various ethnic groups , it is difficult to assume that there will be a smooth transition of power when Taib Mahmood steps down as Chief Minister .
                                Lets look back into history and search for similarities of life in Sarawak then and life in Sarawak now. May be by doing this we can see if there had been some basic flaws in our assumptions of  the political scenarios of Sarawak .
                                 Life in Sarawak  since the days of the Brunei Sultanate had always been one big phenomenon of the theatrics i.e of play acting and of make believe .  There were stand-ins every where just like in  the world of the theatre where you see things that are not .This typical life in Sarawak continued to the  days of the White Rajah .They inherit this phenomenon to  the present day where many things that they see are unreal and illusory
                                 Sarawak is the land of the Dyaks.This is the basic fact that sometimes becomes disputable  because of the illusions surrounding it . It is a fact that sometimes we see  and sometimes we don't .
                                  The Dyaks are the original settlers of Sarawak.They are the sons of the soil  , the same position as what their brothers  in the Malay Peninsula enjoy .If there is such a thing as Malay Privileges for the Malays living in the Peninsula Malaysia ,  the same must also exist for Dyaks in Sarawak .  And why not ?
                                   History tells us of different things about them but little of the misery they went through at the hands of those in power in those forgotten days.  It is time that the history of Sarawak  be re written to reflect the actual happenings of the past .
                                 The story of  James Brook  getting hold of a chunk of Sarawak and henceforth be given the title of  'Raja' by the Sultan of Brunei ,for instance, is hard to believe.The historical account of how the government of Sarawak was handed over to James Brook as a reward for his services to the Sultan  is too incredulous   that is only good  as a fiction in the English literature .The incidents were  fictitious and spoken and repeated  to insult the dignity of Malay royalty .
                               The most probable thing that could have happened  was  that the 'territory' had been acquired by James Brook through the use of force  and of fraudulent means and with the connivance and support of the British Government at that time .
                           The title  'Raja' was self proclaimed and was done in charity or in jest,perhaps in  response to enquiries  by foreign traders as to who was in charge of the place.
                         Sadly though , the Brooks stayed on in Sarawak for 3 generations spanning over period of 100 years in a world that was full of illusions. . The use of  the Malay Royal protocol  such as the use of the Malay state regalia by the so called white Rajah, complete with the use of the yellow umbrella, were nothing but  clownish acts designed to ridicule Malay customs and traditions . The unfortunate part of it all is that the Malay nobility ,the Chinese traders and the Dyaks submit themselves to all these regal pomp  as part of the sacred virtues and grandeur of the Brook's royal house .
                             While the Malay nobility was busy paying their obeisance to the Raja , the Dyaks continued to live in the jungles isolated ,neglected and miserably poor.
                              True enough in true spirit of democracy and in fulfilment of the principle of the rule by majority, when Sarawak gained its independence in 1963 the  administration of the State was handed over to the Dyaks in an untimely fashion .  The Dyaks were not yet ready to accept such huge responsibility of leading a government . . There was hardly any Dyak  that was capable of taking over the reigns of the Government and there were insufficient  number of qualified individuals in the civil service that could effectively support the policies of a Dyak government .
                                If  independence was not given in such a hurry ,there could be time and space for the development of core professionals and intelligentsia within the Dyak community  who could take over the administration from the colonial government smoothly and honourably.
                          On independence Sarawak was hardly stable and went through a period of political turbulence in which its first Chief Minister ,a Dyak was sacked .  For Sarawak to be stable it was generally accepted  that the leadership of the government  be in the hands of someone with strong leadership qualities and had the support of the Federal government .There were problems galore and the most dreaded was an anti west Malaysian sentiments  .The Federal Government saw this to be the imminent danger  that could lead to a break up of the Federation.
                               This was the time when Abdul Rahman Yaacob who was then the Federal Minister of Education was asked to help .  After winning a seat in the State General Election he was made the Chief Minister ,taking over the job from Tawi Sli .Abdul Rahman was a shrewed politician and an intellectual.He knew the political grounds of Sarawak well  and within a short time changed the entire political ,economic  and social landscapes of Sarawak .
                               New  state institutions were set up to strengthen the State's financial position. .His control over the state resources of timber and natural resources gave him further leverages to rule Sarawak the way he wanted .
                          However he also was aware that he comes from a minority ethnic group and that in a democracy there will come a day when the baton have to be passed over to the majority .
Rahman Yaacob retired in 1981 the post of Chief Minister was passed on to his nephew Taib Mahmood ,a person of equal calibre but with different styles of leadership .
                        Both Rahman and Taib know that in a democracy there is no such a thing as entrenched leaders. They were only stop gaps and remain in office at the pleasure of the voters. And  the Dyaks who form the majority would allow them such pleasure for as long  as there were no capable Dyaks around to lead their own pack .
                          Those in the minority,the likes of Rahman and Taib therefore govern Sarawak by proxy .
                           Many politicians in Sarawak do not subscribe to this premise .They had an entirely different vision of politics in Sarawak .They believed that the leadership of the State government must always be in the hands of the Malays regardless of the principle of  majority representation .This is the essence  of Sarawak politics .
                       Whenever the talk of succession in Sarawak surfaces ,it is  always a Malay succession.Little have been heard of other alternatives  .This is unreal .
                           The scenarios have now changed .The Dyaks as the silent majority have now waken up to this fact and are now looking hard at the imminent change of Sarawak political land scape .With the entry of opposition politics brought by Pakatan Raakyat ,Taib Mahmood must seriously take a look at the this fundamental concept of a rule by proxy .The MoFC rally in Sarawak in early August cannot therefore be viewed simply as an anti Taib exercise . It is indeed more than that .
                             The rule of the Dyaks are surely coming as a natural phase of Sarawak history .                
                            When that happens let them come over smoothly and not with a vengeance .If the leadership of  Sarawak continue to remain largely in the hands of the Malays , politics in Sarawak is nothing but a freak .
                               Let's leave the theatre for once .