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if i has to choose between loving you, and breathing.
I would use my last breath to say I LOVE YOU
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S’wak leaders angered by PAS chief’s ‘…we lost because they did not know how to vote, still wearing loincloths’
KUCHING: PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has incurred the wrath of Dayak leaders for his recent remarks that the opposition lost in the Batang Ai by-election because the voters are still wearing loincloths and do not know how to vote.
Hadi’s remarks were carried by online news portal Malaysiakini in a report on July 11.
Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Dato Sri Dr James Masing who was visibly upset and angry after reading the report felt that it reeked of PAS’ and particularly Hadi’s ignorance and arrogance.
Hadi was reported as saying: “Semua pilihanraya kecil sebelum ini keputusannya memihak kepada kita. Cuma di Batang Ai sahaja kita kalah sebab mereka ini tidak reti undi, pakai cawat lagi. Saya bukan nak hina tetapi tempat yang pakai molek, undi PAS. (In all previous by-elections, the results favoured us. Only in Batang Ai we lost because they did not know how to vote, still wearing loincloths. I am not trying to insult but in those places where people dressed nicely, they voted for PAS.)”
Masing said the comments suggested that Batang Ai voters, the majority of whom are Dayaks, were uncivilised, adding that comments like this could stir racial tension in the country.
“Calling Dayak voters uncivilised is uncalled for. It shows just how ignorant PAS is of the situation in Batang Ai. PAS is ignorant about the fact that the people there are well-educated and civilised.
“It is also a very degrading statement from a person like Hadi to make. He should go to the longhouses and see the situation for himself. It is this sort of comment that is causing racial tension in Malaysia. This is totally uncalled for,” Masing said.
The Batang Ai by-election, on April 7, was called following the demise of PRS vice-president Datuk Dublin Unting on Feb 24 after a heart attack.
The Barisan Nasional (BN) had placed its hopes on a greenhorn, Malcolm Museen Lamoh, to contest the by-election and it paid off.
Mussen garnered 3,907 votes against 2,053 votes for Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s Jawah Gerang, the former five-time MP of Lubok Antu. Mussen won by a majority of 1,854 votes.
Held simultaneously with the Batang Ai by-election were by-elections in Bukit Gantang, Perak and Bukit Selambau in Kedah, where the BN lost by a majority of more than 2,000 votes.
Hadi made the comments about voters in Batang Ai in the run-up to the Manek Urai by-election, which was won by PAS.
Mussen was amused by the remarks made by the PAS leader. He said Hadi’s remarks were proof of the shallowness of PAS leaders and their negative perception of the people of Sarawak.
He went on to say this was an insult not only to the Ibans but Sarawakians as a whole.
“Does this mean most people do not wear underwear except PAS leaders? That’s why they can’t look at modern women,” said Mussen, taking a swipe at the many statements made by various PAS leaders on dresses worn by modern women accused of not covering their (modesty) ‘aurat’.
He also said that the election result was testimony that the people in Batang Ai still needed BN to bring progress and development, and Pakatan Rakyat was rejected due to its style of politics.
He also dared PAS to stand in Batang Ai, an Iban-majority area, if they thought they could win the seat.
“(If they think they can do better), why not ask them to stand here in the next election?”
Another Dayak leader, state Barisan Nasional secretary-general Dr Stephen Rundi, said PAS and Pakatan Rakyat leaders were not qualified to speak about Sarawakians.
He felt that Hadi was insensitive to the people of Sarawak and did not know the differences between the peninsula and the state. He added that Pakatan leaders were only good at picking on the BN’s mistakes and weaknesses in the four states governed by them.
“They try to create ill-feelings in the people for the government by politicising petty issues but I believe the people of Sarawak are not easily fooled by their dirty tactics,” he said.
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