I don't know how you view PMX Anwar announcing today that he is increasing Sarawak's interim special grant from RM600 million to RM1.5 billion, but if I were Sarawakian, I would probably find it rather condescending.
One way you can look at this issue is like this.If Malaysia was a business, Sarawak feels like a partner, and it is asking Putrajaya for its share of the business.
Putrajaya, however, doesn't seem to see Sarawak as a partner. It only sees Sarawak as a worker.
So instead of giving Sarawak a share of the business, it is just willing to give Sarawak a salary and bonuses — enough to keep Sarawak in the position of a worker, rather than an owner.
The interim special grant back and forth between Kuching and Putrajaya is just an extension of this status conflict between Sarawak and Putrajaya.
An interim special grant, by the way, is what Putrajaya calls the payment it makes to Sabah and Sarawak while the issue of how Sabah, Sarawak and Semenanjung should negotiate a more permanent method of sharing the revenue of the federation remains unresolved.
In Sarawak's mind, it wants this interim payment to reflect its status as a partner in the federation.
That is why last Sunday, Sarawak Premier Abang Jo has stated that he wants the interim special grant to be given in terms of equity — or, as he puts it, 5 to 10 percent of federal revenue — to reflect Sarawak's status as a partner in the federation.
Putrajaya, however, seems to be insisting that the interim grant be given in terms of a "bonus" — or an increase in payment from RM600 million to RM1.5 billion this year.
In other words, Putrajaya is only indicating that it is willing to promote Sarawak from the status of a regular worker to a senior worker.
But it doesn't seem particularly interested in recognising Sarawak as a partner in the federation, which is how Sarawak wants to be seen.
Although Anwar unilaterally announced
that he is increasing the interim grant to Sarawak to RM1.5 billion today, it is doubtful whether Sarawak has agreed to accept it, or whether it will be willing to accept it.
We will probably know whether Sarawak is willing to accept it only in the coming days.
To have RM900 million more this year in a state with around 2.5 million people is obviously a lot of money.
But there is a case to be made that Sarawak might now be at a stage where it is not money that it is chiefly interested in.
It might be respect that it expects today.
And if that is the case, I doubt Anwar unilaterally forcing Sarawak to accept a bonus, as if it were just a mere worker, when Abang Jo asked for 5 to 10 percent of federal revenue — a share more befitting a partner — just last Sunday, will go down particularly well in Sarawak.
I also think choosing Malaysia Day to stuff this offer down Sarawak's throat is in rather poor taste.
Najib might be in jail, but the spirit of "cash is king" is still running wild and free in Putrajaya, it seems.
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