Julau MP Larry Sng certainly believes that Sarawak's Chinese deserve to be given Bumiputera status. It is because he believes so that he has recently suggested that the Sarawak government give Bumiputera status to the Sarawakian Chinese.
“In view of Sarawak’s uniqueness in racial composition, religious diversity and autonomy in certain areas, by being a region and not a state, perhaps Sarawak’s leaders should consider granting Bumiputera status to Sarawakians of Chinese descent.
“The overwhelming majority of them were born in this country and had served, fought, sacrificed and contributed immensely to the economic wellbeing of the state.
“This is something I hope the state government will consider and legislate into law for the benefit of the state and all its people,” Larry stated in a Facebook post, as a reason why he is making the claim.
Most of the reason that Larry gave as to why Sarawakian Chinese deserve to be given Bumiputera status is not important – after all, if we follow most of his reasoning , all of the non-Bumiputera's in this country, not just the Chinese in Sarawak, would have to be given a Bumiputera status – but there is one thing that Larry said, where he will ask that the Sarawak government give the Bumiputera status to the Chinese in Sarawak, to prove that Sarawak is a “region not a state”, that might pose a problem to Sarawak’s government.
Sarawak’s government has always touted the theory that the “Sarawak way” has a proven track record of creating a fairer and superior multicultural experience than the “Semenanjung way”, which they often pooh-pooh as being the cause of racial and religious tension in Semenanjung, but Larry’s petition might put to test its claims.
If Sarawak is actually a region, and not just a mere state, as the Sarawak government often touts, it should have the power to give Sarawakian Chinese Bumiputera status, as Larry wants as well.
Sarawak’s government has also already shown that it is capable of giving the Chinese in Sarawak Bumiputera status – the Syrian born wife of its ex-governor Taib Mahmud, Toh Puan Raghad Kurdi Taib, as well as her two children from a previous marriage, for example, have been given “native” status by Sarawak’s government previously.
This being the case, the Sarawak government has no reason to decline Larry’s proposal.
If they decline Larry’s proposal, it will be a sign that they are declining his proposal, not because they are unable to get Putrajaya’s approval of the act on it, but simply because they don’t deem the Chinese in Sarawak to be completely equal to the Bumiputera in Sarawak.
Once the Sarawak government openly shows that it believes in the view that “all Sarawakians are equal, but some are more equal than others,” we shall see whether its much touted “Sarawak First” ideology will be as effective as it was in the past.
Using the “Sarawakian First” and “Sarawak for Sarawakians” ideology in the past, the leaders of Sarawak have been able to unite Sarawakians to stand behind it as it stands up against Putrajaya.
This Sarawakian ideology was so successful that in the 2021 state election, the coalition of Sarawakian parties, GPS, was able to sweep 76 out 82 state seats and in the subsequent general election in 2022, it managed to obtain 23 out of 31 federal seats.
If the Sarawak government rejects Larry’s suggestion however, it will inevitably make the population of Sarawak wonder whether they are all equal as they are led to believe. If the different ethnicities and identity groups start to wonder as to whether they are all equal in reality as how they are touted be in theory, it is doubtful whether the Sarawakian First or Sarawak for Sarawak ideology will be as successful in the next election as it was in past elections.
If the Sarawak government accepts Larry’s suggestion on the other hand, it might cause its own set of problems, like the native population of Sarawak taking offense to the move, as how they have taken offense to the move to give the late Taib Mahmud's foreign wife and stepson native rights.
The more that the Sarawak government pushes for autonomy, the more it is going to realise how pivotal the specter of Putrajaya is in Sarawak.
As long as Sarawakians believe that Putrajaya is the big boss, Sarawak’s government can always tai chi the unpopular decisions it has to make as being a “arahan dari atas”from Putrajaya.
Once there is no Putrajaya to put the blame on, the buck will stop with the Sarawak state government, and all of Sarawak will then have to wake up and smell the coffee, as to what the true situation in Sarawak is actually like.
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