Daring to dream to topple Taib & Co

By Roselind Jarrow - Free Malaysia Today

COMMENT One day after nomination day, that is, on May 9, 2010, Pemanca Jengging told Baru Bian and other PKR leaders of a dream indicating that Pakatan-DAP candidate Richard Wong Ho Leng would win the Sibu by-election on May 16.
Jengging related what his wife had dreamt the previous night of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s pouch burst and coming out of it were worms. In her dream Taib died.
Among the Ibans, dreams play an important part in their life. In fact whatever they do, they are often guided by their dreams. During headhunting expeditions in the old days, leaders of the expeditions would ask if anyone had dreams. Such is the power of dreams.
When Jengging related the dreams, those present did not take it seriously. In fact they forgot about it, until Ho Leng won the by-election.
Yes, Ho Leng won with a slim majority of 398 votes. Who would have thought that he could have won despite the massive injection of financial allocations amounting to more than RM400 million and all the “goodies” and the monetary rewards if they voted for the BN candidate Robert Lau Hui Yew?
But Ho Leng’s victory is not his alone; it belongs to the Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat formed by DAP, PKR, PAS and SNAP just before the nomination day on May 8.
In previous elections, DAP made three attempts to wrest the seat from SUPP, which is considered as one of its strongholds. All this while, it suffered miserably. In this by-election, the combined forces of the four parties not only bore fruits, but also put great pressure on the Barisan Nasional.
While DAP concentrated on Chinese voters, PAS was assigned to the Malay kampungs. PKR on the hand was given the task to campaign in longhouses.
In the urban areas, DAP is known to have the support of the majority of Chinese voters and its task was to increase the level of support for the party. As for the Malay kampungs, Ho Leng lost more than 1,000 votes in the previous election. But this time the Pakatan managed to minimize the loss, when Ho Leng lost about 500 votes.
But the most difficult task was among the Ibans especially in the far-flung longhouses where the people only know about the existence of SUPP. They have never heard about the opposition as the opposition leaders have never set foot in those longhouses.
The Feng Shui factor
In this by-election, several top PKR leaders went to the longhouses explaining their policy and issues that affect their day to day life. Leaders like Anwar Ibrahim, Baru Bian and Daniel Tajem explained to them the aim of Pakatan Rakyat to form the next state government.
Talks of native customary rights land, their rights to have electricity and water supply have opened up their minds.
Although the response from the longhouse voters did not satisfy the opposition, some improvements have certainly been made. For example, in certain longhouses, DAP received one or two votes. But this time, DAP managed to get as much as 30 to 35 percent of the Iban votes. This is already an achievement.
Even in future elections, Pakatan cannot rely on the older voters as they have been too much “barisanised” through radio and television. But hope is there for the opposition as the younger and educated voters know the problems that affect their community.
The issue of NCR land, the lack of tar-sealed roads, basic amenities like electricity and water, clinic and even schools are examples of pure neglect.
Now coming back to the dream, what else can it portend? Will it bring down the government of Taib Mahmud? And will it lead to SUPP’s demise?
As Ibans believe in dreams, the Chinese, however, believe in Feng Shui. Two days before polling day, I wrote an article about Feng Shui in the Free Malaysia Today.
Those who believe in Feng Shui say that the number four in Chinese is “see” which means “death”. To SUPP supporters, they will say this by-election will signal the political “death” of Ho Leng.
But to Pakatan-DAP members, it means the political “death” of SUPP and Robert Lau Hui Yew as the number “4” is connected to SUPP’s fourth attempt to retain the seat.
The first part of dream has been fulfilled. The next we will wait and see.