by Terence A Anthony
Originally published for Greater Malaysia, February 2015, Updated on May 2016
Note:This was one of the first few articles I submitted for Greater Malaysia. When it was published, I was at a family gathering right before Chinese New Year. Coincidentally, it was the last gathering my father attended before he passed away.Originally written to answer people’s question on who was this rising, not-so-young political superstar, it was updated after the 2016 state elections. It became the basis of an explainer video I did with a man named Stephen Huong.
When one thinks of Sarawak of the past century, they would normally associate the state with Taib Mahmud. The Taib administration started in 1981 and it is undeniable that all of the controversies he picked up during this decades, will leave a mark on the office.
Times have changed and the title of Chief Minister has been handed down to Adenan Satem, the former Sarawakian Minister of Special Functions.
While Adenan Satem was handpicked by Taib Mahmud, it is only fair to critically analyse the new Sarawakian CM as who he is, as the 2016 state elections is technically his first election as a Chief Minister.
Seeing, how Sarawak has also been associated as a BN fixed deposit, anyone following Malaysian politics, needs to know more about the Satem administration. Over the year, support for him has grown considerably despite the dismal results obtain by Barisan Nasional, the coalition the PBB was in the last elections. So with him being from the same party as Taib Mahmud (PBB, again a party under Barisan Nasional), what differentiates him from his predecessor?
How did he gain popularity?
Satem is a Muslim man of Malay descent and generally considered to be part of the old guard, considering that he is has been in politics since the 70s. Despite his Muslim heritage, he has been a vocal opponent of the implementation of Hudud Law in Sarawak. Hudud law has been long called for by opposition parties like Amanah and PAS to replace our current criminal and civil law, to end corruption and criminal elements in this country.
While many in BN suggest that Malaysia is an Islamic state, he actively stood against the idea that Malaysia should be a theocratic state. When the Peninsular was in a political gridlock on the “Allah” issue, he assured that no Christian materials containing the word will be confiscated. As some of you may have known by now, the Catholic Herald, a Catholic newspaper in West Malaysia was denied renewal of their license due to the fact they used the word “Allah” in their publication. Many argued that this could be confusing to the Malay-Muslim population, who make the majority there. In a speech made at the St Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Mukah, he gave his word guaranteeing that “as long as he is in office”, there wouldn’t be any law legislating against the usage of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims.
Not only has that lead him gaining points from Sarawakian Secularists but also the Christians in the state. To his advantage also, this continues to paint PAS as another foreign Islamist party in the region. Due to Sarawak’s unique immigration rules, Satem was able to block racist groups like Perkasa and Isma to enter the state.
Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, a controversial lecturer, known for his racially divisive and radical Islamic lectures, has also been barred by the CM’s office to enter the state. He then claimed the CM’s office was pressured by PKR to bar his entry.
Though this bit PKR and DAP back again when during the recently concluded elections, many PKR and DAP politicians were barred from entering the state. This, according to them hampered their ability to campaign in the state and lead to huge losses.
Adenan Satem’s PR team then cleverly twisted by showing how reliant are the opposition on non-Sarawakians to micro-manage their election machinery, despite having more than capable local PKR leaders like Baru Bian.
Baru Buan, a popular land lawyer who has fought for Native Customary Rights won his seat in a landslide victory.
As tensions between East and West Malaysia begin to mount on economic disparity, he was the first to negotiate with the opposition party on the issue. He spearheaded a demand to increase oil royalties with DAP Sarawak, a move that could be unpopular to his UMNO superiors. In fact, it was his first priority as CM.
In addressing Sarawak’s deforestation problem and pleasing environmentalists; he has issued a stern warning against timber industry and labelled them corrupted. At a gathering of the biggest tycoons, he publicly shamed a group of corporations he labelled “the big 6,” and told them to sign an integrity pledge.
What has critics said against him so far?
No politician is free from scrutiny and Satem, despite his positive record, his reviews from the opposition isn’t all shiny. One of the biggest criticisms is that in negotiating for oil revenue, Satem has only demanded 20% of shares from Petronas for the state. This was problematic as shares are contingent on the company’s profit.
DAP on the other hand argues that royalties should be demanded from oil corporations instead, as royalty requirements to be paid to the state regardless of the company’s profits. This meant that Satem’s proposal would defeat the purpose of asking for an increment of state revenue.
Aside from that, Satem has also been accused of abusing Sarawak’s powers on immigration. DAP’s Teresa Kok, who was also charged under the Sedition Act was barred from entering Sarawak. She claimed that the state has never issued any reason why she was denied entry. She further stated that, she has no plans in disrupting religious harmony (in reference to Satem’s crusade on hate groups) and according to her, the Satem administration feared her because she was a political threat.
His integrity pledges were also not free from attack. DAP Sarawak Chairman, Chong Chieng Jen, was disappointed that there were no requirements for Satem’s cabinet to disclose all assets they owned. “Window dressing” was what Chong described the pledge and he likened the pledge to Abdullah Badawi’s National Integrity Plan which was merely a publicity stunt more than anything.
Environment Minister, Awang Tengah was also reported not willing to sign the integrity pledge earlier on, which made environmentalists question his credibility.
The most recent controversy was related to the recent Sarawakian elections. See, before the elections, papers reported that there will be greater Chinese representation in the cabinet if SUPP won all of their seats.
However many people interpreted this as Adenan Satem promising the Chinese demographic a Chinese DCM. This is a huge thing because rarely there are politicians from the Chinese minority having a position of that level in the state. The closest and most recent was George Chan.
Instead, after the elections, the medical doctor, turned SUPP politician, Dr Sim Kui Huan didn’t end up becoming a DCM despite him being heavily promoted throughout election season. Instead he was then offered to be the Minister for Local Authorities in the Cabinet. A position, while is powerful, does not hold the same level of power many would expect.
Many within the opposition view this as Adenan Satem being manipulative towards the Chinese demographic, who during the 2012 election overwhelming voted for the Democratic Action Party. The DAP was probably just riling up people’s anger because they lost a considerable number of seats in the 2016 general elections.
However, at the end of the day, the best arbiter of whether Satem has been the reformist he presents himself is only what Sarawakians can determine. That answer can only be known whether he can carry out his reforms in the past.
So far, Sarawakians seem happy to give him the majority for the state legislature. Some of us just hope he can wrestle back Sarawakian autonomy over the rights that were promised in the Malaysian Agreement, 1963.
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