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The indigenous people who live in the Malaysian rainforest and are dependent on it for every aspect of their ancient culture are now pitted against state and federal authorities, who have a huge financial stake in the forests.

Logging and politics are inextricably intertwined; new laws are created to override the old protections. Some, including the conservative International Timber Trade Organization, (ITTO), warn that the whole matter will soon be moot because logging will transform Malaysia's rainforest into a veritable wasteland by the end of this decade.1 The voracious timber export industry has already caused land erosion, water contamination, the extinction of wildlife and plant species and the annihilation of indigenous cultures, not to mention the wider impact on global warming.

1 A 1990 ITTO report, cited in "Tropical Heat," The Economist, February 15, 1992, warns that Sarawak will have no virgin forest left by 2001.

Although most of the profit from logging goes to state officials, the federal government in Kuala Lumpur benefits both economically and, more importantly, politically from logging. By allowing the states to exploit their forests at their own discretion, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad ensures their loyalty to Barisan Nasional, the ruling coalition party which he heads. Kuala Lumpur has never had comfortable relations with the two Borneo states (Sabah and Sarawak), so maintaining support from those governments is a political necessity, especially if it is to keep a tight grip on parliament.2 Mahathir wants Malaysia to be "completely industrialized" by the year 2020.3 There is little room in such a plan for indigenous lifestyles, which Mahathir characterizes as "eating monkeys and suffering from all kinds of diseases."4

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Comments (9)

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written by malsia1206, April 20, 2008 10:07:38

By the time anything gets done it would be 'too little, too late'. All the rivers in the rural areas are already polluted and becoming an irreversible process. The greed of the politicians and timber tycoons had since made their millions and billions and you find the natives and indigenous tribes fare no better than they were 30 years ago. Big money support politicians to hold onto their position. The tycoons grease them well to continue with their rape of the forests. So the cycle continues. The affected natives are naturally dumb and easy meat for these 'tomb raiders'.

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written by rockli, April 20, 2008 10:47:26

If it is difficult to control the East Malaysian states, then use the ISA on the perpetrators of this rape of the Borneo forests before it is to late.
The Federal Constitution provides respect for the indigenous people lands, not destroying their natural habitat.
How would you like if someone comes and destroy all the trees and plants in your private land!
It is therefore time to end all these evils once for all.
Start with ISA-ing Taib and his sons, and cronies involved!
Useless BN/Umno leaders, maybe they are on the take as well.

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written by Tompios, April 20, 2008 10:50:20

UNMO kepala penjajah baru di Malaysia. Sabah dan Sarawak bukan negeri Malaysia yang punya status seperti negeri2 Melayu Malaya. Sabah dan Sarawak adalah dua kerajaan tersendiri yang membentuk Negara Malaysia.

UMNO Sabah adalah pengkhianat kerajaan Sabah. Bergembiralah wahai engkau Tun Mustapha Suluk di liang lahat melihat orang Sabah khususnya non-moslem menderita dipecah2kan. Opps! Begembiralah engkau Datuk Haris Salleh yang menjual Sabah kepada Malaya.

Chong Kah Kiat nama mu tidak akan pernah hilang sebagai Ketua Menteri Sabah yang sanggup berjuang demi bangsa dan Government of Sabah. Nama mu sebaris dgn Tun Donald Stephen. Datuk Seri J. Pairin? Tiada guna sudah--indigenous people or native people in Sabah tidak pernah dibela 100%. Putih mata orang kampung melihat orang2 politik bertambah kaya setiap tahun. Lihat Bernard Dompok? Semakin kaya kau sekarang? Bapa mu masih dibayar pencen RTMkah?

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written by Tompios, April 20, 2008 11:01:28

correction: UMNO not UNMO

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written by nesen, April 20, 2008 11:31:36

May I request that we do not describe our indigenous fellow malaysians as 'dumb natives'
BTW do we really want to invoke the ISA as a short-cut to resolve enforcement shortcomings?
My heart bleeds for our bretheren who seek for nothing more than to live their chosen way of life in their own motherland...

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written by chanatak, April 20, 2008 11:35:29

I first visited the highlands of Sarawak some 4 years back. I had expected to see luscious greenery and clear streams. The experience was a shock. The first shock is to see the Baram River from the air .... a river of total muddy suspension. Then I thought, when we reach the top, it will be beautiful. It was not so, every river is muddied. I asked about fishing. The answer was that there are few and too small to be edible. The rivers are too muddy even high up to sustain much life.

Then during at one village, the water supply happened to break down, and we had to bathe outdoors. I had expected to bathe at the river. Instead, we were taken to a stream, more like a drain 3 feet wide clean ourselves. This was the closest to clean hill water they had. We walked to a village that took some 4 hours to complete. Even in such a remote place, the problems are obvious. We were told that hunting has become fruitless. The animals are few due to the logging.

What is the joy of making so much money at the misery of some many peoples? How much can one take to the grave?

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written by Dominic, April 20, 2008 12:31:24

The only sensible way is to tell the world to boycott buying logs from Malaysia. Initially logs were extracted based on certain species and according to laid down sizes . Today, the very small one known as `baby`( size ) is also being chopped down ! Worst part is when the price drop a lot of these logs esp the `baby` are left to rot ! Tons and tons of them . Illegal loggers who normally are gangster themselves would clean up everything including encroaching into grave yard, water catchment area and private land . Who ever stand in their way are given harsh treatment including death threat ! One of the usual threat is to put u in an old drum fill with cement and dump into river !!! Malaysian sure boleh ! Worst part is, so many senior police officers including some holding the rank of CP are offer jobs by the timber company upon their retirement . This is to ensure continuity of `inside` service ! Its a chained mechanism whereby one layer protect another layer rite up to the politicians ! So, how to put an effective stop ? BOYCOTT IS THE WORD !!!!!

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written by mgeo, April 20, 2008 14:41:48

Today's Star: Longhouse headman and 4 others arrested and charged with armed robbery. They say they were only defending 2000 hectares of NCR land from oil palm "development".

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written by malsia1206, April 20, 2008 17:05:41

There are dumb Chinese, dumb Malays, dumb Malaysians in as much as many dumb natives. They are or becoming dumb not because they do not voice out their fellow rights as Malaysians or citizens in this country. They had all been doing that for many years and nothing good came out from their struggles. In this context these are treated by the Government as the dumb lot. We are all part of this setup. Isn't it time to play it the other way round and make the Government dumb instead? The results of the GE was a step in the right direction.

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