Barking up the right tree

KUCHING has seen an influx of visitors for the past three months, who come for the music, the fun and the food.

Within the 10 days of this month, there will be two other groups of visitors. This time, there will be plenty of food for thought for the participants of the two important gatherings celebrating an important occasion.

The Indigenous People’s Network of Malaysia (JOAS: Jaringan Orang Asal Se-Malaysia) will celebrate the United Nations (UN)-designated International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’, from Aug 7 to 9, choosing Sarawak as the country venue.

The other group, called the Dayak National Congress (DNC), will begin discussing more or less the same subjects as the JOAS group.

Representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak will discuss various issues affecting their lives and will chart a roadmap in terms of the sustainability of their future in this country.

In 1982, the UN General Assembly proclaimed that on Aug 9 of each year, every member country should ‘celebrate indigenous peoples and their knowledge’.

The day highlights ‘rights of indigenous peoples to make their own decisions and carry them out in ways that are meaningful and culturally appropriate for them’.

In 1994, the member countries were urged to solve the problems connected with discriminatory practices among the communities in those countries.

In 2007, there was a need to address the environmental effects of mass destruction of forests in those countries, and violations of human rights of the inhabitants of the forests. These are the indigenous populations.

As a result, a group of countries – Belgium, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Latvia, Nicaragua, Peru, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain – supported by the Human Rights Council of UN, sponsored a motion for endorsement by the General Assembly to address the problems of violations of rights to lands, territories and resources of the indigenous peoples worldwide.

They produced the UNDRIP 2007, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples, of which the recommendations were expected to be observed and implemented wherever appropriate by the member countries.

During the three-day festival at the Redeems Centre in Singai with the theme ‘Take Back Our Rights’, discussions will include the restoration of rights over lands, territories and resources of the indigenous Malaysians.

Resolutions will be passed and, I would suggest, submitted for government action through the appropriate authorities.

Then the ball will be at their feet.

Both groups celebrating the ‘International Indigenous Peoples Day’ may like to get a copy of thesundaypost for reference in their deliberations on native rights in Malaysia. Feel free to refer to them wherever appropriate.

Article 25 of UNDRIP declares that the ‘Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources and to hold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard’.

Article 26 strengthens the assertion of rights, declaring:

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to own, use, develop and control the lands, territories and resources that they possess by reason of traditional ownership or other traditional occupation or use, as well acquired.
3. States (government of countries) shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources. Such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure system of the indigenous peoples concerned.

It is the fiduciary duty of any civilised government to look after the welfare of its people, including the indigenous peoples who are often marginalised because they are, in many cases, unsophisticated in terms of 21st century ways; they have little or no political clout, no bargaining chip.

Their votes matter only at election times.

Eight years ago, the Indigenous People’s Day celebration was held in Kuching at the Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA)’s premises. It was hosted by the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia).

Almost all speeches made by the leaders of JOAS in 2015 had revolved round the ways and means whereby the Sarawak government should recognise the rights of the natives of Malaysia to their traditional lands, territories and resources.

The then-JOAS president, Thomas Jalong, was talking about the ‘disintegrating rights of the indigenous people in Sarawak related to their Native Customary Rights (NCR)’ (The Borneo Post: Aug 10, 2019).

Jalong also told the participants that JOAS would be writing a letter to the state government of Sarawak seeking ‘recognition for the rights of all indigenous groups in Sarawak’.

Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. I wish to find out if that letter had been acknowledged as received; and if so, whether or not the issues raised therein had been resolved, or kept in view (KIV).

And whether there had been direct communication between the sender and the receiver.

It would be good for the current leaders of JOAS, and for that matter, DNC, to think of a more effective mode of channelling resolutions.

If I may suggest, all the resolutions raised and passed during the celebration this year must be promptly submitted to the authorities in a proper format, and through a proper channel.

This is to avoid repeating ad nauseam talking, talking, and talking. Flogging the dead horse would not be productive, just a waste of valuable time.

It is time to talk about follow-ups from the discussions of the issues first brought up. These follow-ups are crucial to see what measures have been taken by the authorities concerned, and more importantly, what the steps were taken by the indigenous peoples themselves.

Are they smart enough to navigate the challenges of their roadmap so that it will not be the ‘end of the road’, as has happened to so many worthy causes that I know of. They have been relegated to the shelf, gathering dust.

Over the years, I have observed that many resolutions passed by the delegates/participants of forums or seminars or workshops were ‘submitted’ to the press – for publicity only.

This is barking up the wrong tree, and there is nothing that the authorities would do about our concerns if they were not officially notified.

Do not blame the authorities. Blame ourselves.

From experience, even if the memorandum or the letter was submitted, there was no official acknowledgment of receipt by the authorities.

That is the problem with the government, where the ‘Little Napoleons’ in the office are assuming powers of the ministers.

I hope that at the forthcoming celebration by the two NGOS, the organisers would frame the resolutions properly and submit them to the authorities promptly – to the Prime Minister of Malaysia and the Premier of Sarawak – and personally handed to their respective Principal Private Secretary.

Make sure that the recipient writes down his/her signature, or mark clearly on your copy of the memo or the letter, for future reference.

I wish to welcome the participants and hope to meet with as many of you as possible.

I hope you would enjoy Kuching’s sights and sounds.

Happy deliberations!

* The opinions expressed in this article are the columnist’s own and do not reflect the view of the newspaper.