SUPP Kuching branch leaders march to Dataran Ibu Pertiwi for S’wak Day

KUCHING (July 23): Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Kuching branch leaders and members marched from its office at Jalan Padungan all the way to Dataran Ibu Pertiwi to commemorate Sarawak Day yesterday.

The ‘722 Marching Team’ served to remind all Sarawakians to appreciate their homeland, the prevailing unity and social harmony and continue to render their support to the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) leadership to see more and ongoing development in the state.

The team also wished for Sarawak’s prosperity, continued racial harmony and religious freedom to ensure the future generations can carry on living in a peaceful land.

According to SUPP Kuching branch leader Bong Siak Peng, a lawyer by profession, Sarawak held three-tiered elections in May 1963 and established a self-governing government on July 22 aiming for independence.

“However, under the meticulous planning of the British and the Federation of Malaya, the course of independence was altered. Malaysia was formed on Sept 16, ignoring the strong anti-Malaysia sentiment among Sarawakians,” he said.

He noted Sarawak had become a ‘backward and impoverished state’ after decades of joining to form Malaysia.

He thus questioned why the federal allocation to Sarawak was less than that given to Sabah each year and why the federal government had repeatedly deprived Sarawak of many rights stipulated under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

“Sarawakians have not forgotten how former Chief Minister, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem, initiated the movement for Sarawak’s rights in 2014. The GPS government, led by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, has inherited Adenan’s legacy and is gradually reclaiming Sarawak’s rights through negotiations based on MA63,” he said.

Bong also opined that people had become indifferent towards politics after Malaysia underwent significant political, social and economic turmoil from 2021 to 2023, coupled with the rise of conservative views and extremism in Peninsula.

Contrary to the politicking at the federal level, he said Sarawak has become a role model for Malaysia politics.

As such, he called on Sarawakians to give their unwavering support to the GPS government in reclaiming all the state’s rights enshrined in MA63 for the betterment of the state.