PETALING JAYA, April 1 — Christian unrest over the Alkitab bibles row may not impact the Sarawak polls as much as expected if the community’s conservative leaders continued to shun politics, according to analysts familiar with the matter.
While the scholars conceded that the Christians made up over 50 per cent of the electorate in the east Malaysian state, they claimed the community’s more vocal segment made up only a very small part of the population.
But they also did not rule out the possibility that the Alkitab row could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for the community, which has been keeping their opposition against the government in check over the past few decades.
“Influential? No, not very influential because the church leaders... the Chinese, the Ibans, the Orang Ulus and the Bidayuhs, the more vocal ones are the smaller, indigenous segment of the Christian population on a whole.
“But the more mainstream Christians, the bigger portion, the Methodists and the Catholics and so on, in my experience talking to them, they give me the impression that they are more concerned with the afterworld than they are of what is happening today,” said Professor Jayum Anak Jawan.
The Universiti Putra Malaysia professor was among the three panellists who spoke at a forum on the Sarawak polls at the Hilton Hotel here last night, organised by Merdeka Centre.The two other speakers were Universiti Teknologi Mara Associate Professor Shaharudin Badaruddin and Dr Faisal Syam Hazis of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
Jayum argued that throughout the past decades, the Christian community had been anything but vocal when fighting for their rights in the Hornbill state.
“I tell them sometimes... what are you people telling your congregation? If the state government is ignoring people in the rural areas, you have no access to basic amenities, what are you telling them?
“Exercise your rights and make demands as it is your right but the standard reply is... we are concerned with the afterworld and we respect the separation of state and religion,” he said.
Jayum, however, admitted that the trend was slowly shifting as the electorate was slowly growing increasingly aware and more influenced by outside factors, including those plaguing their kinsmen in the peninsular.
“I do think this will change, not because their perception changes, but more because of the encroachment [onto] their freedom of religion.
“The bible issue is a small one, the issue about their books is not big, but they feel there is encroachment,” he said.
Dr Faisal echoed Jayum’s views, explaining that the number of powerful and influential church leaders in Sarawak was but a few.
“Like Baru Bian (Sarawak PKR chief). He is not only in his capacity as a church elder but also a prominent lawyer.
“But if we are riding on influence from the church alone... it is difficult to say. So, I do not know... if we are just looking at the role of church leaders,” he said.
He added, however, that other than the Alkitab issue, a more pressing matter that could likely influence voter sway in Sarawak from Barisan Nasional (BN) to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was the issue of imbalanced development.
“The marginalisation of Christians against the Muslim Melanau. And it is not only about (Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul) Taib Mahmud alone... beyond him, it is development,” he said.
It has been predicted that BN will face strong opposition from the Christian community due to its role in the Alkitab row, an issue that was said to have plagued its campaign even during the Sibu by-election last year.
In the latest of the simmering controversy, the government made a last-ditched effort to salvage some of its support from the community when it recently relented and agreed to release the 35,100 seized bibles in Port Klang and Kuching port.
Despite this, the community snubbed the overture and chose instead to take to the streets in a protest, leading to the prediction that their wrath will peak come polling day in Sarawak this April 16.
Of the 71-state seats in Sarawak, 27 are Malay/Melanau majority, 20 are Iban majority, 15 are Chinese majority, six are Bidayuh majority and three seats are Orang Ulu majority.
Taib’s rule will be a bigger issue than the Alkitab stamping, say the analysts.
Earlier, Dr Faisal said that while the opposition may have a decent hope of wresting a good number of Chinese seats from BN, the outcome of the polls would largely depend on voter turnout, the quality of PR’s candidates, size of the campaign machinery, local and national issues, consolidation of the opposition’s forces and its component parties and the likelihood of election irregularities.
“These are the key electoral dynamics that make it hard to truly determine the outcome of the polls,” he said.
He added that over 200,000 Sarawak voters presently reside in the peninsular.
Earlier, Jayum painted a bleak picture of the opposition’s chances in Sarawak, claiming that political apathy among the local folk would result in an “unsurprising” polls outcome.
“You have to understand the society... the political behaviour of the Sarawak people. It is doubtful that the Malay/Melanaus will abandon their own kind... they never have and they probably will not do it now.
“And then the Iban seats. I would not place my money to bet that any may fall to the opposition.
“The Bidayuhs or the Orang Ulus... their communities are too small to initiate any damage. The only volatile group here is the Chinese community,” he said.
Nomination day for the Sarawak polls has been set for April 6 while polling will take place on April 16.
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