KUCHING – Long Semadoh, where Agnes Padan was born, is just as picturesque as the other 19 polling districts in Ba’kelalan.
For hobby photographers and artists, these rustic locations make for picture-perfect postcards, while providing a dreamy landscape for romance writers to weave narratives for novels set in Borneo.
The lands in Ba’kelalan are perpetually yielding, as can be perceived from documentary “The Story of Kam Agong” – a purpose-driven video produced by Agnes, and her husband and campaign director Lawrence Jayaraj, with the help of a professional filmmaker.
For the people living here, where the harvest is always plentiful, their lives revolve around growing rice. The green native rice growing in large expanses of land along the foothills of the Maligan-Kelabit Highlands is the superlative feature in Ba’kelalan’s topography.
Mammoth water buffaloes are seen grazing silently among the sage green padi fields, adding to the idyllic sylvan charm in the land of the Lun Bawang – where a colourful native community totalling just a little more than 8,500 will cast their votes on December 18.
Ba’kelalan is one of the constituencies that will be watched by many on polling day. Just like all the other 81 state constituencies entangled in multi-cornered contests, so is Ba’kelalan – which is a hot seat in Sarawak’s political terrain.
With nominations over, polling day is looming and the hard sell of candidates pitching for a seat is rising several notches higher. All parties contesting in Ba’kelalan have been careful in choosing their candidates.
The ideal candidate would be someone from the Lun Bawang tribe, because the community here is clannish and holds parochial sentiments close to their heart. Better still if the candidate is a Christian – perhaps, an evangelical subscribing to the persuasion of the Sidang Injil Borneo or Borneo Evangelical Church.
Ba’kelalan’s incumbent is Baru Bian, a former PKR state chief who exited the party after the infamous Sheraton Move last year. Since then, he has rebranded himself as an “intelligent katak” and is set to defend his seat under the Parti Sarawak Bersatu ticket.
Baru was works minister when Pakatan Harapan had held the reins of the federal government for 22 months.
A Melbourne-trained lawyer who is also Selangau MP, Baru is very much seen as a grassroots man. Nothing stops him from donning farmer apparel to harvest padi in the field alongside other villagers. Sometimes, he stands in as evangelical minister to break bread with his people in Ba’kelalan’s quaint chapels.
Baru first earned his popularity among Dayaks as a tireless lawyer fighting for numerous native customary rights land cases, some with stunning victories that had embarrassed the state government.
With so much under his belt as a politician, lawyer, and evangelical minister, Baru stands as the towering incumbent to win the hearts of the Ba’kelalan electorate this month.
He is being challenged by former banker and PKR hopeful Martin Samuel Labo, Melbourne-trained lawyer Sam Laya of Progressive Democratic Party under Gabungan Parti Sarawak, retired environmental health officer and Parti Bumi Kenyalang candidate Peter Asut, and Agnes – the only rose among the thorns.
Push for maternal health and healthcare
Agnes, former PKR state chief for its women’s wing, recently had a fallout from the party, but decided to pick up the cudgels to contest as an independent candidate in Ba’kelalan.
She is making history as the first Lun Bawang woman to stand in an election in Sarawak.
I first became aware of politics and activism when I lost my mother as a result of poor maternal healthcare, and a lack of medical facilities and specialists at Lawas Hospital in 2002.
“If you ask me, yes, this situation has yet to change for the better as many women here face difficulties when they need prenatal and postnatal care. The proposed new Lawas district hospital has yet to see the light of day, although the project was first proposed during the seventh Malaysia Plan in 1996.
“The project – which came to be called ‘the sick hospital project’ – has undergone three collapsed tenders with millions in losses. Now, there are promises that the hospital will be up and operating in 2023. That remains to be seen,” she told The Vibes.
Agnes said if only this hospital project had been completed in time, her mother would not have suffered so much.
“In this modern age, it should not be difficult to manage postpartum complications following a C-section. My mum, who delivered my youngest brother Jordan, was discharged from the hospital, but was readmitted as she was still bleeding. However, she was abruptly discharged after the second admission where she bled to death at home, 28 days after giving birth.”
Her family eventually sued the hospital, and the court found justifiable reasons and favour to award them damages for negligence.
Following this small victory, they went on to produce “The Story of Kam Agong”. The 28.51-minute footage features the untimely and unnecessary death of her mother Kam Agong to medical negligence, especially the lack of facilities and specialists in the Lawas district hospital.
The documentary was aired in Kuching during the 2018 FreedomFilmFest – an annual international human rights documentary fest held in the country.
“This neglect by the state and federal governments that caused the death of my mother is an unforgivable crime.
“We are currently using this video, among others, as our campaign material to highlight serious issues pertaining to maternal healthcare and other health issues affecting rural communities in Sarawak,” said Agnes.
Health-related public policies and healthcare infrastructure have often been a matter of discussion among policymakers, but are rarely an election issue. However, it would be a mistake to believe that Sarawakians do not care about health facilities.
Generally, people expect the ruling government to provide healthcare as it is one of the most basic needs – and that is why, it is often taken for granted. This is also the reason why healthcare issues, or the lack of it, never become an electoral consideration among voters, nor do political parties focus on healthcare infrastructure in their manifestos or campaigns.
Most opposition politicians push for urban prosperity, educational opportunities, and – specifically in Sarawak – the call for independence, demand for higher royalty on oil and gas revenue from the federal government, or the hiatus in fulfilling Malaysia Agreement 1963. These are the topics highlighted to voters as matters of concern.
‘The devil is in the details’
“If, at all, healthcare issues are mentioned in election manifestos in Sarawak, they are merely spoken in passing as an afterthought.
“But the devil is in the details,” said Agnes.
“The nasty and fatal experience that my mother suffered – and which other women still continue to suffer from – is the ‘unseen devil in the details’ that I am trying to bring to light to the voters of Ba’kelalan and policymakers.
“There is more to this than the cold-hearted death of my mother in Long Semadoh. I was told two young doctors in the Lawas district hospital had actually experimented on her case.
“I have every reason to believe this, based on the sketchy, threadbare, and wishy-washy information given to us by the hospital authorities and my own detailed investigation and case study with my husband.
“But we doggedly pursued the case even though we were not medical experts. We managed to provide incontrovertible evidence to the court. The Lawas district hospital is far and remote from the watchful eyes of gynaecological specialists and supervisors. Here, anything is possible when medical ethics are thrown to the wind.
“We went through a lot trying to seek justice for my late mother. Our lawyer advised us to settle the matter out of court by offering RM10,000. Then, it was RM50,000 and later, RM100,000. We promptly dismissed him and continued the suit on our own without any legal help.”
The fact that Agnes is now pushing healthcare issues to the fore in her campaign may provide the scope for a new political agenda and election talking point for candidates and voters in future polls.
Apart from healthcare, the outcome-oriented Agnes has a loaded slate with four other concerns that she untiringly wants to address as she campaigns, largely on digital media.
They include initiatives to uplift the economic well-being of women by introducing a special micro-credit scheme; to highlight the stateless status of many Sarawakians in Ba’kelalan, even former border scouts who sacrificed for the state and country, who do not have citizenship; to push for the early completion of the proposed ill-fraught 74-bedded Lawas district hospital and to upgrade its status as a specialist centre as well; to ensure the successful implementation of the People’s Housing Programme for low-income earners in Ba’kelalan; and to ensure the construction of proper roads in the constituency, especially the completion of the Ba’kelalan-Pa’Puti road link.
It is not surprising that her manifesto does not mention concerns about bread-and-butter issues. Perhaps, the “struggle to put food on the table” would be a misplaced metaphor, unlike in urban constituencies.
“The people here are secure where food is concerned. Our rice comes from our fields, we rear poultry, grow vegetables in our backyard, and (get) fresh fish from lakes and rivers, as well as padi fields. Money is needed for the education of our children here and to largely buy non-food items, pay for transportation, and others.
Agnes, against all odds, is serious about her candidacy, hoping to win in the polls and speak up to push for the economic well-being of the Lun Bawang community – bearing in mind the words of her late mother who once told her, “Only when you are matured, you will realise that silence is more powerful than proving your point.”
However, the untimely death of her mother at the age of 44 has made it difficult for Agnes to keep that virtue of silence. She turned into a tireless health activist and vocal community social worker – even before she became a PKR member and state Wanita chief.
Her aggressive grassroots thrust has a longer history than is widely known, except among women voters and families in Ba’kelalan. Hence, her election slogan, “Ini Kali Wanita” (Vote a woman this time).
Agnes may have a detailed strategy for the hustings. But what she – and most independents – do not have for electoral success is money, organisational strength, and the patronage of a big name on whose coat-tails to cling to.
But an election is a huge matrix of mixed voter sentiment and a matter of choice.
Even the most powerful leaders and political parties must go before the electorate with heads bowed to seek the popular mandate. That’s the beauty of a democracy that allows candidates like Agnes to stand, and perhaps even win. – The Vibes, December 12, 2021
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