Anwar champions ‘Segulai Sejalai’ as Malaysia’s unity slogan

KUCHING – An Iban phrase from Sarawak “Segulai Sejalai”, which means together with each other, will be used as a unity slogan nationwide, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said he was drawn to the phrase that was used as the motto of the national-level Gawai Dayak celebration, which he attended here last night.

“Whenever I discuss and speak about unity, solidarity, and cooperation, I will mention Segulai Sejalai to emphasise my message,” he said when speaking at the launching ceremony. 

The Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak, Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud, and his wife, Toh Puan Raghad Kurdi Taib, were among the guests of honour at the event, which was also attended by Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, as well as several federal and state ministers, were also present at the celebration. 

Anwar said the time has come for the people, especially in Peninsular Malaysia, to learn from Sarawak – how unity among the various races can be adopted to build the nation. 

According to him, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa BillahShah, has always called for the need to foster unity and not raise issues that can divide the people.

“This is a fact now. Sarawak, in many areas, is superior to other states,” he said. 

At the ceremony, Anwar also announced an allocation of RM10 million to Sarawak as an initiative to survey the native customary rights (NCR) land in the state.

He added that the allocation to repair the houses of worship in the peninsula would also be shared with Sarawak.

Earlier, Uggah, in his speech, called on the federal government to raise the allocation to survey NCR land.

He said the area of NCR land in Sarawak is estimated at around 1.5 million hectares, and of the total, only 1.1 million hectares have been surveyed. 

“Both the federal and state governments contribute to the costs of the survey. A sum of RM150 million in grants was given from 2010 to 2017. However, after 2018, much to our utter disappointment, the amount allocated had been drastically reduced. In fact, this year, only RM2 million was given,” he said. – Bernama, June 8, 2023