Much more needs to be done to solve Penan dilemma – UKM associate professor

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Dr Madeline Berma

KUCHING: Sarawakians deserve a better deal in Budget 2018 because there are so many pressing issues that need to be addressed, especially for the Penans who are deprived of their traditional livelihood but unable to embrace development.

“Budget 2018 was announced Oct 27, and on the 28th the National University of Malaysia (UKM) had its first budget analysis where we called a press conference and everything. Everybody was praising the budget until it came to me: there is nothing new about the budget,” stressed Sarawak-born UKM associate professor, Dr Madeline Berma.

“I was expecting something more, especially for our Orang Asli. Orang Asli always have had a big chunk of their own and three major programmes,” she said, adding that all Orang Asli children in university were given RM3,000 to RM4,000 per semester while for the preparation to enter varsity, parents will be given RM3,000.

“I was expecting the same thing for our Penan. Why only Orang Asli? The kind of position between the Orang Asli and Penan, our Penan are in more dire straits. I am happy that the government is giving money to Orang Asli, however for the future I really hope they come up with a specific budget for the Penan,” she said.

What worries her the most is the problem faced by Penan youngsters who are not able to adjust to the modern education system – and losing their Penan traditions and skillsets along the way.

“When I visited one Penan area, half of the longhouse consisted of young parents who are only perhaps 16 or 17 with two kids. I asked them what is he doing, becoming a father so young, they replied because he is no longer schooling,” she said.

She however was relieved that Petronas is coming in to offer skills training for the Penan youth that may save them from a bleak future.

“You are depriving them (Penan) of their life in the name of development. I don’t think the government is doing so in bad faith; this is the dilemma they face. You give them education, but they are not good enough to qualify for university. They drop out and by 17 they have two kids.

“They will be caught in the grinding wheel of development. The wheel is so fast. People say in order for you to survive, you need education. When they enter education, they cannot cope,” she stressed, adding that the percentage may not be large.

The Penan dilemma, if not addressed, will become a perfect story for foreign NGO’s, she opined.

When asked to comment further on the budget, Madeline hope the government will allocate more funds to build feeder roads.

“I wanted more for feeder roads, especially the upgrading of timber roads. When I visit rural areas, I find that many of these roads were no longer maintained because the logging companies have stopped their operations,” she explained.