Showing posts with label Penan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Penan. Show all posts

Penan Rape Victims. Someone Out There Do Care

Author: FriDay dA FourtH Posted under: ,


Published: Friday September 11, 2009 MYT 5:43:00 PM in The Star

Group to seek justice for Penan rape victims

Published: Friday September 11, 2009 MYT 5:43:00 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: The Penan Support Group says that it will seek justice for victims of rape among Penan women by workers of logging companies in Sarawak.

Saying that it would help expose and correct the wrongs being committed in Penan society, the group, a loose coalition of 35 nongovernmental organisations, added that the long-occurring sexual abuse of Penan girls in Sarawak was a hideous crime.

In a statement Friday, the group said a report from the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry confirming that the rapes did take place was also a distressing symptom of the overall situation being faced by the Penans and other vulnerable indigenous groups in Sarawak.

The group lamented that when news broke out that Penan girls, some as young as 10 years, were being sexually abused by logging workers in the Middle Baram area of Sarawak in September last year,(stupid) local politicians and the police were quick to dismiss these as mere allegations without any basis.

The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development then established a National Task Force comprising ministry officials and women NGO representatives to investigate the allegations. The task force found that the rapes and sexual abuse did occur and the Penan girls were still vulnerable because of the lack of policing and development in their area.

The Penan Support Group also criticised the police force for dragging their feet on three allegations last year when they had dismissed them as "nothing with proper evidence for us to proceed in court" and that activists "did not give specific details to support their claims". - Bernama



Why is this case is so close to my heart you may asked? Well, I am a teacher, I teach indegenous boys and girls here in Sarawak, and I know how valuable knowledge to them.

Taking advantage of children who are on their way getting education will only make them more wary of the outsider. Even to people who are genuinely want to help them.

Next time dear stupid government, stop counting money or approving mega million project and look and the people who are suffering once in a while.


Saturday, !2th Sept 09, (22nd Ramadhan) 2142

1 Comments

Pembelaan Kaum Penan

Author: FriDay dA FourtH Posted under:

Thursday, October 9, 2053

(inhale…. exhale….)

Hmm.. Feeling much better today after the emotional outburst yesterday

Woke up late today, so glad that the thumbprint machine is still malfunction or else, red mark for me. Arrived at the office at 0815. Grab the morning newspaper and scan the news.

Hmm.. pasal isu Gadis Penan lagi..

“Akhbar berbahasa Inggeris di minta jangan spekulasikan isu”

I manage to get my last copy of The Star on Monday (6th Oct), bought it in Sibu before boarding the express boat. (it is really hard to get a copy of The Star here in Kapit. Rather than getting tomorrows news today… we get yesterdays news.. the next two or three days hehe) It covered exclusively about Gadis Penan, that are reported being manipulated and used by the loggers working there. While the issue is still hot, the local based newspapers i.e. Utusan Borneo and Borneo Post are playing different tune, try to maintain its government stand that it was just a speculation or mere agenda to topple the local government.

Untuk yang masih tertanya-tanya tentang isu yang diperkatakan, aku sediakan link The Star ni untuk makluman korang. For the local based newspaper, I can’t find any site for you to follow.

Tapi basically bagi aku, ini merupakan satu kes besar yang tak boleh dipandang remeh, tapi bila aku baca laporan dari akhbar-akhbar ni, aku rasa memang ada suatu yang tak kena. Sebelum cuti raya haritu aku dah terbaca mengenai laporan ini yang dapat ruang hanya sebesar iklan 4D kat akhbar tempatan mengatakan this so called NGO i.e. Bruno Manser Fonds have no bussiness interfering with the life of the Penan people and to stop making false accusation.

IMHO, you can not just brush it off as just another rumour before at least looking into it. Aku rasa, kalau benar pun ianya hanyalah sekadar rumour, the government or relevant authorities should look into this matter. Pengalaman aku walaupun beberapa tahun di Kapit ni mengajar aku bahawa macam-macam boleh berlaku, including the unthinkable.

Yang satu pihak hanya menafikan, mengelak, menggelarkan pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang membuat kenyataan ini sebagai mencari publisiti murahan, where as satu pihak lagi pergi ke kawasan penempatan Penan ni sendiri bagi mencari bukti & menemuramah orang-orang yang terlibat. Sejauh mana kebenaran cerita yang dilaporkan, only god knows, but as a citizen of Malaysia and as another human being, aku rasa kita patut ada rasa ingin tahu, concern dan ambil berat terhadap penindasan-penindasan yang berlaku (if it really happens).

Aku paling benci bila baca quote/s daripada mana-mana political people yang aku rasa tak berapa profesional (atau intelligent) yang seolah-olah menunjukkan yang orang di sekeliling mereka begitu bodoh (macam sesetengah dari mereka gak) dan aku rasa, semenjak berita ini mendapat liputan luas. Banyak pihak yang berasa panas mengeluarkan statement tanpa berfikir. Aku rasa tak perlulah aku tulis apa-apa quote kat sini.. hehehe.. (ini juga menunjukkan aku berfikir sebelum menulis hehehe.. consequences.. consequences)

Yang peliknya, Buletin Utama harini takder sentuh pun pasal kes ni. (atau aku terlepas tengok) Hopefully dengan campur tangan dan perhatian Menteri Pembangunan wanita , Keluarga dan Masyarakat (Dr. Ng Yen Yen) dan Suruhanjaya Hak Asai Manusia (Suhakam) benda ni dapat di gali sampai ke akar umbi.

1 Comments