KUCHING, Nov 12 — Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) Jemoreng State Assemblyman Datuk Dr Juanda Jaya said today there is nothing racial about his use of the word “ulun” (slave) in his debate on the state Budget 2020 last week.
He said the word was not referring to any particular race as alleged by a person who lodged a police report against him.
“In fact, the person who lodged the report against me was the one who had raised the racial issue,” Juanda told reporters to clarify his usage of the word “ulun”.
A DAP member Brolin Nicholsion anak Benedict Achung lodged a report at the Serian police station on November 6, the same day Juanda uttered the word “ulun” in the Sarawak State Assembly.
In his debate speech, Juanda had said “sekali lagi saya menyeru rakan-rakan PH yang ada di sebelah sana sokonglah usaha-usaha baik dan mulia yang dilakukan oleh kerajaan GPS dan berhentilah daripada menyadi ulun kepada orang lain.”
Juanda, who is a former Perlis mufti, said he was telling the PH state lawmakers not to be slaves to other people, not condemning them as slaves to other people.
He said he has no intention to hurt the feelings of the Bumiputera communities as claimed by Nicholsion.
He said the police has not called him to record his statement regarding the report lodged.
In his report, Nicholsion had claimed that the use of the word “ulun” for slave has hurt the feeling of many Dayaks who had voted for the Pakatan Harapan lawmakers in Sarawak.
He also claimed that the word directly referred to the Dayaks as “ulun” to Peninsular Malaysians.
He urged the police to initiate investigation against the lawmaker for provoking the Dayaks.
