APRIL 28 — The air in the old Dewan Undangan Negeri complex in Petra Jaya was just as I remembered it when I covered the last sitting of the state legislative assembly some seven years ago — dank and musty.
But it was there — in a corner on the third floor of the building — that Sarawak Barisan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Adenan Satem held his press conference on Tuesday night, his first after nomination day for the 11th state election.
Perhaps, he had a liking for the building as he has fought many battles in the chamber where the sittings were held.
Physically, he is not the Adenan I remember when I left Sarawak some three years ago. After battling a life-threatening illness, he walked slower, his hair much greyer, and his booming voice a little softer.
However, he is still the same sharp-witted, articulate and humorous man with a hearty laughter Sarawakians know him for.
I thought I should share some of the best comments from the man.
The interview was more than 40 minutes long. Here are the excerpts:
Question: Why did you ban certain individuals from entering Sarawak?
Adenan Satem (AS): Let me be on record that I ban the entry of not only opposition members but also Umno members and those from other component parties if they misbehave. I have to protect the interest of Sarawakians so that there will be peace and tranquillity in this state. I allow Lim Guan Eng and Lim Kit Siang, the father and son team, to come to Sarawak because so far they have been behaving themselves but if they go out of line, any racist remark and so on, I will call on the Immigration Department to ask them to leave. There will be several more bans in the days to come. We don’t want these people to bring in — with all due respect — the political culture of west Malaysia which is not acceptable to the people of Sarawak. I have said I will ban religious bigots and racists from entering Sarawak and those who will cause dissension and misunderstanding among our people. I don’t want to see what happened in the last elections, when we allowed so many west Malaysian politicians to come into Sarawak and they caused havoc.
Q: Have you had any sleepless nights this election?
AS: I have been sleeping quite well. Like a baby in fact. I must admit before the allocation of seats was resolved I was a bit worried but now that it has been resolved I can sleep better.
Q: You seem to be quite popular, what do you think you have done right?
AS: All you need to do is to look at the 53 decisions I have made in the last two years especially no tolls, reduction of electricity rates, standard rates for ferries, no land rent, no assessment fee and of course fighting for Sarawak’s autonomy. This has never been done before. I have discussed about returning empowerment to Sarawak and the prime minister has kept an open mind over this matter. He says lets talk about it because over the past 50 years or so that we have been in Malaysia, some powers given to Sarawak under the Malaysia Agreement, Malaysia Act, Cobbold Commission and Intergovernmental Committee Report have been eroded so we want those powers back as it was in 1963. We have started our talks on this because it is very complicated and will take a long time, but we have resolved several matters relating to administrative autonomy, the so called 13 points. That is why I need more time like five more years to resolve some of these matters. Two years is just to short to fulfil what we have promised.
Q: What do you think of the national issues the opposition is raising?
AS: This is a state election, not a federal election. We have nothing to do with this 1Malaysia Development Bhd matter. It is not relevant to us.
Q: How is your health?
AS: I was sick about three years ago. I was very sick. I was at IJN (National Heart Institute), I was at Mount E (Mount Elizabeth Hospital Singapore) and of course our own hospital here and I thought I was going (to die). I was 69 then. I called all my relatives, my children, grandchildren and so on, to be by my bedside but then God is great, here I am. (Laughs) And because of people’s prayers and I think somebody is trying to send me a message, “You must do (it) for Sarawak and therefore I give you the bonus to live for a few more years”.
Q: How many opposition seats do you think you can win?
AS: Why don’t you ask the opposition how many seats they will lose? We are optimistic but we are cautiously optimistic. We will still have to work for it.
Q: You have been described as a new broom that sweeps well but after five years, will the next chief minister continue your kind of policies?
AS: Que sera sera.
Q: The opposition is saying one vote for Adenan is one for Datuk Seri Najib Razak?
AS: Put it this way. You are voting for the chief minister of Sarawak. It is a state matter not federal matter. I know they want to associate me with the prime minister because they assume the prime minister is very unpopular now et cetera et cetera. But let me tell you about our present prime minister, Najib anak Razak, he calls me Adenan anak Satem. In the seven years since he has been prime minister, he has visited us 51 times and in the 51 times we calculated how many projects he has given us ... it amounts to nearly RM3 billion just from walkabouts. On top of that, even though the Malaysian economy is not doing very well, he is giving us RM16 billion over a five or six-year period for the Pan Borneo Highway. And when I talk about empowerment he has been very open, and that is because of our friendship. If we had been enemies I don’t think we would get anything. Probably we get habuk dua sudu la (as good as getting nothing). I have an ulterior motive as it were — the prime minister is my friend of course — but I have an ulterior motive to be friendly with him because I want to make more money for Sarawak. It is as simple as that.
(As the press conference concluded) Don’t forget, I’m the most handsome minister.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
