Highlight what you’ve done for Dayaks in a forum, Sng urges GPS

2026-03-27 - 05:40

Julau MP Larry Sng said the Dayak community should come together to find common ground as uniting them under a single party would be difficult for now. (Facebook pic) PETALING JAYA: Julau MP Larry Sng has suggested that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) highlight its achievements for the Dayak community in a forum where it can address concerns with facts. “It is a good platform for GPS to showcase what it has achieved for the Dayaks and dispel any false truths with facts,” he said in a Facebook post. The Parti Bangsa Malaysia president suggested that Dayak NGOs organise the forum to discuss the community’s shared goals and long-term priorities while recognising successful community figures across fields such as academia, business, sports and entertainment. He said the community should come together to find common ground as uniting them under a single party was “difficult to fathom, let alone achieve for now”. “I believe much can be achieved when people come together to share their opinions. This isn’t a challenge to GPS. On the contrary, I think the state government should very much be a part of it,” he said. Sng said his suggestion followed feedback he had received after appearing on the Tuak Talk podcast, where he drew both support and criticism from members of the Dayak community. In the podcast on March 18, Sng warned that the community risked losing political influence despite being the majority ethnic group in Sarawak, due to its leaders’ inability to accept differences in political and leadership styles. He called for a change in mindset, saying it starts “from the heart” and involves people from all sides, even “people you don’t agree with”. “As I said in the podcast: what are you not doing that other people are doing? It is for the Dayak leaders to answer this, not me,” he said. Sng, who represents a Dayak-majority constituency, said he felt it was his responsibility to think about Dayak issues despite being ethnically Chinese. He added however that he did not intend to dictate direction to the Dayak community. “Having assimilated into the community, speaking the language, appreciating the culture and adopting similar ways of thinking, I am very conscious that I am not here to tell people what they should do. “It is not my intention here to play politics or stoke Dayak sentiments. I just feel that if such issues are left untouched for too long, the state’s racial harmony and unity will be easily challenged when the disparity becomes too wide,” he said. The Dayaks, Sarawak’s main indigenous group, account for around 40% of the state’s total population, loosely comprising the Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu. The Dayaks’ political fragmentation has long been a subject of debate in Sarawak politics. Political analyst James Chin earlier said that the roots of division could be traced back to the 1987 Ming Court Affair, a political crisis involving an attempt to oust the late Abdul Taib Mahmud as chief minister. Responding to Sng’s podcast, Chin said Taib sought to split the Dayak community into multiple parties after surviving the challenge, resulting in long-term political disunity within the group.