When Marie Antoinette was legendarily accused of asking why the bread marchers in Paris did not simply “eat cake?” it became the symbol of the ensuing revolution.

Her ignorant observation was seen to epitomise the total lack of understanding by a cushioned elite of the problems of their people.  They had no concept, let alone experience, of deprivation and therefore of why they needed to change their policies to prevent suffering.

It was time for them to go and a new set of principles were drawn up to put the people first.

Abang Jo’s snide observation just last week that the rural people “own Hilux 4X drive cars” so how can they be poor? falls dangerously into a similar category:

He pointed out that many of those classified as poor are eKasih recipients in the rural areas, but have already improved their financial situation and even owned ‘Hilux’ (four-wheel-drive pickup trucks) and have air conditioners installed in their houses.
“What happened was that we have data under EPU (Economic Planning Unit) which is based on eKasih on those classified as poor and in need of assistance. But over the years, they have improved (their income) and increased their assets…”[Council For Native Customs & Tradition (Sarawak State Gov) July 6th].

The mindset behind such a remark is obvious to all. For those who enjoy a city life with good roads the Hilux car represents the epitome of ostentation by the super well off – namely an oversized car designed for the most rugged conditions in which they can pose unnecessarily along manicured urban highways.

In KL a Hilux is a totally wasted expense for roads where a far cheaper lightweight vehicle would consume less fuel and cause less damage.

So light is the wear and tear compared to the terrain for which they were built that they can last for up to twenty years.

The roadster is therefore a symbol of prosperity in urban areas for those with money to spare beyond their monthly bills, otherwise they could take public transport, buy a motorbike or a smaller car.

Hence, the crass assumption that if rural Sarawak folk opt for Hilux cars they must be a lot better off than the gloomy official poverty statistics portray. Likewise, the depressing reality of rural dwellings without running water and electricity.

Abang Jo compounds his apparent ignorance as to why the rural communities of his state club together to buy Hilux vehicles (usually second hand and usually scraping together the monthly hire purchase payments as their single largest outlay) by proudly claiming in the same statement that his government has “actually started“ on providing the most basic amenities for the same communities which he has just branded as only pretending to be poor:

““The Sarawak government, with the income it has had for the past four years, has actually started providing important and strategic infrastructure, namely water supply, electricity supply, internet and road infrastructure.” [Abang Jo statement]

Wow!  After 50 years of extraction of timber, land, minerals, damns and plantations his ruling party has only just (allegedly) STARTED to fulfil its decades old promises on basic services.

This while at the same time mocking rural communities for not being so poor as they would like us to believe?

As one angry activist, Dominic Langat, came on Radio Free Sarawak to explain today the reason native folk rely on battered second hand 4 wheel drive vehicles for the interior is simple.  No other vehicle could begin to navigate the unimaginably dreadful state of the rudimentary logging roads cut through by the wealthy timber giants and now abandoned and neglected by the state.

“The Sarawak Premier’s statement shows that he really does not understand the problems of rural residents. We bought a Hilux because it was a necessity. Without a 4×4 car we can’t move anywhere. The bad condition of the deep roads can only be navigated by 4×4 car, and even then it has to travel 5 to 8 hours. We also want to buy a small and cheap car. But this small car will 100% never reach our village. It will break down and end up in the middle of the road. Because of the bad road to the interior of Sarawak car maintenance costs are very high. This greatly burdens our lives. So much so that most of our income is spent on the 4×4 car instalment alone. The question is how do we buy a car if we are poor. Most of us buy 4x4s using the names of our children who have payslips working in the city. Most banks did not approve our loan application because there was no permanent job. Therefore we use the names of our working children. So we have to work hard to find money to pay that off each month. I hope the Premier of Sarawak does not make media statements without first checking the real facts of an issue. Now in peninsular Malaysia (Sabah/Sarawak excluded for now) the government is implementing a policy targeting diesel fuel. We are worried if the government thinks we are rich in the countryside. Then we will face another problem, the diesel subsidy for us will be withdrawn. The Premier of Sarawak should give an accurate report to the central government.
I can only use my tires for 3-4 months only need to be replaced. Compared to those who live in the city can use their car tires for more than a year. This is a picture of the difficulties that we rural people face every day – and a car that could last two decades in the city will regularly fall apart in five years battling along these roads.”

How come Abang Jo so completely failed to understand this situation facing rural people whom instead he chose to mock as pleading poorer than they really are?

Perhaps he should have taken the trouble to fulfil an earlier promise, according to Langat who asked today on RFS “When will Sarawak Premier Johari Openg drive himself from Long Lama to Long Kevok as he promised a year ag

One understands, of course, that Abang Jo and his fellow busy GPS magnets have helicopters at their disposal for when they need to hop inland – perhaps to canvass at election time and dispense a few ringgit to the village folk.

However, for the rest of us 8, 9 and 10 hours of bone rattling journeying in those four by fours are the only way to travel and it teaches us a lesson Abang Jo has clearly never learnt.

Increasingly, this Malay from Sarawak’s superwealthy elite is demonstrating, benignly but damningly, that he simply has no concept of how it feels to come from the marginalised native communities who have waited over half a century to get a fair deal from the relentless exploitation of Sarawak’s wealth.