We should be glad that we can still live a life of plenty. We should be thankful and appreciate everything we currently possess as there are some others who are less fortunate around the globe or even in our own society.
When the Dayak’s return to their long house to reunite with their families and enjoy great dishes on the Gawai Dayak Eve, they should be prepared and carefully think about whether Malaysian Dayak will be able to celebrate Gawai Dayak 10 or 15 years later as peacefully as we do it today.
The country has experienced tumultuous times over the past half a century. We almost faced a crisis of racial / religious riots and a black hole of economic collapse. The country is lucky enough to sustain until today but the crisis is still not far away from us.
Although the racial politics suffered a hit during the March 8 general elections but its spirit is still here, occupying the predominant position and waiting for an opportunity to destroy the weak two-line system
For the past half decade the Dayak had been loyal to BN and always closed their doors to other races / outsiders. The Dayak thought is always that, Dayak is only for Dayak. This mindset, Dayak to support Dayak is outdated. The Dayak may not be able to help the Dayak.
In order to find a way out, the Dayak must do their best to fight racial politics. I truly believe that only by working together with other races during political chaos, can we strengthen the power of pluralistic politics and build a non-racial political system. Only by this, can the Dayak, who are gradually becoming a minority racial group, enjoy equal status. To ensure this happen the Dayak have no other choice but need to choose. Stay calm as it is and stick with our current choice or grab the other alternative which is to join PR.
In the other hand the Dayak organisations must build their own strength and should be politically free. Only by then, they can get the confidents from the Dayak society and can carry on their social activities effectively. The organisation should play an active role to rebuild self confident amongst its society which seems had been lost. Only by having self confident amongst the society we can expect to have a society with strong principle.
By then, we hope to see the new Dayak, that cannot be easily manipulated by those culprits whom just want to use them for self interest, also only then we can expect to varnish off the label of cheap Dayak.
Wishing you all a triumphant Gawai Dayak
GAYU GURU GERAI NYAMAI
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