Chung Fung Moi whom I choose as a model of strength for women has weathered storms in her years of life.
Life has never been easy for this woman whose looks mirrored the hard years of life that she had gone through. Losing a husband in her young days and having to bring up 4 children herself, she toiled hard on the land left behind by her late husband at Bako.
Fung Moi worked hard, brought up her children, who subsequently have their own children. Life is hard but happy for a woman who is surrounded by her families. What more would a simple woman want in life.
Building a nice country house with her children’s adjacent to her, Fung Moi’s life turned upside down when the government took away 21 acres of land in 1997. She was told that the lands were for a Malay cemetery.
A pious Buddhist, Fung Moi respected the dead, never mind what color they are. She gave in.
With her 3.8 acres of land enough for her family to work on, Fung Moi was contented thinking that to sacrifice her bigger portion of land, she would be rewarded in her after life.
Never in her thoughts did she realise that she would be robbed of a place which has been her roof all these years. Life shattered when Fung Moi found that her remaining land has been alienated under Section 47 of the Land Code and the time is coming near forcing her to give up her land totally.
No one could empathise the bitterness and anguish of how life is unfair to Fung Moi unless they were in her shoes.
At 65 today, Fung Moi life-long slaving and toiling on her land and to be surrounded by loving children and grandchildren would be coming to an end soon.
Life today holds no certainty for her. Where would she and her big brood of family go to? Her life has been spent in the country side, quiet and filled with contentment. Where would she go to find such peace again? Were her children be able to live with her? Would there be a house big enough to house them together? Would there be a garden for her grandchildren to run and roam with nature? Would she be able to cope with life in a different place? These thoughts plague her daily, giving her great mental anguish.
As all these thoughts came to her mind, she sought my assistant hoping that something could be salvaged. I have seen so many ‘Fung Mois’ the last few years. Each story told to me was filled with heart-beaking pain, fear and uncertainty.
Each time the story was retold, it ends with most of the land owners wiping tears; they were shedding tears of fears, of facing an uncertain future in their life. I hope members of the heartless government responsible for their plight could see and feel for their suffering. To see and able to perceive that their irresponsible action are cold and heartless, instead of what good governance is meant to be - caring and not treating its citizens in such a manner, all for want of greed.
Fung Moi is not alone. Chin Siew Jung, 72 has a lot to lose too as his land spans 20 acres. So will Lee Yong Thien, 43 who inherited the lands from his forefathers.
Chin has a beautiful orchard of fruits and vegetables. He planted coconut, oil palm, coffee, oranges, bananas, rambutan, rubber, langsat, sweet potatoes and all the fruits that he could sell in the market to earn a decent living for himself and his children.
All the three has received letters of rejections from the Department of Land & Survey Sarawak and within the next two years, they would be losing their lands one by one if the government continued to turn a blind eye to their fate.
The most ridiculous thing was the land that was alienated under Section 47 for the last 30 years, which the government claimed it wants to develop but nothing was done yet. How much planning period would they need? Another 30 years?
Two parcels of land belonging to the Chief Minister’s sister Raziah @ Rodiah Binti Mahmud, i.e. Lot s 127 & 129 both of Block 2 Muara Tebas Land District were also around the area. As expected the lands have perpetual titles and free from Section 47. How easy for them to get that. Has it been easy due to nepotism and because she was the Chief Minister's sister?
Chin's son Mr. Chong said he refuses to go to the SUPP for help because as he always expected SUPP is useless and will only asks the people to wait. “Wait until I got kick out of my own land and sleep in the streets,” he said when he was asked by a team of reporters recently. Mr. Chong threw in a sarcasm saying that when the land was snatched from him, he hoped not to see private companies acquiring it for commercial purposes.
The government should stop this land robbing. It’s like daylight robbery. Draw a Section 47 and the land is mine. I believed that if the land is really needed for development for the benefit of the people, then compensate them accordingly.
Sarawak is a land of plenty. While must the government break out families who lived together for their own greed or ‘Fung Sui’ factor. I was made to understand that by lifting the Land Code of Section 47, it would be bad 'Fung Sui' of one "Mighty Person" who lives nearby.
What Fung Sui are you talking about? A Fung Sui at the expense of bringing misery to the people by grabbing their land? That is not good Fung sui. To steal and rob people off a roof over their heads is a big sin.
I am writing to the Land and Survey and the Chief Minister himself over this issue. I want them to see of the sufferings they have subjected to the Sarawakians.
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