The complains are genuine, that the vast wealth of Sarawak has not been distributed fairly. Sarawak has Oil and Gas, Timber, Rain forests (but fast receding...) and humongous land area. But the traditional Sarawakians who work the fields, fish the long coast, gather forest products are left with what they always have, their poor livelihood. While the rakyat toil in wants, the few ruling elites with their towkays live in mansions with money as beds. The current sky rocket food price and fuel hikes do not affect them. Just the poor ordinary folks.
BN brought in some development but just barely. The state has the 1st oil well in Malaysia, drilled by Shell more then 100 years ago on top of Canada Hill in Miri. Now there is an Oil Museum adjacent to the Grand Old Lady (name of the oil rig made of belian timber). The Oil in Miri and later Gas in Bintulu, even though only 5% royalty which translated into billions of ringgit, has not benefited Sarawak as an Oil & Gas state. Sarawak in term of development is not so much different from Negeri Sembilan and Perak, which don't have that black gold. With that much funds in hand Sarawak should have got an Expressway North to South linking with Brunei and Sabah, a Railway line linking all the big towns, superb public transport system, free health service and education. But what they have is dilapidated road systems (service and maintained by CMS Road). Driving from Kuching to Bintulu (636km) takes about10 to 12 hours. If you are quite of a daredevil type, you may make 9hours, but then your body will be dead tired on reaching Bintulu because of the many potholes and winding roads. And many schools do not have playing fields (this surprised when i first arrived here- you got huge land but can not build playing fields for the schools). Pity my children, they really missed their old school in Beranang with nice big football field!.
Our office went to visit a colleague's mum at Sarawak General Hospital yesterday. Pity to the mum, the hospital environment is very sad. Space is insufficient so they are building an extension. While that being built the running of the hospital continues. So workers and patients became normal sight. Even though the hospital have good equipment, the oil money should have given better chance to my colleague's mum!
For the last 45 years, power and wealth only consolidated around the CM's families and friends. The poor rakyat keep on toiling in their NCR lands which later be taken by the unscrupulous Tok Uban gang for Palm Oil plantations. Driving from Bintulu to Miri will show you as if the whole world is planted with oil palm. 
It's so vast that you think that the oil palms joined up with the sky at the far horizon. Unlike Felda estates in Semenanjung, this vast plantations are owned by few crony companies. The estates originated NCR lands taken from the people who has toiled there for many many years and of course virgin jungles " government" land.
It's so vast that you think that the oil palms joined up with the sky at the far horizon. Unlike Felda estates in Semenanjung, this vast plantations are owned by few crony companies. The estates originated NCR lands taken from the people who has toiled there for many many years and of course virgin jungles " government" land. 
Report from Sarawak Headhunter weblog make you shiver to know that cronies get tens of thousands of virgin jungles to stripped of their timber and later sell off to plantation companies.Last month I was at a ceramah by Anwar Ibrahim at Kg. Gita, just outskirt of Kuching. They were so many thousands people of various races dutifully listening to Anwar on his plans for Sarawak once those famous "mystery thirty" jumped ship. The same ceramah a year ago only attracted about some one thousand, but this time they were 5 times more people came to listen to Anwar. Interpreting this, means that people are eager for a change in the Sarawak's Corridor of Power. The youngs and olds, townies or rural villagers are beginning to talk about changing the Power that be.
In the last state election DAP won 9 seats plus 1 for PKR. Another 2 years Sarawak will hold another state election and this time with the voters purchasing power greatly eroded by the recent price hikes and Anwar factor(and promises), the dream of the men on the street to see a new face sitting on the CM's chair could become a reality!. However, that will only come true if the people unite under Pakatan Rakyat and shun from being bought with a few hundred RM and crates of Carlsberg on the eve of the election day!!
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