The recent series of protest happening in Tunisia and Egypt is not likely to happen in Malaysia, says government officials. This is because of the stark difference between the situation in the North African countries with Malaysia.
Economically, Malaysia enjoys relatively full employment with only 3% of the workforce is unemployed. The standard of living is much better than other developing countries, or even on par with some developed countries. And the political freedom is very much upheld here, even though there are some draconian laws which restricts the freedom of the people for the reason of security, such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act, Sedition Act and the Internal Securities Act.
Nevertheless, these are the situations at the macro level, whereas what happens on the ground could be much, much different from what is provided by official data.
For instance, the people are feeling the pinch of the rising inflation driven by the ever increasing oil prices, and that even though the Ringgit is strengthening against the greenback, Malaysians are having lesser items that could be bought using the local currency.
Ironically, the situation in Sarawak, East Malaysia could be said as "comparable" of that in Egypt and Tunisia. It has a long service leader of over 30 years, a state with ample resources and yet the people is relatively poor compared to the rest of the country and the leader's family very much own the largest corporations there. Corruption and nepotism is the game of the day.
Some might argue that the situation in Sarawak is not as dire as in Egypt or Tunisia, but if it is left unchecked, the small tumor will eventually grow bigger and consumes the entire state. And if the Federal Government turns a blind eye on the Sarawak, it might become just like Acheh in Indonesia, Narathiwat in Thailand and Mindanao in the Phillipines.
The government of each level, state and Federal, should listen carefully to the grouses and pleas of the people on the ground if they do not want another Tunisia or Egypt happening in Malaysia.
