Amidst The Gloom Sarawak Women Bring Some Cheer

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This is a time when everything seems so gloomy and hopeless. The Covid-19 pandemic is getting more serious and worrying and we are bracing for the worst, which has yet to come.
The nation is on lockdown again - MCO 3.0 is upon us and Sarawak, while snubbing the national order, has declared that its on-going CMCO is following the same stringent SOPs as the MCO. Hah, whatever that means.
To be honest, I’m not really bothered whether we are under MCO, CMCO, EMCO or RMCO. If we stay home and avoid going out unnecessarily, the SOPs are not much different. Let’s all follow the rules diligently with less whining, please.
There is even more gloom and doom on the political front. The majority of Malaysians are an unhappy lot, hugely disappointed and disillusioned with a very unpopular government.
Amidst the negative vibes around us, I am truly delighted to receive some cheerful news brought on by three gallant Sarawak women in recent days.
First came the news that our national diving queen, Pandelela Rinong (above), has secured Malaysia’s first ever gold medal at the FINA Diving World Cup in Japan early this month.
The 28-year-old Sarawakian, an accomplished Olympian, brought much honour and glory to the nation again after winning the prestigious sporting event, earning messages of congratulations from the prime minister and the king as well.
Pandelela is not only Sarawak’s best known sports personality today but she is also the “most loved daughter” of the Land of the Hornbill. She has an aquatic centre in Petra Jaya and an apartment in Kuching named after her.
It’s no wonder that all of Sarawak always want a share of the trailblazer’s amazing accomplishments; so too with her latest gold medal feat.
Over the past two weeks, Pandelela became the long-running subject of a datukship award which I actually find silly and funny at the same time.
Nonetheless, I took it as a cheerful issue in the midst of the gloomy spell as I weighed on it in a Facebook post two days ago.
“Is Pandelela deserving of a datukship? My answer is ‘Yes’. Is a datukship necessary as a reward for her? That answer is ‘No’.
“What is really laughable is that all those harping on this datukship thingy are people who have no authority whatsoever to decide whether or not Pandelela gets a ‘datuk’ title.
“And our diving queen has said it too. A datukship is not important to her, bringing honour and glory to the country is.
“Please don’t be paloi (stupid), folks. I’m not sure Pandelela and her good family are happy with paloi people being busybodies (sibuk sibuk) with their personal affairs.
“My message goes particularly to those politicians trying to score brownie points by riding on the popular Pandelela bandwagon. Stop your paloi act!”
I can’t help but take a dig at silly Sarawak politicians who suddenly think that Pandelela needs them to speak up for her.


Another Sarawak woman in the limelight this week is Francisca Luhong James (above), our reigning Miss Universe Malaysia. The 26-year-old beauty of Iban-Orang Ulu descent is the first Dayak to win the title.
Social media was abuzz with Francisca’s many promotional videos of her community’s costumes and Sarawak’s customs and traditions this past month.
As I write this, Francisca is representing Malaysia at the Miss Universe Pageant in Florida, United States. A total of 74 beauties are competing for the 69th Miss Universe title which will be held on May 17.
Sarawakians are hopeful for Francisca to be placed among the “Top 21” with the local media paying serious attention to the pageant. Even Ragad Taib, wife of Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud, took a keen interest in the pageant revealing that she has campaigned for some 700 votes for Francisca.
Whatever the outcome, Francisca’s participation at the prestigious world class event alone has been a journey followed by many Sarawakians with much pride and joy.
The third Sarawakian to have brought cheers to my homeland is 17-year-old student Emily Chai Pei Xuan who received the “Top in the World” Award for the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examination in Mathematics.
She overtook close to one million candidates globally to earn this prestigious award this week.
Chai, a student of St Joseph’s International School (SJIS), Kuching, was also a recipient of the highly esteemed Harvard Prize Book Award for the year 2020.
SJIS principal Brother Robert Teoh said he was glad that SJIS was able to produce a top-in-the-world student from their first batch of IGCSE students.
“Emily embodies in her the school motto ‘Ora Et Labora’ (pray and work). Her achievement will inspire our teachers to continue grooming students to be responsible citizens who will also work for the betterment of our society,” he said.
Well, a big thank you is due to these three amazing and incredible ladies who have cheered us up in Sarawak in many ways with their notable achievements.
They provided us the positive vibes when we needed them most. So thank you, Pandelela Rinong, Francisca Luhong and Emily Chai. Every success too in all your future endeavours. - Mkini

FRANCIS PAUL SIAH heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) and can be reached at [email protected].

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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