April 14, morning

Orang Ulu had to wait 3 hours under hot sun for Najib in
Marudi (updated with photos)

PM Najib is here. Around 1,000 crowd came to welcome him, many preparation done by people such as traditional dances and music, but Najib just passed by them even without stopping or taking a look at the performances. People waited almost 3 hours under the sun. He just walked straight to the stage. We asked one of the dancers, they came from Ulu Baram to perform org ulu dance.

"He doesn't respect us, seems like he doesn't even respect our culture" (Wil upload sme pict soon)   We also chatted with sme JKR civil servants and Bomba officers. They raised their worries about the chances of winning putting it at 50-50%. "But for sure BN will win at Marudi!" said one of the JKR engineers.

We were at the airport earlier today, and had a conversation with a guy, who happens to be a policeman. He's a Kenyah from Belaga. We talked about the dam and how it affected the people living in that area. Now, his longhouse is already under water. I can see the sadness when he showed me some pictures which he recently took when he went back to his kampung in February. Do we, the Baram people want this to happen to us too? My kampung will be one of the village that will be under water if the Baram Dam is continued.

Marudi airport with welcome sign












Last minute preparations while waiting for PM Najib's arrival
















Orang Ulu waiting and thinking about the elections














Never seen so many helicopters landing in Marudi airport before
















BN posters very big compared to PKR flags below.

more flags


















SPR things being shipped to polling stations

April 10 2011 morning

"No need to promise anything, they are all liars!"
 

April 10 2011 morning

Sorry couldn't get any network last nite. We are out of kampung already. Today will go to Peninjau area, in between Miri and Batu Niah.

Last night, (Sat April 9^th) we went to Rh. Ampau and Rh. Mat in Ulu Niah to observe the BN ceramah. In rumah Ampau, we interviewed a few people, they expressed unhappiness with the BN's campaign. 

A nenek tua (grandmother) said she was feeling tired of all the promises made before. She said “No need to promise anything because they are all liars!”. She was whispering her comments about broken promises to some young people when the BN speaker was talking 

In Rumah Mat, they are quite welcoming of the BN. We sat next to the old man and he told us that many of them still confused which party they should vote for. He said based on previous experiences, they were cheated by the former YB. It seems everytime they ask for help, their requests were ignored by the YB.

That old man said that probably 50% of them might want change and try a new government. After 15yrs, they feel they still didn't get any development by the BN government. 

At the BN ceramah biscuits and drinks were given to each longhouse. 

April 10, 2011 Morning 8:30am 
 

We went to church this morning, it was interesting the priest’s sermon talked about the real need of the people. He even talked about corruption, NCR lands, mission school funds and also about the bible controversial issue. He advised the congregation to choose wisely. The parishioners were very responsive to the sermon because the issues are close to their hearts.

watch this and pass it round!