Villagers look forward to more changes

KUCHING: Residents of Kampung Muara Tebas are living the simple life along the banks of Sarawak River, earning a meagre income from fishing.

The colourful fishing village is home to Malays with some Chinese and Ibans, who live harmoniously in stilted wooden houses.

Known for the Ching San Yen temple which is nearly 200 years old, the 60-year-old village now has even more colour with Barisan Nasional flags being flown proudly in front of homes.

Young children go around sporting Barisan caps with pride and confidence.

Former fisherman Saadan Tarap, 56, has lived all his life in the village.

It has been two years since he retired from making a living out of the riches of the Sarawak River.

For him, life under Barisan has been good. As a loyal supporter, Saadan doesn’t see the Opposition making any mark in his village.

“The village has seen many changes over the years although the Government was sometimes quite slow in fulfilling our demands.

“I have requested for a new house and a mosque several times,” he said, adding that a plot of land had already been identified for the mosque.

“I hope our problems – especially getting a new house – will be resolved before the election,” he said.

Roslan Sufian, who was born and grew up in the quiet village, said that over the years, Barisan had brought many changes to the area.

Hence, he was confident that the coalition would once again do very well in this election.

“We have our share of problems. The most urgent need is a mosque. The present one is not big enough to accommodate the villagers,” he said.

Roslan added that there was a plot of land nearby that had been earmarked for the project.

There are 2,500 people in Kampung Muara Tebas. Some of them have proudly displayed pictures of its development over the years.

“We started out in 1949 with a few houses and a shack for a school. Now, we have tarred roads and a proper primary school,” he said.

When asked if they have ever thought of voting for the Opposition, the answer was a simple “No”.

Roslan said they hardly saw people from the Opposition in the village.

The residents said they would continue voting for Barisan even if Demak Laut incumbent assemblyman Datuk Dr Abang Abdul Rauf Abang Zen was not the candidate.

Poverty is also a major setback in this village with a single household earning only RM200, forcing the younger generation to work two jobs to sustain their family.

They work in factories nearby after fishing hours in the evening.

Mahadi Bujang, 49, is looking forward to a proper flood mitigation effort by the Govern­ment because the area is often flooded.

“We have confidence in Barisan to do something to mitigate floods in the area,” he said.

Kampung Muara Tebas is within the Demak Laut constituency. Malays make 90.91% of its population, Chinese (7.44%) and others (1.58%). There are a total of 10,080 voters.