Harrison Ngau Laing | |
---|---|
Member of the Parliament of Malaysia | |
In office 1990–1995 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1959 (age 64–65) |
Nationality | Malaysian |
Occupation | Politician |
Awards | Goldman Environmental Prize (1990) |
Harrison Ngau Laing (born 1959) is a Malaysian environmentalist and politician, a member of the Kayan tribe. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1990 for his work to prevent deforestation of the Sarawak region. He was a member of the Malaysian Parliament from 1990 to 1995.
Harrison Ngau was born in 1959 at his home village in Long Keseh, which is located near the Baram River in the northern region of Sarawak. In 1976, a logging company named WTK (short form for the company's founder, Wong Tuong Kwang) went to his village. Harrison was a 17-year-old boy who just had just completed second last year of his secondary school at Marudi. He went back to his village for a Christmas holiday when a large meeting convened in his longhouse. The villagers only realised that WTK company had just been granted a concession behind their longhouse when the company turned up with bulldozers, heavy machinery, and chainsaws in front of them. The villagers initially mooted the idea of stopping the loggers, however when company workers sent them some free biscuits and Coke, the villagers accepted the food and the resistance died down. It was later turned out that two villagers in the longhouse own shares in another logging company who owned the concession. They sold to concession to WTK and made a handsome profit. Since Harrison was the only one who know how write, he offered himself to write letters to the company. WTK later agreed to pay a compensation of RM 2 (US$0.60) for every tonne of timber taken from their area. [1]
Harrison then went on to work in a hotel in Miri, an ice factory, and with Shell oil company. In 1980, he started Sarawak branch of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), an environmental and human rights organisation in Malaysia. He went to Marudi rented an office for his organisation. In November 1980, he was married to 17-year-old Uding, another Kayan from a nearby village. They raised four children and continue to campaigned against logging companies in Baram region. The first protest was at the Apoh river against the Samling logging company. The Kayans from three longhouses went to threatened the company's employees. The company then agreed to pay compensation to the three longhouses. Harrison's organisation was primarily involved in advising the indigenous people in exercising their land rights. In the mid 1980s, the Penan people started turn up to his office when they themselves were also affected by logging. [1]
The biggest protest came in March 1987 when 4,700 indigenous people from 26 Penan villages and six longhouses turned up simultaneously to prevent loggers from reaching upper Baram and Limbang region. Around 200 bulldozers and 1,600 timber workers were held up for several months. After a few months, the blockade was forcefully dismantled by the police. On 27 October 1987, Operation Lalang was started by the then Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad. Harrison was arrested under Internal Security Act. Harrison was flown to Miri and spent a night at a cell there before he was transported to Kuching through an off-road vehicle. He was held for 60 days and nights but no charge was brought against him. Harrison was released in December 1987. Harrison's arrest brought attention to environmental campaigners and human rights activists worldwide. They wrote letters to protest the Malaysian government actions. One year later, SAM received the Right Livelihood Award for Harrison's work in Sarawak. [1]
Harrison received Goldman Environmental Prize in 1990. He later used the prize money to fund his campaign [2] [3] against Barisan Nasional (BN) during 1990 Malaysian general election. He defeated the deputy minister of Public Works, [4] Luhat Wan [5] and became the member of parliament for Baram constituency. However, in the 1995 Malaysian general election, he was defeated by another BN candidate Jacob Dungau Sagan. [4]
Sarawak is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, Kalimantan to the south, and Brunei in the north. The state capital, Kuching, is the largest city in Sarawak, the economic centre of the state, and the seat of the Sarawak state government. Other cities and towns in Sarawak include Miri, Sibu, and Bintulu. As of the 2020 Malaysia census, the population of Sarawak was 2.453 million. Sarawak has an equatorial climate with tropical rainforests and abundant animal and plant species. It has several prominent cave systems at Gunung Mulu National Park. Rajang River is the longest river in Malaysia; Bakun Dam, one of the largest dams in Southeast Asia, is located on one of its tributaries, the Balui River. Mount Murud is the highest point in the state. Sarawak is the only state of Malaysia with a Christian majority.
Miri is a coastal city in north-eastern Sarawak, Malaysia, located near the border of Brunei, on the island of Borneo. The city covers an area of 997.43 square kilometres (385.11 sq mi), located 798 kilometres (496 mi) northeast of Kuching and 329 kilometres (204 mi) southwest of Kota Kinabalu. Miri is the second largest city in Sarawak, with a population of 356,900 as of 2020. The city is also the capital of Miri District, Miri Division.
The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei, although there is only one small community in Brunei; among those in Brunei half have been converted to Islam, even if only superficially. Penan are one of the last such peoples remaining as hunters and gatherers. The Penan are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary. Most Penan were nomadic hunter-gatherers until the post-World War II missionaries settled many of the Penan, mainly in the Ulu-Baram district but also in the Limbang district. They eat plants, which are also used as medicines, and animals and use the hides, skin, fur, and other parts for clothing and shelter.
The Gunung Mulu National Park, also known simply as the Mulu National Park is a national park in Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that encompasses caves and karst formations in a mountainous equatorial rainforest setting. The park is famous for its caves and the expeditions that have been mounted to explore them and their surrounding rainforest, most notably the Royal Geographical Society Expedition of 1977–1978, which saw over 100 scientists in the field for 15 months. This initiated a series of over 20 expeditions now named the Mulu Caves Project.
The Rajang River is a river in Sarawak, northwestern Borneo, Malaysia. The river originates in the Iran Mountains, flows through Kapit, and then towards the South China Sea. At approximately 565 km long (351 mi), the river is the seventh-longest in Borneo and the longest in Malaysia.
Miri Division is one of the twelve administrative divisions of Sarawak, Malaysia.
Bruno Manser was a Swiss environmentalist and human rights activist. From 1984 to 1990, he stayed with the Penan tribe in Malaysia, organising Indigenous rainforest blockades in Sarawak against timber companies. After he emerged from the forests in 1990, he engaged in public activism for rainforest preservation and the human rights of indigenous peoples, especially the Penan, which brought him into conflict with the Malaysian government. He also founded the Swiss non-governmental organization (NGO) Bruno Manser Fonds in 1991. Manser disappeared during his last journey to Sarawak in May 2000 and is presumed dead.
Marudi is a town in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, and is a part of the division of Miri. It is the seat of Marudi District, and is located on the banks of Baram River, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) upstream from the river mouth. Marudi was the administrative centre of the northern region of Sarawak before Miri was established in 1910. Marudi is considered as the cultural heart of the Orang Ulu, the highland tribes of Sarawak. It is also a transit gateway to Kelabit Highlands and Gunung Mulu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Long Laput is a settlement in the rural interior of the Marudi district of Sarawak, Malaysia. It lies approximately 514.3 kilometres (320 mi) east-north-east of the state capital Kuching.
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Culture of Sarawak exhibits notable diversity in ethnicity, cuisine, and language. The Sarawakian culture has been influenced by Bruneian Malays of the coastal areas. Substantial cultural influences also came from the Chinese and British cultures.
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Dato Anyi Ngau is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Baram since May 2013. He is a member of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), a component party of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and formerly Barisan Nasional (BN) coalitions. He has also served as the Secretary General of PDP since June 2023.
Indigenous rainforest blockades in Sarawak began during the late 1980s and 1990s. In response to deforestation and land conversion of Sarawak's forest landscapes, Indigenous people of several groups along with international activists organised blockades to resist logging activities and dam construction. Penan, Kayan and Kelabit people are among the groups who participated. Some blockades were dismantled by police and some participants were arrested. Indigenous people have continued to hold blockades into the 21st century.
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