Lizard vs Dragon King

A young Joe would be able to describe the nature and size of a creature called dragon. I am absolutely convinced most readers of this blog are adults. Therefore there is no necessity for me to provide any description of a creature known as dragon to an adult if a young Joe has already sufficient knowledge to describe you the creature.

In Iban's folk tale, the dragon king has special significance in their lives and existence. Although most feared by the Iban, the dragon king is often the saviour of Iban's life especially in a battle against the enemies or in times of absolute helplessness. The common phrase that have been used by the Iban is, "tolong bunsu tauka raja naga" (helped by the dragon king), to denote the divine help of the legendary dragon king. At a dinner function on 15 November 2008 held at the Sibu Trade & Exhibition Centre attended by not less than 4000 people from all walks of life, the guest of honour, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim said, "We don't want to fight Alfred Jabu. He's not my weight. I am a national leader. I am a dragon and he's just a 'cicak mengkarong' (lizard). All that we want is reform".

A lizard or 'cicak mengkarong' (a Malay term for lizard. In Iban it is called Engkarong) is a small reptile often found in our garden. Typically it has a long body and tail, four legs, moveable eyelids, and a rough scaly or spiny skin. Although harmeless, sometimes this creature can be quite a nuisance.

Anwar Ibrahim's analogy or comparison was in response to several of Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu's derogatory remarks. A week or so ago the Second Deputy Chief Minister provoked Anwar Ibrahim by attributing the death of an elderly local folk to the latter's visit. Alfred Jabu alleged that Anwar Ibrahim, who had been convicted of an offence of corruption in a saga and litany of mysterious trial , had failed to perform a certain ritual according to the Dayak's way to "clean hinself" and thereby angered the spirit. The angry spirit, according to Alfred Jabu, retaliated by taking the life of the above-mentioned person. Alfred Jabu demanded that Anwar Ibrahim must take the blame for the man's death although medical report disclosed that the man's death was due to natural causes. But how the ablution should be performed by Anwar to appease Alfred Jabu was not mentioned. One question that Alfred Jabu might want to answer is that, how could it be said that a man who had fully served his jail sentence remains 'unclean' and owing an ablution to a man who died of natural illness?

Be that as it may, hitherto many of us are yet to hear Alfred Jabu speaking on a particular subject that has special significance to the Dayak community. The best that was ever heard from him was his plea to the Dayak to control their urge for alcohol so as to save money for the future. The rest of his speeches or press statements since the 1987 infamous Ming Court episode hardly departed from two main areas. One, is his attack on the Dayak intellectuals, accusing them of being ungrateful for what the government has done for them. And two, his constant reminder that the various land development projects, notably those run by SALCRA, have greatly enriched the participants.

Although all these years I have been trying to understand the underlying reason or reasons of Alfred Jabu's unappertizing speech, it was only after Anwar Ibrahim equated him with 'cicak mengkarong' that I finally found the answer. For two or three unkindly attacks on Dayak intellectuals I could consider as blunders or lack of diplomacy. But the constant unkindly attacks have surpassed a mere blunder label or absence of malice. It has greatly surprised me that a man of his standing is prepared to stoop so low to find fault with the young Dayak intellectuals. In my humble opinion his precious time should be devoted to matters that can provide long term benefits to the Dayak. With Alfred Jabu's continous hankering after such distasteful remarks, Anwar Ibrahim's description of him as 'cicak mengakarong' therefore fits his character and not devoid of justification.

Since the lizard is only good in making distasteful remarks, would the dragon king now still come to help the Dayak in their battles against tyranny? With the Sarawak State General Election only nine months from now if Dato Seri Najib Abdul Razak becomes the Prime Minister in March next year, the unseen hands of the dragon king are certainly required by those who would be contesting especially those who are weak and helpless. Those who fight for justice against tyranny and despotic regime are often the weak and the helpless. The legendary dragon king, in its true nature, would never fail to save the meek and downtrodden. Just invoke its name, it would come to lend a helping hand.