Remembering Baby Lanora
In January 2008, I visited several villages in northern Sabah with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Unsealed dusty roads and homes built from plywood and zinc greeted us in Kanibongan, Pitas. I was not shocked as I had seen worse. But I was shocked and sad to the bone when we met a young mother who had to feed her baby with a mixture of rice and water because the family cannot afford to buy milk.
I have no idea how baby Lanora is today, 10 months after our visit. She suffers from epilepsy and though her parents have taken her to see the doctor, travelling to the nearby district hospital is a costly affair and when she has fits in the middle of the night, there is nothing much the family can do. Baby Lanora’s story is just one of many in remote parts of Sabah, and I believe in other parts of Borneo too. Her mother, Isrin, is 20 and looks under-nourished, her father John is 50 and she has an older sister aged 5 years who thankfully is healthy. Her step-brother, who is 25 lives with the family in their one room hut is mentally ill. (John’s son from his first marriage, his wife has passed away).
I wrote a feature published the same month in the New Sunday Times, titled “Empty Pockets on Rich Soil.” How true. Sabah is a rich state, yet we have Baby Lanoras among us. I was told that a Sabah State agency disputed my piece, saying that John was crazy and that is why his family was in that condition. Well, from what I observed, the officers from the government agencies refused to even get near the house, so the question of claiming Baby Lanora’s father is mad doesnt even rise.
The fact is: 42 per cent of children in Sabah are living in poverty based on latest findings by the UNDP. In other words, more than 4 in 10 children.
The fact is: The government has “spent” billions of ringgit to help these people. I wonder where the money has gone. Several billions more have been pledged. Either funding is being planned without taking into consideration the needs of poor people (what they need instead of imposing programmes on them), or some people have become very rich.
The question is: When will the talk stop? When will we see action?
Mum Isrin feeding Baby Lanora on 6th Jan 2008 at Kanibongan, Pitas, Sabah.
Isrin, Baby Lanora, John and the baby’s older sister at their one-room home
This is the reality in Sabah.
There has been over time, a disconnect between the federal/state level policymaking and implementation on the ground. The first few 5 year plans were tackled and executed by enthusiastic largely apolitical ’servants of the people’ carrying a widely accepted nation building exercise. This did however, ignore the east malaysian states by and large. Development was peninsular centred. Whether this was due to ignorance, or simply due to development funds lining the pockets of local politicians in Sabah or Sarawak in a matter of debate.
The move towards the policisation of the public service has not helped matters. Funds are now disbursed based on connections, not need. As the rural population of Sabah is unable to organise themselves into a meaningful political lobby, they are simply ignored. The sad thing is your data comes from the UNDP, not from domestic statistical authorities. Not that they would necessarily make it available anyway.
Local politicians are the biggest culprit in all of this including the supposed saviour of the KDM community, Pairin Kitingan. But the biggest culprits are the local MPs who have done nothing to highlight this issue to a wider audience. People cannot take action when they are unaware of what is occurring.
At any rate, talk (including mine) is cheap-I did ask you when you wrote your piece what could be done and you mentioned something about helping them. I suppose we just moved on. Blogging is a start, but does not put milk into the bottle. Even small action at this juncture is helpful-like providing milk for example. Surely this is a matter of starting a collective that can aim to start small-helping a small village for example. It can shame the local member into action, though I strongly suspect that they are all far to shameless to act anyway. Ongkili and Dompok can have all the parliamentary and media debates about helping the indigenous population till they turn blue in the face but as with you and I, talk is cheap. that is why it is never in short supply.
From a positivist/Kuhnian point of view, the subject/object divide is theoretically necessary in journalism in order to maintain impartiality but one cannot in actual fact do so in the face of such horrors. That you may go down the latter path, rather than repudiating supposed journalistic amorality or impartiality, should in actual fact be applauded should you try to provide some answers to the two questions you posed at the end of your article:
When will the talk stop? When will we see action?
10 months gone-if no action has yet been taken, why are we still sitting down doing nothing?
Yes, I remember you asking what we could do for this baby. And true, we moved on. Got caught up with stuff. But this is also why I wanna blog about stories like this one.. so that it will be here in public domain. As for journalism in Malaysia, I sometimes find it difficult to report what I am being told by politicians. I actually feel quite sick of it.
mmm tell me about ’speech freedom’.. i bet whats in the paper is 50%lies n 50% truth.. here we are telling the nation..that we are ahead..but yet there are people that really left behind.. can we just shut our eyes and do nothing?.. phew.. somebody really need to do something.. anyway great sharing Jes.
Yes Shirley. Its true that many among us are left behind, yet we seem to be more concerned about sending people to outerspace. Not that its wrong to move forward, but i dont think it should be done at the expense of citizens like Baby Lanora.
Welcome to blogging…may through your posting not one but all of your dreams will see the light at the end of the tunnel…
I envy you,and i admire your artile very much.
You are thinking, lots of hard work, much clearer, super progress, I am proud of you, showing your stuff, that’s the way, keep studying, almost there, so close, better than ever, I knew you could do it, way to go.