Ethnic fault lines of Silam

On paper, Silam looks like a Barisan stronghold where 80% of the voters are Muslim from different ethnicities.

THERE will be a tribal war if a Bajau is not selected," said a rather animated politician from Semporna. "Silam parliament seat will explode."

I had stumbled into the 40-something Bajau man at the Lahad Datu airport on my way out of the Silam parliamentary constituency in the east coast of Sabah.

The Bajau man from Semporna continued: "We have to pacify the Bajaus; if not, they will retaliate."

Welcome to ethnic politics in Silam, a parliamentary seat which on paper looks like a homogenous constituency where 80% of the voters are Muslim. But when you scratch the surface, you'll find that they come from different ethnicities – Bajau, Idaan, Suluk and Bugis.

The other 20% of the 47,420 (as of December 2011) Silam voters are Chinese, Dusun, Cocos, Orang Sungai, Iranun, Punjabis, Banjar and others.

The state seats in Silam constituency are Lahad Datu, Tungku and Kunak. All four seats are held by Umno, the backbone of Sabah Barisan Nasional.

"Superficially, Silam looks like a Barisan stronghold," observed Lahad Datu-born Datuk Yong Teck Lee, a former Sabah chief minister.

"But it is volatile as it is a mixed heterogeneous seat where the Bajaus form a simple majority with significant minorities such as Idaan, Bugis, Suluk, Chinese and Dusun."

"No single group can be a dominant force. Whoever is the YB must take care of the multi-ethnic communities," said Yong, the president of SAPP (Sabah Progressive Party which left Barisan in 2008).

Lahad Datu assemblyman Datuk Nasrun Mansur, who is an assistant minister to the Sabah Chief Minister, concurs.

"No leader can win by hoping for the support of one ethnic group," said Nasrun, the Silam Umno division head who is three quarters Suluk and one quarter Idaan. "To win Silam, you can't say I am a Bajau and all Bajaus must vote for me."

"Silam has a multi-ethnic dynamics. You have to be fair to every ethnic group. Not one group can be happy because it gets everything. Every community should get a fair share. That's how we (Umno) manage it."

On the ground, you can hear the beating of tribal war drums by aspiring politicians using ethnic politics to win a candidacy.

On the day I flew out of Lahad Datu back to Kota Kinabalu on a 55-minute Maswings 50-seated Fokker flight, an online news portal ran a story that an influential Bajau politician from the neighbouring constituency of Semporna was demanding from Umno that "someone from my community must be fielded; if not..."

Some Silam-born politicians who are Idaan/Suluk see the Bajau Semporna political warlords as invading their turf.

There's also simmering ethnic tension on the ground.

For example, Idaans, who are the indigenous community, perceive the Bugis, who are first and second generation Indonesian immigrants, as "New Malaysians" taking away their political and economic opportunities.

"When there is fight between the two communities, the Idaan youths would tell the Bugis, 'ini negeri kita' (this is our state)," said a local opposition politician who refused to be named.

"This is normal," said a local Umno politician, who also did not want to be named.

"There are people who would say be careful of Bugis because they are hard working and they will take away your land. But it is the same in London. The English are not happy with the Pakistanis and Indians as they see them to be taking over businesses in London."

The tribal war drum will get louder on the day parliament is dissolved.

"Various energies will be released to the political arena. And if it is not handled carefully it can take on a racial angle," said Yong.

Leading to nomination day, he added, there will be intense lobbying for candidacy. Some of the supporters of the aspiring candidate will play the racial card to push for their man.

"If their man is not selected they will perceive it as unfairness to their community," said the politician.

During campaigning, this disgruntled ethnic group will raise racial issues. "For example, they will say the Bajau is the majority community and you did not pick someone from my community because the party does not want the Bajaus," said Yong.

If the party internally pacified the disgruntled group, the scenario would not happen.

However, Nasrun said politicians could not make use of ethnic politics to win Silam.

"There are so many intermarriages among the communities that you have to be careful it might backfire," he said. "The other ethnic groups are listening."

It pays to tip-toe along racial fault lines to win Silam.

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