ROSE will be organizing a series of public talks and forum at the end of this month to be presented in roadshow-style at three (3) different locations namely Siburan, Petra Jaya and in Kuching city.

The recently concluded General elections which resulted in a change of government for the first time in Malaysian history has been said to be a testament to people’s power in bringing this about despite obstacles thrown in their way like an unexplained mid-week voting day. Naturally the sentiments of the rakyat post 509 is high and there appears to be a greater interest and willingness by common folks, young and old to discuss the subject of politics and good governance. Of course the change of federal government and season of transition also evokes not just excitement and hope but anxieties as well.  For example, people were watching out anxiously for the full cabinet members to be revealed by the new PM, young people in general are keen to get themselves registered as voters and so forth.

In order to tap into this heightened sense of awareness of people’s power, these talks ending with a finale forum will help members of interested public have a better understanding of what had transpired nationally including Sarawak during the GE14. Although the PH government secured majority seats in Parliament, the coalition did not win the  popular vote. It has also been reported that only 30% of the Malay- Muslim voting population supported PH compared with the 70% who did not. Other than voting trends and what impact these might have on the coming Sarawak State elections due in 2021, the second objective of ROSE is to explore how voters and citizens in general can engage and participate in the process of building a new Malaysia and to tap on to the wider democratic spaces that we now appear to have.   

We have invited Associate Prof Dr Faisal S. Hazis  a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He is also the Head of Centre for Asian Studies at the Institute. He will be speaking at EACH of the scheduled talks and finale forum. Dr Faisal specializes in electoral studies, democratization and rural informatics. He is also a prolific researcher and writer and some of his more recent work or research included strengthening and building the capacities of civil societies here in Sarawak. His more significant publications are:

Patronage, Power and Prowess: Barisan Nasional’s Equilibrium Dominance in East Malaysia’ (2015),

Malaysia in 2014: A Year of Political and Social Ferment’ (2015),

‘Politics and Local Government in Sarawak’ (2013) and

‘Domination and Contestation: Muslim Bumiputera Politics in Sarawak’ (2012).

He is a life member of ALIRAN, a reform movement dedicated to justice, freedom and solidarity. Apart from that, Dr Faisal is also a committee member of Pergerakan Tenaga Akademik Malaysia (GERAK) and a life member of the Malaysian Social Science Association.

Other than Dr Faisal, newly minted MPs for Puncak Borneo, YB Willie Monggin will join Dr Faisal for the talk in Siburan.

On Sat evening (30^th June) Dr Faisal and Puan Nurhanim Mokhsen, Sarawak PKR Women’s Chief who had contested in the Tupong seat during the last state elections shall be making their presentations.

Another newly minted MP for Bandar Kuching Dr Kelvin Yii from the DAP and who is also the Publicity Chief for PH Youth Sarawak will be one of the panelists at the Forum on Sunday afternoon alongside Dr Faisal. 

Last but not least, YB See Chee How, Sarawak PKR Vice-Chair and now a 2^nd term ADUN will be amongst the panelists for the Forum. YB See is also a land rights lawyer and a lifelong supporter of indigenous communities and is a columnist for Borneo Post.

Below are the details for each talk/forum.

The Organizing Committee invites all members of the public to come and attend  any one OR all of the talks at the different locations. All 3 events will be conducted in BM and entry is FOC. If readers or members of the public have any inquiries they may email to [email protected] or contact Ann at 016-8604998

ROSE is an NGO that was inspired and established four 4 years ago after  GE13 and led by ordinary people. Our vision is to build a society that engages and participates in the  democratic process - which is needed for the progress of the nation. Our tagline is “If not now, when; if not you then who?”.

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Dated 21st June 2018

Media Contact person : Ann Teo 016-8604998