The Smell Of Taib's Greed

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

WAKE UP & SMELL THE PALM OIL!

WHAT RAINFOREST?

36 minutes
English/Malay/Iban with English Subtitles
Produced by Hilary Chiew and Chi Too

Synopsis:

When oil palm barons began encroaching on their native customary rights (NCR) land with claims of buyovers sanctioned by the government, the families in Kampung Lebur, near Kuching in Sarawak, were devastated.

One man stood his ground. Segan anak Degon was the only one of 101 families who managed to hold off an oil palm plantation from replacing his ancestral patch of forest which included his paddy field and fruit trees planted by his forefathers.

Like his fellow villagers, the forest was the sole source of livelihood for Segan and his wife. But unlike his fellow villagers, Segan fought... and won. And this is his story.

An independent review of What Rainforest?:

It had all the necessary ingredients of a thrilling Hollywood blockbuster:
A stoic hero and his long-suffering wife.
Ruthless land-grabbing corporations.

A plot that wove a tale of David minus his slingshot versus Goliath.

Of conviction of strength in the face of greed, gangsters and cockamamie policies.

And also a credible supporting cast and beautiful long-range and wide angle shots of one of the world’s oldest rainforests.

But What Rainforest? neither thrilled nor entertained.

Of course, the co-producers of this 36-minute documentary – Hilary Chiew and Chi Too – never intended for it to. Instead, they succeeded all too well in making you burn as you watch the outright trampling of the basic rights of the indigenous Iban folk and their ancestral lands.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST THIS WANTON ABUSE OF OUR INDIGENOUS KINFOLK AND THEIR ANCIENT LANDS!