Sarawak flush with cash but failing its poor, says DAP rep

Free Malaysia Today

Chong Chieng Jen says oil and gas wealth isn’t lifting lives, with Sarawakians still among Malaysia’s poorest despite living in the top revenue-earning state.   Read More:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/07/09/sarawak-flush-with-cash-but-failing-its-poor-says-dap-rep   Laporan Lanjut:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2025/07/09/sarawak-kaya-raya-tapi-gagal-bantu-rakyat-miskin-dakwa-wakil-dap   Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com  Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5  Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM  Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h  Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp  Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX  Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb  Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj  Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Download FMT News App:  Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46  App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ  Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP   #FMTNews #Sarawak #ChongChiengJen

Transcript

00:00A rich state with poor people.

00:03This is how Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chiang Jien described the state when highlighting

00:08the glaring disconnect between its vast wealth and the poverty faced by many of its people.

00:14The biggest irony in Sarawak is that Sarawak government's revenue is the richest, highest

00:20amongst all the states.

00:23Sarawak government's revenue is around 14B, yet that does not translate into the income

00:31of the people.

00:32Sarawak recorded a revenue of RM14.187 billion in 2024, the highest in the state's history.

00:41In comparison, Selangor recorded RM2.8 billion in state revenue, while Penang brought in RM810.46

00:48million.

00:50Yet according to the statistics department, as of July 2023, Sarawak had the third highest

00:55poverty rate in the country at 10.8% behind Sabah and Kelantan.

01:01Chong attributed the state's social inequality to two things, a fundamental failure in governance

01:07and a lack of equitable wealth distribution.

01:10The free education is provided to only those studying in the four universities owned by the

01:17state government.

01:18If you go to study other private universities in the country or outside the country, the

01:25government will not provide for it.

01:27With 14 billion of revenue, definitely you can afford to provide tertiary education to all

01:37Sarawakians, regardless whether they are studying in Sarawak government-owned universities.

01:45Another example of what Chong called wasteful spending was the construction of a flagpole

01:50near the state legislative assembly building in Petrajaya, which reportedly cost RM30 million.

01:56He said that with such indiscreet spending, Sarawak needs a stronger opposition to provide a check

02:03and oversight on the state.

02:07Nairam Tharaja, FMT.

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