Temenggong for another two years

MEET Datuk Wan Hamid Edruce, 77, Datuk Vincent Lau, 67, and Stanley Geramong, 56. At their age, it seems that they belong to a senior citizens’ club. But they don’t.

They are the Temenggong or paramount community leaders of their respective communities in Sarawak’s Sibu division.

As frontliners, they are at the disposal of the Sibu Resident’s Office and district office. (Sarawak’s administrative divisions are headed by a Resident.)

Wan Hamid takes care of the Malay-Melanau community, Lau looks after the Chinese while Stanley is the Temenggong for the Iban.

The trio are the go-to men for advice and assistance related to everyday issues and problems faced by their communities, which are different from one another.

For instance, the Iban community mainly faces land issues, which are less common among the other two communities.

The three Temenggong recently had their term extended for another two years. This was due to their credible record, according to Sibu Resident Datuk Wong Hee Sieng.

“They were reappointed by the Sarawak government due to their excellent performance. They are also in good health and can perform their role with full responsibility,” he said.

Bukit Assek assemblyman Joseph Chieng concurred with Wong.

“For the past years, their reputation and performance have been very good, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Chieng stressed that the role of community leaders such as Temenggong is relevant and important, especially in strengthening unity among the different races.

“As the leader for each race, they should help to promote the culture of their own race. They should also try to promote the government’s policies to their people as Sarawak is aiming to become a developed state by 2030,” he said.

Wan Hamid, who is as fit as a fiddle, exercises regularly by walking in the park.

“I have been serving the position for the past 24 years. I will continue to do my best in line with the Sarawak government’s aspiration of making the state one of the most developed by 2030,” he said.

Like the other Temenggong, Wan Hamid has other community leaders like Pemanca, Penghulu and Kapitan under him.

“I don’t actually have a hard time as I only need to be on time and be there when people call for my assistance,” he said.

Wan Hamid also said that his community in Sibu is not facing any major problems.

“We have been working closely together with the other communities and we believe we can go further,” he said, adding that he had been close friends with fellow Temenggong Lau for many years.

Lau, who has been a Temenggong for 15 years, said it is up to the people to judge his performance.

“But I can say that Chinese community leaders are very hardworking, committed and united. I say this because whenever there is any mobilisation of community leaders, we will always be there for the people,” he said.

He added that as frontliners, community leaders played a similar role to elected representatives in disseminating government policies to the people.

“We will try to explain government policies to the people. We always try to create a stable society. We are also there to communicate the issues faced by the people to the authorities concerned,” he said.

Stanley, on the other hand, mostly has land issues to attend to.

“The Iban community also has problems, especially on land dispute matters. However, we can solve them through the proper channels,” he said.

He said he looks forward to his community working together with the other communities as “Anak Sarawak”.