The Students for Penan Awareness Program

Welcome to SPAP

2009-11-04T20:49:00.001+08:00

[UPDATE: WE WILL BE BACK IN ACTION IN DECEMBER, CHECK REGULARLY FOR UPDATES!]

Welcome to the official blog of the Students For Penan Awareness Program (SPAP). We hope you can participate in this program and become a social activist for this cause, in the name of volunteerism and humanity!

WHO?

SPAP is a project created by Malaysian secondary school and college students for all Malaysian students .

WHAT?

SPAP is a new project that has been created to alert young Malaysians (and beyond) about

the injustice and issues that afflict the Penan people of East Malaysia.

WHY?

The Penan are one of the many ethnic groups in Sarawak, but are particularly marginalised and taken advantage of. They are one of the last nomadic tribes in the world, but rapid deforestation and the lack of governmental attention is pushing the Penan people and their culture into disappearance.

HOW?

We are going to alert Malaysian youths, since if affects the people of their country and they are the most influential and energetic members of society. Participate in this project and get your school/college/university involved! We will give you materials (posters) free of charge. Then organise activities such as one-day fasts, discussions, signature drives and mural painting with thumbprints to get it going. Anything thats creative and raises awareness. We'll help you!

WHERE?

All this will happen in your schools, colleges and universities. Don't forget to spread the news through word of mouth!

WHEN?

We're ancitipating this to happen as soon as possible, starting in October. The project should be in full-swing starting in January 2010!

Participate in SPAP!

2009-09-19T02:32:00.002+08:00

Participation in this program is free. Taking part means involving yourself (and preferably a group of friends) in organizing activism activities in your school/institution. After all, the idea is to tell people about the issue. So, just how does this program work? Well:

Materials such as posters and leaflets will be distributed to your institutions to be displayed in central locations. This is to briefly tell people about the issue.
Advocacy day; spread the news about this project and designate one day in your school/institution to tell people about the Penan people or any social/humanitarian/environmental issue that concerns you.
Any other activities that you can think of! A one-day fast at school, creating murals with finger prints... anything that will generate awareness. Remember to have fun!

Be A Volunteer!

2009-09-18T22:54:00.004+08:00

Volunteers play important roles in running the Students for Penan Awareness Program. We will need your help in making this project a success! Try your hand at social activism and lend your voice to the Penan people.

[4/11/2009] Now Calling For Volunteers In:

Creative department; designers to design posters that will be distributed to all participant schools. Also, people who can generate ideas for project activities.
Publicity department; individuals to blog and inform others about the project.
Individuals to represent the project in their school/institution. Will carry out the project, distribute materials, and become person of reference for the project in their school/institution.

Take part in SPAP now! E-mail projectspap@gmail.com for more information.

Learn more about the issue

2009-09-18T17:32:00.002+08:00

Here are some useful links to learn more about the issue that the Penans face. Also get informed about the latest news and developments on the Penan issue.

Rengah Sarawak: This is a great place to stay up to date with the latest developments about what the Penans and the government are doing.

The Bruno Manser Fund: An organisation founded by Swiss activist Bruno Manser. Dedicated to protecting the forests of Borneo.

Survival International: The international tribal rights advocacy organisation, Survival International, gives its attention to the Penan people of Sarawak.

Invitation Letter

2009-09-18T16:43:00.015+08:00

Here is the e-mail which initially sent out to announce the creation of SPAP. This is your invitation too! Participate in Students for Penan Awareness. Send this to your friends to get them interested.

Hey everybody! I hope everyone is doing great. I'd like to wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya and an awesome week ahead. Anyway, I am sending this e-mail to invite you all to participate in an awareness project I am starting.

I am starting the Students for Penan Awareness Program (SPAP) , and I hope it catches your interest. It is a project that is aimed to alert people our age in Malaysian secondary schools/institutions about the plight of the Penan people, apart from giving people a taste of social activism in the spirit of volunteerism. It is affiliated with the People to People International Student Chapter of Kuala Lumpur (Sri KDU).

You may have heard about the Penans in the popular press lately. They are an ethnic group belonging to Sarawak that have long lived in the forests, but they are now coming under threat by certain multinational logging companies. Although much of this logging is illegal, the Sarawakian state government allows and subsequently profits from illegal logging. The Penans have opposed this, but are threatened and harassed by logging workers. Rapes, physical abuse, and even murder are ways certain logging companies, through logging workers, traumatise the Penans to keep silent.

Because corrupt officials in the Sarawakian government receive so much money from illegal logging, they are reluctant to help the Penan people. With 90% of Sarawak’s primary forest destroyed, many Penans are forced to live different lifestyles, unable to find their food and tools in the jungles. Limited aid reaches these Penans and they are still largely dependent on non-governmental aid.

The time now is a window for us to help the Penan people. Before larger initiatives that will change their lives can happen, more people have to know that this issue is at its grave state. So now, I am inviting all of you to take part in the Students for Penan Awareness Program. As the young generation, we have the power of influence among our peers. SPAP hopes to spark awareness amongst young people so that like-minded people can plan for future action.

Materials such as posters and leaflets will be distributed to your institutions to be displayed in central locations. This is to briefly tell people about the issue.
Advocacy day; spread the news about this project and designate one day in your school/institution to tell people about the Penan people or any social/humanitarian/environmental issue that concerns you.
Any other activities that you can think of! A one-day fast at school, creating murals with finger prints... anything that will generate awareness. Remember to have fun!

Apart from advocating for awareness in your institutions, you can also help out with taking posts and jobs within the Students for Penan Awareness Program. We will need help with creating designs for our posters, ideas for activities, and people to maintain our/blog. We have many vacancies in the Student for Penan Awareness Program team, join us!

Participating in this project will give you experience in social advocacy and hopefully spark your interest in other humanitarian issues as well. This is also a good cause to volunteer for! Interested? Forward this to your friends who may be interested too!

Thank you people!

Mark Chan,

Head Coordinator,

Students for Penan Awareness Program

The jist of the issue

2009-09-18T16:21:00.003+08:00

The Penans have long depended on the jungles of Sarawak for many aspects of their lives. Now, with intense logging activities (of which much is illegal) that decimate the lands of Sarawak, the Penans have lost much of their hunting grounds and living spaces. The Sarawakian government, which is the very institution that could curb illegal deforestation, has instead turned a blind eye. Officials with links to certain logging multinationals profit from corruption.

Previously, the Sarawakian government has not given their plight much attention. But with the advent of awareness among people, there is a greater realisation among society that the Penans are in dire straits. On the 17th of September, the Sarawakian government has even come to a consencus with the Penans. Among them, the government promised to:

Build clinics, kindergartens and schools for clusters of Penan settlements with 4 to 5 villages
Provide electrical and water supply to Penan settlements
Get the National Registration Department speed up issuance of birth certificates and MyKads to Penans

More can still be done to adress the issue of harassment, rape and murder cases committed against Penan people by loggign workers. Yet, this shows that awareness does indeed have influence over the situation! If we continue to advocate for this issue, more and more governmental intiatives will be taken to improve the lives of the Penan people.