Village in Lahad Datu gives an interesting insight into political developments after the intrusion.

ON the day security forces launched Ops Daulat against the Sulu gunmen holed up in Kampung Tanduo, a village head told villagers living about 100km away to matikan lampu (switch off lights) at night.

The Kampung Rancangan Silabukan P.K.T 3 village head was afraid that Sulu gunmen might invade the village which is about 20km from Lahad Datu town.

The villagers were also spooked.

It was announced on TV that Malaysians should inform the police if they saw suspicious characters.

“The police gave a list of police stations – where locals can report such information – including the one in my village,” recalled a 40-something Suluk villager who refused to be identified.

“Silabukan River, which is on the fringe of our village, is a big river. The rumour among the villagers was mundu (a Suluk word for pirate) would enter the river and blow up the (concrete) bridge linking Lahad Datu and Tungku.”

Every night the village was pitch dark.

“We didn’t switch on the light, television and radio or sang karaoke. We just sat in darkness in our house. We were afraid,” the villager recalled.

Seven nights later, confident their life was not in danger, the villagers switched on the lights in their house.

Kampung Rancangan Silabukan P.K.T 3 is not far from the Celebes sea.

It is about a 45-minute boat ride from Tawi Tawi where the gunmen boarded wooden boats to journey to Sabah.

The village is a notorious landing point for mundus, cigarette smugglers, drug traffickers and illegal immigrants.

It was established in the 1970s during the Tun Mustapha Harun era as part of a Sabah Land Development Board grand plan to develop the once timber area into oil palm plantations.

Most of the villagers own 4ha to 6ha of oil palm land a few kilometres from their home.

Depending on the price of palm oil and size of their land, they earn between RM2,500 and RM7,000 a month.

Judging from the size of houses and cars parked in their compound, it is obvious that half of the villagers are middle class.

But unlike their middle class counterparts in Petaling Jaya, they have to rely on the 1Malaysia blue plastic tank for water.

“There are water pipes in my village. But we’re still waiting for running water,” said the Suluk man.

The village is an Umno stronghold.

In the 2008 polls, 75% of 1,000 voters in the village voted for the Umno/Barisan Nasional Tungku state seat candidate.

“It is hard to penetrate this village,” said Leksun Injil, Silam PKR deputy chief, who owns a home in Kampung Rancangan Silabukan P.K.T 3.

Leksun was my (political) tour guide to his village.

I visited the Umno stronghold as I was curious to know whether political sentiment had changed after the invasion of the Sulu armed group.

Leksun hopes the Sulu invasion will soften the “hard to penetrate” ground of the Umno stronghold.

“Before when we handed out our PKR leaflets, we knew that about 70% of those receiving it would tear or throw the leaflets,” he said.

“Now we estimate that 90% of them are reading our leaflets.”

Still he concedes that most of the villagers, especially from the Bugis community who makes the bulk of the voters, will be voting for the ruling party.

“The Bugis will vote for Barisan as they think that only Barisan can protect them from such armed intrusion. They think if BN loses, Sabah will be destroyed,” he said.

However, Leksun feels that the other villagers who are Suluk, Bajau, Dusun and Idaan are wavering towards the Opposition.

“Some are asking why the government allowed these armed men to enter their house (Sabah),” he said.

But, he admits the morale among his PKR members is low especially when they watch TV news that their party leaders had allegedly masterminded the Sulu invasion.

“Some members have lowered the PKR flag in their house as they don’t want to be blamed for the incident,” he said.

“There are also villagers who have torn our flags as they think our party is connected to the Sulu invasion.”

Asked how his Suluk community perceived the armed intrusion in Kampung Tanduo where many Suluks (or Tausugs as they are called in Philippines) were killed, Leksun said it depended on the generation they came from.

“Those born in Sabah are happy that we killed the terrorists,” said the 50-something Suluk.

“But for those 60 and above and who were born in the Philippines, they are saddened.”

He added: “This is the generation of Suluk who have links with their relatives in Philippines whereas the second generation has lost that connection”.

Earlier, in a coffee shop in Lahad Datu town, Umno member Hamid Khamis said politics in Lahad Datu would not change despite the Sulu invasion.

“Those who are with Barisan, will be with Barisan,” he said.

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