S'wak Polls: Locals yearn development boost in 'sleepy' Engkilili

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

ENGKILILI, Dec 15 -- Upon entering Engkilili, a quaint town located about three hours from Kuching, Sheryl Crow's 1996 hit "A Change Would Do You Good" suddenly becomes an earworm.

The relatively quiet town, which got its name from a tree of the same name and is also one of the 24 polling districts in the Engkilili state constituency appeared in need of a development boost. 

A few minutes in conversation with local, Louis Chai, 36, and he was already nodding in agreement. Chai said Engkilili is in dire need of better amenities such as banking facilities including automated teller machines, new medical facilities and a steady water supply.

He said young people moved out of town due to lack of employment and also to continue their tertiary studies. 

“This town is now a place for the old, lacking development and no job opportunities. You have to go to Sri Aman or Kuching for that.

"It is about how you want to retain people to stay and work here. The town remains small and can’t possibly be like Betong and Lubok Antu. Just take a look at Lubok Antu, it has medical centres, hospitals… so why can’t this place have the same? Can this town be developed as well? he said. 

Chai, in fact, had returned to Engkilili from Kuala Lumpur just before the pandemic hit. He spent years away from this small town to study and work in Kuala Lumpur. 

He pointed out that Engkilili also lacks proper town planning and urged the authorities to take heed of what was needed to develop the town. 

“At the end of the day, the whole package of Engkilili is like ‘rojak’ (mishmashed), and there is nothing much. But life is life, you still have to survive. You find any opportunity you can and do your best to earn a living,” Chai said.  

Chai Thian Fhai, 56, who owns a restaurant in the town, said business was quite slow in Engkilili and this was further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with sales down by half.

"We can still do business, but things are only busy in the morning. By evening, there are no more customers. During the pandemic, no dine-in patrons, just ‘take home’ service,” said Chai, who is originally from Sri Aman and has been living in Engkilili for more than three decades. 

However, she said her business managed to stay afloat with help from the state government. 

Among measures announced by the state government to ease the burden of businesses in Sarawak was a special one-off financial assistance of RM3,000 for micro-enterprises in the state.

The financial assistance is expected to benefit approximately 24,600 micro-enterprises, which will be paid out by December this year, involving an expenditure of RM73.8 million.

Engkilili will come alive again, even if for a day, on Dec 18 when Sarawakians have their say in the 12th state election. 

Incumbent, Dr Johnical Rayong Ngipa of Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), will be defending the Engkilili seat that he won in 2016 under a Barisan Nasional ticket against in a four-cornered fight against Stel Datu (PBK), Desmond Sateng Sanjan (GPS) and Independent candidate Gemong Batu. 

-- BERNAMA