I saw how the indigenous communities in Belaga were forced to be resettled with little compensation, some of which have never been paid.Īs I understood better, I saw how the state of Sarawak, despite its apparent beauty and wealth, has been neglected and discriminated against by the BN government, resulting in Sarawakians being among the poorest in Malaysia.Īnd now, I see the freedom of the people - freedom to speak, freedom to assemble as well as freedom of religion - restricted and constrained by an authoritarian government.Īs a result, I promised my parents that I'll do them proud, and will do my very best to fulfil their dreams of change in our motherland. I saw how the helpless Penan women were robbed of their dignity. My parents named me "Ubah" because they felt, and were inspired, by the winds of change blowing throughout the country and placed their hopes on me to be an agent of change in our beloved state.Īs I flew over the skies of Sarawak when I was growing up, I saw for myself how the authorities were raping the forests, destroying precious lives and livelihoods, and stealing the wealth of our future generations.
I was born soon after the 308 general election. :-) And for those who may not know, I'm a Rhinoceros hornbill and can grow up to four feet long! I was born in Sarawak, of course, and I have a big family all over the state! There's a reason why it's called the Land of the Hornbills. Malaysiakini: Tell us about yourself and how you got involved in politics. The responses have been edited for language and brevity. Too could not resist and called out the bird in an email interview.īelow are the excerpts. While the mascot clearly has to put up with the numerous "Angry Bird" puns - a popular game first available on the iPhone. On the cyber front, Ubah even has its own Facebook page and Twitter account, often posting photos of itself at DAP functions in Sarawak. Ubah merchandise, ranging from plush toys to buttons, are flying off the shelves while stiff party leaders turn giggly at press conferences when asked to pose with the mascot. Since then, the mascot has appeared to have taken a life of its own. DAP, in the coming Sarawak state election, has deployed a hornbill called Ubah (Malay word for change). The species may need all that luck for their continued existence as the pristine rainforests that the rhinoceros hornbill needs to survive are being cut down at an alarming rate.Never before has political campaigning in Malaysia become this cute.Īrguably, it is one of the most adorable - and probably the only - mascot used by any political party in the country. In Asia, rhinoceros hornbills are considered a symbol of great loyalty and as a bringer of luck. As soon as the young are fledged, the parents break open the cavity, and they all leave the protective nest. If anything happens to him during this time, the entire family will starve. The male has the task of bringing food for all the occupants of the tree nest. While she is sitting on her eggs, she is in moult and becomes flightless. The female stays walled up in her “prison” for three months. This wall becomes so hard that after the incubation period the birds have difficulty breaking it open again. After mating, the female lays one or two eggs in a hollow tree trunk and closes the entrance from within using a mix of food, dung, and wood chips, leaving only a small slit open. Like all hornbills, rhinoceros hornbills are famous for their nesting habits. The tip of the beak is used like a finger to pluck fruit from the trees the serrated edges are use to grasp and tear apart animal prey. Its most striking feature is its large, curved beak with a distinctive, bulging casque of light bone tissue. It is native to the rainforests of Southeast Asia, far from human influence, where it feeds on fruit and hunts small lizards. The rhinoceros hornbill can reach 90 centimeters in length and weigh nearly three kilograms, making it one of the largest representatives of the hornbill family. Even the hornbill’s prey, which is a small flying dragon, is an original. Circa 1833.Īttention to detail was a high priority in the restoration of this historic diorama in 2010.
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