Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. James Jemut Masing (5 March 1949 – 31 October 2021) was a Malaysian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as the

Deputy Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

, State Minister of Infrastructure and Ports Development of

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

under Chief Ministers

Adenan Satem Adenan bin Haji Satem (; 27 January 1944 – 11 January 2017), popularly known as Tok Nan, was a Malaysian politician who served as the fifth chief minister of Sarawak from March 2014 to his death in January 2017. During his tenure, Adenan he ...

and

Abang Abdul Rahman Johari Abang Openg Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Abang Openg (born 4 August 1950), also known as Abang Johari or Abang Jo, is a Malaysian politician who has served as the sixth and current Premier of Sarawak since 2017. A member of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersat ...

as well as Member of the

Sarawak State Legislative Assembly The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly is the legislative chamber of the unicameral legislature of the Malaysian state of Sarawak; the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak forms the other part of the legislature. The Assembly is modelled after th ...

(MLA) for Baleh from May 2016, January 2017 and December 1983 to his death in October 2021 respectively. He was a member of the Parti Bangsa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) and later

Parti Rakyat Sarawak Sarawak Peoples' Party ( Malay: ''Parti Rakyat Sarawak''; abbrev: PRS) is a multiracialist & nationalist political party in Sarawak. The party was founded in the wake of the de-registration of the Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak and later Sarawa ...

(PRS), a component party of the ruling

Gabungan Parti Sarawak The Gabungan Parti Sarawak (abbreviation, abbrev: GPS; English: Sarawak Parties Alliance) is a Sarawak-based national political alliance in Malaysia. It was established in 2018 by four former Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties operating so ...

(GPS) coalition. He also served as President of PRS from its founding in March 2004 to his death in October 2021.

Background

Masing born on 5 March 1949 at Baleh, Kapit,

, was an ethnic

Iban IBAN or Iban or Ibán may refer to: Banking * International Bank Account Number Ethnology * Iban culture * Iban language The Iban language () is spoken by the Iban, one of the Dayak ethnic groups who live in Brunei, the Indonesian provinc ...

and a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Masing had studied and graduated with B.A. in Education in 1975 from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, New Zealand under the Colombo Plan Scholarship. He also received both his M.A. in 1978 and Ph.D. in

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

in 1981 from

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, the first Iban to achieve that.

Political career

Masing started his political career when he joined and climbed to be the Vice-President of the now defunct

Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak The Sarawak Native People's Party or (PBDS, lit. "Sarawak Dayak People's Party") was a political party in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It was established in 1983, by Datuk Amar Leo Moggie Irok, after seceding from Sarawak National Party ( ...

(PBDS) before becoming the co-founding and 1st President of the Sarawak Peoples' Party or ''Parti Rakyat Sarawak'' (PRS) since 2004 until 2021. Even though he never became a federal Member of Parliament (MP), Masing had served for eight consecutive terms as MLA for Baleh under the two parties from 1983 to 2021. He also rose to be the Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak from 2016 to his death in 2021. He could have contested and perhaps have defended the Baleh seat for the ninth consecutive time if not because of the deferment of a supposedly earlier

2021 Sarawak state election The 2021 Sarawak state election, formally the 12th Sarawak general election, took place on 18 December 2021. This election was to elect 82 members of the 19th Sarawak State Legislative Assembly. The previous assembly was dissolved on 3 November ...

due to 2021 state of emergencies, arising from the 2020–21 political crisis and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, as well as his untimely death.

Controversies

Masing's reported political persecution of disabled Dayaks and his admission that he and his deputy sought inducements for Native Customary Lands (NCR) exploitation for plantations in 2012. He had also benefited from lucrative Belian timber concessions, huge state contracts, plantation licences on NCR, a partnership with an international oil company and a prized car dealership licence. The Forest Department's information reveals the timber concessions in the Baram were handed out to key political associates of state

Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional (BN; ) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1974 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties to succeed the Alliance Party. It is the third largest political coalition with 30 seats in ...

(BN) including Governor

Abdul Taib Mahmud Abdul Taib bin Mahmud (; 21 May 1936 – 21 February 2024) was a Malaysian politician who served as the seventh Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak from 2014 to 2024 and the fourth Chief Minister of Sarawak from 1981 to 2014. He is referred to a ...

, local Baram MP, Jacob Dungau Sagan and even his wife Corinne Masing was one of the beneficiaries. His extravangant wealth and luxury mansion had also led to the corruption suspicions as well as allegations. Masing who was Sarawak's Land Development Minister then, had been blamed for not protecting the NCR lands where Dayak natives who have been residing, carrying out agriculture and traditional living activities in a particular NCR region for generations, which they are granted such NCR lands ownership, albeit the land legally belongs to the state and without a physical individual title. In 2013, Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) reproached, had urged all Dayaks to accept an announcement of a RM30 million fund by the Prime Minister for NCR land perimeter survey under Section 6 of the State Land Code exercise which would keep the NCR as communal reserves land. In 2020 again, Gabungan Anak Sarawak (GASAK) rebuked Masing over the sale of NCR land in Sarawak and comments the natives would become landless if their NCR lands are being surveyed under Section 18 of the State Land Code which instead will allow individual Dayaks owners to have individual titles, rights and authority over that NCR land. Masing was told not to treat the Dayaks as second class Bumiputera and stop making them only ordinary farmers, when he should have been leading the community towards prosperity rather than taking care of the interests of the cronies and the state government under

(GPS).

Personal life

He was first married to Fiona Frances Masing née Henderson in 1977, but they had divorced in 1989. Together the couple have two daughters, Dr Anna Sulan Masing born in 1981 and Rachel Lian Masing in 1983. He married again for the second time in 1992 to Corrine Masing née Bua Nyipa, also known as Connie with whom he had three more children; Karen Julan Masing, Ashley Layo Masing and Emma Maria Masing.

Death

On 28 September 2021, fully vaccinated Masing tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Sarawak General Hospital (SGH). He was later transferred to Normah Sarawak Medical Centre (NSMC) in Petra Jaya after his condition deteriorated from Stage 3 to Stage 5, where he succumbed to various complications at 7.05 a.m., on 31 October at the age of 72. Further COVID-19 screening test result conducted on his body reported that he died of post-COVID heart conditions. His remains were brought to his residence at Jalan Ong Tiang Swee for

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

, service and wake arrangement according to the

standard operating procedure (SOP). On 3 November, the remains were transferred to the Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS), Jalan Stampin as a ceremony held at Christian Ecumenical Worship Centre for the public to pay their last respects to the late politician. Among the dignitaries present were Chief Minister

Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Abang Openg Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Abang Openg (born 4 August 1950), also known as Abang Johari or Abang Jo, is a Malaysian politician who has served as the sixth and current Premier of Sarawak since 2017. A member of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersat ...

and his deputy

Douglas Uggah Embas Douglas Uggah Embas (born 28 July 1956) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Deputy Premier of Sarawak since 2016. He has been Member of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Bukit Saban since 2016, having previously been M ...

. Masing's remains and coffin was later taken to the Nirvana Memorial Park in Siniawan, Kuching-Bau Road for the

last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. The Commendation of the Dying is practiced in liturgical Chri ...

whereas a short Christian funeral service in Iban was held before burial and being laid to rest.

Election results

, , Lucius Jimbon (SNAP) , 528 , 9.01% , 5,956 , 4,802 , 61.20% , - ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, , , James Jemut Masing (

PRS PRS or prs may refer to: Science and technology * Peripheral Reflex System, an implementation of autonomous peripheral operations in microcontrollers * Personal response system, in audience response * Phenotypic response surfaces, in medicine * P ...

) , align=5,242 , 79.59% , , , Bendindang Manjah ( PKR) , align=1,344 , 20.41% , 6,684 , 3,898 , 59.22% , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , , James Jemut Masing (

) , align=5,272 , 91.67% , , , Agop Linsong ( DAP) , align=479 , align=8.33% , 5,820 , 4,793 , 60.47%

Honours

Awards and recognitions

* Guinness Stout Effort Award, 1982. * Jaycees Malaysia Award, 1986.

Honours of Malaysia

* : **

Commander of the

Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country and awarded by the sovereign. The order was instituted on 15 April 1966 and gazetted on 30 June 1966 ...

(PSM) – Tan Sri (2011) * : ** Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of Hornbill Sarawak (DA) – Datuk Amar (2013) ** MY-SAR Order of the Star of Sarawak - 2 ribbon PNBS -JBS-PBS-ABS-BBS

MY-SAR Order of the Star of Sarawak - 2 ribbon PNBS -JBS-PBS-ABS-BBS

Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of Sarawak (PNBS) – Dato Sri (1998)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masing, James Jemut 1949 births 2021 deaths Iban people Malaysian Christians Malaysian political party founders Leaders of political parties in Malaysia Parti Rakyat Sarawak politicians Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak politicians Deputy chief ministers of Sarawak Members of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Victoria University of Wellington alumni Australian National University alumni Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of Hornbill Sarawak Knights Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia 21st-century Malaysian politicians