IT is the end of 2024, and next week, we will usher in the 25th year of the 21st century. I want to write about what makes me proud as a Malaysian from Sarawak.
I can think of no better icon to make us all proud than Petronas, our national oil corporation, which has been in the news lately.
Brand Finance said Petronas is the strongest oil and gas brand in the world in 2024.
It has become not just a national company but an international one as well, with a presence in 100 countries.
Thus it is unfortunate, as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim recently noted, that some, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, have labelled Petronas a peninsular company simply because it is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysians in Sabah and Sarawak may have a point in arguing that since the two states produce the bulk of the country's hydrocarbon resources, either one of them should host Petro-nas' head office.
After all, Canada's oil and gas capital is Calgary and the United States' is Houston, near where most of these countries' oil-and-gas activities are centred, and not in Toronto and New York City as premier financial centres.
Moreover, except for the MLNG complex in Bintulu, many of Petronas' related activities are built in non-oil-producing states such as Johor.
While Petronas may have valid reasons for spreading its activities around the country, an unfortunate perception has developed in Sabah and Sarawak that they remain the hinterland despite producing the bulk of the oil and gas in the country.
The perception that Petronas is somehow peninsular-centred must be addressed to avoid parochial sentiments in the Borneo states taking on a life of their own.
That said, regional sentiments, like those relating to race or religion, should be recognised and taken into consideration in the formulation of national policies.
I, for one, see no contradiction in being a proud Malaysian and a proud Sarawakian at the same time. The assertion of state rights and prerogatives in Sabah and Sarawak is an understandable response to perceived neglect by federal authorities. Some are justified but others not.
It behoves Sabahans and Sara-wakians to look inward and examine whether some of their states' policies and actions have also contributed to their remaining at the periphery rather than the centre of national life.
I struggle, for example, to come up with the name of a Sarawak corporation that can engender a sense of pride in being a Sarawa-kian that Petronas does for Malaysians.
The newly created Petros, the state's answer to Petronas, may do just that for Sarawakians.
Petros was born as the embodiment of the aspiration of Sarawa-kians that they can achieve greatness in the manner that Petronas has.
Sarawakians also want to see far more benefits such as employment opportunities in oil-and-gas and related activities accruing in the state, not just a greater share of revenues.
Whether that will happen depends on state authorities putting flesh to the oft-expressed aspiration that Sarawak is the epitome of harmony, inclusiveness, transparency and ease of doing business.
In that sense, much more work on intangible aspects needs to be done in Sarawak for residents to be proud of their own state.
The writer views developments in the nation, region and the wider world from his vantage point in Kuching.