KUCHING, Oct 31: The late Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing was a paramount chief to the Dayak people who fought to protect their rights and welfare, says Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan.
“It is a sad day for all Dayaks who lost a leader of calibre. The people in Baleh and Rajang Basin will surely miss him. I sorely (sic) lost a friend,” he said.
Remembering Masing as a soft-spoken person, Voon said Masing was always a gentleman when dealing with opposition members of the August House.
Voon said Masing, as a senior politician, never lost his cool during debates and had been generous with giving guidance and pointers on how the opposition should see and target issues for the good of Sarawak.
“PBK is with the family of Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing to mourn their loss and we are also with the Dayak people who lost their paramount chief. Our condolences to his family,” he said in a statement today.
Meanwhile, Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo reminisced her encounter with Masing while the latter was still in opposition with the then Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS).
“The first time I met him, he was still in opposition with PBDS, having his office at Taman Sri Mall, and our group went for laksa breakfast, he loved Sarawak laksa. He was always a friendly, humble, soft spoken and caring person,” she said on a social media post today.
Even though the two, in latter years, stood on opposite sides of the political fence, Soo said Masing would still occasionally send private messages of support to her, if he deemed her statements hold merits.
“Our condolences to the family of (Tan Sri) Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing on their loss. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” Soo lamented. — DayakDaily
