Malaysia Regime Ouster Hinges on Borneo as Radio Aids Opposition
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At 7 p.m. on the Malaysian side of Borneo island, Luang Entiyang turns the dial on a transistor radio in search of an anti-government talk show as about a dozen villagers sit cross-legged on the floor waiting to listen.
Similar meetings occur daily across the jungles of Sarawak, Malaysia’s biggest state and one that has underpinned the ruling Barisan Nasional alliance’s 55-year hold on national power. The two-hour broadcast by U.K.-based Radio Free Sarawak, in which villagers call in to tell stories of land-grabs by palm oil companies, aided by local officials, has helped to pry loose Entiyang and other lifelong BN backers since it began in 2010.