Baru Bian

Summary

Baru Bian is a Lun Bawang lawyer-turned-politician who has represented the Ba'kelalan state constituency in Sarawak since 2011, currently under the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), a component of the GPS ruling coalition. He served as Malaysia's Minister of Works from 2018 to 2020 under the Pakatan Harapan administration — the first Lun Bawang to hold a federal ministerial post — and concurrently as MP for Selangau until 2022. He is best known for over two decades of litigation defending Native Customary Rights land in Sarawak courts, including the landmark 2001 Rumah Nor Nyawai High Court ruling.

Biography

Baru Bian (born 9 September 1958 in Long Lopeng, Sarawak) is a Malaysian lawyer and politician of Lun Bawang heritage who has served as Member of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Ba'kelalan since April 2011 [1]. He obtained a Diploma in Law from Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM), Shah Alam, before completing a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 1986 [1]. After returning to Malaysia, he was admitted to the Malayan Bar and by 1990 became a partner in the firm of Messrs Anthony Ting, Baru Bian & Co. in Kuching [1]. He built his legal reputation over more than two decades by litigating Native Customary Rights (NCR) land cases in Sarawak courts, winning the landmark Rumah Nor Nyawai case in the Sarawak High Court in 2001 — the first time in Malaysian judicial history that NCR rights were upheld [1]. A Federal Court decision in 2007 further affirmed that ruling [1]. He entered politics through Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) in 1987, later joined PKR in 2008, and was elected Sarawak PKR chairman in 2009 [1]. He won Ba'kelalan in 2011 and retained it in 2016 and 2021. He served as Minister of Works under the Pakatan Harapan federal government from July 2018 to February 2020, becoming the first Lun Bawang to hold a federal ministerial portfolio [2]. He also served concurrently as MP for Selangau from May 2018 to November 2022. Following the 2020 political crisis, he resigned from PKR and subsequently joined Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) on 30 May 2020 [2]. After PSB dissolved and merged with PDP in April 2024, Baru was appointed Vice President of PDP [3]. He currently sits in the GPS government bloc in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly.

Known for

Baru Bian is known principally for his decades-long legal work defending Native Customary Rights (NCR) land in Sarawak, representing indigenous communities against logging and plantation interests [2]. He is the first Lun Bawang politician to serve as a federal minister, having held the Works portfolio under the Pakatan Harapan administration from 2018 to 2020 [2]. His political career has spanned multiple parties — PBDS, SNAP, PKR, PSB, and now PDP — reflecting his primary orientation towards Sarawak native rights over coalition alignment.

Political positions

Baru Bian has consistently championed the legal recognition of Native Customary Rights (NCR) land for Sarawak's indigenous communities, a position he maintained across multiple party memberships over three decades [1]. As MLA for Ba'kelalan, he has advocated for better education and healthcare facilities in rural Sarawak and called for deployment of the Sarawak Wealth Fund to improve development and wealth distribution across the state [1]. On federal alignment, he urged Sarawak's premier and GPS not to partner with Perikatan Nasional after GE15, citing the need to preserve Sarawak's multiracial and multireligious harmony [2]. He has also spoken in the Sarawak State Assembly in support of updating the list of Sarawak natives to ensure children of mixed marriages are recognised as native, arguing that failure to do so would erode native status over generations [3]. Following PSB's dissolution and merger with PDP in April 2024, Baru now sits on the GPS government side of the Sarawak State Assembly [3].

Education

1. 1979–1981Served as a temporary teacher at SMK Medamit, Limbang, after completing secondary education at Kolej Tun Datu Tuanku Haji Bujang, Miri.⛓
2. Early 1980sCompleted a Diploma in Law (DIL) at Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM), Shah Alam, Selangor.⛓
3. 1986Obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of Melbourne, Australia.⛓

Before politics

1. 1988–1990Admitted to the Malayan Bar after completing legal training at Rashid & Lee and Eddy Chung & Co; returned to Kuching and became a partner at Messrs Anthony Ting, Baru Bian & Co. by 1990.⛓
2. 1992Set up his own law firm, Messrs Baru Bian, in Kuching, specialising in Native Customary Rights (NCR) land cases.⛓

Political career

1. 1987Joined Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), which was advocating NCR rights in Sarawak.⛓
2. 1989Elected as PBDS Youth Executive Council member; later became a supreme council member of PBDS.⛓
3. 1991Contested the Lawas parliamentary seat under the PBDS ticket in the Sarawak state election but lost.⛓
4. September 2004Resigned from PBDS and contested the Ba'kelalan state by-election as an independent candidate following the death of incumbent Dr Judson Sakai Tagal; lost to BN's Nelson Balang Rining.⛓
5. 2006Contested Ba'kelalan under the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) ticket in the Sarawak state election; lost for the third time.⛓
6. April 2008Joined the People's Justice Party (PKR) following BN's loss of its two-thirds parliamentary majority in GE12.⛓
7. November 2009Appointed chairman of PKR Sarawak.⛓
8. April 2011Won the Ba'kelalan state seat for the first time under the PKR banner, defeating BN's Willie Liau by a 473-vote majority in the 2011 Sarawak state election.⛓
9. 2016Retained Ba'kelalan under PKR with an increased majority of 538 votes in the 2016 Sarawak state election.⛓
10. May 2018Won the Selangau parliamentary seat for PKR in GE14, defeating BN's Rita Sarimah by a 486-vote majority.⛓
11. July 2018Sworn in as Minister of Works in the Pakatan Harapan federal government under Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad — the first Lun Bawang to hold a federal ministerial portfolio.⛓
12. February 2020Resigned from PKR amid the 2020 Malaysian political crisis following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government; became an independent.⛓
13. 30 May 2020Joined Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), a locally-based Sarawak opposition party.⛓
14. December 2021Retained Ba'kelalan for a third consecutive term under the PSB banner in the 2021 Sarawak state election, winning 2,687 votes with a 680-vote majority over GPS's Sam Laya in a five-cornered contest.⛓
15. November 2022Contested the Lawas parliamentary seat in GE15 under PSB; lost to GPS's Henry Sum Agong, who retained the seat with a 5,677-vote majority.⛓
16. April 2024Following PSB's dissolution on 19 March 2024 and merger into PDP, was appointed Vice President of PDP by PDP President Tiong King Sing.⛓

Election history

• 2022Lawas (Parliament)Lost⛓
• 2021Ba'kelalan (State)Won54.66%⛓
• 2018Selangau (Parliament)Won51.1%⛓
• 2016Ba'kelalan (State)Won⛓
• 2013Limbang (Parliament)Lost⛓
• 2011Ba'kelalan (State)Won⛓
• 2006Ba'kelalan (State)Lost⛓
• 2004Ba'kelalan (State By-election)Lost⛓
• 1991Lawas (State)Lost⛓

Perspectives on key issues

• VerifiedFactsBaru Bian has represented Ba'kelalan in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly since April 2011, winning the seat under PKR (2011, 2016), PSB (2021), and is currently a PDP Vice President and GPS government bloc member following PSB's dissolution in March 2024.⛓
• GovernmentPDP President Tiong King Sing appointed Baru Bian as a Vice President of PDP upon PSB's dissolution in April 2024, placing him within the GPS government bloc in the Sarawak State Assembly.⛓
• OppositionDuring his years as a PSB assemblyman, Baru Bian and DAP's Chong Chieng Jen jointly objected to an amendment to Article 16 of the Sarawak State Constitution, arguing the Sarawak State Assembly was 'the last bastion of Sarawak's rights and privileges.'⛓
• PublicMalaysiakini reader commentary reflects divided public opinion: some praised his decades of NCR legal advocacy and his GE14 parliamentary win, while others criticised his departure from PKR during the 2020 political crisis as a breach of trust with reform-minded supporters.⛓
• ExpertSenior fellow of the Malaysian Council of Professors Dr Jeniri Amir noted ahead of the 2021 Sarawak state election that Baru Bian had many hardcore followers in Ba'kelalan, and that PSB's fortunes outside the Chinese seats would depend heavily on his personal support base.⛓