Is it an Iban culture?

Despite Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak trying to promote 1Malaysia, there are certain people trying to practise the famous apartheid policy – segregation of the white and the black.

Let me give one example. On 19 December I was invited to attend a wedding dinner between a sergeant and one of my nieces at a hotel in Kuching. There were two types of tables – some were covered with white table cloth and the rest with red cloth.

I was seated in one of the “white” tables. When alcohol drinks started to flow, only guests at the “red” tables were served with beer and brandy. Several times we made requests for beer to be served at our table, and each time our requests were ignored.

We informed the “aki” (grandfather who is the writer’s uncle) of the bride, yet he could not help. Like other wedding receptions, slices of wedding cakes were distributed to all the guests, and the bride and bridegroom would also go from table to table serving brandy to the guests. We found out only the guests at the “red” tables were served.

One of the guests seated in my table went to the counter to seek inquiries and was told that beer was only to be served to guests seated on the “red” tables. And when he wanted to buy his own beer, only then that the beer was served on our table.

Not that we wanted to drink beer very badly, but the way we were treated, it was most embarrassing and insulting. As one of the guests said: “Rugi aku donate RM100.00”

But the questions I would like to ask is: Are we Ibans becoming class or rank consciousness? Or have we lost our sense of compassion, love and respect for one another? (Baru pangkat Sergeant udah ka rigang-rigang).

And to me what better time than Christmas is for us to show our love, respect and goodwill to one another? - The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Governor calls for closer ties among the Dayaks of Borneo

The Governor of Central Kalimantan, His Excellency Augustin Teras Narang (pic below) has called on the Dayaks of Borneo to organise more visits between them in order to strengthen their bonds of friendship and promote their culture.

“Let us organise more visits in order to strengthen our ties and promote our culture,” he said at a dinner organised by the Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) at the Dewan Suarah Kuching last night.

His Excellency is a leading a 150-strong Dayak delegation from Kalimantan to Sarawak for a three day goodwill visit.

“Through these visits we can also discuss our common interests and develop our human resources and capital,” he said.

Earlier in his welcoming speech, the chairman of the organizing committee, Dr. Dusit Jaul said that the SDNU members in January this year made a goodwill visit to Pontianak where they met their counterparts from the five provinces in Kalimantan.

“Our meeting tonight will open the way for closer rapport among the Dayaks of Borneo and through our efforts our unique Dayak culture can be made known to the world,” he said.

SDNU president, Mengga Mikui also spoke at the function which was also attended by Dayak leaders from the Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu communities.

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Let us promote Iban Language and Literature

“Language is the roadmap of a culture. It tells you where its people came from and where they are going” – Rita Mae Brown, a famous American author.

Like other languages, the Iban Language is an identification of the Iban race and culture. A common language in Sarawak, the Iban language is spoken by other Dayak tribes, Chinese and Malays. You will not be surprised to hear a Chinese talking to another in Iban in some towns like Kapit, Song, Sibu, Simanggang, Lubok Antu, Saratok, Kanowit, Bintulu and Betong.

Like other languages also, the Iban language is being polluted or adulterated by other languages. Also assaulting our culture and language are various influences of today’s global and ICT world as well as certain government policies. When its originality and purity is gone, the Iban culture is also affected. This is the stark reality. Yet many of us seem to be unaware of this trend or just could not be bothered.

During the colonial regime (1946-1963), the Iban language was recognized and even used during the Council Negeri meetings. The Borneo Literature Bureau was set up to help popularize the language through its Iban magazine called Nendak and through the printing of Iban books.

When Sarawak obtained her independence through the formation of Malaysia, the Borneo Literature Bureau (BLB) was abolished and in came Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) some time 1978 to take its place. The abolishment of BLB saw several hundreds of Iban books and magazines destroyed.

I remember several members of Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) led by Sidi Munan tried to salvage some of the books from being burnt at the DBP headquarters near the Printing Department, Kuching.

When Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) was formed in early 80s, one of its activities was to revive the learning of Iban Language in schools. A committee was setup together with officials of the Education Department to look into the standardization of spelling, text books and syllabus.

After several years of discussions, the government finally approved the teaching of the language in selected primary and secondary schools in Sarawak. But the lack of reading materials poses a major problem to the teaching of Iban. Even Iban dictionaries are a rare commodity.

However, the Tun Jugah Foundation is currently compiling an Iban dictionary encompassing words spoken by Ibans from Saribas, Sadong, Batang Rajang, Remun and others.

To further instill interest in the study of Iban Language, culture and literature such as renong, dungai, sangai, pantun, sabak, pengap, bejawang wai, etc it is, perhaps, a good idea to revive the defunct Society for the Advancement of Iban Language and Literature (SAILL). Set up in 1967, it died a natural death in the 80s due to lack of interest.

Its revival now will not only help to complement the works carried out by the Tun Jugah Foundation, Radio and Television Malaysia (Iban Section) and SADIA, but also help to promote it as one of the “lingua francas” of Sarawak.

After all, to quote Angela Carter, “Language is power, life and the instrument of culture, the instrument of domination and liberation”. Sad, isn’t it if our children and their children do not speak Iban properly, do not know their roots and their culture?

Any comment?