RURAL AND URBAN LIFE FOR DAYAKS

Albertus1, NARMAC (Natural Resource Management Collaboration) Institute, Jalan Purnama, Gang Purnama 4 Nomor 22B, . Handphone: 081351214702, [email protected] and Mira Sophia Lubis2, Urban Design and Sustainable Urban Planning, The Faculty of Engineering, Tanjungpura University, Jalan Ahmad Yani, Pontianak. Dikirim : 6 Maret 2016, Diterima setelah perbaikan : 16 Mei 2016

ABSTRACT

The paper envisages rural and urban life of Sarawak Dayak by describing the ways in which the living spaces, job specialization and social interaction shaped them. The urban life promised attraction of good amenities such as university, economic development, transportation networking, health service, prosperity and livelihood improvement. Those trigger the flows of people and goods. Then, city faced serious problems such as traffic congestion, garbage, jobless, slum dwellers, squatter settlements, and social tension. To minimize the city‟s problems, it must be seen as organic order, when the correlative and expressive faculties are potent enough to maintain organic order, the problems can be handled. In this binary, a rural life is portrayed as mountainous area in which the villagers live in the and practice customary law. In this situation, the mechanism of life will be able to run independently because the village life is like mechanic which can be separated each other. The study refers to the description living spaces named rural and urban spaces, in which these two living spaces need one another. Longhouse and village became city for the inhabitants in the past, and nowadays, modern city become a place for livelihood to replace farming ground. Furthermore, the description of living spaces and the peoples, the factors which have the contribution to fade rural and urban distinction identified.

Key Words: Rural-Urban life, Sarawak Dayak, Living Space

ABSTRAK

Makalah ini menggambarkan kehidupan kelompok masyarakat Dayak di Sarawak, yang tinggal di kawasan pedalaman dan perkotaan, dimana ruang hidup, spesifikasi pekerjaan dan interaksi sosial membentuk mereka. Kehidupan perkotaan menjanjikan fasilitas publik yang menjadi daya tarik, seperti universitas, perkembangan ekonomi, jaringan transportasi, pelayanan kesehatan, kesejahteraan dan perbaikan mata pencaharian. Hal ini memicu pergerakan arus manusia dan barang. Sebagai akibatnya, kota menghadapi berbagai masalah serius, seperti kemacetan lalulintas, sampah, pengangguran, pemukiman kumuh, dan ketegangan sosial. Untuk mengurangi masalah perkotaan maka kota harus dipandang sebagai sebuah organism yang saling berhubungan satu sama lain, ketika kemampuan hubungan dan ekspresif cukup kuat untuk memelihara susunan organ tersebut, maka masalah perkotaan bisa ditangani. Sebaliknya, kehidupan pedalaman digambarkan sebagai daerah pegunungan dimana penduduk desa tinggal di rumah panjang dan menerapkan adat istiadat. Dalam situasi seperti ini, mekanisme kehidupan akan berjalan secara bebas sebab kehidupan desa seperti

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mesin yang bisa dipisahkan satu sama lain, tidak perlu saling tergantung. Kajian ini merujuk pada pengambaran ruang hidup yang disebut kota dan pedalaman, dimana kedua ruang tersebut bergantung satu sama lain. Di masa lampau rumah panjang dan desa menjadi kota bagi penghuninya, dan sekarang kota modern menjadi tempat mata pencaharian menggantikan tanah pertanian. Selanjutnya, gambaran tentang ruang hidup, masyarakat dan faktor faktor yang berkontribusi mengaburkan perbedaan antara kota dan desa diidentifikasi.

INTRODUCTION developing Asian countries in the shortest possible time. This small research project was The progress of as truly conducted in Sarawak, especially in the Asia can be seen through the development city of and its periphery. Kuching and civilization of the cities, and its rapid and its suburban areas recently became a population growth. In fact, the population significant attraction for national and growth of Malaysia is inseparable from the international tourists due to the promotion development and expansion of the cities, of its rich social, cultural, and historical and the industrialization of the rural areas. contexts. This research was also expanded The transformation of cities and their to because Miri is the second largest people is reflected in the changing identity city in Sarawak. The focus of research was of the communities. The Sarawak State the of Sarawak, better Government realized that to regulate the known as Dayak. In the colonial era, they city‟s growth and avoid population were called Sea Dayak for Iban and Land density, several main attractions of the city Dayak for and Selako. The Land such as supermarkets, bus stations, Dayak were described as docile, meek, government offices, public institutions, weak, friendly, introverted, timid, and and universities must be built in the tender persons who spent most of their suburban areas and peripheries. For lives in the upper rivers and mountainous instance, the Institute of East Asian areas. The Sea Dayak, were described as Studies (IEAS) of the University Malaysia extroverted, brave, cruel, and aggressive Sarawak, the host institution to conduct persons who practiced the bejalai (walk this research, was built in Samarahan. The and adventure) tradition which was the university used to be located in Kuching‟s symbol of the Borneo headhunter. city center. At IEAS, the researcher and Sarawak region as a part of Borneo research consultant carried out seminars, is much visited by the international tourists and used office space and the library for who are called „Mat Salleh’, a term used the research. by Sarawakians for white western tourists “Malaysia Truly Asia” is one from and United States. “Malaysia vision of Malaysia‟s government. “Truly Truly Asia” is the motto which is Asia” is the result of striving to make the repeatedly broadcasted on international vision become reality. It is a blend of television to describe Malaysia as the social, cultural, and historical development example of real Asia. The motto of in the Malaysian people. The aspects in “Malaysia Truly Asia” is the expression of becoming “Truly Asia” are the people, changing identity that directly indicates the nature, and exotic social, cultural, and changing of communities in social, historical life. This research tried to cultural and historical contexts. Malaysia examine the relationship between succeeded in developing its country as one indigenous peoples (Dayak) as basically example of modernized country among inland people, and their new environment in the city. The Dayak and their social,

Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Borneo Akcaya 22 cultural and historical life will be distinct social, economic, or political elaborated on below. systems; (5) their distinct language, Dayak is the collective name for culture, and beliefs; (6) their forming non- the indigenous peoples of Borneo. In dominant groups in society; and (7) their Sarawak, the Dayak consist of Iban, resolve to maintain and reproduce their Bidayuh, and Selako. In the olden times, ancestral environments and systems as their way of life and related culture were distinctive peoples and communities. regarded as primitive, old-fashioned, cruel, According to Benedict Kingsbury (1995, paganistic, backward, and revolving 23), the World Bank promulgated a new around practices. These operational directive in September 1991 prejudices caused them to experience which states that “the terms indigenous torture, humiliation and harassment at the peoples, indigenous ethnic minority, tribal hands of outsiders. Such treatment, in turn, groups, and scheduled tribes describe made them feel inferior, marginalized, social groups with a social and cultural indifferent, underestimated, and even identity distinct from the dominant society aggressive. Moreover, being inland people, that makes them vulnerable to being they had direct contact with nature. They disadvantaged in the developing process. consulted with and related to natural For the purpose of this directive, elements such as omens, the spirits of indigenous peoples is the term that will be ancestors, and deities. These conditions used to refer to these groups.” Based on enhanced „a shared us feeling‟ among the aforementioned criteria and definition, them as a consequence of having the same it goes without saying that the Dayak fate and destiny shaped by natural can be considered Indigenous elements and bad treatment from outsiders. Peoples because all the criteria and the The commencement of the Brooke definitions stated by the UN are valid for era (1841-1941) provided opportunities for them. For the sake of national security and the Dayak to move from the rural to the development, the Malaysian government urban areas. In the urban areas, the Dayak also provided for ethnic segregation in the started to adjust to the new environment Malaysian Constitution of 1957. through self-reliance. It cannot be denied Just as ethnic segregation in that the urban lifestyle had positive and Malaysia was permanently defined in the negative influences on the Dayak‟s Malaysian Constitution of 1957, the culture, local wisdom, and way of life. constitution also mentioned the Indigenous To scrutinize the Dayak‟s identity Peoples of Sarawak and in article and the possibility of its changing, some 161 A [6] and [7], and named them interviews were conducted and their “”. This ethnic category was results are presented here. Several formulated to differentiate the indigenous theoretical perspectives from scholars peoples from the Chinese and Indians. In quoted. , bumiputera is According to the United Nations applied to Malay and Native groups, whilst Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, a in Sarawak, the term is used for Malay, modern understanding of the Indigenous Sea Dayak (Iban), Land Dayak (Bidayuh Peoples should consider the following: (1) and Selako), and upper river peoples their self-identification as indigenous which further consist of many sub- peoples at the individual level and their divisions. Due to the ethnic segregation acceptance by the community as members; defined in the Malaysian Constitution of (2) their historical continuity with pre- 1957, the status of indigenous people as colonial and/or pre-settler societies; (3) Iban, Bidayuh, and Selako will still be their strong link to territories and embedded in their social life. surrounding natural resources; (4) their

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There is no official definition of location of ground farming and the Dayak in Malaysia, anyway, we can say schedule to clear the land. Krober (1963) that a Dayak is someone born of a parent in Maffi (2005, 601) said, "Cultures are from the Dayak lineage (Selako, Bidayuh, rooted in nature, and therefore can't be and Iban); he or she speaks Dayak completely understood except with vernaculars, and adheres to Dayak customs reference to environmental or natural and traditions. This category is suited for factors." In rural life, several aspects of the three dimensions of ethnicity identified nature directly formed Dayak‟s culture by Fisherman (1977) in Appel and such as omens, dreams, rain at midday, a Muysken (1987, 12) to be paternity, rainbow in the sky, and taboos. These patrimony, and phenomenology. aspects were able to trigger fear in the The Iban group still consists of Dayaks who saw in them signs of several subdivisions divided in accordance calamity. Nonetheless, these elements with the rivers where they dwell, such as were also able to predict the time for Iban Batang Lupar, Iban Batang Rejang, holding some activities like feasts, farming Iban Skrang, etc. From a linguistic activities, hunting, and gathering. These perspective, the Iban tribe is included in aspects shaped the notion of how Dayak the Ibanik language family. Bidayuh is construed themselves. divided into four different ethnic dialect In the rural areas, two groups, as follows: Bukar Sadong dialect environmental features are considered to (Serian District), Biatah dialect (Kuching have formed the social, cultural, and District), Singai/ Jagoi dialect (Bau historical life of the Dayak: shifting District), and Selakau/Lara dialects (Lundu cultivation and residency in a longhouse. District), (Chang Pat Poh 1999, 19). In this was the main paper, Bidayuh and Selako are livelihood of Dayaks and also the core of distinguished based on the language they the Dayak culture, due to the involvement speak. Bidayuh members speak dialects of adat ceremonies based on natural from the Bidayuhik language family, while elements. For instance, the Gawai Naik Selako members speak dialects like those Dango (harvest feast among the Dayak of the Malayic language family. Selako) and Gawai Batu (stone feast A large concentration of Iban such among the Dayak Iban), conducted as , , Kenowit, and areas annually after harvest time, indicated a dwell along the Rejang River basin. Their sign of respect for the spirits and nature. In early settlements were found in the Sri this farming method, Dayaks planted hill Aman and Betong divisions. The Bidayuh paddies with corn, cassava, and indigenous are mainly found in the Penrissen, vegetables. Padawan, Serian, and Bau areas, whereas The were built as a the Selako are mainly found in the Lundu fortress to protect the Dayak, especially area. the women and children, from enemy Being inland people, culture, attack when headhunting practices among livelihood, and way of seeing the world the Dayak were rampant in the past. The were determined by nature. All these Dayak‟s enemies were the other Dayak aspects intertwined with one another. For sub-ethnic groups outside their community example, in the Dayak‟s cultivation members. Thus, for instance, there were practices, all customs and traditions related encounters between the Iban and Bidayuh to natural elements from the time of the groups. In addition, longhouses also land survey up until harvesting time, e.g., became the centers of the socio-cultural Gawai Batu (stone feast) for Iban, Naik activities (births, weddings, festive events, Dango (harvest feast) for Selako. Sounds and funerals‟ ) of the inhabitants. As of birds were used to determine the the center of the socio-cultural activities,

Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Borneo Akcaya 24 longhouses became cities for Dayaks in city life to the Dayak community include: the past. When a longhouse served as a a new way of thinking, particularly their Dayak city, every decision for the Dayak beginning to construe themselves as part such as barter, laws, customs and of the wider community; and, how this traditions, and schedules to cultivate new way of thinking enriches their life farmland and arrange the feasts would be such that they maintain a great determined in the longhouse. understanding of one another for the In modern society, a city is a betterment of the community, and physical environment for rapid social strengthen their awareness of their local changes where multicultural interactions knowledge and wisdom, for the sake of happen. Staying in a city for the first time their own dignity, sovereignty and may be a challenge for a Dayak, though integrity. they prefer to live in this new living space. Having spent most of their lives in a rural area, Dayaks have to learn many things METHODOLOGY about city life such as job specification, urban people‟s different perceptions of This research applied a qualitative time compared to the Dayak, meetings method through observations and based on the appointment, and the interviews that were supported by relevant differences in cultural behavior among theories. Since this study used a multi those who live in a multicultural society. disciplinary approach, relevant theories In order to keep their identity as Dayak, from various scholars are elaborated on they need to be empowered in the field of throughout the different sections of this culture and identity when dealing with the research. In-depth interviews with influences of city life. The pursuit of this informants were also encouraged. sort of empowerment should be clearly Additional data and information addressed in the national education considered as primary data and curriculum as early as the first year of information were obtained from various school. articles and books. The field findings were Research objectives consist of the collected through random sampling. There description of the situation and were 100 persons interviewed during the characteristic of Kuching (including field work in Kuching, Lundu, Serian, and Lundu and Serian towns) and Miri cities, Miri. Twenty percent were recorded, while as follows, such as to describe the Selako, 30% of the interviews were done during Bidayuh, and Iban cultures, their social working hours, and 50% were investigated situation and history during a specific and interviewed in the traditional markets, period of time; to describe how the three which sold local vegetables, fruits, and communities feel about living in the city; food, such as the Sunday Market in and, to identify in the Iban, Bidayuh, and Kuching, and traditional markets in Serian Selako communities their changing and Lundu. Most of the interviews were identities in the urban area (Kucing, conducted candidly to maintain a natural Lundu, Serian, and Miri) due to the atmosphere. development of cities. This study tries to look at the changes in the Dayak identity as an interior people after having had RESULT AND DISCUSSION intensive contact with the urban environment. The basic idea of this paper is to see how city life shapes and Sarawak measures 124,449 square influences the Dayak‟s socio-culture and kilometers. According to Mark Cleary and way of life. The expected contributions of Peter Eaton (1992,18), “Since the ancient

Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Borneo Akcaya 25 time, the central spine of rugged mountain wall; a community in which a significant with dense, impenetrable, and steamy portion of the population pursues its rainforest which covers the middle island everyday activities inside the city, in non- of Borneo had become the boundary of agricultural occupations, (see: Irving M nation-states, , and Zeitlin: 1984:334). Cities are also a kind of Sarawak-Sabah, Malaysia.” Brosius (1986, special environment as the source of social 175) said that “the forest and mountains change. In city‟s environment, growth is were the repository for memories of past so rapid and its energy so great that it events.” changes its complexion almost daily, and The coming of to in with it the characters of mankind itself. the 16th century marked the Urbanization is defined as a process of commencement of the dominance of the growing population concentration whereby Malay Kingdom in Sarawak. On 24 the proportion of the total population September, 1841, was which is classified as urban is increasing appointed Sarawak Governor and then (Lee, 1991:12). Thus, the city can assigned as Rajah. Subsequently, Brooke‟s influence and shape a particular character family governed Sarawak for 100 years, trait of the community that dwells in that from 1841 to 1941. On 1 July, 1946, city. Conversely, community members Sarawak was proclaimed a British colony. who reside within the city could also form Finally, on 16 September, 1963, Sarawak the hallmark of the city. For example, in joined Malaya to form the nation of the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, the Malaysia (Tan Chung Lee 2006, 7-9). majority of the population consists of The population of Sarawak by students and humanists. Thus, the city is ethnic groups can be broken down as known as a city of students and a city of follows: Iban 713,421 (31%), Malay culture. Several cities in Bali are known as 568,113 (23%), Chinese 577,646 (27%), tourism objects because they are much Bidayuh 198,473 (8%), Melanau 123,410 visited by tourists. (5%), and others 156,436 (6%) for a total City life shapes cultural behaviors population of 2,354,048 persons such as how to dress, which language to (Department of Statistics, Malaysia 2011). use, and ways of interacting in the Sarawak has its own blend of culture community. Besides that, city life also derived from the different ethnic groups. shapes the inhabitants‟ psyches. For Indeed, it is home to 28 ethnic groups, instance, for the sake of privacy, houses in each with its own distinct language, a city are often fenced. Cultural attributes culture and lifestyle. The Ibans form the such as traditional clothing and customs, major ethnic group on this region; the symbols of adat, including a variety of Chinese who generally live in the cities are performances for tourists and visitors, are the second largest group, followed by the a part of the process of changing identities Malay, Bidayuh, Melanau, Selako and that will be very interesting if examined at other native tribes of Sarawak called the level of social, cultural and historical Upper River Peoples. The are contexts. Therefore we can say that cities mainly concentrated along the coast. are a place in which social, cultural and historical changes of human beings take place. The study of social change is The City as a Place of Rapid Social concerned with the processes through Change which societies and cultures are transformed. Cities are characterized by A city is defined as a community whose high population density, diverse social members live closely together in a unified strata, the specialization of jobs, and a complex of buildings, often enclosed by consumer society that provides the

Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Borneo Akcaya 26 promise of prosperity and livelihood networks to cities that enable villagers to improvement. The specialization of jobs in live conveniently as commuters. As urban areas has established a pattern of commuters, the villagers can commute complex relationships with the isolation of easily from village to the city and head groups, depending on their job back to their village again on the same specialization and social status. This day. In the village, they can work at their phenomenon tends to cause people with home to provide goods, handicrafts, local the same kinds of jobs to be more closely vegetables, etc. and bring the goods to the associated with one another. Due to the city in the morning; and then in the specialization of their jobs, people can afternoon, they can be back again in their easily change their social class. villages. This way of living and working Today, the main problems in urban should be encouraged for the Dayak, due areas are traffic congestion, flooding, to the scarcity of land in the city and garbage, disease, joblessness, slum expensive housing options. dwellers, squatter settlements, and social tension. The increase in vehicles and population growth are not balanced with Kuching City the increase in physical infrastructure such as roads, housing, and other facilities. This “Kuching is derived from the mata condition has been aggravated by limited kuching (cat‟s eye) – fruit tree (Nephelium job availability, which ultimately triggers nalarense),” so says Alice Yen Ho (2004, unemployment and criminality. 10). This city is situated in the middle of In order to be sustainable, the Sarawak River which has a number of modern city must heavily depend on the bridges built by the state to provide access network system in the periphery, namely, to either side of the river, making it very the suburban areas, villages, or settlements convenient. in the vicinity. The network system Kuching consists of two consisting of economic forces, labor, administrative areas administered by a education, and trade functions as a Datuk Bandar, legally called “Mayor” in connective tissue that feeds the city Kuching South and “Commissioner” in through the network of commuting goods Kuching North. The Northern City of and people. No less important is that the Kuching ever since the era of James farming ground applied modern science Brooke who reigned from 1841-1868 and technology must be built in and became the administrative area. As James around the suburban, periphery, and the Brooke established houses and nearest areas from the city to feed the government buildings for his staff‟s offices people in the city. and homes, this area was the center of In many countries, the men who Brooke‟s administrative kingdom. To migrate to cities still become a great develop his kingdom, Brooke encouraged problem. The process of growing the urban migrant workers to come to Sarawak. They population as a result of the movement of lived in many kampongs situated in the the rural people into the urban areas need northern area. Meanwhile, since the early to be handled wisely. According to Ridu years of the city, the southern area was the (2003, 21) “What we need to do is to center of business activities. This area is enhance the urbanization of rural life now better known as the city center. through rural-urban convergence Nowadays, the Dayak come to characterized by towns, rural non-farmers, Kuching as commuters, or as temporary or and fading rural urban distinction.” Most permanent residents. As temporary of the Dayak‟s villages in Sarawak are residents, most of them live in rented provided with good transportation rooms located on the second or third storey

Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Borneo Akcaya 27 of buildings, although there are some This town lies between the Gunung employers who also provide rooms for Gading National Park and the Kayan River their workers. These rooms are sealed and in the West of Sarawak. Gunung Gading partitioned without any windows. A National Park is famous because of the narrow alley stands between each of the world‟s largest flower named rafflessia rooms. There are three doors one needs to therefore this park is mainly used as a pass through to come to the rooms from conservation zone. The attractive beaches downstairs. Each door has to be locked for in Lundu, Siar and Pandan beaches, and security purposes. For the workers, these the people have made the Lundu area rooms are but a place in which to sleep. become one of the tourism objects in They are very similar to human cages. The Sarawak. Lundu is a satellite town of rooms‟ building is the zone of the working Kuching which is located in Southwest people‟s homes. Meanwhile, permanent Sarawak, at the border of Sambas District, residents live in the residential zones and , Indonesia. From in single family dwellings. These are the Kuching to Lundu it‟s about 90 km, a zones of the high class. distance one can reach in one hour by car. To maintain the sustainability of This sleepy up-country town is the urban life in Kuching, the government has nearest town from the Dayak Selako‟s encouraged the establishment of rural- settlements. It is also the nearest place urban interaction by enhancing the quality where the Selako are able to experience of physical infrastructure such as roads city life and intensive social interaction and bridges, water resources development, with outsiders. Most of the Dayak Selako sewerage, the maintenance of high commute to Lundu to sell their goods and conservation areas for tourism purposes, forest produce. The local government and agricultural development. In the urban provided a place for the Selako to sell area, the main attractive amenities such as local fruits and vegetables to the outsiders. the university, tourist sites, bus stations, This place became a hub of social supermarkets, and traditional markets are interaction between the Selako people and built outside the city center. For Dayaks, outsiders. this situation is a blessing in disguise because they can access these amenities Serian Town easily. For instance, they can go to the university from their village, and buy food, In Serian, fruit is very clothing, and household needs by familiar because most of the durian fruit in commuting. This set-up accelerates social Sarawak derives from the rural Serian transformation and helps to erase the area. Durian has become the town of difference between rural and urban areas. Serian‟s claim to fame. Serian Town is located at the Sanggau District Border, Lundu Town West Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is about 65 km from Kuching. Therefore, It can be The town of Lundu is surrounded reached in a half-hour or one hour by by rivers, mountains and beaches. It vehicles from Kuching city center. Serian became well known due to the attraction of is also a satellite town of Kuching. This those natural features. Since long ago the town has become the most important place Kayan River has been a transportation for the Bidayuh to interact. The town is artery for the people of Lundu to reach the very well connected to its rich hinterland, hinterlands. The totem animal in the river both by road and by river. As a satellite is named „ikan lundu‟, or „lundu fish‟, and town, Serian has the potential to become thus the area surrounding Lundu got its the commuters‟ zones for their exposure to name. urban expansion.

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Based on the Yearbook of Statistics aggressive, fierce, cruel, ruffian, poor, Sarawak 2011, the Serian district stupid, uncivilized, pagan, drunken and population was 90,763, of which about head-hunting (Gomes 2007, 1) stigmatized 65% were Bidayuh and the rest consist of them. As a result, Dayaks were Chinese, Iban, Malay and India. marginalized, humiliated, and ignorant in all aspects of life. They had to struggle for their dignity, sovereignty, and integrity, Miri City and their quality of life was relatively low. In mid 1980, one of the prominent Dayak Miri is located near the beach. The figures in West Borneo said, “If it was term “Miri” was derived from the name of possible for me to fire myself as a Dayak, I Miri‟s natives, known as “Miriek”. would like to fire myself; but I cannot do Europeans inadvertently changed the name that. Therefore, I have to empower myself Miriek to Miri. Miri‟s history is closely so that the other ethnic groups will respect related to the history of the petroleum me as a human being.” The Dayak history industry in Sarawak. On 10 August 1910, of being colonized, marginalized, the Anglo Saxon Petroleum Company manipulated, and humiliated by the Malay found oil in Canada Hill, overlooking the Sultanate ultimately led to the increase in small fishing village of Miri. “At the time their sense of kinship and solidarity. This, of the spudding in of Well No.1, Miri in turn created „a shared us feeling’, a consisted of about 20 scattered houses and feeling that they had the same fate and two Chinese shops” (Harper 1972, 24). destiny which united them as one group, In the mid-1920s, Miri became the the Dayak. Aside from their cultural administrative center of the Miri and values, Dayaks also have a shared Baram regions. In the 1970s, Miri was also system and attitudes derived from natural the center of a major timber industry. elements. In the past, these shared beliefs Baram River, the second largest river in were able to trigger fear and anxiety Sarawak, became the transport artery that among them. Recently, many Dayaks from linked inland forests to the coastal ports, the younger generation did not allow thereby facilitating the conveyance of themselves to be dictated to by these humans and timber. Owing to the support natural elements. Dayaks who had been to from these two main resources, Miri grew the city started to realize that their fear did from a fishing village into one of the not have a strong basis. They also modern cosmopolitan cities in Sarawak witnessed how their forefathers feared within a short period. such animals (certain birds, crocodiles, Today, Miri, with an area of 977.43 insects etc), which, in the city, were stored square km, is inhabited by several ethnic in the museum. Still, some Dayak groups. The population by ethnic groups is members from the older generations as follows: Iban 90,649; Chinese 77,183; continued to allow these natural elements Malay 45,884; and other native ethnic to influence their belief systems. groups, as many as 54,584 people (2010 census). Dayak Selako

Who are the Indigenous Dayak Peoples? Based on their language differences, the discussion on Selako and Who are the indigenous Dayak Bidayuh speakers is separated in this people? What information do we use to paper. According to several linguists, categorize the Dayak? How have their Dayak Selako members speak one of the territories formed their identity? In the dialects belonging to the Malayic language past, the notion of the Dayak as backward, family, while the Bidayuh speak

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Bidayuhic {(see Hudson (1970, 1978) and cultural activities such as and Collins (1999a, 1999b, 1999c) in Albertus festive events. (2003)}. Language has strong dimensions During the reign of James Brooke as that differentiate human identities. Rajah of Sarawak from 1841-1868, the Fishman {1977 in Appel and Muysken Dayak Selako still conducted barter of (1987, 13)} stated “Language is the their forest produce to purchase their recorder of paternity, the expresser of households goods, as noted by Henriette patrimony and the carrier of (2008, 119): “Dayak chief with a number phenomenology.” As the recorder of of his people come to Kuching to pay their paternity, language is able to pass on rice tax, or purchase clothes, tobacco, values, ways of life, and core cultures from , gunpowder, whatever the bazaar forefathers to their descendants. It possessed which they valued, to exchange influences culture and thought. As the for those things, they brought with them expresser of patrimony, language becomes beeswax, dammar, honey, or rattan.” a means of communication to express However, from 1960 to 1970, the feelings and cultural practices, which Dayak Selako planted , pepper, facilitates the legacy of learning new and rubber trees which provided a steady values. As the carrier of phenomenology, source of cash. Palm oil, pepper and language provides meaning to the culture rubber plantations were monoculture and values inherited from the forefathers. plantations because other vegetation could The starting point of the Selako‟s not be allowed to grow in the same area. migration to Lundu area was from the Monoculture plantations for getting cash Sajingan area, Sambas region, West made it necessary for the barter system of Kalimantan. Schneider (1974, 195) stated the past to be replaced by the currency that “The migration occurred in two trading system. waves: the Year 1830, Selako Gajekng The Bidayuh population in the who settled in Kampung Sedemak and Lundu region is around 12,034 (2010 around it, and the Year 1871 Selako census). This figure classified the Selako Sangkuku' who settled in Kampung and the Bidayuh as one group. In 1970, Biawak, Pueh and around it.” Schneider (1974) recorded the population According to Nek Dewa, the of Selako members to be 4,207 persons, informant from Sajingan village, “A group which showed that in 40 years, the Selako of persons in Dayak Selako community community increased twofold. who can apply the customs, tradition, and customary law is usually more respected in Dayak Iban their community because they were considered as having the responsibility to The Iban moved from West regulate the relationship between man and Kalimantan to Sarawak as early as 1540. man, man and nature, and man with . They entered Sarawak by way of the low- This group was called Salako Gajekng and lying Kapuas watershed between Batang the rest of the group is Salako Sangkuku.” Lupar and Batang Ai'. After the 1880s, the This group represented the Selako Iban populated the coastal region toward community in general. It seems that the Miri (Samuel 2005, 42). Selako community leaders try to make the are familiar with the segregation based on caste to their myth of Keling (the god of adventure and community members as Gajekng and warfare) and Berani (the King of Sangkuku‟. e longhouse (Rumah Bantang) Bravery). Keling and Raja Berani are the of Selako people, was the center of their spirits of Iban to move and to walk culture. It was associated with socio- (bejalai). Bejalai is an Iban tradition which is allegedly used as a driving force

Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Borneo Akcaya 30 for the Iban to become the most aggressive of the total Iban population (Department of people in Sarawak and the most interested Statistics Kuching in James Masing 1988, in expansion. Bejalai means “walking”, 57). which was the way the Iban looked for As time passed, the Iban learned farming ground, hunting, and gathering the market mechanisms of working and spaces. To it is attributed the Iban‟s spread selling their goods. Presumably, city life to the whole Sarawak region within the appeared more promising than staying at shortest possible time. the longhouse. As the number of well Two aspects led to the emergence educated Ibans increased in the city, many of Iban customs and traditions in shifting of them got decent jobs, conducted cultivation. First, the Iban believed that the business activities, and obtained forest and land are always inhabited by employment with a fixed salary. invisible creatures (the spirits of their The main reason for preferring life ancestors and deities). Therefore, they in Kuching was that everything was should ask permission from these available, such as adequate food, lots of spirits/deities before clearing the land. ways to earn money, medical services, and Secondly, the Iban also believed that rice education. The close proximity between paddies have a or spirit; therefore, the villages and Kuching was also an respect and gratitude toward the spirits important reason for the Iban to come to should take place in the form of a feast, for Kuching, either as daily commuters or instance, one of the feasts was a stone feast residents. (Gawai Batu). Gomes (2007, 48), wrote Ibans with permanent jobs in “Gawai Batu takes place before the Kuching chose to live outside the urban farming operations begin, and is in honour center in the suburban areas (commuters‟ of Pulang Gana (the god of the land), who zones), such as Tabuan Dayak, Sekama, lives in the bowels of the earth, and has the and Sekandis. Nowadays, there are also power to make the land fruitful or some Iban in Kuching, among them unfruitful.” prominent figures during the early days of James Brooke who reigns from Sarawak‟s independence. These are rich 1841-1868 encouraged the Iban who families who own hotels, supermarkets, oil spread at the rural Sarawak to move to palm plantations, etc. In Kuching, the Iban Kuching for the position of “Sarawak are divided into three social ranks: low Rangers”. The reason behind this was that class, middle class, and high class. James Brooke wanted to get the protection Unfortunately, however, their incomes are of the Iban, especially after the not known. Most Iban choose to commute insurrection conducted by the Chinese from the village to the city to do business, gold miners in Bau in 1857. After that, the due to the proximity of the villages to the movement of the Iban to Kuching mostly city. happened due to the rubber economy which peaked in the 1900s especially Dayak Bidayuh when the first and second world war needed rubber commodity for industry. The Bidayuh people also originated However, from 1947 to 1980, the increase from West Kalimantan, Indonesia. in the number of Iban members that moved According to Nais (1983, 54) in Albertus from the villages to the cities was (2003, 2) “'Dayuh' itself means far-inland relatively very small because city life did or interior area. Bidayuh means having the not support the Iban‟s farming livelihood. elements of Dayuh in custom, culture, Based on official statistics, in 1947 the language, prestige, etc." Meanwhile, Iban in urban areas comprised just 0.9%, Geddes (1954, 6) said that "`Bidayuh‟ while in 1980 city dwellers were just 4.8% means people of the interior". From these

Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Borneo Akcaya 31 discourses, we can make one conclusion: backgrounds selling a variety of foods, that „Bidayuh‟ is a person or group of forest produce, and handicrafts. persons who live in the interior. Bidayuh members who live as Robert Jacob Ridu (2003,16) stated residents of Kuching are divided into two that “Many writers and adventurers categories. One consists of those who have described Bidayuh as introverted, meek, lived in Kuching for a long time and hold docile, weak, friendly, and tender persons. permanent jobs, e.g., teachers, lecturers, They spent most of their lifetime in the police officers, civil servants in upper rivers, headwaters, and mountainous governmental agencies and politics, areas.” The Bidayuh are also a religious midwives, nurses and doctors in hospitals, society. They believe in deities who live in and security officers. The second group is the uplands and forest areas, such as, made up of temporary residents. This „Tampa Raiyuh‟ (creator) (Geddes 1954, group mostly consists of the younger 25), „Dervata’ (from dewata of the Hindu generation, those who have just arrived in deity) (Roth 1968, 7), „Jewata’ (from Kuching and have already gotten jobs but dewata of the Hindu deity) (Gould 1909, still do not have houses. For a while, they 38), „Topah’ (supreme being), etc. It is lease houses or rooms available in very possible that the presence of Bidayuh Kuching. people in the hills and upper rivers was also motivated by a religious attitude, which is embedded in the Bidayuh people. How Dayaks Feel About Living in the Today, many Bidayuh people are converts City to due to the fact that during the Brooke era (1841-1941), many In the region of Kuching (including came to their villages to the towns of Serian and Lundu) and Miri, introduce Christian values. the Dayak could be divided into three The Bidayuh believe that rice groups. First would be the group that has paddies have a soul or spirit. Patrick Rigep the status of permanent residents in the Nuek (2005, 9) wrote "The Bidayuh treat city. The second group would consist of rice with respect, for fear the next harvest Dayaks who are temporary residents, would be a poor one. They respect rice as while the third would be the commuters. if it had a life and soul, Ieng sumuk babai In general, permanent residents is the name of the soul of rice.” have a permanent job in the city, or have Nowadays, many Bidayuh live in second and third generation descendants the city, either as residents (permanent or living in the city. They are able to adjust temporary) or as commuters. Kuching well to city life but their ties with their residents commute, as well, though own homeland remain strong. Alim differently than a real commuter. They Mideh, a Bidayuh Dayak from , commute simply because they want to visit said, “In my opinion, Kuching is a better their family members in the village and for place to live in because all amenities recreational purposes. Bidayuh needed such as education, health, and the commuters from the rural areas come on market are available. Nowadays, I stay in certain days to Kuching to sell their crops Kuching. Anyway, I also still head back and farm produce. In Kuching, the regularly to my village because most of government has set up a place for villagers my family members still live there. to sell their crops, a traditional market Besides that, my village is able to be which is famously known as the “Sunday reached from Kuching in just one hour by Market”. Every weekend, the Sunday car.” Market is full of people from various When I asked about the influence of the city on the young generation of the

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Bidayuh, a prominent Bidayuh member, fades the gap between rural and urban Patau Rubis, said, “The young generation areas.” of Bidayuh who live in the city are As soon as they experience the different from the Bidayuh in the village process of transitioning to city life, Dayaks who still respect their parents and cultural almost never practice their cultural values, and are still trustworthy. The traditions any longer. But this condition young Bidayuh in the city do not respect never changes their identity as Dayak local wisdom anymore. This is not a members because they are an ethnic matter of changing identity, but is just a majority, and there is strict ethnic social disease due to the city‟s influences.” segregation in Malaysia which separates The second Dayak community citizens into different ethnic group group consists of temporary residents. This categories. group usually includes young who have already graduated from college or high school, or villagers who CLOSING seek jobs in the city. This group mostly stays in the zone of the housing for Living spaces of the men identified workers to have easy access to their jobs. as rural and urban areas explained Their homes are in several storey buildings aforementioned above, for sure determine which provide rooms for rent in the second the life quality of the people including or third floor/storey. The function of the Dayak people. After moving from the rooms is to provide a place to sleep. village to the city, several aspects of their Roffina, an Iban girl from Miri said, “If I life such as way of life, culture, and social had a choice where to stay and work, I interaction slowly but surely changed. In would choose to stay in the village rather rural areas, several influences such as the than in this city. Living in this city is nature, culture, habit, paradigm, and their- expensive, but I live in Miri because there us feeling which embedded in their mind is a job in this city; anyway, when I get created them as the indigenous people. older or start receiving a pension, I‟ll go Anyway, when these rural peoples move to back to my village again.” the city, it took time to adjust themselves Midi Jonek, a Bidayuh who always with the city life. In order to be sustainable commutes to Kuching said, “Nowadays, I living in the city, they must empower and am able to survive and live comfortably in develop themselves to meet the living the city because the roads and bridges standard of the city life. The young Dayak reach the rural areas as well, so I can move generation prefers to stay in the city from my village to Kuching in just 30 to because the city provides adequate living 60 minutes. In Kuching I have a house, and working accommodations compared although to live in the city is a better with the villages. They are ready to face choice for personal reasons, especially every problems related to the city life in because you gain access to better order to stay in the city simply because education, job opportunities, and a career. they city promise a better livelihood, better I can assure you that my children will get amenities, and better future for them. better education and health.” He added, Anyway, as the attractive living space, city “Recently, I experienced having no need to be sustainable, therefore they need boundary between rural and urban any to be designed and developed physically longer. I usually bring my laptop to my and culturally healthy. The development of village from where I can access the farming ground based on the modern internet 24 hours a day. Therefore, good farming technology must be build in transportation and information technology around the city such as in the suburban, periphery, and the nearest areas. The

Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Borneo Akcaya 33 availability and quality of transportation the main attractions of city life. To a and communication amenities from village certain extent, these developments are also to the city determine the energy of the city expected to reach the rural areas a life, in which the people able to commute condition that has the potential to reduce to sell their goods and back again at the the differences between urban and rural same day, or they can become temporary areas. resident for the sake of their business. Population growth due to Good roads, universities, health care urbanization has caused certain areas services, and communication facilities will which were originally rural zones to turn minimize the flow of people in the city. into developing zones of the city. There is The architecture and city planner have a tendency in Kuching for the city center absorbed the meaning of organic order to expand its area by invading the outer process that city is like cell structure which areas. For the Dayak people, especially cannot be separated, it is not those who now live in the city permanently independence. The people, the space, the and have disconnected themselves or are networks of the city are really like cell less related to their original homeland in structure which depend on one another to the rural areas this progress has become a survive. The Dayak as the rural people, blessing in disguise. It has given them the when moved to the city must be empower opportunity to revitalize their own roots themselves based on self-reliance to adjust and basic identity as Dayaks, which have themselves with the city life. already faded due to the influence of modernization in the city. For commuters, this condition potentially improves their CONCLUSION quality of life due to the increase in business activities. The temporary In recent years, the urbanization residents have also started to try harder to and modernization of the rural areas, and improve their qualifications by the industrialization of natural resources empowering themselves through formal through development programs provided education, as stated by Peter Minos (2003, the Dayak opportunities to interact with 103) “Good formal education is our savior the outside world beyond their own from economic backwardness and poverty community members. In Sarawak, and a vital vehicle for our advancement transportation and communication and progress.” networks connect all places and humans Dayaks depending on the amount across the region. All areas gradually of preparation they have been given for the approximate urban areas. city living. The well-educated men and In Kuching, the improvement of women regard the city as the place for a physical infrastructure such as roads, better life.. Meanwhile, Dayaks who do bridges, and storage facilities; water not get sufficient preparation will turn out resources development including drainage, to be menial workers with low salaries for sewerage, river conservation and whom city life will be a burden. City life communication systems; social will aggravate their inherited local values infrastructure such as medical facilities and wisdom acquired from the village. which consist of hospitals, dispensaries, The language spoken also has an maternity and health centers; educational important role in the identity of Dayaks. components of infrastructure consisting of While the common language in the city is primary, secondary and technical schools, the language, Dayaks still vocational schools and universities; as well use their vernacular when they get together as electricity, water supply, community by themselves. The use of the Sarawak centers, and security services have become will never disappear

Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Borneo Akcaya 34 because the Malaysian government has Good transportation networks from determined the Malay language as the villages to cities will enable villagers to national identity of the Malaysian people. live conveniently as commuters and they There are many similarities among also can enjoy city life from their own the three Dayak ethnic groups (Selako, homeland in their villages. The good Iban and Bidayuh). One similarity is how condition of the streets and communication they practice egalitarian principles based system enable the villagers work at their on their self-confidence to show that they home to provide goods, handicrafts, local are able to do everything themselves vegetables and sell the goods to the city in without any help from outsiders. This the morning, in the afternoon they can be indicates that all Dayaks are supposedly back again in their villages. This way of equal. These egalitarian principles are living and working should be encouraged reflected in the movement of Dayaks from for the Dayak, because the land and houses rural to urban areas, as discussed earlier. in the city are expensive.

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