Ex-cancer patient finds solace in wood carving

VARIOUS DESIGNS: Kennedy showing the drawings of his collection of dagger grip designs.

ONE look at the machete, parang and dagger sheaths at the home of Kennedy Mark Tegang and one can safely vouch that their magnificent designs are the work of a master craftsman. Indeed, the exquisite motifs on the wooden casings for the blades are carved by self-taught Kennedy who discovered his latent talent while recovering from nose cancer years ago. “Life was unpleasant as I just had chemotherapy and I was worried about my family. Then one day, in my kitchen, I took a look at my old parang casing and thought it had a very dull design,” recalled the 49-year-old civil servant of the lowest point of his life. At that moment, Kennedy suddenly felt inspired to do something about improving the appearance of the casing. So without second thoughts, he headed for the hardware shop to buy some carving tools and got to work on the sheath right away on reaching home. That was 11 years ago. And now, after recovering from the cancer, he has received so many orders (for the casings) that his clients have to wait patiently for their delivery. “With machine, it would be much faster but they all want my personal touch,” he said. Kennedy explained the beautiful native designs gave the casings a unique character of which the owners could be proud. The Ibans often use this type of “general purpose” parang while working at their farms and many of them like the sheaths to have certain ethnic motifs.

ALL DONE: Kennedy with some of his finished products.

 Patience and time According to Kennedy, mainly Iban designs are carved on the casings and the work takes patience and time. “Very few people have the heart for this kind of work,” he said. At first, Kennedy paid scant attention to his exquisite carvings on the casings until friends and family members asked him who made them for him. “They couldn’t believe I did it because to them, only a master craftsman could produce beautiful carvings on wood.” As word got around, his orders started to pile up. But he is getting a bit worried about his expanding clientele as he is a part-time artisan and only does the carvings in his free time. “It’s only a hobby,” he said. He gets his ideas from books on Iban motifs before coming up with his own designs on a piece of paper and selecting the right tools for the carving process. “I taught myself everything about wood-carving and improvised some of my tools for better handling. I don’t consider myself a master craftsman. I do it as a pastime but I’m happy to say, it has helpd me regain my perspective after being a cancer patient.” Kennedy, an Iban from Sri Aman, said during the recovery period, he worried constantly about not being given a clean bill of health again. “Chemotherapy was not very pleasant – it made me weak. But doing something with my hands really helped me forget I was sick — even if temporarily. “Designing the sheaths with my carvings was the therapy I needed to motivate myself to live from day to day and I thank God I’m still here.”

ORIGINAL: The various native designs Kennedy uses for his carvings.

Devastated Kennedy revealed his father died of cancer and he was devastated when the doctor also diagnosed him with the same affliction (nose cancer). “It seemed the world just collapsed on me when I got the bad news. I was also constantly plagued by a sense of panic – my siblings were all very young at the time and my mother was a housewife. When my father died of cancer, my brothers and sisters were still teenagers and our family life was greatly affected by his death. “My father’s death was already a big blow to us. I couldn’t bear to see my family suffer further because of my illness. We all had to fend for ourselves – we must finish our secondary education and find jobs to become independent and not bother our mother who was surviving our father’s pension.” Looking back, he said his new-found talent and hobby had helped him clear his thoughts of his illness “and my life now is pretty normal.” Kennedy said he could not explain how or where he got his talent from as he hadn’t the foggiest idea whether his grandfather or other relatives had ever done any handiworks. “I’m not a person who is into culture and arts either but, of course, no one will want to see his or her unique culture just vanish — so in a way, I’m helping to preserve it with my carvings,” he added. He usually recommends traditional Iban designs to clients but the final decision lies with the clients themselves. How fast he finishes his carvings depends on how intricate the designs are and what wood surface he is working on. He gets his materials from discarded wooden boxes or from his clients. The work involves not only carving the sheaths but also binding them. He uses varnish to make the designs stand out, and ensures the blade is secure in the casing by reinforcing it with nylon string or metal wire. On the top of that, he also designs the handle of the blade to ensure it matches the casing. Kennedy said he did not make much money out of his craft, adding that besides showing their appreciation, people just paid him between RM50 and RM100 for each casing. “I don’t think I want to commercialise my hobby now — maybe when I retire,” he laughed. “There is a long list of people who order from me and they all wait patiently because they know I do the carvings only when I’m free in the evening and on weekends or when my inspiration is right.” Kennedy hoped people would appreciate their cultures and he felt he had contributed to ensuring his own (Iban) culture would not just disappear. “I don’t think my children will follow in my footsteps — they have their own interests but it’s too early to tell,” he reckoned. He said he was not asking or looking for more re-wards from what he was doing because he loved doing it. “I hope I can help preserve the Iban culture through my hobby,” he added.

Bidayuh (Land Dayak) traditional healing ritual.

Modernization and education is killing the Bidayuh Adat and Traditions. A seventy year old Priest from Kpg Serasot lamented how their Adat and Traditions there are surelybeing killed by their “educated sons and relatives” who now believe in various Christian Churches with the majority Roman Catholics early this morning when I went to observe them doing a healing practice, called NGIBAYUOW.

Having their break at 3.30 am.

He was intrigued by the younger generation attitude of taking the easy way out in life and that the old system is too much burden for them. Yet when they got sick and modern medicine failed them, then they would seek help from them who are able to perform the old rituals.
It is a common dilemma faced by the Bidayuhs now. Going for “civilization” and discarding their “shameful past”, unabashedly described by missionaries, as “paganism” not knowing that TOPA is a BIDAYUH word for GOD meaning that even before the Birth of Christ we were worshiping GOD in our ways and methods. Our forefathers believed in GOD by oral Traditions since time immemorial. My belief has been founded on GOD, the Almighty, who is called TOPA which is possibly one of His 99 Names as believed by many Muslims. It was founded by my illiterate mother, who was the High Priest of my village and by my illiterate father, who was a Warrior, Headman and a Priest in one till his death in 1986 at the edge of 82. They knew GOD told by their parents through oral traditions. Many attempted to convert me to Christianity but how can I tell my parents to be wrong in their beliefs when one of the TEN COMMANDMENTS is “HONOR thy father and mother”. In their wisdom they have raised me amidst all odds to survive this far. Yet current common wisdom wants me to tell them that they were wrong when even now we are still debating the right to use word “ALLAH” in Malaysia. While their generation have kept us to where we are to-day, should we openly condemned that they were wrong in their beliefs and ways of life?
But back to the story, I told the wise old man that I had only a few regrets on the actions of forefathers. One was our actions in choosing a person, we called “PININUH”, we always gave it the title to a person occupying the lowest position in the village thus downgrading an essential vital post to a very low status. In fact the breakdown of the old belief in my village started when the last “PININUH” died, conversion to Christianity then becomes a choice. He agreed that this has to change. Now for the whole Bau District, there is only one man to turn to for a Traditional burial ceremony for the Krokong, Jagoi, Biratak and Biroih stock. The Tringgus has a Traditional Healer who will do the ritual while BIGUMBANG has a Priest who can do the same. In fact he told me that it is perfectly compatible amongst the Bijagoi, Krokong stock, for the High Priest or any other Priest to perform the ritual for the dead. This opinion is yet to be confirmed with the Biratak people.
The other regret I have is the practice of using evil charms to harm or kill a rival or whoever is better off. This has led to our current state of affairs where many would suffer in the future if our Old Adat is gone. Once gone, these type of sickness will inflict unnecessary ailments and death amongst the BIDAYUHS again.
In fact I told him that my experience, as Western Trained Doctor, has shown there are THREE categories of Illnesses:
(1) Illnesses which can be treated by modern medicine for which I and other doctors have been trained to do;
(2) Illnesses where modern medicines can only help to lessen the harm/pain to the patients/families; and
(3) Illnesses where modern medicines does not know what to do and tell the patients that everything is normal.
Yet my five years of observing and following closely the Bidayuh Traditional Healers and Bidayuh Traditional Healing practices, I have met many cases where rejects (those who suffer because Doctors they have met failed to heal them) got healed after undergoing Traditional Healing practices in the hands of the experts. To relate all cases observed will be too long for this article but they are people where our Mental Institutions failed to help now lead a normal life.
In fact, all Priestesses are alive and well to-day after undergoing the initiation process, “KIBALIH”. Yet many of their children inadvertently killed their own mother prematurely by asking them to convert to Christianity. In fact the old man told me of cases in the Bijagoi area where the priestess died within a few weeks of their conversions. He told me of one current invalid priestess where her children had asked for his help. Yet earlier, they had asked their mother to convert because they were told that their father would recover from his illness if only they could get their mother converted. But after she did convert their father died anyway and then their mother got sick and now told by the doctors, she has cancer! Will Traditional Healing help? He said it is too late, but I reminded him it may not be so. What they can do now is to do the Bidayuh I’Ching, called NGASA, and seek divine advice what is the best of action to heal her if her children agree.
Based on my numerous observations and personal experiences, it is will be a VERY BIG loss to the community, the State, nation and the world when the all Bidayuhs get converted to Christianity or other world religions because we will eventually lose our ability to do the Traditional Healing Practices. Who can cure a person who appears to have a “STROKE” after walking in a SUNNY SHOWER/RAIN? Only a Traditional Healer conversant in getting rid of the invisible NET can!!! Those who would be caught by the invisible net, “JARING”, either die or cripple for life, diagnosed only as suffering from strokes when actually they can be healed immediately by the expert Healers. I have seen a number of cases already.
Our Traditional knowledge is actually compatible with modern ways if only we care to continue on and accept that we are different and have something to tell the world with humility and dignity.

Bako National Park

Small, but diverse, National Park located 37km north-east of Kuching. Bako NP covers an area of about 27sqkm and offers jungle treks, steep cliffs, rocky headlands and stretches of sandy, secluded bays.

It is one of the smallest national parks in Sarawak, yet one of the most interesting, as it contains almost every type of vegetation found in Borneo. The Park is relatively easy to explore with a well-maintained network of nature trails - from easy forest strolls to full-day jungle treks.
It is also the place see wild life such as the proboscis monkey (the one with funny nose) and the Bornean bearded pig, Bako???s largest mammal, which can come really near to the accommodations at the Headquarter.
Getting There
From Kuching, take a taxi or Petra Jaya Bus No. 6 to Kampung Bako (Bako Village). From there it’s a 30min interesting boat ride to the headquarter.