Sea Fishing ,Kuching ,Sarawak for Tenggiri by Jigging

The first fishing trip of the year. The weather was good during the day, just a little bit of strong wind during the night,but did not last long or creating big wave.

Only one strike during the jigging session in the evening but the sharp tooth Mackerel cut the mono leader. Once changed to wire leader,they seem to shy away.
First fish landed during the bottom fishing at night was a sea catfish...and most of the fish later were the same species. Only one coral shark landed ,the rest snap the line. And a bonus barracuda later on.
The jigging and casting session in the next morning near the Satang Island bear no result so we headed back home to the land.
Not the best trip ever but somehow we manage to have fun and enjoy being in the middle of the sea again after about seven months!
Till next trip!!...

Watch the video HERE

Fun day picnic at the waterfall and jungle trekking in the rainforest of Borneo.

 

A fun day with my dog walking through jungle and picnic at a nice waterfall.
The path is pretty abandoned and slippery,with some part of the wooden stairs are missing or broken.
Anyway,the virgin jungle and the crystal clear water at the waterfall is worth visiting for short picnic during the hot sunny day.
The waterfall is just 45 mins drive away from home and provide a good retreat from the hectic city life and the boundaries of the 'new normal'.

Watch the video, CLICK HERE

The Curse,Legends and the Beauty of Fairy Cave

 

According to historian Chang Pat Foh, the legends behind the stalactites and stalagmites lie in the story of a poor boy and his mother who lived at a big Bidayuh kampung known as Kampung Kapur located near Fairy Cave.

One day, a Gawai celebration was being held at one of the kampung houses.

Curious, the boy came and peeped in on their celebration, which made the homeowner unhappy.  Rather than simply chase the boy away, the mean-spirited homeowner collected some sugarcane waste and gave it to him, telling him there was pork inside.

Happily, the boy went home and presented what he thought was a gift to share with his mother. When his mother found nothing but sugarcane waste instead, she was humiliated and so began plotting her revenge on the proud village folk.

She took a cat, put it in a beautiful dress and threw the cat into the middle of her neighbour’s Gawai celebration to the surprise of its attendees.

They began to laugh at the sight of a cat in a dress. Their laughter brought on a storm, and the sky roared with thunder and lightning. When the storm eventually stopped, all the villagers had turned into stone.

They are what make up the stalagmites and stalactites inside Fairy Cave.

Another version of the legend is that it was the boy who threw the cat in the middle of celebration and that the mother had instructed him to cover his head with a chicken basket so that the curse would not touch him.

Besides the Bidayuh community, the Chinese have also their own interest in the Fairy cave as the cave is believed to be home for Chinese gods and goddesses.

Some of the rock formations were even named after Chinese deities such as Kuan Yin, the goddess of Mercy.

Watch the video HERE

The mysterious Borneo | Through the river to the sea

 The journey through out Borneo's jungle,rivers and islands in Sarawak,Malaysia...

One of the oldest rainforest in the world, Borneo is the third largest island in the world .Divided into three countries, with Sarawak and Sabah in the federation of Malaysia, Kalimantan of Indonesia and The Kingdom of Brunei .

Adventure here on longboat along the river of Ulu Layar and Ulu Spak in the division of Betong, Sarawak.

============================

#sarawak #borneo #rainforest

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Punan

Punan Bah or Punan is an ethnic group found in Sarawak, Malaysia. They are distinct, unrelated to the Penan and also the other so called Punan found in Kalimantan the Indonesian part of Borneo. Their name stems from two rivers along the banks of which they have been living time immemorial. They do have other names - Mikuang Bungulan or Mikuang and Aveang Buan. But these terms are only used ritually these days.
The Punan (or Punan Bah) have never been nomad. In the old days they base their living on a mixed economy. Swidden agriculture with hill paddy as the main crop, supplemented by a range of tropical plants which include maniok, taro, sugar cane, tobacco, etc. Hunting especially wild boar, fishing, and gathering of forest resources are the other important factors in their economy.
However, in the late 1980s many Punan, notably the younger, more educated, gradually migrating to urban areas such as Bintulu, Sibu, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur in search of better living. However, they didn't abandon their longhouses altogether. Many would still return home - especially during major festivities such as Harvest Festival / or Bungan festival as it is known among Punan.
Punan is a stratified society of 'laja' (aristocrats), 'panyen' (commoners), and 'lipen' (slaves). This is a fact determine their historical traditions that have been preserved. Just like most of the history of European Middle Ages is linked to and mainly concerned the various ruling monarchs, so are the historical and mythical traditions of Punan closely connected to their rulings aristocrats.

Iban Agressive Expansion (part 3)

By Stephanie Morgan

 The more traditional, more lasting process of aggressive expansion up into the Rejang and Balleh was rather curiously accelerated by the Brooke regime, whose avowed interest was to keep the Ibans close at hand. Migration was under way well before the English, intending to control the pirate raids, built their forts in the Iban rivers; but the resulting official divisions into downriver and upriver groups gave a new impetus to population movements. As some Iban groups had co-operated for mutual benefit with Malays, so the same groups came to co-operate with the English. “Only Dayaks can attack Dayaks to make them feel in any way a punishment” said the Rajah Charles Brooke, and he made great use of Iban levies, conveniently costless: they came gladly, arranging if possible attacks on their own enemies, or taking advantage of the government’s.

The great Kayan expedition of 1863, while it thoroughly revenged the murder of Fox and Steele, in the process so completely broke the power of this other expansionist group that they never again resisted Iban migration into the Rejang.5 This went so far that some non-Iban interior tribes concluded that invading Ibans were always working for the Government. The rebellious pioneers took heads and raided; and after them came the equally deadly allies with official blessing, taking heads and burning longhouses, punishing them in the way most familiar to both. The inevitable result was that the upriver and downriver Ibans retained and practiced their ideology of aggression; and those upriver, who had most opportunity to migrate away and were most often raided to punish them for trying to do so, migrated even farther to be out of reach.

Both these aspects of Iban expansion and aggression in the nineteenth century – piracy, and movement to the north and east – were affected by outside pressures that suggested their form and direction; but it seems clear that neither Malays nor English had any real control over the wellsprings, the pace or the ultimate expression of Iban activity. The rare efforts to counteract this cultural drive (as with settlement in the Balleh) met with no more permanent success than did, in the long run, attempts to direct the urge for the formal rulers’ benefit. It is clear that in the matter of aggressive expansion Iban culture, while superficially highly adaptable, had a fundamental resistance to being changed.

*to be continues...

Source= Tangsang Kenyalang

Iban Aggressive Expansion: Some Background Factors

By,
STEPHANIE MORGAN

Mr. Benedict Sandin’s recently published book, The Sea Dayaks of Borneo before White Rajah Rule, has no doubt become familiar to all interested in the people and traditions of Borneo. Here, for the first time, a highly educated and scholarly Iban writes with authority on his own people, and therefore with an understanding which a Westerner, even after years of field study, could rarely hope to approach. Familiar from childhood with the traditions of the Iban past, Mr. Sandin has drawn the skeletal structure of his study from the orally transmitted genealogies, tusut, of which thirty-two are appended to his text. The tales associated with these remembered ancestors illustrate his main theme, the westward migrations of the Iban people from Indonesian Borneo to the Second Division of Sarawak, and west again and north, during approximately the past fifteen generations. The material so vividly presented here is enough to feed theory for many years to come, and another book dealing with earlier and more recent periods is underway. The present short paper draws on aspects of Mr. Sandin’s material as well as other sources in an attempt to explore certain generalities, which underlie his narrative, and some of the points, which, because of their speculative nature, fall outside the scope of his book. In dealing with this complex range of material, I have drawn upon suggestions given by Dr. Robert Pringle and Dr. George Appell. The impetus and advice provided by Mr. Tom Harrisson, for whose seminar on Malaysia at Cornell University the body of this paper was originally written, have been invaluable; and Mr. Sandin himself has contributed the benefit of his experience in essential explanation.

The process of Iban migration, as Mr. Sandin’s material makes very clear, was far from orderly or organized either in space or in time. Its patterns were shaped by chance, by a network of individual decisions. A man such as Punoh* would quarrel with a neighbour, and move out to avoid the consequences; another, like Tindin, would make a friend in new rich land; another would hastily migrate, as Kaya did, to prevent relatives or strangers from getting to new territory before him. In the days when local conflict spread and hardened into “inter-tribal” hostility, the whole river populations might be driven out, even long-settled ones like the Undups. But the basic force of most directed migration was the desire for fertile land, which led to prestige and prosperity; and this meant, in these areas of thin and basically infertile soil, the old jungle living richly on itself. Those who felled it first owned the land forever, or as long as they wanted it: but as long as the forest seemed inexhaustible, farther pioneering was more attractive, symbolically and practically, than close-knit, rotated exploitation. So untouched land might be left ignored and once-settled areas deserted, till claims had lapsed so long that no one of a later immigration could tell who had first felled the forest they were clearing once again.(1) Specially erratic, migrations also moved at varying paces, according to the strength of the migrants’ motivation and the quality of the land. If nothing compelled them and the land was good, a group (probably several related families) would move gradually up from the mouth of a tributary, clearing its side spurs from valley to crest, as far as the headwaters: then away to a neighboring tributary, perhaps to return ten or twenty years later, or not at all. The Tuan Muda judged their average progress as four or five days’ journey every one or two years.2

(*The particulars of his story, and those of other men mentioned, may be found in Sea Dayaks of Borneo: page references are given with the names, in the first Index following this paper.)

The conscious motivations of migration, however, need not be the only reasons for the existence and persistence of this cultural option; nor do they explain why it became such a powerful and cherished part of Iban values, nor why its impulse seemed to be stronger before 1700 and after the early 1800′s (periods I and III of Mr. Sandin’s book) than in the relatively sessile interim. The first period, out of range of written history, is the more problematical; in the more recent, Iban movements were affected by outside influences, novel and shallow compared to the cultural drives which often they invoked (and then found most difficult to repress). But this very lack of depth may make their effect on the Iban easier to trace; and the more recent, documented Iban may be a convenient introduction to the Iban of the farther past, which is in large part an extrapolation.

*to be continued

source= Tansang Kenyalang

Rainbow in Pinnacle

Mulu National Park,Sarawak,Borneo

Iban History

The origin of the name Iban is a mystery, although many theories exist. During the British colonial era, the Ibans were called Sea Dayaks. Some believe that the word Iban was an ancient original Iban word for people or man. The modern-day Iban word for people or man is mensia, a slightly modified Malay loan word of the same meaning (manusia) of Sanskrit Root.

The Ibans were the original inhabitants of Borneo Island. Like the other Dayak tribes, they were originally farmers, hunters, and gatherers. Not much is known about Iban people before the arrival of the Western expeditions to Asia. Nothing was ever recorded by any voyagers about them.

The Ibans were unfortunately branded for being pioneers of headhunting. Headhunting among the Ibans is believed to have started when the lands occupied by the Ibans became over-populated. In those days, before the arrival of western civilization, intruding on lands belonging to other tribes resulted in death. Confrontation was the only way of survival.

In those days, the way of war was the only way that any Dayak tribe could achieve prosperity and fortune. Dayak warfare was brutal and bloody, to the point of ethnic cleansing. Many extinct tribes, such as the Seru and Bliun, are believed to have been assimilated or wiped out by the Ibans. Tribes like the Bukitan, who were the original inhabitants of Saribas, are believed to have been assimilated or forced northwards as far as Bintulu by the Ibans. The Ukits were also believed to have been nearly wiped out by the Ibans.

The Ibans started moving to areas in what is today's Sarawak around the 15th century. After an initial phase of colonising and settling the river valleys, displacing or absorbing the local tribes, a phase of internecine warfare began. Local leaders were forced to resist the tax collectors of the sultans of Brunei. At the same time, Malay influence was felt, and Iban leaders began to be known by Malay titles such as Datu (Datuk), Nakhoda and Orang Kaya.

In later years, the Iban encountered the Bajau and Illanun, coming in galleys from the Philippines. These were seafaring tribes who came plundering throughout Borneo. However, the Ibans feared no tribe, and fought the Bajaus and Illanuns. One famous Iban legendary figure known as Lebor Menoa from Entanak, near modern-day Betong, fought and successfully defeated the Bajaus and Illanuns. It is likely that the Ibans learned seafaring skills from the Bajau and the Illanun, using these skills to plunder other tribes living in coastal areas, such as the Melanaus and the Selakos. This is evident with the existence of the seldom-used Iban boat with sail, called the bandung. This may also be one of the reasons James Brooke, who arrived in Sarawak around 1838, called the Ibans Sea Dayaks. For more than a century, the Ibans were known as Sea Dayaks to Westerners.

*source www.enotes.com

Augustine Anggat Ganjing: Basic Iban Design

The Ibans are one of the indigenous tribes of Borneo, one of
the Holy Lands for Tribal Tattoo devotees. If you are into Bor-
neo style tribal tattooing, I can wholeheartedly recommend a
visit to those shores: beautiful place, very nice people, and in
my experience nothing but positive reactions towards heavily
tattooed persons.

Ganjing's book has by many tattoo artists been labelled the
"Bible of Iban (Tattoo) Design". Very likely that this is true:
the subject is not widely written about in the first place.

"Basic Iban Design" does in its introduction recount the story
of how tattooing first arrived on the island of Borneo, but
only a small part of the book is specifically on Iban tattoo de-
signs. Though all the fabric, pottery, etc. patterns are defini-
tely more than just a little helpful in learning to understand
Iban Tattoo design, and one can easily see how they corre-
late to traditional Borneo tattooing; and vice versa.

Without a doubt, "Basic Iban Design" is a must-have for all
of you tribal tattoo aficionados out there.

This is, btw, one of the exclusive tattoo books that I carry.
I have so far not found "Basic Iban Design" anywhere but
in Borneo (not even on Malaysian Mainland; where in many
parts tattoos are usually frowned upon anyways).

Borneoheadhunters Tattoo Studio

The first tattoo studio in Malaysia that provides world class and professional standard tattooing service, was founded in Kuching Sarawak in 1998. Borneo Headhunters Tattoo and Piercing Studio aims to promote the rich traditional art form of tattooing which has been an integral part of the Iban community for centuries. Tattoos played a very significant role in the lives of Ibans back then. Tattoos connected the living to the spiritual world and they were used to mark men's success in headhunting. For the womenfolk, their prowess in weaving and dancing was rewarded with befitting tattoos. Tattoos also helped ward off evil and disease. Ever since its conception, the studio has achieved many firsts for its founder, Ernesto Kalum. Its list of achievements and awards are listed below.

Achievements
1. Tattooing since 1992(bootleg); then professionally since 1998.
2. Invited to do a guest spot in England for a year in 1998 at one of the top tattoo studios in England.
3. Invited in 1999 to one of the most prestigious tattoo conventions in the world in Lausanne, Switzerland.
4. Organised an International Tattoo Convention in homeground Sarawak for the first time ever in South East Asia in May 2002 - "The 1st International Borneo Tattoo Convention, 1-5th May 2002".
5. Entered into the Sarawak Book of Records.
6. Won two H.R. Giger Awards for the Best Tribal Tattoo Category and Respect to the Culture Award in Lausanne, Switzerland in October 2001.
7. Being featured in National Geographic television as a subject in tattooing culture in the series "Taboo" in February 2003 and other television channels from countries such as Canada, England, France, German, Netherlands, Switzerland and USA.
8. Featured in the French magazine "Illustre" (Titled "Les Tatoueures De Borneo", Issue: No.43, 24th October 2001) and other magazines such as Malaysian Tatler and Tattoo Magazines.
9. Chosen as the tattoo and design advisor for The New Line Cinema film production "Sleeping Dictionary", directed by Guy Jenkins and starring Jessica Alba and Hugh Dancy.
10. Produced and managed Jerry Kamit's album "Semampai Sayau... Flora". On the 27th of March 2004, Jerry was awarded with two Honorable Awards at the Iban Music Awards (AJJAR) for the Most Popular Song and Best Vocal.

Awards
1.
1999 The 3rd Best of the Day during The 5th International Lausanne Tattoo Convention in Lausanne, Switzerland.
2.
1999
Respect Prize during The 5th International Lausanne Tattoo Convention in Lausanne, Switzerland.
3.
2001
Best Tribal 1st Prize during The 1st Annual Massachusetts Tattoo Festival in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
4.
2001
Best Tribal 2nd Prize during The 1st Annual Massachusetts Tattoo Festival in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
5.
2002
H.R.Giger Award 1st Prize during The 6th Lausanne International Tattoo Show in Lausanne, Switzerland.
6.
2002
H.R.Giger Award for the Respect to the Culture during The 6th Lausanne International Tattoo Show in Lausanne, Switzerland.
7.
2002
Best Celtic/Tribal 1st Prize during the Northern Ink Exposure in Toronto, Canada.
8.
2002
Best Celtic/Tribal 2nd Prize during the Northern Ink Exposure in Toronto, Canada.
9.
2002
Best Tribal 1st Prize during the Tattoo The Earth in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
10.
2002
Best Tribal 2nd Prize during the Tattoo The Earth in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
11.
2002
Best Tribal 2nd Prize during the Tattoo The Earth in Oakland, California, U.S.A.
12.
2002
Best Tribal 1st Prize during the Atlanta Tattoo Fest in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
13.
2002
Best Traditional 1st Prize during the Northern Ink Exposure in Toronto, Canada.
14.
2002
Best Traditional 2nd Prize during the Northern Ink Exposure in Toronto, Canada.

Borneoartifact

About Borneoartifact
Borneoartifact has built over twenty-five years of experience and source of the best discernable selections of Borneo ethnic crafts. Any recommended object you can find in borneoartifact.com is collectible for its special features, exceptional quality, uniqueness, creativity, expressive style, limited production, rarity and objects of rare or extraordinary ritual or sacred purposes. It takes very conscious pursuit with the best sources, to be able to get in touch with these collections.

Our creative design, products and art are represented worldwide through exhibitions for 25 years. Collectibles, artifacts, and important collections plus top quality pieces are strongly represented in various countries throughout the world. Collectors, architects, diplomats, designers, galleries, art professors, businessmen, hoteliers, resort management, consultants, companies, young professionals and inspired home makers as well as boutique fashion houses who have been enthusiasts in the quest had collected borneoartifact`s signature collections. Collecting is a wave as it has always been, and continues to be so because of the value and beauty in such collectibles.

*http://www.borneoartifact.com/

Rafflesia

The largest flower in the world,reaching a diameter of about three feet,Rafflesia is found in forests in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. Seven out of fifteen species worldwide of Rafflesia can be found in Malaysia.
Because the Rafflesia flower is located in specific areas, and little is know about its methods for pollination and seed dispersal, it is difficult to find conservation methods. Residents in Malaysia are encouraged to save the flowers on their private property, and are encouraged to charge small entrance fees to see the flower. This little income goes a long way in conserving the flowers. In peninsular Malaysia, flower buds are sold as traditional medicines. These buds are seen as a sign of fertility, and are given to help mothers recover after birth. The over collection of these buds has not helped with conservation efforts, and has drastically reduced the number of Rafflesia in the wild.
All of these factors lead to decreasing numbers of Rafflesia. Many species of Rafflesia are vulnerable to deforestation and development, and as populations grow, Rafflesia becomes more threatened.
In Sarawak,Rafflesia can be found in Gunung Gading in Lundu,not far from Kuching,the capital city of Sarawak.
In Sabah, the flower and host vine Tetrastigma are protected under the state's Wildlife Conservation Enactment of 1997. In 2002, 44 of 83 Rafflesia found in the area were outside of designated conservation places. The beginning stages of conservation call for finding, monitoring and protecting the flowers that appear. Conservationists are hoping that complete habitat protection will come, but there is no sign of complete habitat protection in the near future.

Iban longhouse

The longhouse faces the river. Each family unit in the longhouse has its own section, consisting of a room (bilik) with a solid door, an equal-width section of the common area onto which all rooms open, and an equal-width section of the porch (tanju) -- which, as you can see, is a rickety affair made of split bamboo laid (not fastened) across supporting logs. We tourists were warned not to go out on the porch because it likely would not hold our weight, and believe me, we were not tempted. In addition to hanging laundry, the porch is used for doing work. An old man spent the morning out there building a door from fresh-looking boards.

Below, you can see some chicken coops on the left side, beneath the living quarters. The people kept a large number of chickens, which strut all around but are chased out if they come into the house. Several dogs and one very small, friendly, flea-infested cat shared the house. The people raise fish to eat in their own fish farm on the river; big bags of tilapia feed are stacked inside the longhouse.

First thing in the morning, most women went out to gather some food. They raise padi rice, vegetables and pepper on the hills above the house. (Black pepper is a major export of Sarawak; we saw pepper plants trained to climb poles in long rows everywhere as we traveled the roads.) The women strap a giant cylindrical basket on their back, put a conical hat on their head, and wearing long sleeves and usually pants, climb up a narrow path to the cultivated fields. When they return, the basket is filled with greenery. They make the baskets from grasses and rattan; the straps are made from tree bark.

One of the two women who cooked for us came in with what appeared to be some kind of tree leaves brimming from her huge basket. Later I realized I had heard a dull pounding coming from the kitchen for a very long time, so I went to investigate. In a small stone mortar she was mashing all the leaves to pulp. She already had a big blue plastic basin full of it. I signaled that I would like to try it and she gestured permission. But she had meant touch and not taste, because as I moved to put a clump into my mouth, both women urgently warned me not to do it. Pointing to the wok on the double-burner gas cooker (same as what most city Malaysians also use), they explained that the pulp had to be cooked. We ate it at lunch that day, and like everything we ate in the longhouse, it was delicious. The texture was heavier than chopped spinach but equally smooth. I don't know if they cooked it in chicken stock or just a combination of flavorings such as soy sauce, but the unique taste of the leaf remained, neither sweet nor bitter, a cross between mustard greens and collards.

Orang utan under threat

In Central Kalimantan, the hunters and poachers have the blood of orang utan on their hands. The forests that are home to these animals are also being cleared at an alarming rate in the name of development. A rehabilitation centre offers some measure of hope, writes AMY CHEW.

NODDY, an orphaned baby orang utan, climbs up a tree and stares into the distance at the Nyaru Menteng Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, his future as uncertain as the existence of the forests which used to be his home.

His mother was killed in the wilds, under what circumstances, his carers do not really know.

But what is sure is that she met with a cruel and violent end -- hacked to pieces, burnt or shot to death -- like so many others before her.

In a forest in Sampit, an animal poacher fires a shot at a female orang utan with a baby in her arms. As the orang utan falls, she clings tightly to her baby.

When the hunter comes over to the dying creature, he is stunned -- he sees tears flowing from its eyes.

Orang utan have emotions just like humans. They can cry, worry and experience sorrow and joy.

"The mother held on to her baby until she breathed her last," recounts Eko Haryuwono, founder of the Nyaru Menteng orang utan rescue unit.

"The hunter was moved by the orang utan's tears and has since stopped killing them."

The hunter now helps the rescue team by informing the unit of orang utan in danger of being killed or poached.

The orang utan, or people of the forest, is our closest relative. Orang utan and humans share 98 per cent of the same DNA.

"They have emotions just like humans. They can cry, worry and experience sorrow and joy just like us," says Eko.

Saving the orang utan will be a demonstration of our humanity, that we are indeed worthy to be called humans, and not beasts.

Headhunters, not pirates

Headhunting for the Ibans is history. But many a question still lingers in the minds of many as to why headhunting was rampant or to some extent ‘cultural’ among them. Part of this article explains why.

“Heads are very important because they are needed for many occasions. If your loved ones die, only the coming of freshly cut heads will stop the mourning period. You know that when we are in mourning, nothing we do will be blessed. Heads are also required to bless our longhouse. The more heads we have, the more plentiful our harvests will be. They will also guard our longhouse from evil spirits. During our many festivals, our women carry the heads up and down the verandahs or galleries to show of the bravery of their fathers and their brothers. No maiden will give you even a glance if you have not obtained a single head.”… Jimmy Donald, Keling of the Raised World pg. 5

Dato Sri Empiang Jabu in her article ‘Historical Perspective of the Iban’ in The Sarawak Museum Journal (December 1989 issue) writes on pg. 25 in support of the above notion. “… The practice of headhunting being the most talked honoured tradition of the Iban of those days was the crowning proof of manhood. Marriage for young Iban then would come easily with the proof that a man has taken heads in war. Coupled with a war-like spirit was a belief in the magical powers of the human heads. Heads were believed to bring strength, virtue and prosperity to the longhouse and it was the object of every young warrior to bring back a head to adorn his longhouse…”

However, the Iban first started headhunting not because they loved to do it or for the sake of treasuring the heads as trophies back home. It was because from time immemorial with the absence of proper law and order with regards to other tribes, people killed one another. Such thing was common elsewhere, in every part of the world when no proper government existed. Fine examples of this were the Jahiliah Arabs (Period of the Dark Ages) before the coming of Islam to the Middle East and the periods of the Warring States in China both during and after Confucius time.

The Ibans, like other brave ordinary people, had to defend themselves. Long-long time ago Ibans were always victims of attacks by another Borneo tribe known then as Kantu but later learned to defend themselves and turned the table against the attackers. Being born brave (or taught to be brave) the Ibans not only killed their enemies in war but took the heads to appease the spirits of those fellow Ibans killed by the enemies.

Even before the Brookes showed up, the Ibans had already engaged in headhunting simply because during the migratory period they met with a lot of hostility. Iban early immigrants from the Kapuas basin in Kalimantan to Batang Ai and subsequently to other parts of Sarawak came into contact with other people who attacked them and fled. Many Ibans were killed in this nature. Prominent among their attackers were the Bukitans or locally known as Baketan, now an extinct tribe.

Empiang Jabu uses the story of Beti nicknamed Brauh Ngumbang (Loud Yell) and a girl named Remampak to cite one example of the Baketan attack. Beti avenged the mourning Remampak for her slain father by killing and taking the head of the killer who happened to be the leader of the Baketans.

This shows Iban deeds were always based on logical and practical reasons. As such this background has given birth to an important, albeit a notorious part of Iban culture. In order to survive, Ibans of old had to continue the headhunting and found in the practice the usefulness of the heads both in their spiritual and their socio-political world.

In another word, headhunting to the Iban was an integral part of survival in the anarchic scenario of ‘kill or be killed’. If they (the Ibans) did not practise the headhunting their enemies (always those who came into contact with them in new territories), then they would be attacked first by the other tribes. Demonstrating their pragmatism, the Ibans preferred to attack first rather than bear the consequences of being unprepared.

For adventurer James Brooke who landed on Sarawak soil on 15 August 1839, it was really a bad timing and unfortunate. Coming to the scene at this particular time – he came uninvited – served him right.

Sir James Brooke, Sarawak’s first Rajah (1841-1868) was the first to use the term pirates upon rebelling Ibans. Though the Dutch rulers of Sambas in Indonesian Borneo and the Brunei Sultanate never referred to the Ibans as pirates, Brooke’s use of the term was to serve his own purpose. Foreign authors such as Pringle, Runciman and others who wrote on the famous Battle of Beting Maru in 1849 termed the Iban war party under Linggir ‘Mali Lebu’(Never without conquest) as pirates, basing their information on records made available to them by the Brookes Government.

Iban side of the story were never told for public consumption. Were they in any sense pirates? Definitely not. There were plenty of pirates in the area then such as the Sulus, Illanuns, Natunans and others but not Iban. To describe Iban practice of headhunting as piratical is an insult to the language.

Some Saribas Ibans did go on headhunting activities searching for their enemies along the coast, sometimes paddling beyond Beting Maru, even as far as Sambas in Indonesian Borneo but it did not merit them to be converted into buccaneers. History supports the fact that Iban boats were too meek for any piratical activities. Linggir and his men were not ignorant of the fact that their boats were nothing compared to those used by the real pirates. And they were not even comfortable with the seas.

*source- mySarawak.org

Courting girls

In the old days,at the age of fourteen, an Iban boy begins to attain his bachelorhood. His parents teach him to behave and speak politely to others. He also learn to court girls together with older bachelors. Courting girls at night (ngayap) has been an Iban traditional dating method to look for suitable partner and pave the way for their future love. Hence, they must learn the polite manners in approaching the girl of their heart.

The bachelors must learn to establish and maintain their good reputation by paying due respect to the girls’ bed. They ought to be considerate with other people who are sleeping without disturbing them from their dreams. In addition, they should walk quietly along the verandah, which was very difficult to do in the dark for the nervous and the inexperienced. The wooden floors surfaces were mostly uneven with a lot of loose domestic items lying around the corners, or hanging from deer antlers tied to the posts or hanging on loose bamboo beams.

This courting activity is also a test of the young boys’ courage and maturity as they have to travel at night through forest, crossing rivers or swamps to reach the girls’ longhouse. In the headhunting days, this kind of travel could be a very risky affair as they could fall upon a band of marauding enemies. So they are trained to exercise extreme caution to keep them on guard against untoward incident. These include keeping themselves adequately armed, be alert of danger and are prepared for action at all time in their travel. They were also taught to properly identify themselves should they meet other people in their journey.

This nightly travel by the bachelors is also treated as an inter longhouse night security petrol by the community. Any sign of danger detected, these bachelors could give early warning to the community. This would give them time to respond to these emergencies and quell any surprise attacks by enemies. For this reason, ngayap was encouraged as part of the Iban culture and treated as an important early learning and social interaction process for their children. Though there is no set of established rules to this tradition, common understanding by the community at large have accepted this traditional courtship as part of the Iban way of life. There has been no reported incident of property stolen or damaged and fatality incident in the history of the Saribas Iban society due to ngayap activities.

On the other hand, for the girls who aim high or those who have been properly counseled by their parents, they will automatically know how to recognise certain behavior of a suitor to be entertained. The boys who have been ill-cultured and talked boisterously are to be avoided as the girls normally abhor boys who have been badly groomed.

In their conversation with girls whom they court, many boys say that they wish to marry them, or tell the spinsters that their arrivals are made through the requests of their parents to ask for their hands in marriage. On hearing such proposals, the girls must think profoundly. Perhaps the declarations can turn to be mere tricks to induce the girls to offer themselves to the boys. At this juncture, many girls like to test the boys by telling them that they have as yet, no intentions of getting married unless these lads have shown their manly qualities like participating in venturing abroad to search for fame and fortune.

In the old days, when there were many enemies around, spinsters usually declared their refusals to get married unless Iban bachelors had killed enemies and taken their heads. Due to such encouragement on the part of the girls, the male Ibans in those days were rarely found not to have gone abroad or joining a war expeditions because they feared that they could not easily obtain suitable wives. Any man who spent his entire life in his own longhouse was usually labeled as a coward who could, as the women termed it, “put on a woman’s sarong”. Hence, they found it difficult to marry high profile (clever and skillful) girls, unless they are not aware of his true qualities.

Moreover, when a girl reaches maturity, and if there is a suitor, her parents will arrange for her to settle down. Normally, an Iban girl marries when she is seventeen years of age. When a girl attains her spinsterhood, her mother teaches her the ways employed to protect her. She must be taught to behave and speak courteously to boys who court her at night. She is aware that it has been a tradition for a boy to court a girl. However, the question of getting her to offer herself to the boy depends very much on the girl herself, because he cannot force her to give consent unless they love each other through his kindness and winning ways. These are secretly explained to her by her mother. The mother also emphasizes the methods in which her daughter can judge whether or not the boy is sincere enough to marry her.

*source

GN Mawar Wordpress

Bako National Park

With its rainforest abundant wildlife, jungle streams, waterfalls, interesting plant life, secluded beaches and trekking trails, Bako offers visitor an excellent introduction to the rainforest of Borneo. Bako may not have an instanly recognisable star attraction but there can be very few places in the world that pack so much natural beauty into such a limited area, all its sheer range of attractions and activities have made Bako one of the most popular parks in Sarawak. Cliff by the sea Gazetted as a protected area on 1st May 1957 and was published to public on 4th may 1957. Bako is Sarawak's oldest national park, covering an area of 2,727 hectares at the tip of the Muara Tebas peninsula. It is one of the smallest national park in Sarawak, yet one of the most interesting as it contains almost every type of vegetation found in Borneo. A well maintained network of trails from wasy forest strills to full day jungle treks, allows visitors to get the most out of this unique environment. The unique stone tower The Rainforest And Other Vegetation Bako contains an incredible variety of plant species and vegetation types and this is one of the park's great attractions. At Bako it is possible to see almost every type of vegetation found in Borneo. 25 distinct types of vegetation from seven complete eco-system, Beach vegetation, Cliff vegetation, Kerangas or heath Forest, Mangrove Forest, Mixed Dipterocarp Forest, Padang or Grasslands Vegetation and Peat Swamp Forest. It is wasy to explore these eco-system via the jungle trails. The contrasts are so distinct that you do not have to be scientist to notice the differences. Furthermore, most of the different vegetation types are found close to the Park Office at Telok Assam. Amongst the unique and strange plant life are the carnivorous plants (pitcher plants, sundews, bladderworts). Jetty through the swamp peat forest Proboscis Monkey,a rare and endangered species which can only be found in Borneo! Read more; http://www.forestry.sarawak.gov.my/forweb/np/np/bako.htm