Penan,the nomad of Borneo

How do they live? The Penan are nomadic hunter-gatherers. Although many have now been settled, about 300 Penan still lead a completely nomadic life in the forest. Even the settled Penan continue to rely heavily on the forest. The Penan have a gentle and egalitarian society without any hierarchy. Sharing is taken for granted in Penan society: a hunter must not eat a single bite more than he gives to others, however small his prey. The forest is essential to the Penan, providing them with everything they need to survive. In particular, they rely heavily on sago, which they use for building houses, making baskets and to eat – the Penan love to eat it fried in pig fat and mixed with blood. What problems do they face? Since the 1970s, all the tribal peoples of Sarawak have had their land taken to make way for logging, dam construction and oil palm plantations – driving them into towns where they are reduced to abject poverty. The Penan have been told by the government that they have no rights to land at all until they ‘settle down’ or start farming. The logging industry has a particularly devastating impact. The Malaysian government claims that Sarawak is being logged sustainably – but in fact its forests are being destroyed at one of the fastest rates in the world. As the forests are logged, the rivers are silted up, killing the fish. The game is being scared deeper into the few remaining forests. Since 1987, the Penan have been fighting back by blockading the logging roads – and suffering acute food shortages as a result. Many Penan have been arrested for holding these peaceful blockades. Some have managed to prevent the companies from entering their land, but others have seen much of their forest devastated. Where all of the valuable trees have been cut down, the companies are starting to remove the forests completely in order to establish oil palm plantations.

Empalang...genital piercing of Borneo

The empalang or ampallang is a form of male genital body piercing that penetrates horizontally through the entire glans of the penis. The piercing may betransurethral (passing through the urethra). A variant on this piercing is the shaft ampallang, which penetrates the shaft of his penis horizontally at any point along its length. A vertical piercing through the entire glans of the penis is known as an apadravya, and is a completely different piercing. The combination of an ampallang and an apadravya is sometimes referred to as the magic cross.

This is an advanced piercing, and the procedure can be extremely painful. Full healing usually takes between four and six months, but can take a year or more.

This piercing, once healed, is often extremely pleasurable to the bearer because it stimulates the internal penis tissues ^[1]. It can be sexually stimulating to the receiving partner during sexual intercourse, usually due to stimulation of the G spot

History and culture

Historically, this piercing was performed in various

Polynesian cultures, specifically the Dayak people of Borneo, who wore this and/or the apadravya (they don't usually distinguish between them) to emulate the rhino, which has a similarly equipped penis courtesy of nature.

Urban legend holds that an ampallang passing through the corpus cavernosum can leave the wearer bleeding to death, but this is not true unless the piercing is done as a dermal punching, in which case all bets are off and you are in for serious bleeding for weeks (although death is still an exaggeration).

This piercing originated by Bjorn Burke amongst the

Dayak people. In some cultures, having an ampallang may be seen as a pre-requisite for marriage. In contemporary society, it became popularized along with the many genital piercings practiced amongst the gay BDSM community prior to the establishment of the body piercing industry in the '80s and '90s. Due to its legitimate primitive origins, this piercing is closely associated with the modern primitive movement.

According to urban legend, should this piercing penetrate the corpus cavernosum penis, the recipient could bleed to death. This is not true, although should the piercing penetrate the corpus cavernosum, it may bleed even more heavily, both initially and during the healing process, than it normally would.

Placement

Standard ampallangs (versus shaft ampallangs) are done in one of two placements, either transurethral or not. A transurethral ampallang passes through the urethra. The advantage to this is that the urine helps keep the piercing clean, and because the piercing is effectively divided in half, it's almost like healing two shorter piercings. Also, piercing through the urethra makes this piercing less likely to migrate due to sexual use of the piercing. Some piercers believe that the non-urethral placement feels better for the client, but it also takes longer to heal and is more prone to rejection. Should the wearer also have a PA, this will likely result in hellacious pinching.

Procedure

The ampallang can be performed using either a standard clamp-and-pierce method, a freehand method, or a scalpelling method. For any method, proper jewelry size should be determined pre-procedure by measuring the penis while erect. The piercer should keep in mind the angle and placement of the jewelry when taking these measurements. Many piercers will also take this measurement and add a small amount to ensure that the jewelry is not too short. For this piercing in particular it is much easier to deal with jewelry that has too much room over jewelry that is too short. Also, it should be noted that piercings through the male glans are possibly the most painful piercings for a male to receive. This is not a piercing to enter into lightly and the discomfort level should not be mistaken for that of a Prince Albert Piercing or Frenum Piercing.

Clamp-and-Pierce

After acquiring appropriately sized jewelry, the area should be cleaned and prepped. This typically involves the use of a surgical scrub or similar. It is also common during this piercing to clean the front side of the scrotum in addition to the glans in order to eliminate problems with subsequent contact between the penis and scrotum. A single-use marking instrument should then be used to mark the placement of the piercing. At this point, the head of the penis is lightly clamped and the needle goes through the head. After piercing the tissue, the clamps are removed and the jewelry is transferred into the piercing. It is common for this piercing to bleed (sometimes heavily) for several minutes after the piercing. Many piercers will ensure that the bleeding is controlled and proceed to bandage the piercing to prevent staining of pants. Because the glans of the penis is a high blood flow area this piercing may also bleed in small amounts for several days after the procedure.

Freehand Method

The only change between the Freehand Piercing method and the clamp-and-pierce method is during the piercing of the head. Instead of clamping the tissue it is held firmly and carefully in one hand and pierced with the other.

Scalpelling Method

Scalpelling methods are often employed when starting an ampallang at 4 gauge or larger. Scalpelled piercings, especially of this nature, should be left to a well qualified practitioner.

Healing and aftercare

Ampallangs and apadravyas are generally considered the "toughest" male genital piercings. They are some of the most painful to get done, and can take, depending on the subject, between 2 and 6 months, or longer, to heal. A last warning: Withdrawing before going flaccid is a very good idea, and a very necessary one in some applications.

Long term health issues

A very important detail: this piercing, contrary to a tremendous amount of hype, is not a good choice for making most female partners happier. Good technique aside for a minute, the nature of the placement rules out direct pleasurable stimulation, and in fact has been known to be "catchy, irritating and just too much" for a good deal of people, never mind the possible hardships imposed on the back teeth and the soft palate. As with most piercings, these need to be left in, so seriously consider all possible outcomes before embarking on such a big journey.

Jewelery

The initial jewelry is almost always a straight barbell between 12 gauge and 8 gauge (although larger gauges are definitely possible, and this is sometimes done as a scalpelled piercing).

Gawai Dayak

Gawai Day or Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrated in Sarawak on 1 June every year. It is both a religious and social occasion. The word Gawai means a ritual or festival whereas Dayak is a collective name for the native ethnic groups of Sarawak: Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, and Lun Bawang among others. Thus, Gawai Dayak literally means "Dayak Festival". Dayak would visit their friends and relatives on this day. Such visit is more commonly known as "ngabang" in the Iban language. Those too far away to visit would receive greeting cards.

It started back in 1957 in a radio forum held by Mr Ian Kingsley, a radio programme organiser. This generated a lot of interest among the Dayak community.

The mode of celebration varies from place to place. Preparation starts early. Tuak (rice wine) is brewed (at least one month before the celebration) and traditional delicacies like penganan (cakes from rice flour, sugar and coconut milk) are prepared. As the big day approaches, everyone will be busy with general cleaning and preparing food and cakes. On Gawai Eve, glutinous rice is steamed in bamboo (ngelulun pulut). In the longhouse, new mats will be laid out on the ruai (an open gallery which runs through the entire length of the longhouse). The walls of most bilik (rooms) and the ruai are decorated with Pua Kumbu (traditional blankets). A visit to clean the graveyard is also conducted and offerings offered to the dead. After the visit it is important to bathe before entering the longhouse to ward off bad luck.

The celebration starts on the evening of 31 May. In most Iban longhouses, it starts with a ceremony called Muai Antu Rua (to cast away the spirit of greed), signifying the non-interference of the spirit of bad luck in the celebration. Two children or men each dragging a chapan (winnowing basket) will pass each family's room. Every family will throw some unwanted article into the basket. The unwanted articles will be tossed to the ground from the end of the longhouse for the spirit of bad luck.

Around 6 pm or as the sun sets, miring (offering ceremony) will take place. Before the ceremony, gendang rayah (ritual music) is performed. The Feast Chief thanks the gods for the good harvest, and asks for guidance, blessings and long life as he waves a cockerel over the offerings. He then sacrifices the cockerel and a little blood is used together with the offerings.

Once the offering ceremony is done, dinner is then served at the ruai. Just before midnight, a procession up and down the ruai seven times called Ngalu Petara (welcoming the spirit gods) is performed. During this procession, a beauty pageant to choose the festival's queen and king (Kumang & Keling Gawai) is sometimes conducted. Meanwhile, drinks, traditional cakes and delicacies are served.

At midnight, the gong is beaten to call the celebrants to attention. The longhouse Chief (tuai rumah) or Festival Chief will lead everyone to drink the Ai Pengayu (normally tuak for long life) and at the same time wish each other "gayu-guru, gerai-nyamai" (long life, health and prosperity). The celebration now turns merrier and less formal. Some will dance to the traditional music played, others will sing the pantun (poems). In urban areas, Dayaks will organise gatherings at community centres or restaurants to celebrate the evening.

Other activities that may follow the next few days include: cock-fighting matches, and blowpipe and ngajat competitions. On this day, 1 June, homes of the Dayaks are opened to visitors and guests.

Traditionally, when guests arrive at a longhouse, they are given the ai tiki as a welcome. From time to time, guests are served tuak. This would be called nyibur temuai which literally means "watering of guests".

Christian Dayaks normally attend a church mass service to thank God for the good harvest.

Gawai Dayak celebrations may last for several days. It is also during this time of year that many Dayak weddings take place, as it is one of the rare occasions when all the members of the community return home to their ancestral longhouse.

Up till 1962, the British colonial government refused to recognise Dayak Day. Gawai Dayak was formally gazetted on 25 September 1964 as a public holiday in place of Sarawak Day. It was first celebrated on 1 June 1965 and became a symbol of unity, aspiration and hope for the Dayak community. Today, it is an integral part of Dayak social life. It is a thanksgiving day marking good harvest and a time to plan for the new farming season or activities ahead.

Borneo's headhunters enraged by centuries of loss

Dayak youths carrying a spear ride past a burning ethnic Madurese house near Palangkaraya on the island of Borneo Sunday. Indonesian security officials flew into a ravaged district of Borneo on Sunday where up to 400 people have died in a week of ethnic bloodshed and where gangs armed with spears still roam the streets.

For centuries, Indonesia's Dayak headhunters have been cheated and robbed by outsiders, but now they are fighting back.

But their target — mainly dirt-poor settlers from Madura — appear to be more scapegoats than villains.Dayaks — actually an umbrella term covering more than 200 indigenous groups — have killed up to 400 Madurese over the past week after long-simmering tensions erupted into brutal slaughter in the rugged Borneo province of Central Kalimantan.However, the roots of the slaughter lie more in poverty and dispossession than outright ethnic hatred.

"(Dayaks)...are simple and honest and become the prey of the Chinese traders, who cheat and plunder them continually," wrote naturalist Alfred Wallace in the mid-1800s.

Their plight has only worsened since.

In modern Indonesia, the central government joined the plunder, stripping the Dayaks of their lands and shipping in hundreds of thousands of immigrants.

Most of the new settlers came from the tiny, arid island of Madura, off distant East Java. The warrior-like Madurese are renowned for their hot-tempered aggression, which sits at odds with the normally reserved, accepting Dayaks.

"The ethnic Dayaks are very gentle, tolerant and they like to give in," said Sarosa Hamongpranoto, a sociologist at East Kalimantan's University of Mulawarman. "But they can explode in rage to the extreme if their self-worth is constantly offended."

Once stirred, the Dayaks are fearsome — often reverting to the ritual headhunting that was formally abandoned around the turn of the century, and ripping out the hearts of their victims."In a way, they are now going back to basics," said Hamongpranoto. "The fact they are doing it again now indicates the magnitude and the greatness of the problem. This is a culmination of a long, deep-seated conflict."

Their reputation strikes fear into the hearts of even the Madurese, who themselves terrify Indonesia's majority Javanese.

Refugees fleeing the latest violence tell of Dayak hunters saying they can "smell" who are Madurese.

The Dayak lifestyle of hunting and shifting agriculture, centred on longhouses housing whole villages, does not sit well with Indonesia's rush to modernise.

As their lands across Indonesia's three-quarter share of Borneo were snatched for plantations, logging and mining — and bureaucrats from the main island of Java ran the province --they found themselves increasingly at the bottom of the social and economic ladder, usually along with the Madurese.

The Madurese are easy targets for Dayak resentment because they too are largely powerless and because what little economic success they enjoy is usually conspicuous as market stallholders.

Religious differences fan the flames. Madurese are Muslim and most Dayaks still follow their ancient kaharingan traditions — a mixture of animism and ancestor worship.

Dayak-Madurese tensions have long smouldered — hundreds died in West Kalimantan two years ago — but Central Kalimantan is the only province still with a Dayak majority, although no ethnic breakdown of its 1.4 million people is available.

The province itself was born in violence — formed by the fledgling Indonesian government in 1957 after a Dayak revolt demanding more autonomy.

But the immediate cause of the latest savagery is unclear. The police blame two local officials for inciting the bloodletting because they were angry at missing top jobs in a reshuffle under new regional autonomy laws.

"There could also be a third party who fanned the situation and tried to blow out this problem for a political reason," said Hamongpranoto.

Copyright 2001, Reuters February 26, 2001 By Terry Friel