Nothing Comes Easy

Who is Mr Poolo at 1 Borneo?

By Amde Sidik

Thirty years is an awful long time to learn a trade. And thirty years was- the length of time he had already taken to get to where he is now.

Who wants to dispute when even to look at the way he holds the brush would take us ages to learn.

It reminds me reading Malcolm Caldwell who says it took Bill Gates thousands hours even to begin his career as computer programmer, which means, knowledge and skill does not come by fluke nor by coincident but surely by labour, coupled with the right timing in the case of Bill Gate that what made him an exception.

You may have by passed this man of 60 at the first glance, near the main entrance of ground floor of flashy Borneo’s biggest shopping complex, 1 Borneo shopping Mall every weekend.

“Generousity of the people of Sabah, their support and their kind hearted make my calligraphy showcase possible for the past one year” said, Mr N.Poolohgasingam, who was born in a Kulai, Johore. Even arranging his chairs and tables every morning is done by ‘neighbours’ he said pointing at the shopkeepers nearby.

He reckoned, up to now he is the only Malaysian if not the only person in the world so far embarking a trade as a calligrapher that uses combined languages namely, Chinese, Rumi and Arabic.

Like many others that I’ve been acquainted with, Poolo, as he prefers to be called has lived in Sabah for the last thirty years. He said nowhere else in Malaysia he thinks a place as beautiful as Sabah and so too the people. He even called himself the Man Below the Wind borrowing the phrase from Keith Agnes’s Land Below the Wind.

He is married to a Sabahan and has one adopted son.

Yet Poolo said, even after thirty years in this trade he still learning every moment of it.

Whilst in the eyes of onlookers, he is no amateur in calligraphy anymore, especially if we have no one to compare him with, my guess is only a matter of time the fruit of his labour would be fully ripe, word ripe may not be most appropriate word to speak of.

Based on his little bibliography, his promotional materials lying on his table. He is the only known Indian who becomes Chinese calligrapher in the world and a self-thought.

He neither has formal Chinese language education nor Art education; it all began at the age of 45, a graduate in Bachelor of Art from University of Malaya.

One acclaim, which I think he deserved to be called to have his on right, is about his invention the Shah Rumi Jawi calligraphy like in the picture above on my name -see Kadayan Journal

I asked if he was ever queried for using Arabic letters such as those used in the Quran with marks -phonetic symbols, he said not really but many would want to know where and how did he learned. I then show them my original source of learning Jawi the muqadam, he said, showing it to me. Fantastic.

In Egypt I said, even the Christian say Allah for God that can’t be used in Malaysia when the authority couldn’t even come up with good reason for disallowing others,  except Muslims to use  the word.

My reason of asking him the above question was I know Malaysians are obnoxious over something to do with their religion.

The issue on creativity especially when it is done by self-thought, I considered it to be  very special. Perseverance is surely one of the determining factors.

To add to his extraordinaire, Poolo is also a self-thought in music as well as a songwriter. He has produced two CDs, one contains a poetic song recorded in 2002 for Hari Raya Idil Fitri, I missed the other title.

Yes, one thing is common to many people like him perhaps anywhere in the world; he likes to be on his own.

He tried many business ventures in the past but business environment wasn’t that friendly to him and time wasn’t right when compare with others who were luckier he said, and therefore its only natural for Poolo to exploit his talent to the fullest- an Indian becomes a Chinese calligrapher and beyond.

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Totem poles in Borneo

Third from the top is one of  typical of totem poles found in Sabah

Totem poles of various indigenous tribes around the world usually have interesting stories to tell.

The old Kadazan Dusun practice of erecting Sininggazanak in the padi fields in Sabah is no exception.
Carved usually from hardwood, the sininggazanak is erected as the commemoration of a childless person.This custom used to be practised usually by the Kadazans of the Penampang-Kinarut-Papar localities.
The monument was erected on the deceased person’s padi field by relative who had had the strongest claim to inherit the property.
As no direct heir existed, the property must go back to a blood relative. Relatives by marriage do not qualify.
The carved wooden object usually takes the figure of a woman or a man or a decorated pole,there is no hard or fast rule on this.What comes into play is the  availability of skilled woodcarvers and what he is comfortable with in carving.
A certain amount of ritual usually accompanied  the ceremony of erecting the sininggazanak. The Bobohizan (native medicine woman) would usually lead the chanting of prayers calling upon spirits to enter the monument.By doing so, the good spirits will be the guardians of the property.As a result a lot of respect will be accorded to the monument, failing which the disrespectful will either fall sick or even die if a thoughtless act is shown towards it.
As the Kadazans in these districts are now mainly Roman Catholics, this old cultural practice has slowly died out.
What’s interesting according to Peter Phelan in his book on the subject,Kadazans are not the only people who practised this in the Malay world,quoting Ogden  we are informed that the Bataks in Sumatra too practised the same thing.To make sure the spirit of a person who had died heirless rest in peace, a life-size image of the dead was made, and this is called Si Galegale in the Batak language.

Gambus

Top pix-Fauziah Suhaili of Bongawan, Sabah (Brunai ethnic), and below insert, a male gambus player also from Bongawan

Faril Ali Malaysian musician-Photo credit: Star-ecentral.com

Gambus group of Kadayan ethnic from Lingkungan, Beaufort 

Gambus in Sabah

Materials on gambus can easily be found; even without me giving references most of you have no problem in locating them. The Internet.

What I wrote here is merely an introduction to those who have no idea about what gambus is.

Qanbus in Arabic is a replacement of Arabaian oud. Gambus that we know of in Malaysia was originally a musical instrument derived from Arabian Peninsula in particular, Yemen.

A nine and twelve stringed musical instrument, sounds like guitar, play by plucking with plastic plectrum. In the olden days the strings were wires as was guitar but now nylon is also used.

Gambus a shape of sliced pear, found its way to this part of the world-South East Asian nations: Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei by Arab traders in 15^th Century.

Other countries like, Africa, gambus is called in many different names such as, gabusi, gabbus, kabusa, and etc.

The well-known Malaysian musician who popularized gambus is Farid Ali from Muar Johore, a trained guitarist from Institute of Technology of California.

Farid Ali has been exploring many facades of gambus; among others he combined it with the Latin America music.

In Western part of Borneo, it’s the Malay communities of Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei that play gambus.

In the olden days in Malay communities such as above, gambus playing was a must in any celebrations, like, wedding, circumcision and any occasions, which involved with entertainment.

It’s the music for zapin, joget, ronggeng, and etc.

There are several types of gambus in this region namely: gambus ghazal, gambus Johor, and gambus Brunei, and that naming seemed to be influenced very much by the Malay from Peninsula.

While in Sabah, gambus can be seen in many shapes too. The strings range only from six or eight, and a pair of strings represents one tune.

I am fascinated to learn that Fauziah Suhaili from Bongawan of Sabah who after only two years picking up gambus managed to produce a showcase and record debut on gambus.

Gambus players in Sabah are found in Sipitang, Lingkungan, Weston, Papar, Bongawan, Kimanis, and Membakut. Notice these places are predominantly where the Brunai (the people), Kadayan, and Bisaya (Sabah Bisaya) ethnics are residing.

 

People of the tip of Borneo

Bonggi People

There is one small ethnic resided on the very tip of Borneo Island, not exactly, but rather on top of Kudat. To be precise is on the island, north of Kudat called Banggi or Banghi. An island lies between Borneo Island and Philippines on the North.

Some local don’t like the sound of Banggi, because it means corpse in their dialect. Who wants to name after their place corpse? Thus modify the sound slightly into Bongi or Bonggi. Coincidently these people are also called  as Bongi or Bonggi.

They are also found in Balambangan Island just next to it.

The Bonggi people aren’t that many by any account, they are no more than 2,000 people living here at the moment.

They are one of those who resist religious beliefs to the very day and they are still into animism-superstition, for example, they don’t eat anything red in colour (crab when cooked is red). They may be a few of them now converted to Christian.

They go about their life either as farmers or fishermen.

They like chewing betel nut.

Some years ago, I remember seeing a write up in our local media. They were listed among the poorest group of people in Malaysia. Not surprisingly having Sabah categorized as second poorest state of Malaysia, Kelantan being the first. But if you ask me to make an evaluation, after visting Kelantan and also know Sabah fairly well, I would consider here is the poorest place in the boleh land of ours

As an example, it is normal to see their houses, have only rooftop made of nipah leaves and floor made of bamboo and no walls. Forget about any other amenities.

Nonetheless, I hope to see this group of people keeping up with the rest of Sabahans as soon as possible.

Out of the doldrums though, come the beauty of their culture, language, dance, and attire. Can’t belief my eyes they are fascinating people. Wonder if these are the acclimatized ones? See photos on the top.

Tattoos the culture

Top left an Iranian lady with tattooed face, middle,modern flower tattoo and the eagle like drawing is one typical of Dayak’s of Borneo. In the middle an arabic tattoo writing and bottom an Arab girl tattooed body for private eyes only.

Tattoos the culture

Nothing wrong with ‘tattoo’ soldiers

The Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) has called on the Malaysian Armed Forces not to discriminate against Iban youths when they apply to join the service because of their body tattoos

A recent newspaper report quoted an Army General in Kuching as saying young people with tattoos in Sabah and Sarawak are allowed to join the army. However, tattooed Muslims are not welcomed. 

Tattoos are in fashion these days, especially among the young. Some people prefer to call them body art. 

In Borneo, the Dayaks are renown for their tattoos. You are not one, unless you are heavily tattooed. Simply put, it’s part of their cultural heritage. 

As a family, my wife, my son and I love tattoos. We even have small ones done on ourselves. It’s part of our Borneo DNA, which we take quite seriously. 

Traditional Borneo tattoos for men are usually associated with headhunting or war expeditions, and for women they are considered as elements of beauty. 

Tattoos are simply part of the ‘rites of passage” for them. 

With the introduction of the Middle Eastern religions to our world, this traditional practice has somewhat declined especially with the young until now. There is some kind of revival; it is like the young people have suddenly rediscovered their heritage all over again, although the designs are more commercial than traditional. The practice is more widespread than a few years ago. 

Traditional tattoos in Borneo are also generally associated with myths and legends. 

A Murut legend has it that a young woman from their tribe a long time ago advised a crocodile family how to produce eggs to start their family when they ran into difficulties in doing so. 

For her help, all Murut must tattoo an image of crocodile on each shoulder or two tattoos on their legs so that all crocodiles recognise them as friends and would never harm them. 

The Dayaks of southern and western Borneo see a direct connection between tattoos and death. 

They believe when the soul leaves the body and goes in search of heaven, only tattooed women who provided well for their families and headhunters/warriors with hand tattoos as token of their success will be guided to the right place as the tattoos burn brightly in the darkness. 

While the Middle Eastern religions are said not to encourage tattooing, a visit to the holy city of Mecca will reveal that many older Muslim Arab women have tattoos on their hands and faces. 

Many younger Banjar people in Sabah who are devout Muslims take pride in their tattoos. 

When asked, their reply is,” we are Islamised Dayaks, and we are proud of our heritage, is there anything wrong with that?” 

If they are citizens of the country and wish to join the army, must they be discriminated against for displaying their cultural heritage?

 

 

They’ve Changed!

An arts shop in Jakarta

Jakarta

I haven’t been to Indonesia for a long time. Going there is like meeting up with your long lost relatives and friends, so much to talk about with the locals there. 

Indonesians are very intelligent, knowledgeable, and they have a keen sense of intellect that we seem to miss out on here. 

Its a country with over 17,000 islands, with a population close to 200 millions people. It has more than 300 ethnic groups speaking 200 distinct languages and dialects. Yet, the average Indonesians can explain to you with some authority on this diversity. Compare this with our people who couldn’t even agree with the date of country’s independent day. We are talking about our educated populace who ought to know better!

Flying to Jakarta for a short visit from Bandar Seri Begawan was a breeze.

The last time I traveled to Jakarta was with a friend Sabahan Chinese. He was held up at the immigration counter for hours with officers demanding money from him. But this time around, the clearance was so quick; I thought I had landed in Singapore.

I asked the immigration officer where he came from. Pelembang, he said.

God, that reminded me of home. Palembang=Permasewara. Remember the Hindu prince who founded Malacca?

Jakarta has developed into one of Asia’s most prominent metropolitan centers besides being a truly “meeting point” for the various representatives of this vast archipelago.

I recommend

For a city of 12 million people, it’s better kept than Manila. It’s relatively clean with thousands of things to do and see. For first-time visitors with limited time there are some attractions that you must not miss.

Top of my list is the 300 hectares Mini Indonesia Park that displays 250 cultures, which inhabit the 33 provinces of the archipelago. I am also fond of the Art Market at Ancol Amusement Park where you not only have the opportunity to buy local arts and crafts but also see the artisans at work.

The shopping complexes are the same anywhere; they hold little interest for me. While the major bookshops here display titles in English, Mandarin and Bahasa, in Jakarta the English language best sellers are translated into Bahasa Indonesia. For book lovers who are used to the original versions, seeing Donald Trump telling you how to make money in Bahasa needs some adjustment.

Jakarta is definitely popular with Malaysians, wherever I went to like restaurants, hotels, souvenir shops I bumped into Malaysians from the Peninsular and Sarawak. Maybe, it is the school holidays.

The Javanese people in Jakarta are a class act, they are so courteous and civilized, and it is unbelievable. Some of their cousins here a real pain you know where. Our tourist people should consider sending study groups over there to learn how to handle visitors so that they want to come back over and over again.

Be cautious

It is a common sight to see road users tipping men in uniform for the little favors shown, but, they do their job well, even the security personnel at shopping complexes do their work with efficiency and authority without being overbearing. The traffic is kept flowing by these people without as much as the blaring of the horn showing how good they are.

A word of warning though, if you are not used to hot spicy food, don’t try, stick to what you are familiar with as there are many choices. And as the Indonesians are also famous for their “black magic” skills, be careful where ever you go. I was told a Malaysian tourist lost some RM2, 000 at a tourist spot called Puncak to a local, the story was that she was “charmed” to part with her money by a mere tap on the shoulder!

All in all, if you haven’t been to Jakarta, it’s worth the 2-hour flight from Brunei, at least it is a break from familiar KL or Singapore.

And, I can guarantee you their public toilets are so much cleaner than ours!

 

Happy Kaamatan & Gawai

The top and the second top pictures were taken at KDCA-Hongkod, 2008, the third below is Gawai beauties from Sarawak.

Sabah and Sarawak are celebrating their Kaamatan and Gawai respectively on May 30th and 31st. Those words mean to say celebration to mark the end of paddy harvesting season-Harvest Festival.

Just to remind my fellow cultural and ethnics enthusiasts, Kadayan ethnic together with Bisaya from Kuala Penyu are the only Muslim ethnics that were originally involved in paddy planting just as much as the non Muslim ethnics in the interior ( I am hopping somebody can tell me more about this )

There were two types of paddy plantings, one is padi sawah-wet padi and the other is  padi tuggal-hill padi.

Of course different ethnic groups have different padi rituals. I didn’t get a chance to see the Kadayan and Bisaya’s ways of respecting padi in as much as  I know  about the Kadazan and Dusun’s  through my reading. 

For the Lundayeh, being my close neighbour whose padi feilds were close to my parent’s I didn’t  see either. But what I long most, perhaps I will never to get to see again is the mucang-Kadayan’s word for gontong royong. In my parent’s padi field in those days regardless what ethnics and religion were neighbours all helping each other by turn. They did the mucang every padi season.

Lundayeh Lunbawang

Lundayeh ladies in their costume

by amde sidik

This is how I view Lundayeh community, briefly, from my perspectives. What others have to say is entirely up to them.

Lundayeh ethnic group  in Sabah concentrates  in Sipitang district, numbered about 10,000 (rough estimate).

They were one of the groups considered by the Brunai as Orang Darat* (ethnic that lives on the Upper land or hinter land) 

They were originally from North Western part of Kalimantan, Indonesia. Since Sipitang district shares common border with Kalimantan (not far from Long Pasia), thus quite natural for this group of people crossed the border in unorganized fashion.

They were rightly recognized as hill people rather than sea. Farming and agriculture are quite natural profession for them as fishing to coastal people

The very same people found in Fifth Division of Sarawak, ironically called Lunbawang instead. Nothing is different. The grandson probably is eating soto in Sipitang while the granddad is sipping tea tarik in Lawas overlooking Lawas River. In other words, they were the same root. The different perhaps is they are the same people in the eyes of other communities.The Sabah Lundayeh and the Sarawak Lunbawang couldn’t careless to agree with the name.

From the moment I opened my eyes I didn’t remember if they were differences between them and other communities nearby that I knew of. The only social dividing line is religion. Most modern Lundayeh are practicing Christian follower of a little group known as Sidang Injil Borneo found only in Borneo, but like any other ethnics they are Lundayeh Muslims too.

They have  fair skin. The young Lunadyeh boys and girls  aren’t have  such distinguishable complexion compare with other communities. They have their own language-some say dialect; the term I’m not that particular.

In Sipitang, they could be categorized as having two earlier  groups (I don’t think it matters but to some say they do) the earlier Lundayeh mostly from Sarawak, and some like to call themselves as Lunbawang too rather suspiciously or deviously. Notably they say this older group of migrants is milder and softer type compare with the latter.

The new arrival came directly from Kalimanatan as later as 70s, many were born in Kalimantan but benefited dual citizenship (Malaysia and Indonesia) by the very system,  the porous border system we have  in the jungle almost at the heart of Borneo. 

Among the important institutions which is still practiced to date by Lundayeh/Lundbawang together with other ethnics in Sipitang is Tamu Besar. Its the occasion when people  converged without borders regardless their ethnics or religions.

Whilst talking about myself, my grandfather was Lundayeh or Lunbawang? My birth certificate has this to display (/), Kadayan/Lundayeh, luckily it has nothing to do with religion otherwise someone has to korek-unearth my grave one day by the time I’m defenseless-wonder if  I have already settled somewhere midway or at the extreme end, heaven or hell? Could I not protest?

 

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 *The Mystic of Borneo By Amde Sidik, published by Borneo Publishers for Malaysia Edition, 2008 (reprint) and Bookstand Publishing for International Edition, 2007

 

Race without borders

By C Ngaju

We can’t separate people from culture.

Culture like plants can die if it is not looked after. With globalization, stronger forces will definitely swallow up the smaller people. Their stories need to be told before they completely disappear.

Our intention by starting this blog, in a small way is to accommodate this little aspiration that we have left.

Many Borneo stories need to be shared with the world at large. How many people in Sabah know anything south of the border?

Borders are   good on paper only. Realities on the ground are totally different.

Tell the Lundayeh not to acknowledge their kin across the border, or for that matter tell the Kenyah priests from Kalimantan to stop crossing over to Sarawak to conduct their Sunday mass, you’ll probably get blank stares.

There are many Borneo stories.

I remember driving along the old Papar road one Ramadan, I noticed one side of the road was quite bright denoting that side was Muslim, whereas, on the other side the scene was normal, the villagers there were definitely not Muslim, yet, they were family.

If road is the demarcation line here, in Sarawak one side of the river could be Anglican, the other side Methodist!

Then, there are Muslim Kadazandusuns, and many more are Christians, it is the same with the Melanaus. At times their cultural identity appears to be stronger than their God!

Tell the Muslim Banjar in Kalimantan they are Malays; they will correct you by saying they are actually Dayaks! And, who are the upland people who call themselves Kadayan? They are Muslim, and then Islam is generally associated with the coastal tribes in Borneo!

Just imagine the variety of languages; customs, cuisines, native arts and crafts what have you practiced by these people.

It is simply mind boggling!

See the costume