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A Melanau legend of a mouse-deer, a deer and a pig

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Known as “pelanduk” in Malay and Iban, a mouse-deer belongs to the genus Tragulus of even-toed ungulates.

It belongs to the same family of lesser mouse-deer or kancil.

While the lesser mouse-deer is known for its cunning behavior in Indonesian and Malaysian folktales, the Melanau community of Sarawak also have a similar tale about the mouse-deer or pelanduk.

Here is the legend of how a mouse-deer tricked a pig and a deer to save itself recorded by Brooke Low:

There was once a mouse-deer who, during a stroll, fell into a pit. Try as he might, he could not find a way to get out.

Coincidentally, a pig came and spotted the mouse-deer inside the pit. The pig then asked what the mouse-deer was doing down there.

“Oh, don’t you know,” the mouse-deer replied, feigning confidence, “the sky is going to fall in and everyone will be smashed unless he has a hole to hide in.”

After listening to the mouse-deer, the pig leaped in.

The mouse-deer then jumped onto the pig’s back, but he was still not high enough to leap out.

Next came a deer, who also asked the two animals what they were doing in the hole. The mouse-deer told him the same lie.

So, the deer jumped into the hole, afraid that the sky might fall and smash down upon him.

The mouse-deer somehow tricked the deer into standing on top of the pig’s back. The moment they were in the right position, the mouse-deer jumped out from the pit and made it to safety.

Dumbfounded, the pig and the deer finally realised that they were tricked.

Thankfully, the tale doesn’t end here for these two unfortunate animals. In order to escape from the pit, they both scratched the earth along the sides, creating a small mound in the centre. Then, they used the mound to jump out from the hole.

Deer and pig look for vengeance

Once the deer and the pig escaped from the hole, they both vowed to have their revenge. They followed the trail of the mouse-deer and found it standing on top of a tree where a bee’s nest was hanging.

“Come down from the tree because we want to kill you,” said the pig and the deer.

“I can’t, the king has got me to watch his gong,” the mouse-deer answered as it pointed to the bee’s nest.

Excited by the idea that it was the ‘king’s gong’, the deer said it had always wanted to ring it.

“So you may if you let me come down and get at a distance before you strike. The noise would deafen me,” the mouse-deer said.

The moment the deer and the pig allowed it, the mouse-deer came down and ran away to safety.

So the deer took a stick to strike the ‘king’s gong’ and was instantly stung to death by the bees.

Legend of mouse and pig
This is a legend of how a mouse-deer tricked a deer and a pig
The pig and the mouse-deer

Meanwhile, the pig went after the mouse-deer in a rage. And again, the mouse-deer was caught up by the pig.

And again, the mouse-deer climbed up a tree to escape the pig.

The mouse-deer then told the pig that it was now watching the king’s girdle, pointing at something black, long and leathery.

“Now, isn’t it pretty? I never saw a more handsome girdle in my life,” said the mouse-deer.

The pig agreed saying, “How I should like to wear it but for one day.”

“Well, so you may,” said the mouse-deer, “but be careful or you may spoil it.”

The pig gingerly got into the ‘kings’ girdle’, but was then crushed to death by what was, in fact, a cobra.

The mouse-deer then gleefully went on its way after outwitting its enemies.

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How did Sarawak headhunters conduct an ambush in the olden days?

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An ambush was a favourite strategy among Sarawakians in the olden days especially when headhunting was still in practice.

The tactic had proven effective in winning tribal wars, including the Great Kayan Expedition in 1853.

Here are some records from the 19th century sharing how Sarawak headhunters carried out an ambush back then:
Punans heads taken by Sea Dayaks Wellcome M0005506
Punan heads taken by Sea Dayaks Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Punan’s heads taken by Sea Dayaks Pagan Tribes of British North Borneo Hose & MacDougall Published: – Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
1.Brooke Low in Catalogue of the Brooke Low Collection in Borneo
An ambush with luring

According to Low, one of the favourite defence strategies back then was to entice the leading boats of the enemy into an ambush on shore.

“As everybody in the attacking party is anxious to be foremost in the race for heads, there are sure to be one or two boats so far in advance of the rest as to make it worth the defenders’ while to put them to their mettle. Some convenient spot is selected and a strong defending party placed in ambush among the trees. One or two men are thrown out to stroll upon the shingly bed to lure the enemy to their destruction.”

The moment the bait is sighted, the boats give chase, and as the enemies leap ashore, the men in ambush spring from their covert to their feet and hurl stones to shatter the shields, and engage with spears and swords in what should be a short but desperate conflict.

“As the main body are seen winding up the river, whooping and yelling, and crashing up in clouds of spray and with a rush of waters, the defense plunge into the thicket with the heads they have obtained, and far away before the enemy have recovered from their discomfiture, and are prepared to follow.”

An ambush without luring

Additionally, Sarawak headhunters also did ambushes without any baiting or luring.

The simplest ambush was laying in hiding until waiting for just the right moment before leaping in front of their unsuspecting (and hence unprepared) enemy and going straight into a hand to hand combat.

Dayaks always attacked from the right side of the enemy’s march. This was because it was the unprotected side of the enemy as the shield was always carried in the left hand.

2.Reverend Horsburgh in Sketches of Borneo (1858)

Meanwhile, Horsburgh recorded that some headhunters would go as far as hiding in the wells of their enemies, covering their heads with leaves and sitting for hours in the water waiting for a victim.

He added, “Then when any woman or girl came to draw water, they would rush out upon her, cut her down, take her head, and flee into the jungle with it before any alarm could be given.”

3.Captain Henry Keppel in A Visit to the Indian Archipelago in H.M.S Meander (1853).

Here is a more intricate way Sarawak headhunters carried their attacks back then, by disguising themselves as farmers and speaking in the local tongue.

They put broad-brimmed hats usually used by farmers to lure women to come out from hiding.

This method of ambush was recorded by Keppel when he was in the Sadong area.

He stated, “Thus disguised, these miscreants stealthily dropped down the river in the small canoes which they found on the banks; and imitating the Sadong dialect, they called to the women to come out of their hiding places, saying that they had come to convey them to a place of safety. In many instances the strategem was but too successful. And the helpless women, rushing down with their infants in their arms, became the prey of these wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

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12 Indonesia-Malaysia combats during Konfrontasi you should know

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Also known as Konfrontasi, the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation was an undeclared war with most of the battles happening between Kalimantan (Indonesia) and East Malaysia.

The confrontation was a result from Indonesia’s opposition to the creation of Malaysia.

Initially, Indonesian attacks on East Malaysia comprised of local volunteers trained by the Indonesian Army.

Over a period of time, the intrusions became more organised with involvement of Indonesian forces.

On the Malaysian side, the British provided help to Malaysian forces with periodic contributions from Australian and New Zealand forces.

The intensity of the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation eventually subsided after the 30 September Movement when six Indonesian Army generals were assassinated.

Indonesia formally recognised Malaysia when a final peace agreement was signed on Aug 11, 1966.

Still, many lives were lost on both sides with combats happening in small-sized operations.

Here are at least 12 Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation combats you should know about:
British forces in Borneo during Confrontation
While operating in Borneo during the Indonesian Confrontation, a soldier is winched up to a Westland Wessex HAS3 of 845 Naval Air Squadron, during operations in the jungle. Another soldier is kneeling on the edge of the extraction zone. Credit: Public Domain.
1.Attack on Tebedu police station

The first infiltration and attack as part of Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation was recorded in April 1963.

On Apr 12, 1963, an Indonesian force attacked and seized Tebedu police station. Although Malaysia was not formed yet, the Malaysian government considered this as the first military attack on the-then future East Malaysia.

The raid, which happened on Good Friday that year, caused the death of a corporal and two wounded soldiers.

Tebedu
Tebedu
2.Battle of Long Jawai

On Sept 28, 1963, a large number of Indonesian troops crossed the Sarawak-Kalimantan border and attacked the outpost at Long Jawai.

After exchanging fires for several hours, one Gurkha was killed and ten Malaysian border scouts were captured and later executed.

3.The Kalabakan Incident

The locals of Kalabakan, Tawau unfortunately witnessed one attack by the Indonesian forces on Dec 29, 1963.

Nonetheless, the attack successfully brought different groups of Malaysians to fight together for one sole cause.

A battalion from the 3rd Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) from Peninsular Malaysia, the Police Field Force, Sabah Home Guard and even Kalabakan villagers united to fight off the Indonesian forces.

The Kalabakan Incident resulted in the deaths of eight men from RMR and 18 others injured.

4.Landing at Pontian

On Aug 17, 1964, Indonesian troops made an amphibious landing at the Pontian district of Johor.

The troops landed in three different locations along Pontian coast according to plan. However, Malaysians security forces were quick to respond with half of the raiders captured immediately upon landing.

5.Landing at Kesang river

Located on the border between the Malaysian states of Malacca and Johor, Kesang river witnessed an amphibious raid conducted by a small force of Indonesian volunteers on Oct 29, 1964.

52 of these volunteers sailed across the Straits of Malacca in fishing vessels on each side of the mouth of the Kesang river.

Their action plan was to blend in with the locals and to launch guerrilla raids against Malaysian infrastructure.

However, Malaysian fishermen spotted the raiders and quickly informed the authorities.

The British troops, assisted by the Australians immediately arrived to the scene where they killed and captured all but two of the invaders.

6.Landing at Labis

About a month later after the landing at Kesang river, the Indonesians made another landing on Sept 2, 1964 near Labis, Johor and this time via air.

Three Indonesian Air Force aircraft set off from Jakarta but only two landed as the third aircraft crashed into the Straits of Malacca.

Under the command of 4th Malaysian Infantry Brigade, the operation took about a month to round up all the 98 paratroopers.

32 of the intruders were killed while the rest were captured.

7.Action of Dec 13, 1964

The Action of Dec 13, 1964 was a naval action between the Australian minesweeper HMAS Teal and two Indonesian vessels.

It took place in the Singapore Strait where HMAS Teal was conduction patrols at night. The two Indonesian vessels fired automatic weapons upon HMAS Teal. The Australian ship killed three and captured four other during the combat.

8.Battle of Plaman Mapu

The Battle of Plaman Mapu was one of the largest battles of the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation.

In the early hours of Apr 27, 1965, a battalion of Indonesian soldiers launched a surprise attack on B Company, 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment in their base at Plaman Mapu.

The British was outnumbered by at least five to one but they still managed to cause significant damage on the Indonesians.

In the end, the battle took the lives of 30 Indonesians and two British troops.

9.Battle of Sungei Koemba

The Battle of Sungei Koemba was part of the wider Operation Claret that took place along the Sungai Koemba in Kalimantan.

The battle consisted of two ambushes conducted by two platoons from the Australian forces.

B Company ambushed Indonesian troops on May 27, 1965 resulting in significant Indonesian casualties and no loss for the Australians.

Meanwhile, the second ambush happened a little further downstream from the last one by a platoon from C Company. Occurred on June 12, 1965, the second ambush again resulted in heavy Indonesian casualties for no loss to the Australians.

Royal Marines Commando patrolling in Sabah Indonesia Malaysia confrontation
British Royal Marines Commando unit armed with machine gun and Sten gun patrolling using a boat in the river on Serudong, Sabah between 1963 until 1966. Credit: Malaysian Archive [Public domain]
10.Battle of Kindau

Three days after the last ambush at Sungei Koemba, a platoon from A Company successfully ambushed another large Indonesian force at Kindau, Kalimantan.

The ambush resulted in about 25 to 50 Indonesian casualties and two Australians wounded.

Unlike other engagements under Operation Claret which remained under wraps, Battle of Kindau was caught by the media after a journalist interviewed one of the wounded Australians.

However, the news was reported under the pretence the battle took place within Malaysian authority.

11.Battle of Babang

This was the last in a series of successful ambushes conducted between May and July 1965 by Australian troops from 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR).

The battle took place on July 12, 1965 at Babang, Kalimantan as part of the wider British-Commonwealth Operation Claret.

On that day, 7 Platoon C was in an ambush position along a track near the Indonesian base at Babang. Around noon time, a force of about 30 Indonesians approached along the track. The Australians ambushed the Indonesian troops subsequently killing at least 13 of them and wounded five.

The cross-border attack was to provide warning to the Indonesian troops not to incur into Sarawak territory.

12.Battle of Bau or Battle of Gunung Tepoi

On Nov 21, 1965, 16 members of the British Army Gurkhas launched an attack on about 100 Indonesian troops.

The Gurkhas were then supported by the 104 men resulting the Indonesians to withdraw.

After the battle, the Indonesians reported at least 24 men killed in action and the British lost three men.

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How Santubong got its name according to Chinese legend

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It is widely known that Mount Santubong is named after a celestial princess named Santubong.

But did you know that the Sarawak Chinese community has their own legend behind the region’s iconic Mount Santubong?

According to Lee Kok Yin who wrote to The Sarawak Gazette on Aug 31, 1957, this legend of Mount Santubong can be traced back to the 15th century.

“In Chinese Hakka dialect, San means mountains; tu means in; bong means King. Santubong means ‘King of the Mountains’. There are many legends stating how Santubong got its name. I would like to reveal one told to me by an old Chinese during my boyhood,” Lee wrote.

During the 15th century, a Chinese Emperor of the Ming Dynasty sent a fleet of 62 large junks manned by 27,000 sailors to pay a goodwill visit to the foreign countries in the South China Sea.

Leading the fleet was a famous eunuch in Chinese history named Sam Pau Tai Chian.

Santubong 8
Mount Santubong
How Santubong got its name

Lee stated, “While sailing along the coast of Borneo, they came to the mouth of Santubong river. There they saw a single mountain, like a king protected by his followers. It was a very good geographic site in the ancient Chinese superstition of Feng Shui.”

Furthermore, they were attracted by fire and smoke at the foot of the mountain.

The fleet subsequently anchored and the sailors were ordered to investigate.

“They found that the villagers were engaged in fighting with pirates. The battle was quickly brought to an end with the aid of Sam Pau’s sailors and the pirates were all killed. The village chief, who was an Indian, welcomed them with warmest hospitality. Sam Pau Tai Chian honoured the Chief as San Tsung Wang (King of Mountain) and gave him many valuable gifts. Including a brown ceremonial umbrella, warriors’ spears, many examples of beautiful porcelain ware and silks of fine quality,” Lee wrote.

As time passed, the honour bestowed upon the chief was forgotten and the mountain on which he lived became the name ‘San Tsung Wang’.

Gradually over the years, people started to call the mountain Santubong instead of ‘San Tsung Wang’.

Here is another legend of Mount Santubong you probably never head of.

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7 types of mental illness according to Murut traditional beliefs

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In January 1968, the Psychiatric Specialist-in-Charge of Sarawak Mental Hospital K.E. Schmidt published a paper called ‘Some Murut Concepts of Mental Illness’ in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry.

The Murut people are an indigenous ethnic group found in the southwest interior of Sabah, northern part of Sarawak, Brunei and North Kalimantan in Indonesia.

They are known to be the last of Sabah’s ethnic groups to renounce headhunting.

The paper explored the traditional understanding behind mental health and how native healers played important roles in the successful treatment of mental illness.

It also described the different concepts of mental illness according to the traditional knowledge of Murut people.

So here are seven types of mental illness according to Murut traditional beliefs:
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What is going on with someone’s mental health according to Murut traditional knowledge? Credits: Pixabay.
1.Ruden repan (rupan means ‘well’)

According to Murut beliefs,this illness is due to a haunted well. All Murut interviewed by Schmidt agreed that this was the number one cause of mental illness.

He stated, “If a person passes within two feet of a well or more important, if he comes into the contact with the water, he will have visual and auditory hallucinations of crowds of people who want to catch him. He therefore runs away. The urge to escape ‘them’ may be strong that he might even run into fire in order or escape. He will call out the names of those who he believes want to kill him, usually names of people unknown in the community.”

Sufferers will often die from exhaustion especially since they may refuse food and water. They might jump into the river in an attempt to drown themselves or attempt to hang themselves to be free from the terror of their ‘tormentors’. When they do not see their hallucinations, they will sit quietly and be withdrawn. Such a phase may last from one to several weeks, and spontaneous remissions are known to occur.

According to Murut beliefs, these wells are set up by the spirits under the big trees where they live. They are always at the foot of a hill and are known by the community to be haunted. Thus when a man sets out on a hunt, offerings are made to the spirits of these wells.

If there is no sacrifice, the spirit of the well may disturb the hunter.

So how to heal a person with ruden repan?

The traditional healer or ngurur will make images of animals and send them to the well. Along with these images, there are eggs, rice and household articles piled up on an altar where he will chant incantations.

Then, the ngurur will appeal to the spirits not to disturb the person anymore. If the ngurur is not properly rewarded (which is usually in the form of a buffalo or jars), relapse may occur on the patient.

2.Ruden Talai (talai means a kind of tree)

Ruden talai happens when coming into contact with the fallen leaves or touching a type of tree locally known as pelai or pulai.

The Murut people believe if the trees are disturbed and cut or the under bush is cleared, mental illnesses will occur to whoever that cause them.

Schmidt pointed out, “The illness begins with tiredness and pain in the limbs and trunk. The patient cannot sleep at night, has headache and as in ruden rupan has visual hallucinations of people who want to kill him. A person affected by this kind of mental illness will be aggressive and attack people i.e. running amok.”

3.Ruden meruai

In this condition, the patient will sometimes fall into the fire. They fall as if they were fascinated and attracted by it and have in some instances died from the burns.

The Murut believe that the spirit of the fire takes possession of the patient. Similarly, the spirit of the water will be at work if a person has a fit while taking a bath, and those of the earth of the fit occurs on land.

One of the cures prescribed by the ngurur is fasting. According to Schmidt, there exists some similarity here with dehydration achieved by the diuretic Diamox in the treatment of epilepsy in Western medicine.

4.Ruden mebuyai (mebuyai means stupid)

This condition occurs among young people who for unknown reasons change or become demented. They give indirect answers, are indecisive, aimless and drive-less.

Some people even attribute this condition to ‘sumpah’ or a curse.

5.Ruden sinoso (sinoso means poisoned)

Schmidt pointed out, “This is another allegedly induced psychosis, caused in this case by mixing into the food or drink something which has been obtained from certain trees. This may also kill. The person, after an interval of a day or so will begin to feel cold and wish to sit by the fire. Later, he may feel hot and wish to cool himself. He will often sit motionless for long periods and will neither eat nor drink. In no more than a month, he will die.”

Just like ruden mebuyai, the Murut believe it is another cause of mental illness which is the work of a paid charmer.

Additionally, they believe that a spell of this kind can be imposed for a limited period.

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A mental illness according to Murut belief can be caused by a paid charmer.
6.Ruden pa’lamai

Here is another mental condition caused by a paid charmer. The charmer will uses a kind of grass or a concoction from it and then plant it as a love charm into the seams of a persons’ garment.

When planting it, a charm is spoken: “Each time you wear this garment you will think of him who pays me. You will die if you do not return his love. If you do not die, you will become insane, but you will get well if you marry him.”

What a way to drag someone to marry you! But no worries, there is a cure to break this love spell.

Just throw the urine of several people into the face of the affected person.

7.Mururu teruaien

“Mururu” means “lose” while “teruaien” is “thinking”. It is a condition of dementia without violence but possibly with elements similar to autism which occurs in young people.

Overall, Schmidt deduced that the Murut concepts of mental illness are the various forms of schizophrenia that have been ‘fairly clearly differentiated’.

“Ruden rupan could correspond to acute hebephrenia, ruden talau does appear to have most of the features of paranoid schizophrenia, ruden sinoso sounds like catatonic schizophrenia and ruden pa’lamai may be looked upon as coming nearest to simple schizophrenia,” he stated.

Meanwhile, ruden mebuyai might be simple schizophrenia or post-encephalitic state and ruden meruai covers epilepsy including its symptomatic forms.

Read the rest of Schmidt’s paper here.

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Looking back at Adenan Satem’s form six essay “Democracy”

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Affectionately known as ‘Tok Nan’, Tan Sri Pehin Sri Adenan Satem (1944-2017) was the fifth Chief Minister of Sarawak.

When he was young, Adenan went to St. Joseph’s Primary School before continuing his studies at St. Joseph’s Secondary School.

As a sixth form student, he was part of the committee for Ad Astra, the school’s magazine catered to the senior students.

The school periodically sent some of the students’ articles to publish in The Sarawak Gazette including one of Adenan’s on Oct 31, 1964.

In his short bio, this was what the gazette published about Adenan.

“Adenan Satem is at present studying in Upper Six Arts. He is Sales Manager for the Magazine and also Secretary of the School’s Literary and Debating Society. He was one of the the founder members of the Magazine and has always taken a very keen interest in its progress not only in Committee work but also in contributions in writing. He hopes to do an Arts Degree in University.”

Eventually, he did pursue his studies in law at the University of Adelaide, Australia.

Read the whole article written by the late chief minister Adenan Satem entitled “Democracy”:

Different people define Democracy differently but to my mind a democracy is a country which can vote its rulers into power and, even more important, vote them out of power should they prove to be inefficient, corrupt or power-hungry. In short the central characteristic of Democracy is that venerable institution called ‘representative government’.

Now I must admit that this is a very crude definition of a democracy but at the same time I believe it is a practical one. I am no sophisticated political theorist. I am only one who seeks to understand Democracy as it works and it applies to our everyday lives. If you want to know from the first whether I am for or against Democracy I would like to quote, if I may Sir Winston Churchill. When he as asked for his opinion on Democracy he said: “Democracy is the worst system of government in the world-except the others.”

I maintain therefore that Democracy is not the most perfect system of government but it is thre bes system so far. We have not yet devised a system of government which may prove to be better than Democracy.

Democracy has numerous faults. It is cumbersome, sluggish, often mistaken and prejudiced in its decisions and polices and at its worst it can develop into disconcerting force but political experiences down the ages when Democracy was first conceived have that all other ways of governing complex modern societies are far, far worse.

Of course the sole right of choosing a government and then chucking it out if it dissatisfies us is not the whole concept of Democracy. On the other hand, there are many rights and institutions which revolve round the central nucleus of representative government. For a democracy to work the people must be free to express themselves, they must be allowed to air their views in public, they must be allowed to say what kind of government they want and who their leaders should be, and they must be allowed to criticize the powers that be. Secondly, the people must have the right of assembly. This is to say that people must be allowed to group themselves into various associations so that their views may be appreciated all the more and to allow no one group to dominate all the other groups and also to protect the individual from being victimized by stronger and concerted forces. It goes without saying that these associations, like political parties, trade unions and employer’s associations, must be allowed a relatively and reasonably free hand in its organization, polices and procedures. If the internal affairs of these associations are interfered with unnecessarily by, say the government, then the whole democratic concept of free associations is simply meaningless. And thirdly there must be independent law courts. The “rule of law” must be the watchword because this is the one principle which protects the individual in society from the whims and fancies of would-be tyrants and demagogues. It establishes the superiority of law, which must have its origin in the sovereign people, over mere arbitrariness or caprice, and goes on to state that “no person may be deprived of life, liberty or property except in consequence of an infraction of the law proved in open court, and that no man stands above the law, and that therefore everyone is liable, in case of such infraction, to punishment or exaction of reparation on lines laid down by law, regardless of his station or connections.” Again it goes without saying that judges and juries must be completely independent and not give verdicts according to what has not been proved in open court. The position and appointment of judges must never be based on political loyalties, and judges must never be involved in politics during the tenure of their office.

All this of course is part of the worn-out, classical definition of Democracy. But developing in our own time is another very important element which has more or less identified itself with the Democratic concept. I am speaking of political parties. Democracy essentially means choice and we can choose only if there is an alternative or are alternatives. A country which has only political party is not democracy because the people have no choice. However much people who are assured of the above ‘inalienable rights’ they will not be able to practice them effectively unless there are in existence at one and the same time at least two rival political parties between which the electorate has a choice and which stand on entirely different platforms. One may for example stand for socialism and planning, and the other ‘laissez-faire’ capitalism but their polices must be different or else there will be no real choice. This then is the importance of political party system. It offers a choice.

If all these then are the dominant features of Democracy what is it worth? There is no need for me here to relate the sad tale of the decline of Democracy and the rise of nations which seek to undermine all that it stands for. Suffice it to say that much of the fault can be traced to ourselves, of our losing faith in Democracy amidst poverty and backwardness, ignorance and fear.

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“Democracy essentially means choice and we can choose only if there is an alternative or are alternatives,” Adenan Satem. Credit: Pixabay

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How Apai Saloi and Apai Sumang Umang became frenemies

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Apai Saloi (which means Saloi’s father) is a famous comical legend in Iban folktales. His stories would often be told by an elder at night at the longhouse as a source of entertainment.

Behind his foolish deeds, there is always a lesson to be learnt when it comes to Apai Saloi stories.

One of the famous characters in Apai Saloi’s tales, besides his long-suffering wife, Chelegit, and his children, is Apai Sumang Umang.

Here is how Apai Sumang Umang tricked Apai Saloi into exchanging a house with him:

Iban ethnologist Benedict Sandin recorded and sent this legend to publication on November 30, 1965 in The Sarawak Gazette.

One day Apai Sumang Umang told Apai Saloi that he was eager to build a new house. Apai Saloi replied that he too would like to build one since his house was too old. In fact, his house was built by his father when Apai Saloi was just 7 years old.

A few days later, Apai Saloi took his sons to look for belian wood to build their house. They gathered a lot from the forests.

Apai Sumang Umang, on the other hand, did not collect any belian wood. Instead, he merely cut some flimsy bamboos, building his house out of them.

Eventually, they finished building their new houses and moved in. Two years went by before Apai Saloi went to visit Apai Sumang Umang at his house.

As they conversed with each other, the wind blew gently, making a variety of musical sounds in the holes left by Apai Sumang Umang’s depleting bamboo house.

Curiously, Apai Saloi looked around trying to figure out where the sounds came from.

In the meantime, Apai Sumang Umang, who knew what his guest was looking for, kept quiet, his clever mind working.

He asked instead whether Apai Saloi’s house made such pleasant music? To which Apai Saloi replied, “No, no matter how strong the wind blows.”

He also complimented Apai Sumang Umang on the lovely sounds his house made and how much he loved the flute-like sounds.

Apai Sumang Umang took the opportunity to ask Apai Saloi, “Would you exchange your soundless house for mine?”

Overjoyed, Apai Saloi immediately agreed to exchange their houses.

The exchange with Apai Sumang Umang
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    Who would a trade a house made with belian wood and a house made from bamboos? Credits: Pixabay

Apai Saloi went back to his family telling them about the exchange. About a week later, Apai Saloi visited Apai Sumang Umang again to confirm their agreement.

Apai Sumang Umang later told Apai Saloi that he only agreed on the exchange because he was his old friend. They then to agreed to move into each other’s house the very next day.

After the move, Apai Sumang Umang lived happily in Apai Saloi’s solidly-built house.

Meanwhile, Apai Saloi was happy to be enjoying the melodious sounds he had first fell in love with when he visited Apai Sumang Umang.

As time went by, the house Apai Saloi lived in continued to decay. Until one day, the worst thing happened to the house.

A storm hit, blowing Apai Saloi’s house away with all his worldly possessions.

Angry, Apai Saloi’s wife scolded him for his foolishness, and Apai Saloi vowed to take revenge on Apai Sumang Umang.

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Two tales of koklir you probably never heard of

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If we were to name one female ghost you should never mess with, the Iban folktale figure koklir is somewhere on top of our list.

Other ghosts such as pontianak or balan-balan are tame compared to the koklir, because they are known to kill men by taking their testicles.

What an unexpected way to die right?

According to Iban ethnologist Benedict Sandin, during ancient times it was alleged that many places around Kapuas river delta and especially the Pontianak river took their names from the koklir.

So where did this ghost come from?

It is believed that every unfortunate woman who dies during childbirth is converted into a koklir.

However, there is a way to prevent it from happening, which is by pricking the soles of the deceased’s feet with thorns of a citrus tree.

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A koklir might be hiding behind a tree waiting for her next victim. Credits: Pixabay
While there are plenty of stories of how koklir roam around looking for victims, here are two tales of this ghost you probably haven’t heard:
1.The widower and his only son

Long, long ago, there was a widower who lived in a farm hut with his only son.

One evening right before sunset, they went out in their boat to fish up the river.

All of a sudden, it started to rain. The father and son gave up fishing, coming ashore to take shelter in one of the huts they spotted from the river.

When they arrived at the hut, they found it was occupied by two lovely women. The women invited them in and lit a fire to keep them warm.

The women then prepared food for their guests. After they finished their meal, the widower continued to warm himself while his son sat naked near him.

At the sight of the boy’s testicles, one of the women said, “Hai wai wai! It’s the sweet stuff!”

Slowly, her nails appeared to grow sharper and longer. That moment, the father realised that the women were in fact koklir ghosts.

Without wasting a second, the father dragged his son out and they began to run for their lives. The koklir ghosts instantly started to chase them.

When the father arrived at their boat, he overturned it so that they could hide underneath it.

As the ghosts could not go into water, they jumped on top of the boat, boring through it with their sharp nails.

When the boat was about to be ripped open by their sharp nails, the sun began to rise and the koklir ghosts disappeared.

Despite the cold and shock, the widower and his son were grateful that they managed to make their escape.

2.The koklir and the enturun

There was once a newly married man and his wife who went to pay a traditional matrimonial visit to the bride’s house in a tradition called nyundang pinang.

In the middle of the journey, they were surprised by the sound of a koklir ghost. Terrified for their safety, they ran as fast as they could.

Since the man was the target, he climbed a tree to save himself while his wife sat down at the foot of the tree.

As she sat there, a young woman came to her and they started to chat.

While talking, the wife asked the woman if she could pick the lice from her hair.

After the woman agreed, the wife immediately start to pick the lice from the her hair.

While the woman was thus distracted, the husband climbed back down the tree and cut off her head.

It was a clean cut and she died instantly. Then the couple realised she was the “enturun”, a mystical creature that was said to be half bear and half cat.

Legend has it that to this day, koklir still lurk in the shadows at night looking for men’s testicles.

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Brothels and sex workers in Sarawak under Brooke rule

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Did you know that when Sarawak was under the reign of the Brooke family (1841-1946), there were regulations to keep the local sex industry in check?

Here are 10 things you need to know about prostitution in Sarawak during Brooke time.
1.The back alleys of Kuching’s Carpenter Street was known for its brothels.

Besides brothels, the street was once known for opium dens and gambling houses.

There are no other records found of possible brothels in Kuching or other parts of Sarawak.

2.There is no proper record on the number of brothels or of prostitutes in the country.

Actually, there is no proper record found on prostitution in Sarawak back then.

According to archivist Loh Chee Yin in The Sarawak Gazette on May 31, 1965, the revenue and expenditure reports over the period concerned do not indicate under which headings the licence fees from brothel keepers and prostitutes are classed.

He further stated, “The annual reports of the Medical Department of the same period do not even mention the number of prostitutes examined over the year, though they give detailed reports on lunatics and lepers.”

3.The first order referring to prostitution was issued on Sept 30, 1867.

If there was no record of legal prostitution, how do we know such activities exist in the first place?

When the first White Rajah had already left Sarawak and his nephew Charles was acting Rajah, there was a royal order referring to prostitution issued in 1867.

With the heading of ‘Contagious Diseases’, the order however was not directed towards the prostitutes but the Dayak fortmen instead.

It read, “Should any Dyak fortment wish to return to their homes on leave of absence, or on discharge, if suspected of having venereal disease they must be taken to the Medical Officer for examination, and should it be the case that any such disease has been contracted they are to be detained until cured.

“Strict attention is to be paid to this order; the necessary information as to the health of the men can be obtained from non-commissioned officers.”

4.In April 1886, more regulations were implemented to control the spread of venereal diseases.

Here are the summary of the regulations:

A)Any woman suffering from a venereal disease would not be permitted to practice as a prostitute and any man having the same disease would be forbidden to have connection with any woman.
B)A prostitute found at the usual fortnightly examination to be suffering from a venereal disease would be placed under treatment until cured. She had to pay the following fees – $1 for first consultation; 50 cent for every subsequent consultation plus charges for medicines.

5.Six years later in 1892, the fortnightly compulsory medical examination for prostitutes became voluntary.

Nonetheless, the Brooke government imposed heavier penalties ($50 fine or six months imprisonment) on brothel keepers and prostitutes for spreading sexual transmitted disease.

Furthermore, prostitutes from abroad had to undergo medical examination before the government allowed them entry permits.

6.Who were the migrant prostitutes back then?

Since there was no record, it is impossible to know who they were and where they came from.

However, there were records of Japanese immigrants coming in since 1915. Reportedly, some Japanese women were working in the red-light district of Kuching. The red-light districts could be referring to the back alley of Carpenter street.

7.In 1898, the Contagious Diseases Order was further amended.

These are the amendment made on the order:

A)Dayak fortmen on transfer to outstations were to be medically examined before leaving.
B)Medical examination of prostitutes was again compulsory. Additionally, it was to be done once a week instead of fortnightly.
C)Prostitutes found to have venereal diseases were to be detained until cured.
D)All brothels were to be registered at the police station and duly licensed.
E)Every brothel keeper had to supply to the police a list of the names and nationalities of the women in his brothel.
F)The inspector of police had right of entry to any brothel for purpose of checking.

8.Charles Brooke was scared that the Dayak girls in Kuching mission schools would turn to prostitution upon graduation.

He once wrote in a letter, “I ask, what is it to be their future when they are grown-up? One thing very certain is they will never be able to live in their own country again or marry their own race nor be able to farm or do the work of Dyak women in their own land – separated from their own people -they will become waifs – to be prostitutes.

I should be sorry to think that this is what our Dyak girls will come to but it is in my opinion almost a certainty if they are educated in Kuching away from they own people to country.”

Charles then cited examples from the mission schools of Singapore and Penang where school girls were the occupants of the brothels or who ever were enticed there at night time.

Consequently, the second White Rajah ordered that the handful of Dayak girls in the Anglican and Roman Catholic schools in Kuching be sent home.

9.In 1927, the Women and Girls’ Protection Order was enacted.

The order was to make provision for the protection of women and girls. Plus, it made provision for the suppression of abuse in connection with prostitutes.

In addition to that, the government issued protection tickets to the prostitutes. On this ticket stated, “Whenever a prostitute has any grievance, she may come to the Protectorate, District Office, or Police Office, and complain. Anyone daring to prevent her will be arrested and punished. These tickets are to be always kept by you on the person.”

Who would have thought prostitutes during Brooke reign had their rights protected more than a lot of people these days?

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Do you think brothels in the olden days had a sign similar to this? Credits: Pixabay.
10.There were notices posted in brothels informing prostitutes of their rights back then.

“Women and girls! If any of you have been kidnapped, purchased, seduced, deceived, or pledged for money; or have been forced to swear before entering the brothel that you will act as prostitutes for a certain term of year- understand clearly that anyone who has committed any of these offences against you, and is detaining you in a brothel against your wishes, is acting in contravention of the Orders of the State will, if detected, be punished.

If therefore you have any grievance, do not be afraid to tell the Protector on his visit of inspection or come in person to this office or go to the police station and report the matter at any time you please. If you want to leave the brothel the government will certainly let you do what you like and will not allow you to be detained against your will. All persons residing in the State of Sarawak are free agents and cannot be kept under the restraint of others. Be all of you then watchful! Be not deceived by anyone! Observe this notice!

Office of Protector.”

Do you anymore information about prostitution in Sarawak during Brooke time? Share with us in the comment box.

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Legend of the quarrel between Bakir hill and Gunung Lesung

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Located in Sri Aman, Sarawak, Gunung Lesung National Park is a 500ha conservation area rich in flora and fauna.

But did you know that legend has it that Gunung Lesung (Lesong) used to be located elsewhere?

The legend of the quarrel between Bakir hill and Gunung Lesong

Iban ethnologist and Sarawak museum curator Benedict Sandin wrote in The Sarawak Gazette (Sept 30, 1965) about a quarrel that broke out between Bakir Hill and Gunung Lesong.

Referred to as Gunung Lesong by the Malay community, the mountain was widely referred to as Lingga mountain, or ‘Bukit Lingga’ by the Iban community, a name which still lives on to this day.

It is said that long ago Bakir Hill which lies to the west of Spaoh used to stand very close to Gunung Lesong.

“One day they argued about Mujau Hill. Each claimed that the latter was its spine as it stood close to them. No spirit could stop them quarrelling with each other, so one day they agreed to invite a hero, Tutong, from Gelong to settle their dispute,” Benedict wrote.

When Tutong came, he lit a fire and with his bellows he blew a huge cloud of smoke towards Bakir Hill and Gunung Lesong.

Suffocated by the smoke, Gunung Lesong rose into the air and moved away, taking everything that lived and rested on top with it.

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Gunung Lesung or Lusong was once located next to Bakir Hill.
After Gunung Lesong made the move

Benedict continued, “When it was about to cross the Batang Lupar river a man who had come with his boat from the the lower river saw a huge mountain flying up in the air and making a great noise.”

The man then asked what it was. Suddenly, he heard a voice answering him that Gunung Lesong was fleeing away from the Saribas to settle with Senyandang mountain at the lower part of Batang Strap, a tributary of Batang Lupar.

When it finally reached there, Gunung Lesung sat down next to Senyandang mountain. “After the Gunung Lesong (Lingga mountain) had settled there, the strap river’s name was changed into the Lingga River by which it is known nowadays, though the upper part of it is still known as Batang Strap.”

Today, you can see the peaks of Senyandang mountain and Gunung Lesong from afar. It is believed that the original site of Gunung Lesong in the Saribas area is now a swamp.

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