Monday, September 21, 2009

“How the Sea Dayaks are called Iban”

After some warriors had been killed and wounded, Entinggi called Tindin by the Bukitan word isan1. Tindin was surprise and said, “Why do you address me as isan. Have you got any son?”

Entinggi answered, “Yes. I have a son named Demong. Now let us sit down and try to resolve our misunderstanding peacefully.”

Tindin was glad to hear these gracious words from the headman of his enemy and he agreed to stop fighting and try to reason out their quarrel.

Tindin declared that it would be both wise and proper if Entinggi agreed to a marriage between his son and Tindin’s own daughter in order to restore peace as soon as possible between the Bukitans and the Dayaks. However, Tindin insist that the marriage can be approved if Entinggi agrees to pay him compensation known as drian palit mata or a dowry. The dowry is for the purpose of abolishing racial enmity between the two tribes. Entinggi promptly agreed and said that he had no malice in his heart neither had he any territorial ambition other than to defend the life of his people against the invading Ibans. It was here that the Bukitans first called the Sea Dayaks Iban due to the fact that they were pushing other races out and taking all into their possession.

Entinggi was pleased and agreed to Tindin’s suggestion. He assured him that before long he would pay the drian palit mata as claimed so that his son, Demong would marry Rinda, Tindin’s daughter.

Tindin also felt it would be proper to demand of Entinggi a padi bin full of new heads plus a large brass gong in recognition of his rank as a chief extraordinary authority, who had the right to claim for dowry according to the tradition founded by Serapoh.

Entinggi agreed to all this. At the conclusion of the negotiation he invited Tindin to accompany him to the Paku to see for himself the beauty and fertility of that district. The eager Tindin at once consented and took some of his leading warriors with him. In Paku, Entinggi took Tindin to meet various Bukitan chieftains including Entigu. Tindin found that Entigu and his people were nomads who wandered in the forest while Entinggi and his people were settled down and planted crops for food.

After Tindin had seen the length and width and fertility of the land, he told Entinggi that he was attracted and would like to migrate there with his followers if Entinggi would permit them. The Bukitan chief had no objections so long as the proposed marriage took place.

Entinggi said, “Through this marriage, the future of this country will become the everlasting inheritance of our descendants.”

When all the things including the dowry had been discussed, Tindin asked for further presents as a token of the first marriage between a Dayak and a Bukitan. These includes;

1. One brass cannon
2. One blowpipe
3. One tanggui serawong of the kind worn by high ranking Iban brides especially on the first day they live with their husbands.

Entinggi agreed with all this that a month later the marriage feast was celebrated in Skrang. Rinda was taken by Entinggi to Paku to live with Demong. Not long after this, Tindin migrated to Paku and settled at the Upper Pengar stream near Spaoh. He then moved again to Tanjong Melanyut where he died of old age, greatly mourned by both the Dayaks and the Bukitans. He was buried opposite Nanga Beduru.

A year after her marriage to Demong, Rinda gave birth to a male child. She later had four more children, three boys and one girl named Jawai. Unfortunately Jawai died when she was about fifteen years old. But because of her noble birth, her body was not buried in the ordinary Sea Dayak way. Instead the corpse was placed in a coffin and put on a platform about six feet from the ground to await the decomposition of the flesh. This method of burial was known as lumbong and the site of Jawai’s lumbong is still known although today the practice has disappeared along with the Bukitan people who originated it.

Rinda died shortly after the birth of her youngest child, Bakak. She was killed by a falling rafter during a hurricane and was buried with her father at Nanga Beduru.

After the death of Rinda, Demong remarried. This time he married a Bukitan named Lemia, by whom he had many children. These children afterwards married other Bukitans before they moved into Julau, a left tributary of the Kanowit River of the present Third Division.
Footnotes

1. Isan is an Iban term of address used between parent of children who are married together. [↩]

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Today's Highlight in History

Today is Monday, Sept. 14, the 257th day of 2009. There are 108 days left in the year.


On Sept. 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key was inspired to write a poem after witnessing how Fort McHenry in Maryland had endured a night of British bombardment during the War of 1812; that poem, originally called "Defence of Fort McHenry," later became the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner," the American national anthem.

On this date:

In 1812, the Russians set fire to Moscow in the face of an invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte's troops.

In 1836, former Vice President Aaron Burr died in Staten Island, N.Y., at age 80.

In 1847, during the Mexican-American War, U.S. forces under Gen. Winfield Scott took control of Mexico City.

In 1901, President William McKinley died in Buffalo, N.Y., of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him.

In 1927, modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan died in Nice, France, when her scarf became entangled in a wheel of the sports car she was riding in.

In 1948, a groundbreaking ceremony took place in New York at the site of the United Nations' world headquarters.

In 1964, Pope Paul VI opened the third session of the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, also known as "Vatican II." (The session closed two months later.)

In 1975, Pope Paul VI declared Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton the first U.S.-born saint.

In 1982, Princess Grace of Monaco, formerly actress Grace Kelly, died at age 52 of injuries from a car crash the day before; Lebanon's president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, was killed by a bomb.

In 1988, Hurricane Gilbert slammed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 5 storm after forcing thousands of residents to flee.

Ten years ago: Indonesian soldiers looted the abandoned U.N. mission in East Timor, just hours after 110 U.N. personnel and 1,300 East Timorese were evacuated and flown to safety to end a 10-day siege. Hurricane Floyd clobbered the Bahamas, toppling power lines, ripping roofs off homes and pushing a roiling sea into streets before heading toward the southeastern United States.

Five years ago: Guerrillas bombed a Baghdad shopping street full of police recruits and fired on a police van north of the capital, killing some 60 people. President George W. Bush told veterans in Las Vegas he was proud of his time in the Texas Air National Guard as he sought to deflect questions about his Vietnam-era service.

One year ago: Losing its devastating punch as a major hurricane, Ike nevertheless drubbed the Midwest with powerful winds and floodwaters. Carlos Zambrano pitched the first no-hitter for the Chicago Cubs in 36 years, striking out 10 in a 5-0 win over Houston in a game relocated to Milwaukee because of Hurricane Ike.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Zoe Caldwell is 76. Feminist author Kate Millett is 75. Actor Walter Koenig is 73. Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown is 69. Singer-actress Joey Heatherton is 65. Actor Sam Neill is 62. Singer Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (Sha Na Na) is 62. Rock musician Ed King is 60. Rock musician Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) is 54. Country singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman is 53. Actress Mary Crosby is 50. Singer Morten Harket (a-ha) is 50. Country singer John Berry is 50. Actress Melissa Leo is 49. Actress Faith Ford is 45. Actor Jamie Kaler is 45. Actress Michelle Stafford is 44. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is 44. Rock musician Mike Cooley (Drive-By Truckers) is 43. Actor Dan Cortese is 41. Contemporary Christian singer Mark Hall is 40. Actor Ben Garant is 39. Rock musician Craig Montoya (Tri Polar) is 39. Actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley is 38. Rapper Nas is 36. Country singer Danielle Peck is 31. Pop singer Ayo is 29. Singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse is 26. Actor Adam Lamberg is 25.

Thought for Today: "America has been called a melting pot, but it seems better to call it a mosaic, for in it each nation, people or race which has come to its shores has been privileged to keep its individuality, contributing at the same time its share to the unified pattern of a new nation." — King Baudouin I of Belgium (1930-1993).

Sunday, September 6, 2009

MITOS: PECAHKAN..Hissamudin Rais

Dalam negara kita ada beberapa mitos yang disebarkan. Pada ketika mitos ini disebarkan ramai warga negara kita belum bersekolah. Maka mitos ini di terima bulat-bulat. Penyebaran mitos ini memang bertujuan untuk membodohkan kita semua. Tetapi dengan adanya internet kita dapat memecahkan mitos-mitos ini melaui pengkajian berdasarkan fakta-fakta.

DARI JELEBU oleh Hishamuddin Rais
Mitos ialah naratif yang dibuat bertujuan untuk memesongkan hakikat.

Contoh mitos : Raja di katakan jelmaan tuhan. Ini adalah mitos bertujuan untuk membodohkan kaum tani agar mereka memberikan tanamanmereka pada satu kumpulan manusia yang malas bekerja. Mitos ini berpanjangan dan ditokok tambah lepas satu – satu lagi ditambah. Hakikatnya mitos raja dari muntah lembu atau raja jelmaan tuhan bertujuan untuk menipu. Walhal antara raja dengan sesiapa sahaja tidak ada bezanya. Yang melahirkan perbezaan hanyalah mitos.

Contoh mitos : Pokok itu berhantu. Pokok itu wujud dan dapat dilihat dan dibuktikan. Tetapi hantu itu tidak wujud. Mitos hantu diwujudkan untuk menakut-nakut. Apabila kita takut maka kita akan mencari perlindungan. Peranan untuk melindungi kita dari hantu ialah bomoh dan dukun. Akhirnya kita tunduk pada kuasa bomoh dan dukun.

Mitos diwujudkan untuk tujuan baik dan tujuan jahat. Jangan pergi didalam gua ini ada hantu - adalah nasehat yang bersalurkan penakutan. Nasihat ini baik kerana cuba menjaga keselamatan. Ianya juga tidak baiak kerana asasnya satu pembohongan.

Hari ini mitos masih cuba di wujudkan – tetapi agak susah. Dengan kemajuan ilmu tidak ramai yang akan mempercayai mitos-mitos baru yang hendak direka. Mitos seperti angkasawan Neil Armstrong turun ke bulan terdengar suara azan. Atau mitos Bruce Lee mati kerana bersilat dengan Dicky Zulkarnain – semua ini cuba disebarkan untuk menjadi bahan lawak jenaka.

Tujuan asal mitos ialah untuk membodohkan dalam masa yang sama menakut-nakutkan orang ramai. Kalau Raja Jepun berasal Tuhan maka diharapkan rakyat Jepun akan tunduk – walhal kalau Raja Jepun ini makan petai – kencing dia tetap haring. Kalau Prince Charles tercirit baunya tetap busuk.

Lawan mitos ialah fakta. Fakta dapat dibuktikan melalui pengkajian. Ilmu pengetahuan manusia datang dari fakta dan pemikiran manusia. Semua ilmu dalam dunia ini berpunca dari tiga sumber. Pertama : Pengumpulan pengalamnan. Kedua: Kaji selidik. Ketiga : Ujian dalam bilik makmal.

Mitos ini akan pecah jika kita berfikir secara rasional. Kajian ilmiah akan dapat membuktikan sama ada ianya mitos atau fakta. Jika sesutu masih dalam kajian dan belum dapat dibuktikan betul atau slah maka ianya masih di tahap teori. Satu ketika dahulu Letupan Besar/ Bing Bang hanya satu teori – hari ini telah diterima sebagai fakta. Teori menjadi fakta apabila kajian dapat dibuktikan teori ini.

Ilmu pengetahuan adalah pengumpulan pengalaman manusia dari satu zaman ke satu zaman. Buruk atau baik pengalaman ini akan menjadi panduan. Panduan ini adalah ilmu pengetahuan. Ada ilmu pengetahuan yang turun dari mulut ke mulut. Ada yang dibukukan.

Dalam negara kita ada beberapa mitos yang disebarkan. Pada ketika mitos ini disebarkan ramai warga negara kita belum bersekolah. Maka mitos ini di terima bulat-bulat. Penyebaran mitos ini memang bertujuan untuk membodohkan kita semua. Tetapi dengan adanya internet kita dapat memecahkan mitos-mitos ini melaui pengkajian berdasarkan fakta-fakta..

MITOS PERTAMA:

Hari Malaysia bukan pada 31 Ogos tetapi 16 September. BOHING. Sabah ,Serawak, Singapura danPesekutuan Tanah Melayu menjadi PersekutuanMalaysia pada 16 September 1963. Singapura meninggalkan Malaysia pada9 Ogos 1965. Tidak percaya sila tanya orang Sabah dan Serawak.

MITOS KE DUA :

Merdeka dimulakan oleh United Malays National Organisation. BOHONG. Parti yang awal memperjuangan dan melaugkan slogan MERDEKA ialahKesatuan Melayu Muda di tubuh pada 1938. United Malays NationalOrganisation belum wujud lagi. Apabila wujud slogan United Malays National Organisation ialah HIDUP MELAYU dan bukan MERDEKA !

MITOS KE TIGA :

Kemerdekaan didapati tanpa tumpah darah. BOHONG. Parti Komunis Malaya, Angkatan Pemuda Insap, Anakatan Wanita Sedar, Hisbul Musliman, Peta, Malayan Democtaric Union, KMM dan ribuan warga telah bangun mengangkat senjata – pada mulanya melawan Jepun – kemudian melawan British. Tanpa angkat senjata British tidak akan undur.

MITOS KE EMPAT :

Lagu Negara-Ku dikatakan lagu kebangsaan kita. BOHONG. Lagi ini bukan ciptaan warga Tanah Melayu. Peciptanya orang Peranchis bernama Pierre Jean de Beranger (1780-1857) Nama asal ialah Memula Moon. Bertukar menjadi Terang Bulan. Di zaman Konfrontasi - Radio Repuklik Indonesia memainkan lagu ini untuk mengejek Tunku yang dianggap budak suruhan
British. Dari Terang Bulan menjadi Negara-ku.

MITOS KE LIMA :

Bendera Jalur Gemilang – namanya baru 5 tahun. Ini adalah tiruan bulatbulat dari bendera Amerika Syarikat yang bernama Star Spangled–Banner, Stars and Stripes dan Old Glory. Nama jalur gemilang pun diciplak dari nama bendera Amerika. Buktinya lihat Jalur Gemilang tidak
ada motif Nusantara/Melayu – warna merah dan puteh adalah motif Nusantara - merah darah rakyat - puteh hati rakyat.Motif Nusantara ini wujud dalam bendera Singapura dan Indonesia.

MITOS KE ENAM :

Wujud perpaduan Melayu. BOHONG. Tidak ada perpaduan Melayu. Tidak pernah terjadi perpadun Melayu semenjak konsep Melayu itu wujud. Tidak mungkin adanya perpaduan Melayu seperti mustahilnya lahir perpaduan China, perpaduan Arab, perpaduan Itali , perpaduan India.

Mito perpaduan Melayu bergerak dengan menakut-nakutkan orang Melayu dari di’telan’ oleh China dan India. Apabila Melayu jadi takut maka akan datang pembantu. Seperti mitos pokok ada hantu. Orang kampong takut pada hantu lalu memanggil bomoh untuk menghalau hantu. Ini cara klasik mitos bergerak. Takut-takut orang ramai. Apabila orang ramai takut maka mereka akan mencari perlindungan. Maka muncul United Malays National Organisation menjadi perlindung walhal yang menimbulkan kerena gerombolan ini.

MITOS KE TUJUH:

Malaysia negara unik. BOHONG. Mitos ini disebarkan untuk membodohkan rakyat negara ini yang malas membaca dan hanya suka mendengar. Mitos ini bertujun untuk menunjukkan hanya gerombolan United Malays National Organisation sahaja yang dapat memerintah kerana Malaysia unik.

Hakikatnya Malaysia tidak unik – bukan Malaysia sahaja dalam dunia ini yang berbilang kaum , yang berbilang bahasa, pelbagai agama dan budaya. Tidak ada negara yang monolith dalam dunia ini – semua ada kepelbagian. Setiap negara dalam dunia ini ada kepelbagaian.

TEKNOLOJI PECAHKAN MITOS

Lihatlah betapa teknoloji dan ilmu pengetahuan telah memecahkan mitos-mitos ini. Betapa internet telah membolehkan kita bersama-sama mencari fakta dan menilai dokumen sejarah.

Kalau dulu kita tidak tahu asal usul lagu Negara-ku – hari ini gambar dan riwayat hidup pembuat lagi ini kita kenali. Kalau dulu ada yang menerima mitos tentang kemedekaan dicapai tanpa tumpah darah. Hari ini mitos ini telah terbarai pecah. Dokument-dokumen sejarah semuanya boleh kita baca melaui internet.

Kemajuan manusia akan terus memecahkan mitos mitos yang lapuk dan berkarat ini. Teknoloji akan membebaskan manusia dari di perangkap dan di belenggu oleh mitos-mitos. Tanpa mitos manusia akan jadi berani. Insan yang berani bebas adalah insan yang berfikir. Manusia yang berfikir tidak akan tunduk kepada sesipa kecuali fikrahnya yang rasional.