Bario's Historic Background - Post #3

Education
The first school in the highlands was opened in 1946 by Tom Harrison, a former British soldier who lived with the Kelabit for 2 years after the Second World War. There were only 46 students in the school when it first started. A few other schools were opened later on to cater for the needs of the Kelabit who were coming to see the importance of formal education. Both sons and daughters were encouraged to go to school. Some students had to walk 5 to 7 days through the thick rain forest to get to the nearest school. Access to further education is one of the main reasons why many young people have migrated into urban areas. There are two schools in Bario, the Bario Primary School (Standard 1 to Standard 6) and Lower Secondary School (Form 1 to Form 3).

The literacy rate amongst the Kelabit is quite high, particularly amongst the younger generation. Many of them have at least obtained a Malaysian Education Certificate or Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). Of 5000 Kelabit, about 150 have obtained university degrees locally and from abroad. Many others have attended professional courses and are working with governmental and private sectors across the country. In other words, the Kelabit, considering the difficult terrain of the highlands, and having to leave home as soon as they go to school, have been very successful in their quest for formal education. Many have had to leave their home at the age of 6 or 7 to attend boarding school.

Kelabit parents have played a crucial role in promoting formal education for their children. They saw schools and education as the means to improve their children’s future and social condition. As a result, many highly educated Kelabit would attribute their success to the encouragement of their parents.  


Cultural Heritage 
Even though the Kelabit have gone through a rapid social and economic change within the very short span of 50 years, they have managed to maintain certain aspects of their culture which are still unique, particularly their music and dance. A traditional musical instrument is the sape’, a plucked lute instrument.It is carved from tree trunk in an elongated rectangular shape with a homogenous neck extending from one end of the body. Formerly, its three or four strings were made from finely split rattan, but today they are made of wire strings. The Kelabit also play the pagang (tube zither), which is made from a length of bamboo tube closed at both ends by its natural bamboo nodes.

The strings are finely cut strips from the surface of the bamboo tube itself, which are still attached to the tube at either end. The Kelabit use the sape and pagang music to dance their lovely hornbill and warrior dances, long dances and single dances. The hornbill dance is performed in imitation of the hornbill bird. Hornbill birds are beautiful, shy and very gracious. Many natives in Sarawak adore them, so try to imitate their movements.

The Kelabit, like many other indigenous people in the Borneo Island, do not have a written language. So most of their oral stories, which include legends, myths and other folklore, were passed down orally. However, recently the local people have taken efforts to record this invaluable knowledge.

One other important element to the Kelabit cultural heritage is the Irau Mekaa Ngadan/Irau Naru Ngadan. Many young Kelabit strongly adhere to the practice. It is held both as an act of gratitude and thanksgiving to God for providing a married couple with children. Every year, many young Kelabit parents, whether they are from the town or currently living in the highlands, carry out the ceremony.


Work
Most Kelabit in the highlands are rice cultivators. Their permanent wet rice cultivation has distinguished them from the other natives in Sarawak, except for the Lun Bawang. They cultivate the famous Bario rice, which is well known for its sweet aroma and pleasant taste. Besides cultivating rice, they also grow citrus fruits for domestic consumption. Unlike those who remain in the highlands, the Kelabit in the urban areas are involved in a different range of professions and occupations.

Unlike many other rice cultivating communities in Sarawak, the Kelabit as well as the Lun Bawang of Ba Kelalan cultivate both wet and dry rice. It is the former that distinguishes them. They plant a variety of rice, but are most famous for the fine, fragrant and long grain rice, which is commonly known as Bario Rice. The Bario Rice is especially cultivated in the wet rice fields. The fields are usually manually prepared even though today buffalo are increasingly used to prepare the fields for planting. The buffalo are left to roam the fields immediately after the harvesting season; helping to keep away the weeds, provide natural manure for the field and to churn the soil for planting. Besides being used for farming, buffalo are sold for cash, given as payment for labour and as dowry payment when inter marrying with the nearby Lun Bawang. Ownership of buffalo also signifies the wealth status of a person in the community.

Rice from the fields are special to the Kelabit. In fact, their daily economic and social activities revolve around its elaborate way of cultivation. Most of their economic and social activities within the village are determined by the rice planting cycle, a cycle consists of 8 stages and involves 9 months of the calendar year. Every year the cycle starts in the month of June with the lamidik activity. At this stage the weeds and rice stalks in the fields are cut and gathered (nebalu’) into tebalu’ or small bundles, which are left in the fields until they are almost rotten. These tebalu’ are later removed (ngenak tebalu) onto the ebpeng or bunds. This is done simultaneously with ngeppu pade or soaking of selected rice grain for seedlings. This is followed by ngutat pade or scattering of seedlings into the seedling fields a few weeks later. As soon as the seedlings are tall enough, they are transplanted into the fields (nibu pade). The seedlings are then left unattended until when the rice are almost ripe when muro activity, which is to keep away rice-devouring birds such as the sparrows, is vigorously done. One common devices used to meet the purpose is by constructing akang or scarecrow in the fields. The muro activity is followed by the last and most important stage in the cycle, the ranih or harvesting season in January – February. The ranih season is welcomed joyously by the Kelabit. It is a season to witness the full display of the community’s economic and social networks.

Since the Kelabit in the highlands spend most of their time and effort with rice cultivation activities, other economic activities such as hunting, fishing, gardening, mat and baskets weaving, etc. are performed only when they are free from activities in their rice fields. And also most of their social activities like church fellowships and irau or feasts are closely connected with their farming activities. These fellowships and feasts are usually conducted when they are less occupied with rice cultivation.

Sports
Most Kelabit’s traditional games and sports are slowly being abandoned by the younger generation. They have pick up new games like basketball, volleyball and soccerl. In the past, children usually spent most of their time swimming in the river, or playing in the shrubs surrounding the longhouses. Unfortunately, today most of these games are abandoned. Soccer as a sport has becoming very popular amongst the Kelabit. Most Kelabit young men and boys are enthralled with the game.




 


Entertainment/recreation
Since the highlands is quite isolated in the interior of Sarawak, theater and movies were unknown until late 1980s.Installation of generators in most Kelabit longhouses has enabled them to watch movies on television and video.

Some families do have parabolic dishes, which make it possible for them to receive television channels from all over the world. Occasionally, they get together in the night to sing, dance and talked, after working hard in the rice field in the day. Various dances are danced to the sape music. Besides that, the women occasionally get together to sing Christian songs or some traditional songs. These occasions are always joyous and delightful.