Back in the days before 1963, when Brookes Kingdom defeated the Japanese Army after WWII with the assistance of the Queen Army, all the native Borneo people saw a bright future in governing the states before the Federation of Malaya.
Life is a lesson
20 years, a daughter who aspires to live a better life and was raised by a caring family Prior to her late husband, this woman was a housewife who took care of her gorgeous family.
In spite of the difficulties, I can at least write down my feelings as long as they are about the miracle of a native woman’s spirit, a Mu’allaf, who rises to the level of celestial splendour, and as long as each sentence is written one at a time.
Liberation of the Native
Everything began in 1963, when Temenggung Jugah anak Barieng won the election and a portion of Borneo joined the Federation of Malaya. A distinct universe of politics and sociology exists in Malaya and Sarawak as Malaysia continues with Sabah (formerly known as North Borneo). On the precise date of September 16, 1963, a woman from Kapit was born into the Catholic faith.
From ethnic Sea Dayak and Peneheng couples in the Kapit District, Nancy was born as a Christian. grew up and lived close to Fort Sylvia Castle, the Nanga Ibau Longhouse, which is about 10 kilometres distant, the James Brookes Family colonies, and the region where the “Ngayau” practise, which involved the Sea Dayak ethnic group hunting the enemy’s head, was repealed. She is, among others, the most modest teen and the finest Catholic student in the neighbourhood at the time. More than ten families, all related by blood, are housed in the longhouse.
She instills in her kids the importance of treating people well by telling them stories about how the Ten Commandments relate to Shari’a law in Christianity.
A daughter who is very diligent in helping her parents plant rice, prepare homework, and find dishes for dinner with her younger sister, Lily. The only sister she has In the darkness of night, looking for sustenance in the deep jungle after crossing the Rajang River to her family’s land, Nanga Mumu only had Sampan. A brave daughter and a lovely sister, Nancy and Lily
Traditional Faith
Panggau Libau, one of the Animisme faiths of the Sea Dayak before Christianity, was known as Kaharingan in Indonesia, which means the Dayak Animisme faith. There is a story about Kumang and Keling, where it is interesting for the writer to know about traditional faith and Ngajat dressing, specifically the one of the goddesses of the sea in the Dayak Realms myth story about couples, which is Kumang is female and Keling is male, loving couples, the symbol of love story of man and woman in Dayak tradition, and also tells us about a Dayak companion from another realm of Dayak belief, the Animism faith. Whoever is the toughest and most sincere in life, Kumang and Keling, the goddesses, will support them and help them succeed. The terms “Agi idup agi ngelaban” and “Gayu guru gerai nyamai,” the Words of Wisdom of Gawai Event mentioning to all Dayak ethnic, which teach us about respect for bride, the longhouse rules, being family-oriented, and being survivalists, the Mystical Event in “Gawai Antu,” giving so much reminder about the uniqueness of Indigenous People of Borneo about Mystic Realms. But there is also a tale of another deity in the Borneo Realm, Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sajenjang, who are shown as two princesses of heaven guarding Bangsa Borneo, as well as a tale of two sisters who clashed because they both fell in love with the same guy at the same time.
Irang & Jamas Princess, The Peneheng & Iban Ethnic Unity.
Nancy embodies the characteristics of an ambivert: she is stoic, strictly adheres to the law, is family-oriented, humble, smart, and orthodox. And Lily, the younger, stronger, outgoing, and enthusiastic sister, is a charming and kind woman from the Nanga Ibau Longhouse. Two sisters found it difficult to nurture their children after getting married. However, as long as they have access to forest products, they do not view themselves as being poor.
In the early years of childhood, both are professional swimmers and professional vegetable planters, and the most dreadful thing at the time was that it was only these sisters who dared to surpass masculinity, just like one of the Noble Couple among the superior, their parents, Irang and Jamas.
Irang, a man, came from the Peneheng ethnic group of Mahakam River, Kalimantan, and Jamas, a woman, came from the Iban (Sea Dayak) ethnic group of Batang Rajang, Ulu Baleh, Sarawak. Assimilated.
Formal Study as Teenager
Long before the World War II and Brookes Colonial, between the early existence of Proto-Malayo in the Malay Archipelago and the 19th century, the level of intelligence and knowledge of the Sea Dayak population in the area around the interior only relied on the economy of the family framework, so the infrastructure and education only depended on the longhouse community drive by Tuai Rumah. They rely on the forest and river for daily productivity. So there was still a lack of formal study until 1963, when the Primary School was built nearby in Nanga Ibau, which is now a new formal education school provided by the new Malaysian government.
Most native children were still naive at the time, but the Brookes Family mission was to advance indigenous people in Sarawak, the Land of Hornbill, in terms of formal education, economy, and political perspective. Two daughters from Nanga Ibau Longhouse were chosen to take advantage of the opportunities for formal education. This cause, driven by Nancy’s thoughts and ideas about formal study, has the potential to make their dreams come true. As a naive child with curiosity, she passes the primary school with good scores and has a chance to continue her education in secondary schools, but not Lily. But the good part about Lily is that working crafts can also lead oneself in a more advanced direction, as she thought.
Both have different feelings about advancing in life as a teen, but the point remains the same. In order to live. Whether formal or casual.
I respect both of them for how they tried to express their impressions to others due to their challenging situation, adapting a new methodology of surviving in a big city to the new concept of mind, liberating their thoughts about the Early Millenial Age, and ending up struggling and surviving together in this hypnotic world. Not just what they feel about looking for money and a better life, but their faith, which makes them aware of the uncouth, Sticking with sentiment, they have been taught by their parents not to easily fall into a trap made by irresponsible thought. They survived as adults and as mothers, but both of them still think that women should not be taking on man’s responsibilities in terms of self-economy, and both of them challenge themselves to not depend on men in the economic affairs of the household. So, as I may think about it, the issue of irresponsibilities occurs when there is too much moral lacking, as they live in a big city where so many marriages end in divorce.
Life as adult
Hippies Sentiment brought by Malaya men.
I am not talking about the issue of prejudice here in total, just as an example of something that happens a lot to Borneo women who are played a lot by men who came from Malaya. Especially those who are civil servants, who very much tarnish the sentiments of the indigenous people here. which made Nancy and Lily fight harder to survive this issue by standing together as siblings.
Too many sweet promises are sprinkled by those who are irresponsible and just want to have fun with Borno women, where at that time there were high expectations by Borneo women to marry those in government positions who were sent to Borno for government duty. Nancy and Lily still uphold the principles of life against the easily ingested persuasion of men. At that time, there were very few Borneo men who had a stable life to be a life partner, so here the problem was the difference in rank that caused many Borneo women to want a Malay man as a life partner. But most of them are played.
How can these two women survive being stuck with a dull mentality, but they can’t blame destiny as a woman who wants a man who can guide her in the moment of moral collapse? A woman from the Melanau ethnic group gave birth to a child out of wedlock from the seed of a Malay who worked as a policeman. She was left alone until she gave birth to the child without a father. And until now, the woman is still traumatised by the sweet promise of Malay men. So much so that this sentiment is festering to this day, where if they find out there are Malay men coming to Borneo, they dissociate themselves from the desire to be friends with them. This story is based on a true story told by an Iban ethnic woman about the moral collapse of the time.
Since that day, this sentiment has driven most Borneans to hate Malaya a lot. But it’s still a closed discussion. So Nancy and Lily tried to maintain their self-esteem when they were in an environment of moral collapse at the time. But what is good is that they both, having never left each other to this day, still stay together to maintain the principles of life brought by their parents.
Dimana bumi dipijak , disitu langit akan dijunjung , walaupun sesusah mana kehidupan , doa itu sebahagian dari senjata untuk meraih keamanan jiwa dan sejahtera kehidupan.
Ngajat Dance
When Hari Gawai Dayak celebration season arrives, Nancy will usually join her father to perform the Ngajat Dance. At that time, a number of other women can also perform the dance with their parents.
Though I didn’t get a chance to capture them on camera, I can still recall when the Gawai Dance first began. I really miss them, though, and I miss the atmosphere we shared while watching Sea Dayaks in their stunning Tandak Ngajat and admiring their flawlessness. I also miss their Baju Perang and their traditional Ngajat swords and shields.
I have a cousin named Jessica, a Christian girl whose blood is a mixture of Sea Dayak and Visaya with almost Pan-Asian looks. Staring at her perform the Ngajat dance brought me to think about how beautiful this ethnic dance is. I wish I could be his boyfriend though, and he could teach me how to dance too. Hehe, But unfortunately, my age was still in the early teens at the time. So the feeling of shyness and embarrassment seeing the beautiful woman in front made me stunned and glued to her beauty.
I do not deny that Bornean women are very beautiful both internally and externally when they are young. The more they assimilate, the more beauty they bring from every ethnicity they represent. Even Nancy and Lily used to be the craze of many because of their beauty and their modest thinking among the community, especially for the army and forest police. They are both very famous for their western-style looks: short-haired Nancy wears a gown and skirt, while long-haired Lily wears long pants with T-shirts.
Liberation in Culture & Sociology
In the era of Princess Diana, many made her an idol of beauty and intelligence for those who were single women in Sarawak at that time. That is because they can survive the independence episode as their idols shape their lives so that the tragedy of Princess Diana’s accident happens. Nancy was really obsessed with Princess Diana’s background at the time, a princess who is very people-oriented, hardworking, and modest, which made Nancy’s life principles increasingly entrenched in matters of femininity, although the femininity of the time was still unknown to the general public.
Life in Town of Sibu
From what I have seen about lifestyle and trend in this town, mostly they have their own sight and trend dating back to 1980 – 2000, where the thoughts and character of each individual in Sibu are very different from the trend in the peninsula; it is rooted in religious beliefs, culture, and tradition for a relatively large community in most areas in Sarawak, where I can understand that the life of a young person in that year was filled with many covering the affairs of the local community; they had their own homeland artists who shaped their lives as young people before the absorption of trends and lifestyles from the peninsula. As a result, Gawai Dayak is not as festive as it used to be, as many young people from the interior after the year 2000 are getting stuck with Peninsula economic, social, and political progress, making them all obliged to make a living regardless of tradition and absorbing the trend of Peninsular people’s lifestyle. in my opinion.
Another story about Mystical Ethnic
A little thought about animisme in Iban culture is about Raja Buaya. There are many versions of this story that really make this ethnicity more unique. In the Nancy version, the story is about “Nenek Chalak,” a flawlessly beautiful lady with a prince of the forest, where the prince has been cursed by nature and will forever be Bujang Senang. This Bujang Senang is a type of cold-blooded animal, an alligator. which sometimes refers to the Borneo Nature Guardian. And the relation with Bungai Sepanggil.
A story about “Chalak,” a woman who had beauty and was kind, who wanted to be married by a Raja Buaya at that time but was rejected by Chalak’s parents, and finally an agreement was made by the Raja Buaya for mankind after being cursed, the agreement about human descent not to touch a kind of flower called Bungai Sepanggil, and if their descendants touch it then the Raja Buaya or the Permaisuri Buaya will “marry” them. sounds superficial. Eat or marry? Haha, I don’t know, but it’s related to a mystical event of both realms, and that is the reality of the beliefs of the Chalak descendants of the Iban nobility that made Raja Buaya, which made the Raja Buaya captivated by Chalak kindness. This version is not so accurate, but the similarities between Raja Buaya and Bujang Senang are clear.
Life within first marriage
Around the years 1985 – 1986, Lily’s marriage is based on the man of her choice, where the freedom to choose is in her hands, while Nancy’s marriage is based on family arrangements, which in this case are the first source of conflict consisting of emotional injustice between siblings and the hope of the parents to see their children live happy lives. Lily was raised in an atmosphere of freedom of speech and freedom of choice, and Nancy was raised in a way that was too bound by family law so that as far as choosing alone, the family would intervene, especially in the matchmaking chapter. As the oldest daughter, Nancy gave up on the family choice to be paired with a compatriot family and had to abide by the family choice, while in her heart she was still unwilling and dissatisfied to help her family in terms of upgrading family life. Even though the marriage is going well for her, she still does not feel that arranged marriage gives her happiness, which drives Nancy to rebel against this marriage, but she knows that her family’s choice is good for her future and being a housewife and the nobility of family. Even though she knows this, she replies to herself and says, “I will do it myself for my own future and don’t like to marry with the same ethnicity; even though it’s hard for me to go on with my own life, I will not get married with Iban and my future is my decision.”
For Lily, their parents did not object to what she was going to do, as long as she knew what she should do for them. The happiness-making is in Lily’s hands, but I know that in every family, parents are still hesitant to let their children make their own decisions, so usually the eldest child will be a test case for the parents, because the parents want the eldest child to be an example, whether the pros or cons of the parents’ own decisions. later.
First Born Baby
Marriage is a part of the human norm, where no one can deny it for continuous legacy. As long as we were much driven by the pleasures of life, which brought us into healthy families, Sometimes for Nancy, being a mother is very emotional as she drives her family to be better, even if she never disputes anything about her sister Lily’s condition. Even in the case of the conflict of perceptions of inequality between Nancy and her parents about Lily, the two are interconnected like “Air dicincang tidak akan putus” in a Malay proverb, both giving birth to their first son.
There will be another episode…
There is a song about “Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sajenjang” whose lyrics I really love.
Puteri Santubong , Puteri Sajenjang , Penjaga gunung negeri Sarawak , Manisnya sik ada dapat dilawan , Anaknya dewa turun dari kayangan.
Chapa7
Next Episode ; From Borneo with Love — Episode II : Of Revelation and Heart Rebel
