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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Bidayuhs won’t buckle in battle for their forest

By Sim Kwang Yang

The Bidayuh are one of the largest indigenous ethnic groups in Sarawak after the Iban. Inevitably, the rape of Sarawak’s jungle resources by local timber companies is bound to infringe upon their land and their rights to their jungle resources.

One of the battles I lived through was centred upon the village of Kampung Stunggang, a large, Bidayuh community on the outskirts of Kuching district, between Lundu and Bau.

The Bidayuh are hardworking and gregarious people, very much dependent on the use of their farmland for their survival.

Like the rest of the farming population in Sarawak, their daily food security depends on padi farming. Their claim to their land is based on their customary rights, a set of traditional rules very much in line with their adat.

When the logging firms enter a native area, they usually pay scant notice to the rights of the natives over the use of their land. Often, the loggers will just sweep these traditional customs and practices aside and proceed to negate the rights of the natives.

the antidote article sarawak natives stories 120509 01When the loggers move in, the first victim of this intrusion is often the pristine water resource of the native community.

With the felling of the first trees on high ground, the watershed falls victim and the precious mountain water reservoir is immediately polluted.

Within days to weeks, water from the mountain stream becomes muddy and undrinkable, causing immediate daily hardship to the people who rely on that mountain for their daily water needs.

When I received a report of such pollution as an MP in the early 90s, I went out to Kampung Stunggang and climbed the mountain myself.
The villagers had applied for a grant from the Health Department to build a system of pipes and reservoirs to store drinking water at the watershed level.

When I arrived, the watershed was a mess, having been destroyed by the bulldozers. The whole village of several hundred people had been deprived of their water supply. The village chief had complained to the authorities, but no action was taken.

Obviously, the villagers had lodged numerous complaints without success, as was often the case in logging conflicts. The timber companies have always been powerful political and financial giants, and the weak local police contingent have never been able to do much to override their political superiors.

NONEThe logging company also employed strong-arm tactics, hiring hoods to patrol the area of their logging site. I heard complaints from the villagers about how these Chinese hoods from Kuching patrolled the jungle as if they themselves owned the mountains. These ‘samsengs’ looked set to stop at nothing, and were resolved to do whatever they wished in the middle of the jungle.

The issue came to a head when I received a complaint from an old Bidayuh man from Kampung Stunggang about how he was threatened by a logging contractor for the timber company called CST. This contractor was a Chinese businessman and a thug from Kuching city.

Threats of blood and guts

One day, the old man told me, he met the CST contractor near his village. The contractor warned him to beware of a bullet with a number on it. The implication was quite clear: if the villagers continued to try to resist the loggers, great harm would be visited upon them.

NONEI was taken aback by this threat of violence. The Bidayuhs are a race of ancient warriors known for their warrior’s mentality in the past. Everyone of the villagers has at least one shotgun, and a couple of parangs to boot.

I dare not imagine the prospect of open war between the loggers and villagers: the mountainside would run red with spilled blood. I reported this threat to the police and warned them about the potential of an open clash between the gangsters hired by the loggers, and the village community.

The next day, a meeting was called near the village by the police, attended by the village leadership and the representative of CST, the logging firm.

The senior police officer warned the timber contractors not to do anything rash, or else they would face the full consequences of the law. He warned the company manager that if so much as a single hair from the village chief was harmed, the law would be enforced.

To add to the tension of the situation, a general meeting was called by the village headman of Kampung Stunggang. It was attended by the heads of all the households. They passed a few motions to defend their jungle homeland.

sarawak diverse population percentage breakdown of race 160106Early next morning, the heads of all the households of this rather large village climbed to the top of the mountain. They were armed to the teeth. On the way, they met two officers of the Special Branch who asked them where they were going.

They replied that they had to climb to the mountaintop to repair the pipe system which had been damaged by the loggers. And it was their custom to arm themselves whenever they travelled in their jungle, since they had to be prepared for any kind of attack from wild animals.

They said they were prepared to meet all kinds of eventualities, including meeting ‘two-legged snakes’. This met with chuckles from all the villagers.

The news of this advance party must have travelled fast. When the villagers arrived at the camp, they found all the workers in the timber camp had run away and disappeared into the jungle, leaving only children and women.

The villagers repaired the water pipes and returned to their kampung life peacefully. The loggers never returned to intimidate the villagers: they had learnt their lessons well.

Since then, I have been involved in numerous clashes between logging companies and the local villagers in many parts of Sarawak.

In some cases, these ended in tragedy. More of the saga of the ‘primordial’ conflict between business interests and the people’s defence of their traditional way of life will follow in future weeks.

To be continued…

SIM KWANG YANG was member of parliament for Bandar Kuching, Sarawak from 1982 to 1995. He can be reached at sky8hornbill@gmail.com. All comments are welcomed. Courtesy of Hornbill Unleashed


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