TRIBAL
chief Danny Ibang lived most of his life in the pristine jungles of the
Malaysian portion of Borneo island until he was pushed into a modern world he
was told would be better.
And in many ways, it is.
His Kenyah community of 2,000 enjoys electricity,
running water, health and educational facilities previously undreamed-of since
being moved out of the jungles to a new village to make way for the huge Bakun
hydroelectric dam.
But as expanding dams, oil-palm plantations
and other development forces thousands off ancestral lands in the state of
Sarawak, a host of modern new problems threaten to break down once tight-knit
tribal communities.
Village elders and activists say alcoholism,
drug use, and crime are on the increase and anger is rising over continuing
encroachment on native lands.
"There have been a lot of social changes
after the Bakun dam," said Ibang, 66, whose people were among the first
moved to the relocation village of Sungai Asap 14 years ago.
"Some teens who go to school learn to rebel
against their parents, and boys and girls now mingle freely as they see it on
the television," he said. There were 10 recent teen pregnancies —
something unheard-of in the old days.
The state government is pushing to develop the
economy of Sarawak, which is blessed by rich natural resources yet remains one
of Malaysia's poorest states.
But critics say the effort, while necessary,
is plagued by graft and harms tribes that are ethnically distinct from the
nation's majority Malays.
Tribal lands make up about 80 per cent of
Sarawak and "nearly all has been taken for logging and plantations",
said Mark Bujang, head of Borneo Resources Institute, a body working in defence
of native land rights.
In October, Penan tribespeople blocked roads
into their lands for a week to protest logging and alleged river pollution by
Malaysian firm Interhill until the blockade was dismantled by authorities.
At a forum on native concerns in the town of
Bintulu in October organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, about
150 Iban tribespeople alleged a palm oil company illegally seized their land
for a plantation and disturbed ancestral graves, said Joseph Laja, an Iban.
"We are really angry," Laja told
commission members.
"If they move into another part of our
land, there could be violence."
About four million of Malaysia's 28 million
people belong to indigenous tribes, most of which are native to Malaysian
Borneo where some retain diminishing traditional rainforest hunting and farming
ways.
Officially, they enjoy the same preferential
treatment in business, education and other areas accorded to Malays — a
controversial policy meant to lift Malay socio-economic standing.
But natives and activists say this has meant
little to tribes, who remain among the country's poorest groups.
As a result, many youths welcome their new
life and opportunities in Sungai Asap, which now has 11,600 people from a range
of tribes living in traditionally inspired longhouses.
Roads linking the village to coastal cities
have, along with modern telecommunications, opened new employment vistas for
tribal youths.
"I love living in Sungai Asap," said
Lenny Prescially, 18, as she tapped out messages to friends on Facebook in a
local community centre.
Her family moved here from the jungles when
she was four and she knows little of the old ways.
"Only the elders want to continue the old
lifestyle. They don't know anything," she said dismissively of the older
men who still hunt wild boar in forests and nearby palm plantations, machetes
strapped to their waists.
The Bakun dam has been widely criticised as a
white elephant, disastrous for uprooted tribes and pristine jungles that are
now inundated by a reservoir the size of Singapore, its projected power output
exceeding Sarawak's needs.
Transparency International has called the dam,
which began generating electricity in August, a "monument to graft".
Much of the anger in Sarawak is directed at
Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud — himself from the Melanau tribe — who has
governed the state since 1981 and is widely accused of corruption, cronyism,
and plundering the state's resources, which he denies.
But Sarawak Land Development Minister James
Masing said the state must develop the economy and give youths new
opportunities.
"I have to support (the state's youths).
We need to develop Sarawak," he told AFP.
Hasmy Agam, chairman of the rights commission,
said it had received nearly 2,000 complaints over native land rights
infringement in Malaysia over the past decade. Many of those complaining have
threatened violence.
"We sense that. We hope that is not the
solution," Hasmy said.
M JEGATHESAN
SUNGAI ASAP, MALAYSIA
AFP
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