Festival serving as a unifying factor

Borneo Post

12-07-2025

The Gawai Dayak parade is now a feature of this celebration in Sarawak.
I HAVE often been asked by a number of young people in the Iban community about the origin of the Gawai Dayak.
Most of the time, I oblige them – relating as best I can by repeating what I have heard from verbal or read from written sources, or from my own memory.
It is quite possible that there is more than one version.
Today's column is based partly on information obtained during conversation, some 30 years ago, with the late Dato Sri Tra Zehnder, the first Iban woman to be appointed as a state legislator.
Another source was Michael Buma, once a teacher at the Anglican Mission School in Quop.
Tra expressed her inner thoughts to me thus: 'Maya Hari Raya kitai ngabang ngagai kaban kitai Melayu; maya Taun Baru China kitai ngabang ngagai kaban kitai China. Tang sida tu enda ngabang ngagai kitai, laban kitai Dayak nadai Ari Besai (We visit our Malay friends during the Hari Raya, and our Chinese friends during their New Year, but they do not visit us because we, the Dayaks, have no special day to celebrate during which the Malays and the Chinese can visit us in return).'
Tra was referring to the situation in the context of the Dayaks who were residing and working in Kuching.
Daughter of Sarawak Constabulary Sub-Insp Inting Jemat, she had been brought up in a cross- cultural setting in Kuching for most of her life that her world view was broad and pragmatic.
In fact, for some time during the colonial period (1958-1960), the Dayak (settlers and/or residents of Kuching, mostly government servants and Christians), had been toying with the idea of another festivity that would be more traditional or cultural than religious and pious.
This group, consisting of teachers and those whom we would call social activists, were more articulate and vocal in their views.
Among them were Michael Buma, Ah Guan, Barbara Bay Mendu, Robert Jitam, Edward Jerah and Austin Jaga.
Although Tra belonged to the community dominated by the police personnel and families, she managed to reach out to and maintain a good rapport with the ordinary members of the Dayak community in Kuching.
She established a close contact with people like Malacca- trained nurse Barbara Bay (Mendu Bayang), Mrs Ang, Madam Tuyah and her daughter Susie Kitto.
They formed the Sarakup Indu Dayak Sarawak (SIDS), the women's wing of the Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU), for the purpose of providing educational advice to Dayak women in Kuching.
She also established a good relationship with Michael Buma and the political activists.
However, these 'radicals' had a vision of their own as to how Dayaks of various groups could coalesce and constitute a force in society in Sarawak.
Michael Buma, leading the group, moved one step further by proposing that the government of Tan Sri Datuk Amar Stephen Kalong Ningkan (1963) should declare a day in each year as 'The Dayak Day'.
While Tra endorsed Michael Buma's proposal, she had a problem with other members of the Council Negri who thought that she was being too political.
Michael Buma, watching on the sidelines, made a bold move in defiance of the attitude of those legislators.
He organised a tea party at his house in Siol Kandis, Kuching, and invited people of the same mind, 'Segulai Sejalai'.
They were launching the celebration called the 'Dayak Day'. Yes, that day – June 1, 1964!
I was not there. I was told by Daniel Ragam, who was present, that the atmosphere was politically electrified.
Apparently, the Police Special Branch had sent a couple of boys to Michael Buma's house 'just for a drink' and, obviously, to keep an official eye on things.
The significance of this Special Branch intrusion intrigued me as I was listening to Tra.
Peter Ratcliffe, the director of Radio Sarawak, hinted to me that the government was going to declare June 1 as a public holiday to dilute the influence of the Dayak activists, using the radio to promote the concept of celebrating a successful harvest instead of something radical.
The choice of the name 'Gawai Dayak' was deliberate, a strategy to pre-empt the influence of the activists.
Kalong's government, fearing that the Dayak sentiment would develop into a political issue, used Radio Sarawak to promote the 'Harvest Festival' as the Gawai Dayak.
That was it!
The programme producers at Radio Sarawak even took the initiative to introduce a format for the celebration.
For instance, on May 31, the eve of Gawai Dayak, each Dayak family should celebrate the occasion with a dinner at home – similar to the customary dinner among the Chinese on the eve of their New Year.
A new festival was thus created for the Dayak community because the 'townies' wanted to have their own version of festival.
The Christians among the townies were not in favour of anything pagan like, for instance, a 'miring' (traditional ritual to seek blessings).
In the 1980s, the Gawai Dayak was organised as a state function.
As a political device, it suits the politicians in power. They take advantage of the big gathering during which to be seen together with the 'common people' – 'Segulai Sejalai', you see!
The 'Ngiling Tikai / Ngiling Bidai' (symbolic rolling-up of the mat, to mark the end of festivities) was not part of the Gawai as far as I could remember.
However, it has become an accepted part of the proceedings by now.
Anyway, who would pick up a quarrel over something that brings people together, even for a few hours, under one roof in the name of the slogan 'Segulai Sejalai'?
* The opinions expressed in this article are the columnist's own and do not reflect the view of the newspaper. culture Dayak Gawai Iban sarawak