Iban Community Research Articles

The Iban Community's Perception:TheTaste, Ingredients, and Cooking Methods of Ibanese Traditional Chicken Dish

Traditional food is an integral part of the culture, identity, and heritage of every nation or ethnic group worldwide. In Malaysia, the diverse community has enriched the country’s heritage cuisine, showcasing unique cooking methods and food presentations. However, Manuk Pansuh, an Ibanese traditional chicken dish, is increasingly being forgotten, and the Iban community is losing knowledge of its preparation. Typically enjoyed during the Gawai Dayak festival, Manuk Pansuh is now available in restaurants but fails to meet public demand. This study aims to understand the Iban community’s perception of Manuk Pansuh. The design of this study is a survey study using a quantitative approach. Datawas collected from 50 Iban respondents through questionnaires. The findings revealed that the Iban community holds high regard for the ingredients and cooking methods of Manuk Pansuh. However, their perception of its taste is moderate. In conclusion, there is a need for the Iban community to preserve and enhance their traditional cuisine. The Iban community needs to take proactive steps to preserve and enhance their traditional cuisine, particularly Manuk Pansuh to remain a cherished and enduring part of their cultural heritage, even in the era of modernization.

Utilization of Plants as Traditional Food by The Dayak Iban Community of Mensiau Village, Batang Lupar District, Kapuas Hulu Regency

The Iban Dayak people use forest plants from non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as traditional food. The purpose of the study was to study traditional foods and to record the types of forest plants used, processing methods, and efforts to maintain their sustainability by the Dayak Iban community in Mensiau Village, Batang Lupar District, Kapuas Hulu Regency. Interviews with the determination of respondents by purposive sampling. The Iban Dayak tribe has 14 types of traditional foods that are used for daily needs, certain holidays, and traditional ceremonies using 56 types of forest plants (33 families). The families with the most species were 8 species of Arecaceae, 6 species of Zingiberaceae, and 5 species of Poaceae. A total of 37 species have the greatest usefulness value (UV) (1). The most widely used habitus were herbs (26,78%) The most widely used plant parts were leaves (49,25%). How to process it by cooking boiled, sauteed, and eaten directly (lalap). Conservation efforts are carried out based on the local wisdom of the Iban Dayak community with certain rules and carry out plant cultivation in forests, fields, gardens, and house yards.

Unveiling Entrepreneurial Intentions: Empirical Evidence of the Iban Community in Kuching, Sarawak

Unveiling Entrepreneurial Intentions: Empirical Evidence of the Iban Community in Kuching, Sarawak

Book Review ' Antropology and History in Local Wisdom’

The book titled Anthropology and History in Local Wisdom contains 15 chapters. All titles are interconnected between history and anthropology. The titles are Almanak and Pelangkah: A Guide to Javanese Nomads and the Duano Tribe; International Barter Trade and Socioeconomic Change: A Case Study of Orang Asli Kuala in Pontian, Johor; The Stability and Persistence of Malays in Western Australia Effects of Cognitive and Psychological Influences; Local Wisdom in Traditional Beauty and its Transformation; The Dynamism and Vitality of the Proto-Malay Orang Asli Language in Malaysia; Shipping Technology and the Legacy of Malay Navigation in the Malacca Straits in the 18th and 19th Centuries; "Antu" in the Traditional Culture of the Iban Community. Other titles are Knowing Culture: The Value of Local Knowledge in Sabah; Local Knowledge of Urban Fishermen in Gaya Island, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah; Fishing and Catching Seafood: A Local Knowledge Technique in Beserah, Pahang; Honoring Traditional Food Based on Freshwater Fish in Lenggong Valley, Perak; Assimilation of Malay Culture Against Immigrant Culture in Malaysia; Origin of Minangkabau Custom; The Meugang Tradition in the Acheh Community in the City of Medan, North Sumatra and the Epistemological Reconstruction of the Islamic Malay World View. All of these writings are the result of research by academics in various fields related to local wisdom in the region. So overall no matter what the field, almost all of them are related to local wisdom. This certainly symbolizes the contribution of the knowledge of past communities in this region that have developed in almost all fields of knowledge. There are many benefits that can be gained from reading this book.

The Challenges While Conducting Ethnography Research among Minority Ethnicities in the Malaysian Context

Ethnography is a qualitative technique researchers use to study people in their own environment through participant observation and face-to-face interviewing. It involves witnessing and/or interacting with the participants in their natural settings, in their cultural context, and then creating a narrative description of that culture against a theoretical background. Ethnography is applied in various social sciences. It is challenging and has many difficulties since it is time-consuming and requires highly qualified researchers due to the critical nature of involving diverse people to gain trust. Although the study among minorities in Malaysia is still at the elementary stage, ethnography is gaining pace. This qualitative study aims to 1) analyse the unexpected challenges faced by the researchers during the ethnography research among minority ethnicities in the Malaysian context and 2) to record methods to be applied. The study used purposive sampling to study three minority ethnicities in Malaysia; the Baba and Nyonya, the Chetties and the Iban communities. This research highlighted the ethnographer’s unexpected challenges in gaining trust to gather experience throughout the ethnography study. Conducting ethnographic research can be subject to unexpected circumstances such as the movement control order during the pandemic, the lack of trust between the researcher and the participants, and the language barrier. Several processes are involved to establish the confidence and to gain the trust of the participants. This study reveals the unexpected challenges of conducting an ethnography study among minority ethnicities in Malaysia and the methods such as digital, field and photos to overcome them.

Iban plaited mat motif classification with adaptive smoothing

<span lang="EN-US">Decorative mats plaited by the Iban communities in Borneo contains motifs that reflect their traditional beliefs. Each motif has its own special meaning and taboos. A typical mat motif contains multiple smaller patterns that surround the main motif hence is likely to cause misclassification. We introduce a classification framework with adaptive sampling to remove smaller features whilst retaining larger (and discriminative) image structures. Canny filter and probabilistic hough transform are gradually applied to a clean greyscale image until a threshold value pertaining to the image’s structural information is reached. Morphological dilation is then applied to improve the appearance of the retained edges. The resulting image is described using binary robust invariant scalable keypoints (BRISK) features with random sample consensus (RANSAC). We reported the classification accuracy against six common image deformations at incremental degrees: scale+rotation, viewpoint, image blur, joint photographic experts group (JPEG) compression, scale and illumination. From our sensitivity analysis, we found the optimal threshold for adaptive smoothing to be 75.0%. The optimal scheme obtained 100.0% accuracy for JPEG compression, illumination, and viewpoint set. Using adaptive smoothing, we achieved an average increase in accuracy of 11.0% compared to the baseline.</span>

Artifak Sakral dalam Budaya Iban di Sarawak

This article focuses on social hierarchy and ethnographic observation research based on cultural artifacts that are considered to have sacred value in Iban culture in Sarawak. Sacred artifacts are cultural objects that are believed to have spiritual values and mystical powers that are capable of protecting and bringing harmony to their owners if executed according to customs and rituals. This belief is driven by the ancestral religion of Pengarap Lama and the habitat that has been home to the Iban community since time immemorial. In proving the critical findings, qualitative-based research methods have been implemented based on in-depth observations, interviews, and documentation. The research findings found that sacred artifacts are still important in the culture of the Iban community even though they have embraced new religions such as Islam and Christianity. Therefore, in preserving the significant value of sacred artifacts in Iban culture, this article is an effort to archive the cul

Conserving the Jadi Mali Ritual for Cultural Sustainability: A Case Study of the Iban Community in Sarawak

The ancient practice of “jadi mali” among the indigenous Iban tribe in Sarawak is a custom and tradition birthed with the aim of attaining a marriage free from any unwanted catastrophe due to violating a taboo. This article suggests the protocols of “jadi mali” ritual as a vital intangible culture passed down from our ancestors’ knowledge to be preserved for future references. It adopts a philosophical approach of Husserlism of Transcendental Phenomenology (TPh) to qualitatively examine the issue of “jadi mali.” The affirmative lessons obtained from this ancient ritual may act as a rule for the younger Iban generation to be mindful of their courtship and to choose the right life partner in the future. The ancient ritual of “jadi mali” indicates a need for mutual respect and teaches intensive empathy about life’s details for genetic sustainability. This article contributes by providing a record for future reference on the ancient ritual of “jadi mali” among the Iban indigenous community in Sarawak. Foremost, this article is important for conserving ancestral knowledge.

SENI BAHASA DALAM LEKA PELIAN BERDASARKAN PERSPEKTIF TEORI METAFORA KONSEPTUAL

“Leka pelian” is a traditional poem of the Iban community in the invocation category, which is used in traditional Iban healing rituals. Every word sung by the “manang” in “leka pelian” is decorated with figurative language and metaphors to add more beauty to the art of poetry. However, the lack of experts in “leka pelian” makes it difficult for the younger generation, especially the Iban community, to understand the figurative language and metaphors used in “leka pelian” by the “manang”. This has led to the younger generation showing less interest in delving into oral traditions such as “leka pelian”. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the meaning of the metaphors that shapes the “leka pelian” based on the conceptual metaphor theory of Lakoff and Johnson (1980). This study is qualitative and uses the Conceptual Metaphor Theory of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) to analyse the categories of metaphors found in “leka pelian”. Content analysis method is used to analyse each category of metaphor found in “leka pelian”. The findings show that the figurative language in “leka pelian” consists of abstract metaphors to reality, simile metaphors, animal metaphors, nature metaphors, as well as adapted and cultural comparison metaphors in their lives. The investigation shows that nature metaphors are more dominant than other metaphors because they are influenced by the surrounding nature, making nature a metaphor in communication. This category of metaphor is also used as a medium of communication between human world and the supernatural world. The implication of this research shows that the use of different categories of metaphor in “leka pelian” can increase the knowledge of traditional healers and the Iban community, especially in terms of language skills.

Older Adult Listeners’ Perception on the Language Used and Quality of the Programme at Wai FM Iban

Community radio is still relevant in today's world despite the rapid changes taking place in communication information technology. It is a faster platform for disseminating information apart from other traditional media, mobile phone and the Internet. In Sarawak, Wai FM Iban is popular among the Iban community especially those living in rural areas. This is because it is the fastest way for the local community to obtain information. This study aims to examine how older adult listeners of Wai FM Iban evaluate the language used by the broadcasters and the quality of radio programmes produced by the radio station. As listening to the radio has become a daily activity among Iban community, Wai FM Iban has a vital role to play in disseminating information to the Iban community throughout Sarawak. It plays a role to ensure proper and correct Iban language is used on air. This study employs a qualitative approach where focus group discussion is used for data collection. Findings show that older listeners of Wai FM Iban are concerned about the use of code-mixing and code-switching among broadcasters that would lead to the deterioration of the language. Findings also indicated that older adult listeners are concerned about the quality of language used and programmes produced by the radio station. As the custodian of Iban language, custom and tradition, they believed that the language used by the broadcasters will determine the quality of programmes produced by the radio station. Keywords: Community radio, Iban language, code-switching, code-mixing, customs and traditions.

THE ADAPTATION OF NATURE IN IBAN CULTURAL ARTEFACT

Iban or also known as Sea Dayak has inhabited the island of Borneo for hundreds of years. From the previous timeline, the Iban community has adapted to their surrounding nature in developing their culture which is consisted of customs based on the foundation of ancestral beliefs. As a result, the development of Iban culture became more creative and innovative in producing cultural artifacts referring on surrounding nature. Incidentally, the cultural developed by the early Iban have become a legacy and identity for the modern Iban society today. Therefore, this paper is an ethnographic studies emphasis on human artifacts. Therefore, the scope of this studies discussed the researcher's proposed theory of the role of nature that has contribute to shaped human cultural artifacts, particularly the Iban cultural artifacts. This study applied qualitative methods and the research findings have concluded that nature have a significant function as a driving force to influenced early human culture and experience changes based on relevance and human preferences.

Response Towards Timang Xekory

Music is a form of entertainment that is enjoyed by people of all ages from every culture. It does not require any formal education to be understood or appreciated by the listeners. However, music is divided into several categories, and one of them is avant garde music which can be fully appreciated through a specific approach because it contains elements, motifs and beats that are inconsistent. It is also known for its complex and abstract music and has its own group of fans. A study of avant garde music composition, Timang XekorY was conducted at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. The respondents were categorised into two groups, the first was a group of musicians of music background and the second group is not of music background. Timang XekorY was inspired by the timang tuah ritual, which is commonly observed in Kapit, Sarawak. The research which was done against the backdrop of the rituals of the Iban community has yielded several findings. Firstly, a respondent said that a detailed explanation of the storyline of the ancient Iban singing text is needed. In addition, listeners or viewers who read of the programme book before the Timang XekorY show were found to have a better understanding of the storyline compared to those who have not been given the programme book or explanation of the original work.

Rural Residents’ Perceptions on the Poverty Alleviation and Governance in Sarawak, Malaysia

Poverty alleviation has continuously become one of the main concerns of the socio-economic policy worldwide. This crucial phenomenon is bounded on necessity toward monetary and comprehends by social, economic, political, and physiological aspects. In Malaysia, although the New Economic Policy in 1971 has succeeded in reducing the country's poverty incident, poverty's pocket continues to exist with high incidences of poverty among specific ethnic groups and localities. For instance, rural poverty among the Iban community in Sarawak has occurred since Malaysian independence. Therefore, this paper examines the rural residents' perceptions of the State's role in poverty alleviation in Sarawak using a qualitative approach. Findings revealed that although the government has various programs to alleviate poverty, the social assistance related to poverty was not efficiently distributed in Sarawak's rural areas. This study also revealed that a lack of social infrastructures, such as road accessibility, has significantly influenced social assistance's efficiency distribution in rural areas.

Creating Legends, Kindling Hope, and Surviving – Beyond

This hybrid memoir-collage brings together myths and folklore from Iban communities in Sarawak and deep personal loss amid the pandemic that continues to shape and reshape the lives of humans around the world. The stories of death and life, reincarnation and the mingling of the orang-utan and human populations that share life in the Bornean rainforest are teased forth in this creative nonfiction piece. Upon these layers of many truths, hope still kindles and from this flickering light, new life emerges. It seems that the world that is rebuilt from this pandemic still has room for myths and folklore. Perhaps we live by creating new legends from the true tales that help us to survive though surrounded by the invisible alien that threatens to invade our bodies, damaging and sometimes killing its hosts, trying to find a way to live in this new century. We are living in a dystopian nightmare, but we survive on the hope that there is life still, beyond.

Epidemiology of indigenous Plasmodium knowlesi infection in Sarawak, 2011-2019.

To characterise the state-wide epidemiology of indigenous knowlesi malaria in Sarawak from 2011 to 2019. Longitudinal retrospective study was conducted based on Sarawak knowlesi malaria surveillance data recorded from 2011-2019. Only indigenous cases were included and information extracted for analysis comprised age, sex, occupation, ethnicity, case severity, hospital admission and parasite density. Over the 9 years, 8473 indigenous knowlesi malaria cases were recorded. Age group 40-49 years, males, plantation workers and Iban communities recorded the highest percentage of cases in each demographic variable. Most of the cases were uncomplicated (n = 7292; 86.1%) and 89.6% (n = 7589) of the total cases were reported with ≤20 000 parasites/μl of blood. Age group and ethnic group are associated with the severity of knowlesi malaria in Sarawak. Multivariable logistic regression indicated that the age group 60+ years had the highest odds of developing severe knowlesi malaria compared with other age groups (AOR 2.48; 95% CI 1.22, 5.02; p=0.012). Bidayuh patients were more likely to develop severe knowlesi malaria than Ibans, the largest ethnic group among knowlesi malaria patients (AOR 1.97; 95% CI 1.31, 2.97; p=0.001). Identification of risk groups is important for the implementation of prevention programs and treatments targeting at specific group to combat knowlesi malaria effectively.

Multidimensional poverty and wellbeing of iban community in East Malaysia

ABSTRACT This study adopted the multidimensional poverty approach as an alternative method of poverty measurement through case study analysis in Song Sarawak, East Malaysia. Using three dimensions of education, health, and living standards, this study found that the Iban community in song is critically deprived in asset indicator and education dimension. However, the community is less deprived in term of health dimension. Therefore, this study proves that additional indicators are necessary to complement the monetary indicator for the poverty measurement. This is important to enhance existing alleviation poverty programmes and provide the necessary assistance for the needy.

A Description of Dayak Iban’s Traditional Knowledge on Customary Forest Management in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Deforestation and land tenure conflict are two of the biggest threats happening in Borneo and Kalimantan. Dayak Iban has been affected by the negative impacts of these threats, considering they are forest dwellers dependent on forest resources as their primary living resources. This study is aimed to describe the traditional knowledge and customary law of the Iban people on managing their customary forest and its resources sustainably. This study was carried out in Sungai Utik Hamlet, where a small Iban community inhabits the Kapuas Hulu Regency with diverse ecosystems and forest resources. This study has applied an inductive approach and in-depth interviews to obtain information from three informants and the results were described qualitatively. The Iban community in Sungai Utik is demonstrated to have customary laws on managing customary forests and practicing swidden cultivation to meet their food needs. The community has a way to pass the traditional knowledge to the next generations through traditional schools. Through preserving traditional knowledge, the Iban community proved to be able to survive and adapt in this modern era. The implementation and integration of traditional and modern forest management would protect the forest from threats and improve the community’s well-being significantly.

A Borneo Healing Romance: Ritual Storytelling and the Sugi Sakit, A Saribas Iban Rite of Healing by Clifford Sather (review)

Reviewed by: A Borneo Healing Romance: Ritual Storytelling and the Sugi Sakit, A Saribas Iban Rite of Healing by Clifford Sather Kamal Solhaimi Fadzil A Borneo Healing Romance: Ritual Storytelling and the Sugi Sakit, A Saribas Iban Rite of Healing. By CLIFFORD SATHER. The Tun Jugah Foundation and Borneo Research Council, 2017. 530 pp. ISBN: 978-967-14454-1-9. A Borneo Healing Romance: Ritual Storytelling and the Sugi Sakit, A Saribas Iban Rite of Healing reminds us that it is in many ways, the culmination of Professor Sather's work with the Saribas Iban stretching over four decades. It is a labour of love in which those closest to him, the people whose ways he so deeply admired, had been [End Page 236] memorialized. It is also an example of the discipline of anthropology moving away from the author as authority and somewhat 'above' to drawing on the recognition that the 'anthropology project' is both an intimate and collaborative exercise. It is a book I would encourage readers to start at the very beginning, with a careful reading of the preface where the author explores the dilemma anthropologists face, of either being there too late, or being there but not being able to fully appreciate what is experienced. To resolve the dilemma, he applies Lévi-Strauss aptly, that memory and time reconciles, bringing the different worlds together in communion. The book thus, makes the best of what is given albeit almost four decades later, and draws the anthropologist as central to this 'remembering'. Sather attended the ritual performance of the Sugi Sakit in 1977 when it was performed as a healing ritual and in 2003, set in motion the timely collaboration with Tun Jugah Foundation, a significant Iban cultural centre to document the last living Bard Priest of the Sugi Sakit. The process during which key individuals to the production have passed on. Reading the preface, one cannot but sense the weight of memory the pages carry. It is an immensely important work for what it documents as well as what it informs the discipline on 'how to do anthropology'. The author explicitly recognizes the authority of the Iban culture specialists from within the Iban community with the anthropologist as mere interlocutor. But it is also an intimate work which draws on the theme of the visitor, love and beauty which also sits at the heart of the story which is the Sugi Sakit. As the Bard Priest plays the dual role of narrator or storyteller and actor bridging the invisible world of Orang Paggau and the Iban in the act of healing the sick, the anthropologist plays a role bridging the 'worlds' past and present, and in so doing brings the world of Iban past to the present reader. The author informs that at each step of the project to document the Sugi Sakit, copies were made and deposited with the Iban ritual specialists and the Tun Jugah Foundation. The practice to work collaboratively with communities, and to respect ownership of intellectual property is not something new. However, the practice of it, in this case diligently carried out by the author is something to be exemplified for future anthropologists working with indigenous communities in documenting their knowledge, particularly in Malaysia. The book may well attain the status of a classic in time and should be made more accessible to a wider public. In its current form, it is written principally for a scholarly audience or a student of Iban culture. It painstakingly contextualizes the ritual healing in the Saribas Iban community and offers insightful analysis to the ritual. The book serves well as a record, documenting a ritual which is no longer practiced. It also does well in weaving into the discussion perennial questions of time, memory, and social relations to ethnography. It concludes with a highly original analysis of the key themes—Love, Beauty and Healing—in Iban culture and healing practices, with reflections from both the emic or insider perspective and those from the theoretical perspective. A question posed in the final chapter on the apparent effectiveness of the ritual is answered with deep reflection, All of this makes sense if we consider that the...

THE STUDY OF MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE IBAN COMMUNITY IN SARAWAK: NGEPAN

Cultural identity is a specific word that refers to individuals and communities in distinguishing themselves from others. One of the most dominant identities in a community culture is traditional clothing. In Sarawak, the traditional dress for the Iban is commonly known as Ngepan Indu. The Ngepan Indu is often worn during the Gawai Dayak celebration season as well as several other ritual ceremonies such as the Miring ceremony (Offerings) and Melah Pinang (Marriage). The Iban community believes that the Ngepan Iban is an identity and cultural icon in today's customs. Apart from that, Ngepan Iban is one of the treasures and legacies of Petara (God) who inhabited a kingdom called Panggau Libau, Tinting Gawai Gasing Gerah Layang so that Iban always remembered Petara and the origin of Iban's ancestors. This paper aims to analyze and understand the Ngepan Indu in the context of the custom and culture of the Iban community by using the qualitative research method based on the collective memory of the Iban cultural experts in Sarawak. Through this research, it is expected to have an effective and progressive impact to regenerate the spirit of Iban culture to continue persistently preserve the Ngepan Iban as a cultural heritage from the ancestors of the past, so that it will continue to be preserved for the future.

Performance evaluation of SIFT against common image deformations on iban plaited mat motif images

Decorative plaited mat is one of the many examples of rich plait work often seen on Borneo handicraft products. The plaited mats are decorated with simple and complex motif designs; each has its own special meaning and taboos. The motif designs are used as a reflection of environment and the traditional beliefs in the Iban community. In line with efforts from UNESCO’s and Sarawak Government’s, digitization, and the use of IR4.0 technologies to preserve and promote this cultural heritage is encouraged. Towards this end goal, we present a novel image dataset containing 10 Iban plaited mat motif classes. The plaited mat motifs are made of diagonal and symmetrical shapes, as well as geometric and non-geometric patterns. Classification’s accuracy using scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) features was evaluated against 6 common image deformations: zoom+rotation, viewpoint, image blur, JPEG compression, scale and illumination, across multiple threshold values. Varying degrees of each deformation were applied to a digitally cleaned (and cropped) image of each mat motif class. We used RANSAC to remove outliers from the noisy SIFT matching result. The optimal threshold value is 2.0e-2 with a reported 100.0% matching accuracy for the scale change and zoom+rotation set.