My 1Malaysia

Was thinking of updating this blog since Tuesday. Unfortunately on Tuesday morning I suddenly felt dizzy, then started sneezing and sore throat which cause quite a panic in the office. Takut jugak kena selsema khinzir (the polite way of referring to the "animal" according to Chan) as I passed by a lorry of it on my way back to KL from Penang. Funny ... when Chan pronounced "khinzir" it sounded so polite ... but if me or Emel pronounced it ... it is no different than "bab*".

Anyway, since our "pre-merdeka" celebration, we heard everyone talking about 1Malaysia. However, long before our PM introduced the concept of 1Malaysia ... I guess most of us will experienced it one way or another. Even during the reign of the other 5 former premiers , the essence or spirit of it might be known by other names like "perpaduan" or "masyarakat majmuk".

In fact the moment I reached Penang last Friday evening, I was greeted by 1Malaysia dinner prepared by 1Malaysia couple (dad-Penang, Buddhist, non-Bumi and mum-Sarawak, Christian, Bumi). Oh ... yummy!

Mum's Ooo La La Bidayuh Style

Dad's Peranakan Assam Fish

This one is mum's Chinese-Bidayuh green sprout fusion .. Wanna know why? Chinese don't put anchovies in their stir-fry, and Bidayuh dunno how to plant this sprout hehehe.

Looking at my parents, honestly there was once I thought that a marriage between different races is a BIG NO NO because of cultural or religious differences. Kira kalau a Malay and Chinese fell in love and want to get marry, their story will be like the movie "Sepet". Or better still, a Shah Rukh Khan blockbuster. The truth is even between same race couple conflicts did happened due to religious belief, caste, numerology or in the case of Chinese - same surname or birth dates tak ONG hehehe. Having said that a person of the same race and the same religion like in the case of a Christian couple will also sometimes faced the same problem due to doctrine like a Catholic and a Protestant huhuhu ...

Nevertheless, I think the best way to futher illustrate my understanding of 1Malaysia is looking at the Bidayuhs and Ibans of Sarawak. Historically the Ibans (Sea Dayaks) were enemies (tahap musuh ketat) of the Bidayuh (Land Dayaks). Culturally, both have similar customs, celebrate Harvest Festival or better known as Gawai, were head hunters, both live in longhouses and most important fact here is they are NATIVES of Sarawak.

Generally, the Ibans are more agressive, fiercer, outgoing and have sharp facial features whereas the Bidayuh are more reserve, creative, timid and usually have round facial features. Kira long time ago, if they happened to pass each others path sure "potong palak" one lah.

Then the feud between these two native groups are further intensified by the Bung Bratak massacre (the Bidayuhs living in Bung Bratak were attacked by the Ibans) in 1837 that to this day, every May 1, the descendants of the survivor will hold the Bung Bratak day.

And who says there was no divide and rule during Rajah Brooke's time. If you look closely in photos of some books on our White Rajahs, you will noticed most of his chamberlains and ladies-in-waiting in the photos were from the Bidayuh communities, perhaps because of their peace loving and reserve nature (this was what Rajah Charles said of the Bidayuh).

Whereas the administrators were the local Malays leaders-for political and diplomatic reasons with the Brunei Sultanate of course. The Chinese as usual involved in trade and business activities. However as for the Ibans, some history books depicted them as headhunters or pirates (when they retaliate against the White Rajahs) but do you ever wonder why the current Royal Ranger Regiment slogan is "Agi Idup Agi Ngelaban"? It is in Iban language that means as long as we live, we will fight.

Sir Gerald Templer once wrote, "The Ibans are the world's best jungle trackers I have come across. They served the country admirably and I have much respect for them". Actually the Ibans provided the main military support to the White Rajahs especially during the formation of Sarawak Rangers in 1862. My dad once told me, during the Emergency, the British sent the Rangers to "Malaya" (as it was known that time) to fight the communists.

Anyway, during my secondary school time, I loved visiting longhouses during Gawai time. So they normally display skulls of their enemies at an offering dias known as "sanggar" to the Ibans or worshipping area known as panggah or baruk to the Bidayuhs. I will jokingly said "this skull must be an Iban" or "this skull must belongs to a Bidayuh" hehehe

But today, inter-marriage between Ibans and Bidayuhs are so common that it's hard to differentiate the by-products of the unions hehehe ... good example my dear Kazen Abet Hafiz hehehe. Quite honestly, during secondary school I always find Iban guys attractive. Unfortunately, before I could legally "flirt" with one, fate had it that I spent five years in Kota Kinabalu to "scan" laki-laki KK yang "pendek-pendek tagap" hehehe

See how fierce this Iban-Bidayuh warrior attack his burger.

Auntie Ming who was very fascinated about all this Dayak thingy asked my best friend Emel (who is an Iban) one day ... how to differentiate a Sea Dayak and a Land Dayak in Sarawak. I know it was a tough question ... but she answered it professionally, in modern context though.

"Auntie, the one who like to go scuba diving and outdoor activities - that one Sea Dayak, the one who like photography and writing blogs - that one Land Dayak" hehehe you know who she was referring to.

So, what for want to fight-fight and start politicing about Constituitional rights, priviledges,quotas or freedom of religion. Like in the Potong Saga - "You potong rambut sajalah, tak payah potong palak orang" (this one is a Sarawakian version) hehehe

I read somewhere in our local newspaper that quoted our Prime Minister as saying that Sarawak and Sabah potrayed the best example of 1Malaysia. Then again, the close bond between different ethnic and native groups in Sarawak and Sabah had also been tested through time and overtaken by events. But eventually, we finally found our common ground between us that is MALAYSIA and of course HAFIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ .... (yea so kenegerian hoh!).

Faces of 1Malaysia - Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau, Malay from all over Malaysia