Bakun Dam: Major part of Borneo history to be washed away


By STEPHEN THEN


stephenthen@thestar.com.my
BAKUN: An important chunk of Sarawak’s history in Bakun in the heart of Borneo will be buried underwater from next month when the Bakun dam reservoir starts to take in water.
That part of its history includes epic battles between the warring tribes during the head-hunting era, and the numerous uprisings against colonial masters.
Come October, the Balui River will be dammed and the entire Balui valley measuring 64,000ha (the size of Singapore) will be slowly drowned under 210m of water, and with it, a history that dates back centuries.
Bakun community chief Penghulu Saging Bit told The Star that the region is home to some of the most fascinating history of the Kayans, Kenyahs and Penans in Sarawak.
“The Kayans had for centuries lived in longhouses that measured more than a kilometre long each. There are more than a hundred families living next to each other in the longhouses.
“That made it difficult for enemies to invade because any invasion would trigger an immediate and concerted response from the more than 1,000 people living in each of these massive longhouses,” he said.
The Star last week visited the Bakun region and found that people from these unique longhouses belonging to the Kayans, Kenyahs, Ukits and Lahanans have already moved to the Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme, located some 50km away from the dam.
Their new longhouses in the resettlement scheme were built by the Government using modern designs.
Belaga Catholic priest Father Sylvester Ding said the region had wonderful treasures of oral history, some of which were never recorded in written text.
“There were epic battles between the Ibans and the Kayans that lasted days, with thousands of heads of these warriors being chopped off all over the Bakun region during the head-hunting period.
“There were many famous warriors, kings and princes from these tribes who had originated from Bakun. Some of their descendants are still alive today,” he said.
“This region was also very important in the pre-independence history of Sarawak. It was here that the Orang Ulu put up strong resistance against Raja Charles Brooke during the natives’ uprising against British colonialism. “Thousands of Kayans were killed when the British army invaded Bakun. The British had huge cannons that could flatten an entire longhouse with a barrage of shots,” Father Ding said.
The Bakun region was also an important venue for the Sarawak natives to organise guerilla warfare during the Second World War against the Imperial Japanese Army.
The natives then turned their firearms against the British after the Second World War, and eventually helped liberate Sarawak from British rule and gain independence via the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
Bakun dam developer Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd is in the midst of saving as much of the endangered plants and animals in Bakun as possible, but sadly, the physical history and ancient historical sites will be beyond salvage.
They will be lost forever when these ancient venues are submerged.

Bakun dam a major tragedy





I WAS very distressed to read “Bakun Dam: Major part of Borneo history to be washed away” (The Star, Sept 9). With the impounding of the Bakun dam reservoir, starting next month, an area the size of Singapore will be flooded.
It is not just the environmental damage resulting in the loss of flora and fauna, or the undiscovered species of animals and plants with possible cures for the world’s major diseases that we will grieve over.
Rather, it is the terrifying and regrettable social ruin faced by the people who belong to this region that we will mourn.
These people have previously been hounded by logging companies or the intrusion of oil palm plantations.
The hunting grounds and their rivers have all been severely depleted. The forest products which they gather and sell, and the traditional medicines which they derive from the jungles have also been drastically reduced.
As an environmental scientist, my work experience in Sarawak has left me with fond memories of its wonderful people and the place.
The massive changes will adversely affect the water levels, sedimentation, silting, water-borne diseases and the micro-climate.
The ecology of the virgin rainforest is very susceptible to changes that are man-made. There will be permanent damage to fisheries, water quality, fertility of farmlands and forests.
The heart of Borneo belongs to the noble and proud indigenous peoples who comprise the Kayans, Kenyahs and Penans as well as other various Orang Ulus.
This is their homeland. Their history started here. Their culture, kingdoms, traditions, battles, way of life all originated from here.
Some may have been subsistence farmers while a few led a nomadic way of life. Others were expert in the art of boat making, a skill shown in how they can hew a boat from a single trunk of belian. Many showed extreme artistic traits in carving and weaving.
Nevertheless, the chase for progress should not be at the expense of these people.
Gone will be the various historical artifacts, their burial grounds, the totem-pole equivalent and other treasures that have made up much of their history. Gone will be the longhouses decorated with murals and intricate carvings.
It is a tragedy when the stories, myths and legends that have been passed down from father to son and that can normally be traced to particular locations, trees or rivers will soon be wiped out.
It is a tragedy when there is little connection between their methods of farming, fishing, rituals or methods of hunting, with the way they now live.
Their place of relocation has little meaning or sense of belonging.
It is disastrous that man’s desire for modernity and hunger for energy strips others of their rich history.
It is dreadful that Malaysians have always to think in terms of being the “greatest”.
In this case, Bakun being the biggest dam outside of China, the dam with the tallest concrete rockfill dam in the world, the one with the largest lake in Malaysia by storage volume, or that the Bakun submarine power cables will be the longest in the world.
Progress without culture is a tragedy, but culture without progression, is unforgiveable.
MARIAM MOKHTAR,
Ipoh.