Search This Blog

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

When The Rooster Crows -VIII

We are not Beggar

One of the best descriptions of the Bidayuh clan is “Soil Sloggers”. They work very hard to get supply for themselves without bordering what are their struggles and pains. Since born until they die, the same routine rotated year after year. In June, they start to clear jungle to raise crop. They cut trees in July and burn their farm in August and at in the same month they plant seeds. In September to December, they kill weed and harvest maize and cucumbers while waiting for the paddy grains to get ripe. Then, in April to May, the harvesting season will be in progress. At this time, the “Soil Sloggers” will evaluate their deadly effort by counting their harvest. Some get twenty sacks and some get less. It is much depending on the fertilizer and pesticide used to cultivate their paddy plant.

It is not an alien routine for me since me myself came form poor farmer family. I used to overnight at the paddy farm because most of the time we have to find a primary jungle to plant paddy. Based on the old folk’s tale, the primary jungle is more fertilize than the secondary jungle (bushes). Therefore, we have to fine a small piece of land at about 10 to 15 kilometre out of the village. The best way to increase production (cultivating time) is to overnight in the jungle and leave our home empty for months. During night time, we can go out for hunting or fishing to get protein source. Tapioca will be an alternative whenever we are out of rice. We lived in a small hut made of bamboo and palm leave weaved by my father and mother. My mother used to assemble bamboo trap to trap squirrels, hamsters and birds. This was my experience before my secondary school. I left that out since I stayed in barding and left the same routine to my father and mother.

I have missed such routine for almost 10 years and there are some folks practice the same routine at this moment of time. You can find them at Kampung Sapit, Kiding, Kakas, Bengoh and upper Annah Rais.

What I would like to say here is that, the Aborigines toiled very hard without complaining of their fate and future. Poverty is the best word for them (the farmers). They raise crops for their own supply and could not commercialise them due to worst productivity. They could not effort to have pesticide and fertilizer because they are expensive. “Kaum Peladang Bahagian” gives subsidy for registered farms under NCR lands through village head. They can only apply once a year at about 5 sacks of paddy fertilizer per approval.

I had an opportunity to meet this two men and woman who sell junk foods and water at a bus stop. They told me that they have to do such job instead of farming to get money since farming is not really satisfying them.

During my ride to Padawan, I got a chance to shot some picture of paddy farm “padi huma” which is ready to be burned. Next moth Kuching will get haze as it used to happen every year. What amazed me is that the government condemn jungle burning but never find a solution for those farmer especially to help them to re-plant crop at the same land or doubling the production so that there will be less burning activity. Yes, Indonesian farmers will burn their farms as well but we might reduce by not burning ours.

Faithful routine of the Aborigines

What is the best approach to doubling the production? It is still up to the government to help us to be productive. FELCRA and SALCRA is not the best answer since the income from working in an oil palm estate is lesser than wages of those who are working at construction site. That is why there are many Indonesian workers working at the estate because they do not mind to get paid RM 15.00 for every ton metric of oil palm fruit. Worst, it is not our ability to work until we die and get less pay on our very own mother land. The best way is let tem (FELCRA and SALCRA) screw our land and we are still remain as “Soil Sloggers”.

6 comments:

Unfiltered-Madness said...

HAI

MEH KOMEN

SURVEY: JIKA PR MEMBENTUK KERAJAAN

http://anakmalaysia81.blogspot.com/2008/07/survey-jika-pr-membentuk-kerajaan.html

Anonymous said...

Keep the fire burning my dear friend.

For us reader, keeping quiet does not mean we are losing interest. The real thing will happen in the next State Election.

A new beginning for a new era. Goodbye BN and all its ass licker.

Anonymous said...

Sarawak will much better under British colony rule, at least under the Queen's order just like autonomous rule Australia or New Zealand.

We all assured to enjoy:
Excellent education system, we speak real London English daily, efficient modern public administration, regional ASEAN investment and shipping hub, perhaps the last of crown jewel of the Queen, topnotch highways, international airports and public transport, Christianity is automatic religion by birth for all Dayaks, Sarawak dollar worth as much as Euro, perhaps some free zone (tax free) financial sub-division area to compete with Singapore as financial hub, casino industry with Dayaks given special concessions to run the casino authority or cartels.

Ok, it's just a dream. Wake up Dayaks. Face the reality that some Dayaks are targeted to kept poor for ease of control. To shut their mouth. Divide and rule tactics.

When you are poor and helpless(directly or 'systematically'), you are easy to be controlled.

So Dayaks used to be shifting cultivators? Not much difference nowadays. Some Dayaks are hopping jobs, hopping religion, hopping party, hopping to which boss to ass-kiss etc. just to earn a living.

Shifting cultivators at remote kampung farms is much zillion times better than be a corrupted traitor to your own Dayak folks.

Anonymous said...

I don't like to term us dayaks as poor or poverty. WE ARE RICH but have not. You ask any old timer or amoug friends or the dayaks farming their land...."DO THEY OWE ANYBODY or BANK" You will be surprise the answer is no. We only have not a MECs or BMW to drive or a remin batuh to stay but hei we don't utang bank bah. SALCAR FELDA they are killing our own. If example the directors of these COMPANIES give a little of the billions of ringgit of profit to the local workers, the pay won't be that bad. But because they wanted to enjoy to New Zealand and Thailand and etc screwing around, they with hold the money for themselves and hire the Indons. You and I putih mata while these people spent the profit in luxury. If their don't mind to give a percentage of the profit than working in the ladang is like working in big companies or with the government. Even the Indons in the ladang complaint of the pay mind you if you have the perluang to sit with them and chit chat.

Aku LPKS said...

Yeah you are really Bidayuahns heart.
I says, its not to kill anybody when we presents the idea. But as a good leader and a root for community we should learn from many aspects. I means, it is good to criticize the dam and other related issue in mean of "'development" because we just think that the development doesnt meant killing our life on NCR issue and then whan we can hope for. Even the Bible says, 'knock the door and it will be open to you', anything we wants is only good things or might some of it can be achieve by critique. To shut up doesnt meant we are beaten but just as "semedi" to find a new strength or to fight even small problems of aborigines. Go open you mouth as bidayuh frens!it might be more good if ur'e Prof to comment here.

OrgKdtSbh said...

The same problem everywhere in Malaysia. The gaji for farm workers in oil palm plantations are so low that only the foreigners from Indonesia are interested.

All the profit goes to the big corporations who are all based in KL.

Only in an idea world would the workers partake in some of the profit of the company. In fact if you work in a oil palm plantation, you are commiting yourself to a life of poverty, no retirement plan, no security in case you are injured at work. It is only slightly better than a slave of olden times.