People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation. To be entertained is a passive state-it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle…. Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one’s actions.
– Abraham Joshua Heschel, Polish-American philosopher
Longhouses for the Iban will always be relevant but it is Gawai Dayak – just referred here as Gawai – that is making them more relevant and enhancing the community dwelling into a platform of iconic celebration and unity.
After an absence of two years from Gawai do at my longhouse Kedap in Saratok, about 320 kilometres and five hours’ drive from Kuching, it was certainly refreshing to be reunited with family members, including my niece and her family from Bintulu. My journey from Kuching by van was interesting.
Upon reaching Kedap longhouse I took my main luggage, a special polo bag, with my clothing inside as well as a water melon that I purchased at Gedong junction – the van’s first stop which I happily handed to my brother Jon @ Chandi, 75, a pensioner and former foreman with JKR. However, I left my Samsonite in the van. Most of my medicines were inside that luggage.
There was no telephone line for my U-mobile at Kedap but my nephew Ebie helped me to call Zul the van driver who said he would return my luggage the next morning at 7.30 on his way to Kuching. Ebie knows Zul very well as he was a regular van passenger during his undergraduate days at Kuching’s Segi College. I was still in bed when the van handed back my luggage the next morning.
Gawai at Kedap this year was a bit low-keyed, as compared to the last one held just after the pandemic in 2022, especially for our family.
Nevertheless, Gawai at Kedap is an annual event to look forward to. As early as the evening of May 30, there were loud music and gales of laughter in the air, easily showing enthusiastic celebratory signs. As usual the evening of May 31, the Gawai eve, is always the moment to cherish. Last Gawai eve, every family dined at its own open gallery ‘ruai’ and took time to share and exchange dishes with the immediate neighbours. I am privileged to have two brothers staying next door to each other.
In fact during last Gawai I lodged with my eldest brother Edward Jelani, 81, a pensioner and former senior engineering assistant with SESCO. We had a hearty dinner of various meats, prawn and fish cooked in different styles, ensuring a fair mixture of Iban traditional cuisines and other dishes.
At 10 in the evening, we gathered at the open gallery of Tuai Rumah Robert Lin Malina. After a short prayer led by Lin himself, who is also a lay reader, he gave a short speech. Lin, who is also my nephew and former classmate (1968-70), announced a number of new projects for the longhouse this year. He also conveyed his gratitude and happiness over the presence of a large number of Kedapians from cities such as Kuching and Miri and those from urban centres during the evening gathering at Gawai eve.
A few of were given space to address briefly and to share with each other. When it came to my turn – in fact I was the first to address the longhouse residents after TR Robert Lin – I made it very simple. If over the years I had talked about the importance of education, this time around my emphasis was on the importance of upholding unity and harmony.
“In late 1979, my Ford Cortina was the second car using the gravel road linking Kedap longhouse and the main road. Upon reaching the wooden bridge at Sungai Bansu, the car wasn’t able to pass through as the bridge was too small.
When my late uncle Apai Ruan (Ganti Ligong) walked by I asked for his help.
“It took about 15 minutes for him to come back with two belian planks (taken from our open platform ‘tanju’) and two others to lend support. Then another 15 minutes were taken to fix the planks, thereby extending the width of the bridge.
“That spirit of unity and harmony among residents of Kedap longhouse has remained intact to this very day it seems and I am so happy to be part of it. It really shows that unity is strength and important for us to carry on forward. It is vital that we make unity as an integral part of our daily culture to achieve better things as we move further into the future,” I told the big gathering.
A few others were also given the honour to share with the longhouse residents comprising most descendants of Anya ‘Lebur Menua’, the pioneer of Kedap basin through his four offspring namely Bungin, Jatan, Bran and Gulang (f). This author is the descendant of Pengulu Bungin and occupies his original ‘bilik’ through grandma Kejuang anak Meling, the daughter of Laie anak Bungin. Upon his birth he was named Tawi after Tawi anak Bungin who nicknamed ‘Lanang Kasih Sayang Bedindang Madang Rutan, Tawi Berani Ati Pemudi Kayan’ (Tawi the brave lover boy who sings among the rotan creepers and scares his enemies).
The two head trophies obtained by Tawi during the 1902 Cholera Expedition against Bantin in Delok had been buried after both were destroyed in a longhouse fire circa 1905. Tawi, who went to Mindanao, thereafter never came back and was believed to have settled and died in the southern Philippines.
Others speaking included Joel Berinau anak Banyin, a holder of a degree in Housing, Building and Planning from Universiti Sains Malaysia Penang and a senior officer with HDC, Kuching who is the direct descendant of Jatan through Naing anak Jatan nicknamed ‘Berinau Panggau Dara Naing Pengerambing Kaki Kuta’ (Berinau the saviour of maidens, Naing the brave who scales the enemies’ fortress’).
Davis Wilson Jiram, a banker, who also spoke, is the direct descendant of Bran through his great-grandpa Subong Bran nicknamed ‘Kala Nyepit Naka Pemisa-misa, Bunga Parapenit Ka Dujung Indu Dara’ (The most poisonous scorpion symbolised by a lovely flower adorning the maiden’s hairdo).
Among the interesting items for Gawai eve were a procession of young ‘kumang’ (beauties), tabuh contest (contest of traditional musical instruments), fancy dress and statue dance contests. A karaoke competiton was planned but did not materialise due to technical constraints. Nevertheless, the band performance with Elvis impersonator in attendance was superb. For the record this band from Kedap won the state’s Battle of the Band in Kuching recently as Saratok’s representative.
The writer looks forward to another eventful Gawai and hoping there would be no insect sting – I got stung by an ‘engkerawai’ wasp at 3 am last June 2 – in the future.
Pained by the sting for two days, I do not regret at all coming back for the last Gawai. All of us fully agreed that unity was vital for the strength of Gawai spirit and for relevance of the longhouse as a community dwelling and a magnet for city and urban folks to come back and gather for Gawai Dayak come June 1 and 2 each year. It makes longhouse our true roots and identity, for without it, the Iban identity is half taken.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
