Golda Mowe, the author of Iban Dream (Monsoon), Iban Journey (Monsoon) and The Nanobots (Oyez), guest blogs today...
The Cost of
Prejudice
(or how a
very, very, very bad movie turned me into a scrupulous author)
By Golda
Mowe
 |
Golda Mowe - in the background is an antique pua kumbu,
one of the cloths which 'must not be named' |
I remember
the excitement in Kuching in the early 2000’s when an American crew came to
Sarawak to film The Sleeping Dictionary
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sleeping_Dictionary). The city was abuzz with activity and the few
artistically inclined friend I had, talked about the project incessantly. I wished that I was part of the excitement
too but I had the responsibilities of a proper day job at the time.
The movie
came out in 2003, but for some reason or other I did not get a chance to watch
it at the cinemas. So how was it, I asked a Chinese-Sarawakian friend who had
watched it. His eyes glazed over and he said, he did not know what to make of
it. It seemed to be a love story, he said, but something was not quite right. I
did not think much of it at that time, but when I came across the VCD a couple
of years later those words came back to me.
I am still
glad I watched the movie alone, because the level of cultural bias I saw first
shocked then enraged me. Never mind that words used in the first few dialogues
in so-called Iban was unrecognisable to me, but the portrayal of the Iban woman
in the form of ‘Selima’ was all wrong.
First and
foremost, no self-respecting Iban woman was going to ‘offer’ herself to a man
at HIS HOME. The Iban lifestyle may
be basic compared to the Western one, but we still have our etiquettes and
taboos. The man must come to the woman first, in a practice called Ngayap.
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| Jessica Alba plays the role of Selima in The Sleeping Dictionary |
According to custom, the man would
sneak into the bed of the woman he was interested in at night, to try to woe
her, after everyone else had gone to sleep. In its simplest detail the practice
may appear to go against the norms of Western values. Yet what few bothered to
ask is, where was the rest of the family? In the same room with her. Even if a
young woman were to sleep in the loft, away from her parents, she would never
be sleeping alone. Hence if a man was to visit, there would be a ‘chaperone’
nearby, albeit one who pretended to be asleep to allow the couple some
semblance of privacy.
Ngayap is practical in the close-knit longhouse
community where harmony is critical to survival. This secret form of courtship
meant that the man would not lose face if a woman was to reject him. Only after she had consented to be wooed,
would he send his family to meet with hers and ask for her hand.
Yet this
movie did not appear to have considered anything else other than the point that
a man can sneak into a woman’s bed. Since this was contrary to Western values, it
was turned into some form of white man’s fantasy of having a child-like
beautiful Eurasian woman come willingly into his bed. The Sleeping Dictionary continues to nettle me, even today. It reminded me of all the derogatory accusations
that had been flung my way because of my Iban heritage.
Admittedly,
the Iban culture is confusing in many ways. On one hand we are careful about
how we use words. It is not unusual to come across a piece of woven cloth or
carving that ‘must-not-be-named’. Once the artist has passed on, the name as
well as the meaning of the work is often lost to posterity. Yet when it is time
to speak, to assert their rights, even the highest Iban leader must listen to
the person who brought forward a charge, regardless of age, gender, or status.
The late Temenggong Tun Jugah’s amazing memory for case details and points of
application of Adat Law during such court sessions made him a legend among the
Ibans to this day.
Among the Ibans, dreams are
also treated as actual happenings and our legends are full of such occurrences.
For example, Uyut anak Kalanang, is said to have dreamed of visiting a strange
longhouse. In his dream, he was asked to choose a charm, and he selected one of
the most powerful. The charm, he was told, would make him as well as his
descendants into great war leaders. When he woke up, he found himself holding
the charm in the palm of his hand. Uyut is famous for his decades long battles
around the mouth of the Rajang Delta. His son, Linggir Mali Lebu, went on to
become a terrible torn in James Brooke’s side until he joined the White Rajah in 1854.
Linggir’s son-in-law, Garan, also became a famous war leader.
Pua Kumbu weavers sometimes get their ideas from dreams, but my great-grandmother (it is said) got hers directly from a spirit she met in the jungle. She won't talk about the spirit, but people suspected because she would leave the longhouse empty-handed then return two days later with her mouth all red from betel quid, as though she had been visiting. Right after that, she would start to tie her threads.
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| The hill myna is regarded as an omen-bird |
Meetings
with gods and powerful spirits are not just limited to dreams because animals
are also considered to be spiritual messengers. For instance, between 1843 to
1861, the legendary warrior, Rentap (Libau) fought against the Brookes and their
soldiers numerous times and won. However, in the third battle at Sadok Hill in
1861, a hill myna came to perch near Rentap and broke into song. Rentap then
told his followers that the bird was the earthly form of the goddess Kumang and
that she had come from Panggau Libau to warn them that they would not win this
battle. Hence before the arrival of Charles Brooke and his soldiers, the Iban
warriors under Rentap abandoned the Sadok fort.
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| Artistic rendition of the Iban goddess, Kumang |
The more I
immersed myself in the legends of past Iban heroes, the more magical the jungle
of Sarawak became. Each layer of leaves became like curtains hiding this world
from the invisible world. A few more steps forward, and the sun bear would
suddenly stand up on its hind legs and speak to you like a man. With her
plaintive call, the greater coucal would invite you into her filthy home and
ask you to eat from her table. Break a fern and a wave of fragrance will assail
your nostrils. Do you not think it strange how fern could turn the rotting
stench of composting matter into this fresh jungle perfume?
This was
the jungle that my Iban grandparents had taught me to appreciate. And this is
the jungle I eventually wrote into my books Iban Dream (http://www.gmowe.ws/IbanDream.html)
and Iban Journey (http://www.gmowe.ws/IbanJourney.html). Many things have
changed since the days of awe and wonder. Everything now is only appreciated based
on their commercial value. Even the role of Iban women as child-bearers and
seed-planters, which were once equal to men who were hunter gatherers, are now
devalued. And maybe because of that, the practice of ngayap, which was once started to preserve the harmony of a
community and at the same time give a woman the right to decline without peer
pressure, is now used to condemn her and to portray her as a woman of low
morals.
This is
just one instance of prejudice caused by cultural misinterpretation. Imagine
how many more there are in the world.
Author’s Bio
Golda Mowe
is a writer from Sarawak who loves making up stories from across all
genres. Her novels Iban Dream (2013) and
Iban Journey (2015) are published in paperback by Monsoon Books. Two generations ago, she would have had to
travel dozens of miles between longhouses to get her muse heard, but now she is
more than happy to settle for http://www.gmowe.ws/stories.html.
