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Malaysia: The Sarawak
A home to many
cultures...
With its beguiling tribal cultures and jungled highlands, Sarawak
would seem to epitomize what Borneo is all about. By far the largest
state in Malaysia, it packs in a host of national parks which showcase
everything from coastal swamp forest to vast cave systems, and help
preserve some of the world’s richest and most diverse ecosystems.
There are numerous opportunities for short or extended treks both
inside and outside these protected areas, and it’s also possible to
visit remote longhouse communities, some of which can only be reached
by venturing far upriver.
Would that the reality were so blissfully perfect. For all its
attractions, Sarawak encapsulates the bitter dichotomy between
development and conservation more clearly than anywhere else in
Malaysia. Many of its forests have been degraded by logging or cleared
for oil palm, putting wildlife and the traditional lifestyles of
tribal communities under severe pressure. The state government has
repeatedly won electoral mandates for its policies, but critics
complain it has opened up Sarawak’s resources to corporate
exploitation in a way that’s at best not transparent and at worst
mired in corruption. While much of this will have little practical
impact for visitors, it’s as well to be aware that the changes you
will see throughout the state have a subtext in the ongoing struggle
for Sarawak’s soul.
The lie of the land is complex on many levels, not least
demographically. Malays and Chinese each make up almost a quarter of
Sarawak’s two and a half million people, but indigenous tribal peoples
account for nearly half that figure. They’re sometimes subdivided
under three broad headings, though it’s nowadays much more common to
refer to the tribes by name. The largest tribe by far, the Iban,
constitute nearly thirty percent of Sarawak’s population. They, along
with the Muslim Melanau and other tribes, comprise the so-called Sea
Dyaks, a slightly odd name given that these groups historically lived
along river valleys. Then there are the Land Dyaks, who live up in the
hills; chief among them are the Bidayuh of southwestern Sarawak,
representing almost a tenth of the population. Finally, the Orang Ulu
include disparate groups of the northern interior such as the Berawan,
Kenyah, Kelabit, Kayan and the traditionally nomadic Penan. They’re
grouped together in that they live in the “ulu” or upriver regions of
this part of the state.
While this cultural mosaic is a huge highlight of Sarawak, it would be
a mistake to regard the state as some kind of ethnic menagerie full of
exotically dressed peoples leading a rustic jungle lifestyle. Classic
multi-doored longhouses do survive and can be superb places to visit,
and some peoples still subsist semi-nomadically in the forest, but
social and economic change, along with widespread conversion to
Christianity, mean that the old ways are fast dying out. So while
there’s no shortage of indigenous people pursuing careers in Sarawak’s
cities, you’d be hard-pushed to find Orang Ulu aged under 50 still
sporting, say, the once-prized distended earlobes that previous
generations developed by wearing heavy earrings, and teenagers are
more likely to be downloading Western pop than playing folk
instruments. There are fears, too, for the future of indigenous
languages, as only Malay and English are used in much state-run
education.
For visitors, the most popular attractions are concentrated at either
end of the state. In the southwest, Kuching, the understated,
attractive capital, makes a perfect base to explore the superb Bako
National Park, with its wild shoreline of mangrove swamp and
hinterland of kerangas bush teeming with proboscis monkeys. The
Kuching area also packs in lesser national parks, an orang-utan
sanctuary and substantial caves. Although Sarawak is not noted for its
beaches, there are beautiful ones in Bako and decent ones nearer
Kuching at the family-friendly resorts of Santubong. A handful of
longhouses are also worth visiting, notably east of Kuching at Batang
Ai.
In terms of pulling power, Bako is exceeded only by Gunung Mulu
National Park (just “Mulu” to locals) in the far northeast. Most
tourists fly in, either making the short hop from nearby Miri,
Sarawak’s second city, or direct from Kuching, to trek to the park’s
limestone Pinnacles and see its extraordinary caves. Miri itself,
though a bland affair that thrives on the proceeds of Sarawak’s oil
and gas industry, has good accommodation and is the hub for Twin Otter
flights to interior settlements, most notably Bario and Ba’ Kelalan in
the Kelabit Highlands. Here, close to the Indonesian border, you can
undertake extended treks through jungled and mountainous terrain,
overnighting in Kelabit villages. Other Twin Otter flights head to
settlements in the upper reaches of the Baram river system, from where
it’s possible to reach isolated Penan villages offering homestays and
yet more treks. Another major draw, visitable on a day-trip from Miri,
is Niah National Park, its extensive caves a site of major
archeological significance as well as a centre for the harvesting of
swiflet nests and bat guano.
Visitors who overland between Kuching and Miri tend to breeze through
central Sarawak, but the region is worth considering for the state’s
most accessible river journey – the popular route along the Batang
Rejang. The boat ride, beginning at the city of Sibu, is its own
reward for making it up to nondescript Rejang towns such as Kapit and
Belaga, though it’s possible to arrange longhouse trips from either.
Also noteworthy in this region is Bintulu, a coastal oil town like
Miri that’s conveniently placed for the beachside forests of Similajau
National Park.
To the present
With Malaysian independence in 1957, attempts were made to include
Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei, but Brunei declined at the last minute to
join the present-day Federation of Malaysia, inaugurated in 1963.
Sarawak’s inclusion was opposed by Indonesia, and the Konfrontasi
broke out, with Indonesia arming communist guerrillas inside Sarawak.
The insurgency continued for three years until Malaysian troops, aided
by the British, put it down. To this day, many inhabitants of the
interior remain displaced.
Since then, Sarawak has developed apace with the rest of Malaysia,
though at some cost to the environment. Politically, the state today
is closely identified with the policies of its veteran chief minister,
Taib Mahmud, a Melanau, who has been in power for thirty years. The
support of his PBB party and allied parties has helped prop up the
ruling coalition in general elections, and the PBB is often viewed as
a proxy for UMNO (Sarawak is the only state where Malaysia’s main
Malay party has no presence). There are signs of a backlash, however,
brought on perhaps by the rising cost of living, economic disparity
and allegations, from international environmental groups as well as
Taib’s opponents, that Sarawak’s administration is tainted by
corruption. The 2011 local elections saw an unprecedented swing to the
opposition in the cities, though the PBB and allies still won through
comfortably with the help of rural voters – despite their supposedly
being at the sharp end of the government’s liberal attitude to
exploiting the state’s natural resources.
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