Malaysians, especially Sabahans were outraged over the recent incidents of foreign tourists who had posed naked (and peed openly) at the peak of Mt. Kinabalu on 30th May 2015. Co-incidentally, on 5th June,a few days after the incident, an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale shook the mountain and the effect of the earthquake was felt as far as Kota Kinabalu and Keningau.
 |
| The majestic Mt. Kinabalu |
To add insult to injury, the tourists had poured scorn over the local belief of the indigenous people who regarded the mountain as sacred, the resting place of their ancestors. Sabahans residing in other parts of the world, as far as Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Australia and those nearer home in Peninsular Malaya shared their feelings of distress and indignation over this act of disrespect for their homeland iconic mountain. Wherever they reside, they were in one voice - and the Sabah diaspora was united as a people.
As for me, being a West Malaysian, married to a Sabahan, who has 25% indigenous blood coursing through his veins, I too was affected emotionally by this 'act of sacrilege'. Most of my career was involved in the education of the indigenous people of Sabah - first as a teacher in Sabah College, a secondary school set up mostly for the indigenous children to continue their education from Form 1 to Form 6. After that, I was sent to Tuaran to run a secondary school (from 1987 to 1998) and then to Papar to to run another secondary school (from 1998 to 2006).
As for me, being a West Malaysian, married to a Sabahan, who has 25% indigenous blood coursing through his veins, I too was affected emotionally by this 'act of sacrilege'. Most of my career was involved in the education of the indigenous people of Sabah - first as a teacher in Sabah College, a secondary school set up mostly for the indigenous children to continue their education from Form 1 to Form 6. After that, I was sent to Tuaran to run a secondary school (from 1987 to 1998) and then to Papar to to run another secondary school (from 1998 to 2006).
I still remember the time when discussing with the discipline teacher on the frequent absence from school of some of the students. To me, it was an easy solution:
Me : Send a letter to ask the parents to come to school.
DT : That's not possible, the parents won't come.
Me : Okay, so we visit them.
DT : You can't do that. That's a violation.
Me : Violation? What violation? We are only visiting them!
DT : It's Sogit.
Me : What "sogit"? You mean we can't just knock on their doors?
DT : Not without permission. They may charge you with 'sogit' for trespassing.
Me : What do you mean by that. Sogit, what's that?
So it was the first time I learned of the local custom of "Sogit". It was a penalty for violating their custom. You can't simply walk into their Dusun orchard for you might violate their ancestral land. For that you might be fined a chicken or a goat. If you steal anything, when caught, they might charge you in the native court and you might be fined a pig. For other more serious crimes, the penalty might be pig and buffalo.
So everywhere I go in the kampung, I hear the word 'sogit' and I even threaten the students that I would report some of their naughtiness to the village chiefs and get them to pay 'sogit'. For 'sogit' is not just a penalty. It's the shame that's associated with the penalty. The family is shamed, the community is shamed.
Anyway, we finally resolved the problem of students' absenteeism by meeting the parent at the weekly 'tamus' and conveying the message to them. As such we managed to reduce the rate of absenteeism in my schools without incurring the wrath of the parents.
For a West Malaysian like me, I feel concerned about the "Melayu-sation" of the local culture. For example, opening and closing of function, guests are greeted with kompang and bunga mangga. The display of silat before the commencement of a ceremony. I remember asking my school principal when I was in Sabah College : "Why do we use only kompang to welcome our guest of honour ? Why not the Kadazan gongs?" And in response to that, the gongs were added. In the same way, when I was heading the school in Tuaran, I collaborated with the local teachers to hold Harvest Festival celebration in the school. And again, when I was in Papar, we had Harvest Festival to inculcate the positive values of the festival to our school children with the message : "Celebrate and Enjoy without Drinking". And when I was in Keningau running the Teachers Training College, I made sure that the paraphernalia for convocation should include local elements that reflect the culture of the region. Thus, instead of baskets of kapur sireh, bunga telur, bunga mangga, and kompang, we had baskets of flowers, background with local Murut motifs and the local gongs and kulingtangan accopanying the Sumazau and the Murut Warrior dance.
Below are some pictures of the first Harvest Festival celebrated in my school in Tuaran.
Below are some pictures of the first Harvest Festival celebrated in my school in Tuaran.
 |
| Native teachers and students welcomed me to officiate the event (The teacher En. Duas is actually a Runggus) |
 |
| Doing the Sumazau dance with the students |
 |
| Students performing the "Sumayau" dance, The dance is unique to Tuaran natives only |
 |
| Students performing the Bamboo Dance |
1 comment:
Daddy always said you deserve a datukship for everything you did in your service as a teacher and principal (and director too!) and I agree. Here in Australia, the education system is into emphasizing diversity and various cultures. We are urged to incorporate each individual child's culture into our daily learning and activities. There is also a lot of emphasis on preserving the local aboriginal culture among students. But you had already been pioneering this among your students and staff years ago.
Post a Comment