Persatuan Lun Bawang Sabah - Mesyuarat Tahunan 2014

Mesyuarat Tahunan Persatuan Lun Bawang Sabah tahun 2014 sudah berjaya dilangsungkan di rumah Yang Dipertua (YDP), En Lajim Buayie di Suruddo Villa, Batu 4, Sipitang hari ini.

Acara dimulakan dengan ucapan daripada YDP dan AJK-AJK tertinggi, termasuklah Penaung En. Musa Selutan.

Ini diteruskan dengan Acara Kelinang oleh ahli-ahli Persatuan Lun Bawang Sabah.

Acara diteruskan dengan mesyuarat untuk membincangkan minit-minit, ini termasuklah

• Perancangan Makan-makan Amal 
• Persediaan untuk Perwakilan ke Irau Aco Lun Bawang tahun ini yang akan diadakan di Trusan, Sarawak
• Penetapan baju tradisional lelaki Lun Bawang
• Penubuhan Biro Muda-mudi 

Setelah selesai mesyuarat, acara diakhiri dengan makan tengah hari.

Tracing the origins of the name "Lun Bawang"

Hey there, been away for a while now. Such a hectic month January is.

Anyway I would like to share on the origins of the name "Lun Bawang". Well, to be frank, searching that has been as hard as finding a needle in a haystack. For starters, there are not many literatures about Lun Bawang people in history and Lun Bawang people have no written language of their own (mainly just an oral tradition). *which is weird as to why we have the word "ngayud" which means "to write"

And to make it more complicated, the Lun Bawang people, was in the past called Murut by the outsiders, including the British colonist, who had lumped Lun Bawang people with another ethnic group which is culturally and linguistically different from the Lun Bawangs. That was unfortunate as there are relatively more historical readings (mainly writings from the British colonist) regarding the Murut people, and there is no way to tell whether they are referring to the Lun Bawang people or the Murut people (also known as Tagal people).

Anyhow, the earliest literature with the term "Lun Bawang" that I can find so far is from Sarawak Museum Journal Volume IV published in 1937. In which it says:

The author acknowledged that despite the Lun Bawang calling themselves by that name, yet they are still erroneously called "Murut" by other people. Unfortunately, Google Book does not give me full access to this literature, and the only option I have is to look for the hardcopy in libraries (wish me luck). I have tried to contact Mr. Ipoi Datan, who is the Sarawak Museum Director (coincidentally a Lun Bawang himself), to obtain this Journal for my reference; unfortunately to no avail. Will attempt again in the future. 

Nevertheless, all hope is not lost. There is a literature way back in 1860 written by an adventurer named Spencer St. John, who chronicled his boat trip upriver Trusan River into the land of the aborigines he called "Adang Muruts". How I know Adang Murut refers to Lun Bawang people, well fortunately he jotted down some words in "Adang Murut" and its translation in English, and lo and behold, most of the words are still the words used by Lun Bawang people today, as shown below.

As you can see, water is "pa" which is the same as today's "pa" or "apa"; whereas "mudan" is rain, as how we call it today. And in the midst of those translation, "bawang" is translated as "country", and hence there you go, Lun Bawang means "the people of the country".

Having established that Adang Murut are the Lun Bawangs, in this book itself, he chronicled his adventure and describe quite a good detail of the lives of the Lun Bawangs back in the olden days, giving me a short yet satisfying glimpse of the everyday lives of my ancestors. 

And as luck would have it, full copy is available in google books, in which you can refer here: Book

I have been meaning to spend one day reading this book in full since 2008, but until now, I have not accomplished that. Hope one day I will have the time to read the whole book. 

Anyway, that's it for this time around. Will write again, maybe next month :). 

"Do' malem". 

Lun Bawang Sabah

So who are the Lun Bawang? They are an indigenous tribe formerly known as Murut, Southern Murut, Adang Murut etc., but now identified themselves with the name "Lun Bawang". They are indigenous to northern Sarawak, southwestern Sabah, Kalimantan (Indonesia), and Temburong (Brunei). (For more information on Lun Bawang, please refer to Wikipedia article Lun Bawang which I have developed and consolidated since 2008)

Contrary to common misconception, Sabah also has Lun Bawang people, who trace their origins from Trusan. Lundayeh people are also related tribes which comes in much later wave of migration to Sabah. Lun Bawang people are distinct from Lundayehs because they originated from Trusan, which are considered as downstream (coastal), versus the Lundayeh people who originated from upriver in Kalimantan (hence the name Lun Dayeh which literally translated as Upriver people). In addition, Lun Bawang people in Sabah are keen on the unifying spirit of the Lun Bawang people in Sarawak, in order to unify under the same ethnic name in Malaysia.  

I have gathered the below article from Uncle Seid in Facebook, who succinctly described the origins of the Lun Bawang people in Sipitang, Sabah - near the area Mengalong

WHY WOULD LUN TRUSAN SETTLED DOWN IN SIPITANG?
The real motive behind the son of Trusan chieftain resettlement in Mengalong downriver in the near turn of 19th century perhaps can no longer be ascertained today. The written record is so scarce, while the oral tradition became garble as ever, as the story now can only be gathered mainly from the fourth generations of these pioneers.
According to oral tradition, he was then adopted by a Native Chief (N.C), and so happened married to a daughter of another Native Chief. Therefore, the migration is simply means of leading a new life in a new world, Mengalong.
But why in Mengalong, Sipitang? Here's why.
British North Borneo Company acquired the area from River Trusan to River Sipitang and the area of Mengalong and Marintaman in 1901. The area then became a new administrative entity known as "Province Clark", with the main station in Mesapol.
Being the N.C. adopted son, and N.C. son-in-law, and living within the newly created province, of course Mengalong soil looks greener than ever.
So he settled down in a supposedly promising Mengalong, which is near the new province's station. And when he eventually did it, the real father, the Trusan Chieftain, the Lun, instructed some of his people to accompany him and their descendents became Mengalong's proud Lun Bawang.

In this blog, I will add more stories regarding the origin of the Lun Bawang people in Sabah. Do wait for my next article!