LIFE IN THE LONGHOUSE

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LIFE IN THE LONGHOUSE

• Dedicated to-International Coffee Hour Program
• Presented by-
• Tisna Tajudin

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INTRODUCTION

• Malaysia is divided into peninsular Malaysia and
  Sabah and Sarawak
• Sabah and Sarawak are located in Borneo Island
• Population of native people in Malaysia are
  concentrated on Borneo
• Lifestyle of the native people differ than
  Malaysian in the peninsular
• This presentation focus on longhouse a unique way
  of living by the native people

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LOCATION
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LONGHOUSE

• Most are situated off the Skrang, Lemanak, Batang
  Ai and Rejang River areas
• A typical longhouse is a long, one-story
  dwelling, covered by single roof usually woven of
  fronds from the ubiquitous sago palm.
• Longhouse can stretch as long as a city block and
  have five hundred people living in it, or it can
  house a community as small as a few dozen.

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KUDAT LONGHOUSE

• Kudat longhouse

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BIDAYUH LONGHOUSE

• Bidayuh longhouse

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BIDAYUH LONGHOUSE-SKULL HOUSE

• Bidayuh longhouse-skull house

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IBAN LONGHOUSE
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IBAN LONGHOUSE

• Interior of Iban Longhouse

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IBAN LONGHOUSE

• One of the family of Iban Longhouse

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ORANG ULU LONGHOUSE
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MELANAU TALLHOUSE
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PEOPLE

• There are 27 distinct indigenous ethnic groups
  that speak 45 different languages and dialects
• The Iban are the most famous of Sarawak's ethnic
  groups. They were once the legendary warriors of
  Borneo the most feared of the headhunting
  tribes.

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PEOPLE

• There are 26 other tribes. There are the Bidayuh,
  formerly known as the "Land Dayaks", who so
  enchanted the first White Rajah with their
  gentleness.
• Then there are the Melanau fisherman of the
  littorals of Central Sarawak, and the multitude
  of upriver tribes who collectively form the Orang
  Ulu (people of the headwaters) the nomadic
  Penan, guardians of the rainforest

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CULTURAL LIFESTYLE

• Families live in large rooms located off a main
  hall, a kind of social center that stretches the
  length of the entire building.
• During the day, residents are out working in the
  fields or forest, the main hall is mostly empty,
  a peaceful, somnolent space of cool refuge.
• Young children playing quietly on intricately
  woven matts, always watched by an older member of
  the community.
• In an environment where respect for each other's
  space is essential to a healthy community, even
  the family dogs seem to honor each other's small
  territory.

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CULTURAL LIFESTYLE

• At night, just after supper, the main hall livens
  up.
• Families come out to socialize and  guests gather
  in front of the chief's room.
• The chief's home is almost always in the dead
  center of the building, and is often
  distinguished by a fetish of antique human skulls
  - a reminder of the days when the Iban and other
  tribes in Borneo practiced headhunting. The
  practice faded quickly following the arrival of
  colonialism and the White Rajas of Sarawak, who
  actively discouraged it. 
• When there are visitors, the Iban will peform
  traditional dances and music, drink spicy rice
  wine (which can go to your head with remarkable
  speed) then close off the evening by offering
  some handmade crafts for sale.
• There is no obligation to buy anything, but the
  goods made in the longhouse are almost always
  better and cheaper than similiar items you'll see
  in the cities. 

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CULTURAL LIFESTYLE

• People here live communally
• Divorce, for example, is a simple affair. When it
  happens (which is almost never), there are no
  prolonged litigious procedures, no
  child-wrenching custody battles. The unhappy
  party simply informs the chief, gathers up his or
  her few possessions - a bundle of clothes, some
  floor matts -  then heads off to another room or
  back to their own family's longhouse. Children
  stay with the mother, always. 

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WONDERS OF BORNEO ISLAND

• Orang utan-pongo pygmaeus better known to the
  world as orang utan.
• Orang utan means "man of the forest" in Malay and
  these fascinating and very human ginger apes gave
  rise to the legend of the Wild Man of Borneo.

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WONDERS OF BORNEO ISLAND

• The Rafflesia - World's Largest Flower
• The Rafflesia is the largest flower in the world,
  measuring up to 1 metre (3.5 ft) in diameter when
  in bloom.
• Can be found in forests on the Main Range in
  Peninsular Malaysia as well as in Sabah and
  Sarawak.
• A parasite by nature, the plant lives by
  infecting the roots.
• The flower takes many months to develop, and the
  open bloom which lasts only for a few days
  looks like deat meat, crawling with maggots when
  it starts to rot.

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WONDERS OF BORNEO ISLAND

• Niah Cave-prehistoric inhabitants evidence
• Humans inhabited Niah Great Cave 40,000 years
  ago. Today, local Penan tribesmen venture into
  the cave to collect edible birds nests and the
  guano dropped by the myriad swiftlets and bats
  that live there.
• Evidence of prehistoric inhabitants in the
  Painted Cave where human figures drawn on the
  wall watch over grave sites where the dead were
  laid in boat-shaped coffins.

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THANK YOU _at_ TERIMA KASIH