Radio Iban and its Impact on Iban Longhouse Dwellers

Photo from Google : Alastair Morrison The rise of Iban radio, 1954-1976 Radio Sarawak was officially inaugurated on 8 June 1954. Sarawak was then a British Crown Colony. The Sarawak Legislative Council (or Council Negeri) had finally  decided to go ahead with hotly debated plans to create a broadcasting service (Morrison 1954:391). Set up with the technical assistance of the BBC, the service had four sections: Malay, Iban, Chinese and English. The Iban Section broadcast one hour daily from 7 till 8 pm. In the early days the variety of programs was limited to news, information on farming and animal husbandry (betanam betupi), and some  Iban folklore, especially sung poems (pantun, renong) and epics (ensera). It was also used in the case of medical and other emergencies in certain upriver areas  (Dickson 1995: 137). (4) The late Gerunsin Lembat (1924-95) from Malong, Saratok, was the first Iban  broadcaster. In January 1956 he was promoted to Head of the Iban Service (Langub 1995: 56). He is still remembered by rural and urban audiences  alike for his extraordinary voice, command of the Iban language, and knowledge  of adat (customary law).