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).

Drying Rice in an Iban Long House Today

The architectural style of the Sarawak Iban longhouse has changed int he last 30 years. The old style of Tanju (front open porch) has gone. The photo below shows a Bidayuh longhouse with bamboo tanju or landing place. All longhouses used to be raised on strong stilts. Today, many longhouses are concrete and built on the ground, making the tanju obsolete. Instead, they have a five foot way like the urban shop houses.



However, the tanju which also served as a drying area for rice and pepper continues to morph into another form.

 Today longhouse folks construct their own individual Pantar in the backyard or in the front where they have some extra land or space.

Pantar - is the wooden or bamboo platform in the longhouse which is a substitute for the tanju.

 Here I am wearing a Tanggoi,using a wooden pemaut padi (wooden rake) to spread the rice grains to dry evenly. It is scorching hot at about 10 in the morning. No wonder my sister in law Pantan gets all sun burnt throughout the year. If you wish to get a good sun tan, just do this job. Two in one ...You can contribute to the economy of the longhouse. Drying the rice is a tough job and you have to pay attention. The moment the rain clouds hoover overhead you have to put all the grains into baskets and carry them to the store house.

The tanju of the olden days continue to amaze visitors because it is a very practical feature for every one who understands the longhouse concept of lifestyle.

Pole Notched Staircase

What can you make out of a 10 inch diameter tree trunk/log with only an axe in your hand?

You can repair a log cabin..or you can make a two log bridge across a small stream. You can even make a bench  or two.... You can put a bird house on top of the log!! Your fancies can take you any where.

Well in an Iban Longhouse or a Bidayuh village in Sarawak you can make a staircase....

A notched staircase from the canteen to the stream - people continue to draw water from the lovely gurgling stream and walk up this staircase every day...Hope one day you can walk down or up and say..."see no hands!!"

(Photo by Sarawakiana at the foothills of Mr. Singai)


Today we can still find this very simple handiwork and facility in Sarawak.

The indigenous people can walk up these steps like circus artistes with their two pails of water or a basket full of rambutans and durians on their back!!

This is both a very environmentally friendly and simple art of living minimally. Today mankind has added so much more on this...

Hoorays to all grandmothers and grandfathers who can still go up and down this kind of wooden notched steps.

And may be that is one of the reasons these elders stay slim and sprightly....

(I chose this angle to show how steep the staircase is from the top...and also because I find it most difficult to decide whether to go down the notched staircase by putting my left foot forward or turn around and climb down the stairs backwards...most longhouse dwellers would automatically put their heels down and in seconds they are below the house and on the ground without holding on to the railings. Some families do not even have the railings!! What a great balancing act!! And I suppose if you are size 12 for shoes you may have to go down or up sideways....and put two hands on the railings. In my experience it takes quite a while to get used to this kind of log notched staircase - "tangga")

A Brunei-Iban Luncheon Gathering

It is often said by many that the streets of Brunei are fabulously clean and no rubbish bin is ever seen to be overflowing. And this is indeed the impression I have whenever I am in Brunei.

The secret of this cleanliness? It must be a great team of street cleaners and scavenging truck drivers well supervised by an equally great team of Municipal Council Street Cleaning Unit who have great civic mindedness and good work attitude. A very simple maxim - once thrown rubbish must be removed by another human being. My secondary school domestic science teacher use to say over and over again that the only way to keep a home clean was that "some one has to pick up the rubbish and remove it and only then the house will be perfectly clean. It can be you or another person. It is your choice! If you want a clean house - remove all the rubbish. Remove. Remove. And Remove!"

Just last week I had the opportunity to attend a great home cooked celebration lunch with an Iban or Dayak extended family who are cleaners and private truck drivers in Brunei. three of the men have married Iban ladies from Kanowit. They are particularly grateful to a very special "Apai" who helped bring electricity and water supply to their "village" situated near a small river. Whenever they have the opportunity they would slaughter an animal or two during a special day off ( e.g. special public holiday) and have a "party" and relax . They are glad and grateful that they have work which brings home the proverbial bacon.

While many would pay a great sum of money for hotel cooked food these happy subjects of the state would celebrate their existence with gratitude in very simple ways. Here are some photos of their simple lifestyle which you might find a little unique. Perhaps?



Wood ready for a wood fire. Piped gas is not available in this village.



A roaring fire to cook meat in the traditional Dayak way. See the food filled bamboo or ruas roasting at the side.



Roasting ketola/petola on the fire which is a traditional Dayak method of cooking. the natural skin will peel off and the cooked inside could be beautifully cut or sliced.




Roasted ketola (sliced) served on a bunga kentang leaf. Delicious and naturally cooked over fire the ketola retains its natural flavours. A garden of Eden food.



This is the head of a small special animal freshly slaughtered in the morning for the occasion. The diners enjoyed picking the meat off the bones and it is believed by both the Chinese and the Dayaks that the cooked brains would help the children to become mentally and physically strong to face all adversities in life. One of the daughters of the family is a top student in her class.



The Happy Benefector - Simon Gelang. Here in this special home you can be your real self and enjoy every drop of the kiam chye soup flavoured by natural ingredients. May he enjoy a long and prosperous life! May blessings be upon him.






Ketupat - a special three sided delicacy made from glutinuous rice and wrapped with jungle palm called grinis. The grinis palm can be collected just thirty meters away from the village on the shoulder of the hill.



Music came from a DVD player and as the ladies drank at their corner a lively Dayak lady in her fifties started to do the joget and making every one merry in the warmth of the day. And the smoke from the wood fire just created a very special ambience.

The Dayak men sat quietly drinking their rice wine or iced cola and once in a while they would pick a piece of roasted meat from the several plates placed on the low home made coffee table (if you can call it that) and discussed the topics of day - hunting and fishing. Occasionaly one would come up with a great memory of a past hunting trip.


Nothing bonds family together better than freshly cooked food and a warm hearth.