To the indigenous peoples of Sarawak, cock-fighting is a traditional way of life.

Like gladiator combat in ancient Rome or soccer matches in modern England, a cock-fight - or nyabung manok in Iban is a spectator sport that perhaps provides a means of releasing man's violent warring instinct through a ritualistic symbolic and often bloody battle that draws no human blood. Through the spilled blood of the vanquished cock, the Iban god of war Kelian may be appeased.

Before the arrival in 1842 of James Brooke (the man who would be king the first Rajah of Sarawak), and during the reign of the Brooke dynasty for about 100 years, the indigenous people of Sarawak were in fact very often at war. They first fought the rule by the Sultan of Brunei who had dominion over them. Then they fought the Brookes over taxes and autonomy over territorial control. More often than not, they fought among themselves, over land, communal honour, and settling of old scores.

Independence in 1963, bringing with it the seduction of modernity and the logic of statehood, has banished the impulse and need to settle conflicts through the razor sharp parangs. The native people could start voting through general elections. In this new form of combat, the risks to personal security are much reduced, and the spoils are much more attractive.