During these last few critical days of the campaign period in Batang Ai, the exhausted campaign workers on both sides must be preparing for their final push, while the Iban fence-sitting voters must be getting more and more confused from the last bombardment of political propaganda.

Sarawak city folks and concerned citizens on the Malaya Peninsula would probably be hungry for news on the Batang Ai ground. They are bound to be frustrated, because the Iban people in the jungle of Sarawak do live in a separate universe in more ways than one. Political news from and about them seldom find its way to the outside world.

Thanks to the small band of dedicated Sarawak bloggers, such as the Broken Shield, Dayak Nation and Dayak Baru, we do get a daily upgrade of reports from the campaign trail, offering us fascinating insights into politics in the Iban world.

batang ai by election anwar campaign 020409 01 The following is one Malaysiakini report on the on-going campaigning:

"PKR adviser Anwar Ibrahim, who was on a two-stop swing through Batang Ai yesterday, hoped to raise the consciousness of the Iban on their need for redemption from poverty.

"Anwar's first stop was Kampong Nanga Kesit, located at the end of a bumpy 7km ride over a gravel road that leads off the main Sri Aman - Lubok Antu artery, about 25km from the latter's one-street town.

"Nanga Kesit has two longhouses, one situated on a knoll that meets visitors immediately after they have crossed the muddy Sungai Lemanak by using a wobbly 100-metre plank bridge; and the other longhouse is located in a drop behind the hill.

"The first longhouse has tiled floors and brick walls while the second is all wooden poles and planks.

"Almost inevitably, the tuai rumah (village chief) of the upper longhouse declined to host a PKR ceramah but did not stop residents from flocking to the ceramah at the lower longhouse.

"By the time Anwar arrived in the early evening, the upper longhouse was empty of residents except for Ran, the frail looking chief. Ran's wards were waiting with residents of the lower house to listen to the man whom they hope would be prime minister someday."

Fair or weak tuai rumah

In the Sarawak Iban heartland, the tuai rumah is the most influential and powerful figure in his community all living under one roof. During any electoral contest, the right thing for party campaigners to do in Iban protocol is to ask permission from the tuai rumah to go up the steps leading to the inside of the longhouse.

batang air state seat 240209 The guests will then sit down with the tuai rumah first, for the usual coffee, betel nuts, and the sireh leaves. For the sake of good manners, the guests are expected to bring some gifts, such as cigarettes, liquor, and even snacks like biscuits.

These would be shared by all those present when the speech making begins. You cannot expect the tuai rumah to buy those things needed for your campaign in the longhouse corridor.

These tuai rumah come in various hues and colours. After all, they are individuals like you and me. They have different levels of formal education. Some are stronger community leaders than others.

I have seen some old tuai rumah so weak that many of their charges just run amok around him. I have also met some tuai rumah with such strength of character that they have built their longhouses into vibrant prosperous and progressive communities.

Come election time, these tuai rumah would be under great pressure to support the BN candidate. They are almost like civil servants, being paid RM450 per month by the state government, and answerable to the local BN-elected rep and the district officer.

If a tuai rumah is pro-BN, and if he can command the will of most of those living under his charge, then he is unlikely to invite the opposition candidate to his longhouse. If permission from him is asked by the opposition candidate to campaign in his longhouse, he may more than likely decline the request.

With this understanding, what are we to make sense of the account given by the Malaysiakini report above? Why did Ran - the tuai rumah of first upper longhouse - decline the request for such a prominent personality as Anwar to go up his longhouse?

He was just trying to play safe. If he had invited PKR leading lights to his longhouse, he could very well be persecuted by the BN government after the by-election, more so if BN loses. His future requests for minor rural projects would be cold-shouldered, and his title of tuai rumah would even be stripped. It has happened often enough in the past.

batang ai by election jawah gerang khalid ibrahim campaign 310309 01 But at least, he made no attempt to disallow people in his longhouse to go to the second lower longhouse to listen to Anwar Ibrahim's speech. So Ran is probably a liberal community leader, or he is a weak tuai rumah .

As for the tuai rumah in the second longhouse, he granted the request from PKR to hold a big political splash; he too might face the fury of the vindictive BN state government after the by-election.

His bold decision to do so shows a great deal of personal courage. Perhaps, he is a strong opposition supporter, or he was just trying to be fair.

I would really like to know the results of those two longhouses on April 7!

Ibans- hardy people to the core

Living within such closely-knit communal life under the same roof, an electoral contest brings tremendous tension to the social relation among members of the longhouse who are often inter-related.

Sometimes, such a deep rift that has been created during the campaign period will fester long after the election is over, turning friends and relatives into foes.

batang ai by election anwar campaign 020409 02 For instance, those voting for the opposition in a longhouse with a BN friendly tuai rumah may be ostracised and sidelined in all sorts of ways.

The development goodies obtained by the tuai rumah would not be made available to the opposition supporters. The tension may become unbearable for people who live so closely together.

At the end, those households that have supported the opposition camp just up and move themselves a distance away from their original longhouse. Then, at the new chosen site, they will try to start a new life for themselves by building a new longhouse.

The financial and psychological trauma of such a major move must be quite horrendous. They have to build the new longhouse from scratch with whatever they have, as long as they have a common roof over their heads. They would not have much money buying good materials for their construction work of course. But with time and more income, they can always improve their beloved longhouse.

I have been to more than a few of these semi-completed longhouses in their state of transition and impoverishness. It usually takes several years of very hard work, good rice harvest, and decent commodity prices, before they can bring a closure to their move by celebrating their new longhouse in all its glory with a grand Gawai! Nobody can say the Ibans are not hardy people to the core.

In his latest posting, the Sarawak blogger Auqie61 is reporting that only a miracle can save Jawah Gerang and his PKR party from the jaws of defeat.

In a by-election in rural Sarawak, a win for the opposition would always be a miracle of sort; the playing field is tilted sky high. For any opposition party, it is much harder to win an election contest in remote impoverished rural constituencies than in West Malaysia.

I just hope that no longhouse will have to be split into two after the by-election is over.

SIM KWANG YANG was MP for Bandar Kuching in Sarawak from 1982 and 1995. He can be reached at kenyalang578@hotmail.com.