Federal Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Joseph Entulu may not only have stirred a hornet's nest with his comments in recent days that the term Dayak has connotations of "uncouth, uncivilised and low class" behaviour. He may have bitten off more than he can chew.

joseph entulu However, he's in a minority of one. Not a single soul has come forward to support Entulu who continues to get hammered blue-and-black from all sides including from members of his own party, the Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).

Many of the party faithful are on the verge of disowning him. In cyberspace, he's being labeled "a good-for-nothing BN (Barisan Nasional) agent".

"This guy (Entulu) should have thought of something else to say," said the mild-mannered PRS secretary-general Wilfred Nissom Anak Rata who surprisingly ended his comments with some swear words. Nissom, a former educationist who holds a double degree, was once the president of the Dayak Bidayuh National Association.

Kemena assemblyperson and state BN secretary-general Dr Stephen Rundi, sees the term as "reflecting the unity and dignity of the Dayak people as a whole". Tasik Biru assemblyperson Peter Nansian thinks "derogatory is what you make it to be, not what you are."

Assistant Minister of Land Development Francis Harden said “the term Dayak is not outdated" while Assistant Minister of Water Supply Sylvester Entri warned that "there should be no problem using the term Dayak" and Assistant Minister of Rural Development Ambrose Blikau "does not agree the term Dayak makes the community uncivilised, uncouth and low class".

A high-ranking federal government official in Kuala Lumpur, who only wants to be known as ET, said "that's Entulu's view. I am proud to be a Dayak".

ET, an Iban-Bidayuh, began life after Form 5 as a telephone operator in Kuching. She subsequently did night-classes after work for many years in KL before finally graduating with a Masters in Law degree from London.

Power of the X

ET however understands "where Entulu is coming from and where he's going with his comments on the term Dayak". She remains confident the term Dayak can be made even more respectable than the modest situation in which the community finds themselves in now.

"The Dayaks can't afford to wait until they are all university graduates to be educated on the power behind their X on the ballot paper. Every X makes a difference," said ET. "You don't need to be a genius to know the power behind the X."

Through the power of the X, according to ET, the Dayaks can get a reasonable slice of the political power in keeping with their status as the majority community in Sarawak.

"With political power the Dayaks can not only educate themselves to the highest levels possible but also secure opportunities to gather valuable experience through career path development planning," suggests ET. "Power comes first. With power comes genuine development and progress."

"The Dayaks are losing out when it comes to the job opportunities and the economic and business opportunities generated by the Government. Dayaks are not able to participate either in corporatisation and privatisation of state-owned enterprises through management buy-outs to build a modern business community."

The debasement of the term Dayak, in ET's thinking, stems from the Dayaks putting others in power at their expense in return for promises of "some crumbs from development plans".

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner Simon Sipaun, a former Sabah state secretary, confessed that he was puzzled by Entulu's statement.

"There are even more Dayaks in Indonesia (Kalimantan). They are considered heroes for the way they protect their traditional territories," said Sipaun. "To me, there is nothing to be ashamed about being a Dayak."

In the same boat with the Dusuns

Sipaun's views are endorsed by PKR vice-president Jeffrey Kitingan who noted that the Dayaks are embroiled in similar polemics as the Dusuns.

"At one time, Dusun was though to be a backward term and so many Dusuns in the towns started calling themselves Kadazans," said Kitingan, a Dusun himself from the Tambunan mountain valley in the Kundasang Highlands.

"Now, the preference is for the term Dusun. Many people have great difficulties in accepting the term Kadazan or the compromise KadazanDusun and Kadazandusun."

Kitingan is also the chairman of the Borneo Heritage Foundation, formerly the Koisaan Development Institute, which takes an interest in ethnic issues.

Other examples abound in Malaysian Borneo, according to local historians, which echo Entulu's suggestion on dropping the term Dayak.

The Muruts of Sarawak have dropped the "derogatory" term in recent years and now call themselves Lun Bawang. The Muruts of Sabah, who are not related to the ex-Muruts of Sarawak, are proud of their term, however. The Lun Dayeh of Sabah are the same people as the ex-Muruts of Sarawak.

Some Dayak Orang Ulu of Sarawak are no longer amused at being lumped together with the two other two orangs, Orang Putih and Orang Utan, and are proposing Lun Daya as a new term for them.

'The man makes the term'

Nissom's party chief, James Masing, opines that "the term doesn't make the man. The man makes the term".

Masing, an anthropologist by training and an Iban, pointed out that the term Dayak is used for the indigenous Austronesian peoples of Borneo across both sides of the difficult mountainous watershed running through the island.

Hence, Entulu's suggestion doesn't hold water and with good reasons. The Dayaks have common distinguishing traits. Apparently, the Dayak people of Borneo possess an indigenous account of their history, partly in writing and partly in common cultural customary practices like the communal ownership of land. Also, the Dayaks have a common religious origin in Kaharingan Hinduism.

In Kalimantan Borneo, unlike in Sarawak, the Dayaks hold high positions in government and have distinguished themselves in various fields.

Estimates vary but it is reckoned that the Dayak population of Borneo numbers some 4 million and come from about 200 riverine and hill country ethnic tribes.

Elsewhere, Dayak bloggers are having a field day on the subject. They see Entulu as a heaven-sent punching bag to escape the lull that followed the recent Batang Ai by-election.

Not surprisingly, Entulu has done an about turn in the last 24 hours, and now claims that he has been misquoted by the reporter concerned. No one believes him judging by the volumes on the matter in cyberspace and the forum pages in local newspapers. They want him to "apologise to the Dayaks instead of behaving like a typical BN man and blaming the newspaper."

"I was referring to the fact that the Dayaks are listed under Others (Lain-Lain) in government forms which only seem to recognise Indian, Chinese and Malay," explained Entulu.