The Dayak National Congress (DNC), an influential Dayak non-governmental organisation, is calling on all Dayak lawmakers to support opposition party DAP’s motion on the definition of the word ‘natives’.

It's to be tabled in Sarawak’s next state legislative assembly sitting.

 

Sarawak DAP opposition leader Chong Chieng Jen has proposed to classify natives as Dayak and Malays.

 

Chong, who is the State Assemblyperson for Kota Sentosa, had said that presently the natives of Sarawak such as the Ibans, Bidayuhs and Kenyahs are referred as ‘races’. But in his motion they will be regarded as sub-ethnic groups under the unifying term ‘Dayak’.

 

The Opposition lawmaker said  hence the motion was to legalise the word ‘Dayak’ in the Sarawak Interpretation Ordinance 2005.

 

“The 29 Dayak reps should disregard political affiliations and support the motion,” DNC president Mengga Mikui ( left ) said in a press statement yesterday.

 

Mengga said that the DNC central committee had a long discussion on the term ‘Dayak’ and submitted suggestions to Chong for inclusion in his motion.

 

“This is good for the Dayak community as it clears any form of ambiguity with regards to the definition of the natives,” he said.

 

The Dayak community is closely watching the Dayak reps what with the state election drawing near, added a member of the NGO who did not want to be named.

 

“They had better support the motion or else the Dayaks may not vote for them,” he further noted.

 

Praise for S'wak CM

Meanwhile, the DNC praised Chief Minister Adenan Satem for being receptive to calls by the community to replace the term ‘lain-lain’ with ‘Dayak’ in the race box on government official forms.

 

“We are grateful to the chief minister for such a positive response and this shows that he is a leader who listens to the people,” Mengga said, referring to Adenan’s live interview with RTM on Wednesday night.

 

In the interview, Adenan ( right ) had said that he had no objection if individuals wanted to use ‘Dayak’ instead of ‘lain-lain’ on government forms.

 

Mengga said that for more than 50 years since the formation of Malaysia, the Dayaks had been referred to as ‘lain-lain’ for unexplained reasons.

 

“Why should we be referred to as ‘lain-lain’ when we are the majority race in Sarawak?” he argued, adding that Malaysia was formed because the Dayaks were among the communities who had given their strong support.

 

Pointing out that the term ‘Dayak’ had been historically known among anthropologists for centuries as the identity of the State’s native people, Mengga said the term ‘bumiputera’ on the other hand did not describe a race.

 

He suggested that the Bumiputera Minorities Technical Committee (BMTC) co-chaired by Plantation Industry and Commodity Minister  Douglas Uggah and Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Maximus Ongkili, to take heed of Adenan’s response on the use of the word ‘Dayak’ instead of ‘bumiputera’ to replace the term ’lain-lain’ on official government forms.

 

The BMTC’s decision to replace the term ‘lain-lain’ with ‘bumiputera’ had met with strong objections from many Dayak NGOs and Parti Rakyat Sarawak youth.

 

The word ‘bumiputera’ was only used for political purposes and came about during the introduction of the new economic policy in the 1970s, added Mengga.