Ethnic groups in Sarawak

Ethnic groups in Sarawak 


Sarawak (Jawi:سراوق) (Malay pronunciation: [saˈrawaʔ]) is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang ("Land of the Hornbills"), Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the north-east.

The administrative capital is Kuching, which has a population of 579,900. Major cities and towns include Miri (pop. 263,000), Sibu (pop. 254,000) and Bintulu (pop. 176,800). As of the last census (2010), the state population was 2,420,009


History

The eastern seaboard of Borneo was charted, though not settled, by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. The area of Sarawak was known to Portuguese cartographers as Cerava. During the 17th century, Sarawak was self-governed under Sultan Tengah.

By the early 19th century, Sarawak had become a loosely governed territory under the control of the Brunei Sultanate. During the reign of Pangeran Indera Mahkota in 19th century, Sarawak was facing chaos.


Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II (1827–1852), the Sultan of Brunei, ordered Pangeran Muda Hashim in 1839 to restore order and it was during this time that James Brooke arrived in Sarawak. Pangeran Muda Hashim initially requested assistance in the matter, but Brooke refused.

In 1841, Brooke paid another visit to Sarawak and this time he agreed to provide assistance. Pangeran Muda Hashim signed a treaty in 1841 surrendering Sarawak and Sinian to Brooke.

On 24 September 1841, Pangeran Muda Hashim bestowed the title Governor to James Brooke. He effectively became the Rajah of Sarawak and founded the White Rajah Dynasty of Sarawak, later extending his administration through an agreement with the Sultan of Brunei. Sarawak was thus an independent kingdom from 1841 until 1888, when the state was placed under British protection.

Geography

The Sarawak state legislative assembly building, in Kuching. Having land area of 124,450 km² spreading between latitude 0° 50′ and 5°N and longitude 109° 36′ and 115° 40′ E, it makes up 37.5% of the land of Malaysia.

Sarawak can be divided into three natural regions :

1.  The coastal region is rather low lying flat country with large extents of swamps and other wet environments.

2.  The hill region provides most of the easily inhabited land and most of the larger cities and towns have been built in this region. The ports of Kuching and Sibu have been built some distance from the coast on rivers. Bintulu and Miri are close to the coast line where the hills stretch right to the South China Sea.

3.  The third region is the mountain region along the border and with the Kelabit and Murut highlands in the north.

Demographics of Sarawak Population


As of the 2010 census, the population of Sarawak was 2,399,839, making it the 4th most populous state in Malaysia. Due to the large area of Sarawak, it has the lowest population density in Malaysia, which stands at 22 person per square kilometre. Sarawak also has some of the lowest population growth in Malaysia.

Ethnic groups in Sarawak

Sarawak has more than 40 sub-ethnic groups, each with its own distinct language, culture and lifestyle. Cities and larger towns are populated predominantly by Malays, Melanaus, Chinese, Indians and a smaller percentage of Ibans and Bidayuhs who have migrated from their home-villages for employment reasons.

Generally, Sarawak has seven major ethnic groups namely Iban, Chinese, Malay, Bidayuh, Melanau, Orang Ulu and 'others'. Several more minor ethnics which do not belong to any of these seven major ethnic groups are Kedayan, Javanese, Bugis, Murut and Indian. Unlike Indonesia, the term Dayak is not officially used to address Sarawakian's native ethnicity.

Sea Dayaks (Iban) 

The Ibans comprise the largest percentage (almost 30%) of Sarawak's population. Iban is native to Sarawak and Sarawak has the highest number of Ibans in Borneo.

The large majority of Ibans practise Christianity. However, like most other ethnic groups in Sarawak, they still observe many of their traditional rituals and beliefs. Sarawak celebrates colourful festivals such as the Gawai Dayak (harvest festival), Gawai Kenyalang (hornbill, or the god of war festival), penuaian padi and Gawai Antu (festival of the dead).

Chinese

Chinese pioneers first came to Sarawak as traders and explorers in the 6th century. Today, they make up 24% of the population of Sarawak and consist of communities built from the economic migrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries. They are classified as a non-Bumiputera ethnic group, despite bearing the largest contribution and hardship towards the development of Sarawak since the early 19th century.

The Sarawak Chinese belong to a wide range of dialect groups, the most significant being Foochow, Hakka, Hokkien, Teochew, Hainanese, and Puxian Min. The Chinese maintain their ethnic heritage and culture and celebrate all the major cultural festivals, most notably Chinese New Year and the Hungry Ghost Festival. The Sarawak Chinese are predominantly Buddhists and Christians.

Malay

The Malays make up 23% of the population in Sarawak. They mostly populate the southern region and urban areas of Sarawak. In Malaysia, for statistical purpose, Javanese and Bugis including some other Indonesian-origin ethnics like Banjar are categorized under Malay ethnic group. A huge majority of the Malays in Sarawak were not actually Malays but ethnics of Indonesian origin that does not fall into the Dayak category but arranged as so for statistic purposes and due to cultural similarities.

Melanau

The Melanaus have been thought to be amongst the original settlers[citation needed] of Sarawak. They make up 6% of the population in Sarawak.

Today most of the Melanaus community is Muslim whilst some remained Christians, though they still celebrate traditional animist festivals such as the annual Kaul Festival.

Bidayuh

Concentrated mainly on the West end of Borneo, the Bidayuhs make up 8% of the population in Sarawak.

The Bidayuhs speak a number of different but related dialects. Some Bidayuhs speak either English or Sarawak Malay as their main language. While some of them still practise traditional religions, the majority of modern-day Bidayuhs have adopted the Christian faith with a few villages embracing the Islamic faith as a minority group within the Bidayuh community. Another ethnic associated to Bidayuh is Salako, classified as Bidayuh by the Malaysian government for political convenience.

Orang Ulu


Orang Ulu is a group of ethnics in Sarawak. The various Orang Ulu ethnics together make up roughly 6% of Sarawak's population. The phrase Orang Ulu means upriver people and is a term used to collectively describe the numerous tribes that live upriver in Sarawak's vast interior. Such groups include the major Kayan and Kenyah tribes, and the smaller neighbouring groups of the Kajang, Kejaman, Punan, Ukit, and Penan.

Nowadays, the definition also includes the down-river tribes of the Lun Bawang, Lun Dayeh, "mean upriver" or "far upstream", Berawan, Saban as well as the plateau-dwelling Kelabits. Orang Ulu is a term coined officially by the government to identify several ethnics and sub-ethnics who live mostly at the upriver and uphill areas of Sarawak. Most of them live in the district of Baram, Miri, Belaga, Limbang and Lawas.

A vast majority of the Orang Ulu tribe are Christians but traditional religions are still practised in some areas.

Some of the major tribes making up the Orang Ulu group include:




Lun Bawang

Kelabit

Kayan                                                                         Kenyah

Penan

Bisaya

Others


Other minority ethnic groups residing in Sarawak are the Kedayan ethnic group and the Punan Bah people (in actual fact is a collective of obscure and unaccounted ethnic communities grouped together as a single ethnic entity), and also non-Bumiputera ethnic groups, which are the Indian and Eurasian.

The Kedayan are an ethnic group residing in parts of Sarawak. The Kedayan language is spoken by more than 37,000 people in Sarawak, with most of the members of the Kedayan community residing in Lawas, Limbang, Miri and Sibuti areas.

Unlike its Peninsular counterpart, Sarawakians of Indian descent are small in number and have assimilated very well to the other communities.

Eurasians continues to be the smallest among the minority ethnic groups in Sarawak, mostly due to assimilation and interracial marriages.


The Punan Bah


Bah’ or Punan is an ethnic group found in Sarawak, Malaysia. They are distinct, unrelated to the Penan and also the other so called Punan found in the Indonesian part of Borneo. Their name stems from two rivers along the banks of which they have been living time immemorial. They do have other names – ‘Mikuang Bungulan’ or ‘Mikuang’ and ‘Aveang Buan’. But these terms are only used ritually these days.

The Punan (or Punan Bah) have never been nomad. In the old days they base their living on a mixed economy. Swidden agriculture with hill paddy as the main crop, supplemented by a range of tropical plants which include maniok, taro, sugar cane, tobacco, etc. Hunting especially wild boar, fishing, and gathering of forest resources are the other important factors in their economy.

However, in the late 1980s many Punan, notably the younger, more educated, gradually migrating to urban areas such as Bintulu, Sibu, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur in search of better living. However that doesn’t they abandon their longhouses altogether.

Many would still return home – especially during major festivities such as Harvest Festival / or Bungan festival as it is known among Punan.

Punan is a stratified society of ‘laja’ (aristocrats), ‘panyen’ (commoners), and ‘lipen’ (slaves). This is a fact determine their historical traditions that have been preserved. Just like most of the history of European Middle Ages is linked to and mainly concerned the various ruling monarchs, so are the historical and mythical traditions of Punan closely connected to their rulings aristocrats.



Religions

Sarawak possesses a richly spiritual society formed from its multiracial and diversity of religions of its people.

Christianity has the highest number of practitioners in Sarawak with 43%-majority according to the 2010 census. Major Christian denominations in Sarawak are the Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM or Sidang Injil Borneo, S.I.B.) and Baptists. Many Sarawakian Christians are non-Malay Bumiputera, ranging from Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu and Melanau.

Islam is the second largest religion in Sarawak with 30% of Sarawak population are Muslim. Many Muslims are from Malay, Melanau and Kedayan ethnic groups.

Buddhism is the third largest, predominantly practiced by Chinese, with slightly less than 20% professing it.

Other significant religions in Sarawak are Baha'i, Hinduism, Sikhism and animism.

Many Dayak especially Iban continue to practice traditional ceremonies, particularly with dual marriage rites and during the important harvest and ancestral festivals such as Gawai Dayak, Gawai Kenyalang and Gawai Antu. Other ethnics who still have trace number of animism followers are Melanau and Bidayuh.

Government

Unlike other states in Malaysia, Sarawak is divided into divisions rather than districts. Each division is headed by one Resident. Divisions are further divided into districts, each of which is headed by a District Officer; and each district is divided into sub-districts, each headed by an Administrative Officer.

Administrative Divisions


Sarawak is divided into 11 Divisions:

Betong Division
Bintulu Division
Kapit Division
Kuching Division
Limbang Division
Miri Division
Mukah Division
Samarahan Division
Sarikei Division
Sibu Division
Sri Aman Division