VOICES FROM A LONGHOUSE (Part II)

When Tradition Goes Wrong.

Anything that is passed from generation to generation can be considered a tradition. As the one entrusted to uphold those traditions, trustees must practiced and keep those activities related to preserve the very nature of a tradition well. As for The Ibans, Gawai is not only a mere tradition but it covers a deeper meaning uprooted in each of their new generation - a remembrance of a successful harvesting season to commemorate the beginning of new year in Ibans' astrological belief.

During Gawai Eve (Mantar Gawai) one can witnessed variety of gestures. While the older folks (sida Aki & Ini) are busy brooding the past recalling their heyday and other success stories, some are putting their best to impress the audience with their skills in the kind-of-years-of-practice warrior dance (Ngajat). Above all, the one whose the most excited shall be the youngsters ( sida Igat, Dom, Bujang etc), where words of "I'm the best" kind of remark echoed whole night long in order to win maidens' ( sida Umang, Endu, Dara etc) heart! Been there, doing it and won once.

Ngajat Dance & Beautiful Maidens.

And of course, the most anticipated event of all - Ngirup Ai Pengayu! According to tradition, one must take the Ai Pengayu - in this case, Ai Tuak - believed to get rid of bad luck and omens that may cause ill-fated series of events from occurring.

Drink of Legends: Ai Pengayu a.k.a. Ai Tuak

Also, back in the olden days - after paying some respects at the Pendam @ Sungkup (cemetery) - where the use of technology is still a dream, the elders will be off to their then favorite entertainment (slightly equal to today's Playstation, Facebook etc) Nyabung a.k.a. Cock Fighting. Those cockerels will be provided with sets of sharp-home made- steel- weapon known as Taji which is used later for attacking. Me myself never got a single chance to experience it by hand so further elaboration is therefore void.

An elderly with his champion:
Manuk Biring Sempidan Arang

In a nutshell, those are what Gawai supposed to be according to tradition. Now, I am not a maverick whose idea is against tradition whatsoever - made it clear already - but, what seems not right as to the way I see it remains.

From tradition point of view, nowadays, it seems to me that not every single Iban family can celebrate Gawai - which happens to be a must celebrated event long time ago as a sign of thankgiving for the previous & up-coming blessings.

Why did it so? Of course, most of the blame will befall on religion i.e. Christianity - these hypocrites will say, "sida Paderi enda ngasuh" while in reality, it's none other than YOU, yourself that cause the problem at the very first place. Suddenly, we are known for our "wisdom" by coming up with all sorts of people with great ideas i.e.

1. "During Gawai you must prepare this, and this and that" Enggai enda dipeda bisi nya tadi.
   

1. "Unless you have RM3K you cannot celebrate Gawai because nowadays liquor and beers alone will cause you a thousand"

1. "One might be looked down just because he/she did not provide the same standard amount of goodies & food like others. So, you must keep on track!" Nya la ulah kitai ti bepekit engau pangan diri.
   

1. "Gawai is celebrated once a year, so you must spend on the very best you can to be acknowledged!"

1. "Tuak is only for the old-timers, nowadays we drink wine, brandy, bocardi etc"

1. "Show us your true heroism as anak Iban: the more you drink, the more respected you become" Enggai alah uti enggau orang. Lagi sekula nadai utai ke ulih. Uji ti bekenya ulah kitai ransing besekula enda ga lebu apai indai ngada.
   

The numberings are intentionally numbered as '1' to reflect seriousness of this matter. Now, I really don't mind about this matter, why on Earth should I? After all, who am I to judge others but before that I just want clear answers to my sets of questions here:

Did anyone earn the same manner like someone else?

Did our tradition ever mentioned about other liquors other than Tuak while celebrating Gawai back then?

Did one's success depends on his/her ability to handle a mere Gawai celebration? Then, our 'beloved' Jabu shall be considered a failure because he prohibits drinking during Gawai - neglecting tradition's demand? You know well how much he earned through his dirty involvements here & there vigorously ransacking our lands & yet you called him a failure?

Did true heroism ever measured by how much liquor you consumed, then you bet, how many gallons did our true hero, PW1 Kanang Anak Langkau ever took? Unfortunately, none!

Of course, I'm not suggesting that we'll abandoned the Ngirup culture. Why waste a good culture? Isn't it those who had conquered the world and most sophisticated civilization possessed this kind of drinking habits? Surprisingly, even the Europeans have their own wine, brandy and vodka while the Japanese have their 'sake' to drink. In that manner, Ibans should be proud cause you & I got our very own Tuak to be proud of! So, where did it goes wrong? Again, ourselves. In reality, people drink so that they can release tensions and recuperating after long days of work - that's the art! However, in our case, yeah we drink but we took it seriously that it kills us!

We tend to say "ngirup aja... ukai selalu pan kitai betemu... ngambi sebotol dua nyadi meh kaban" A bottle becomes 2, 2 becomes 3 and so on till you know what might happen next? Obviously, Headline of tomorrow's news - "An Iban drunkyard massacre, 3 killed"

Are we going to be like this forever? I know and I am fully aware that not all Ibans are like this but isn't it the minority that determines majority? Until the day that all of us (including me) truly understand the exact meaning of how to preserve tradition, opinions regarding this matter are all welcomed.

At my part, I'll suggest a way in my last trilogy of this Voices From A Longhouse (VoFAL) series to maybe not 100% solving the problem but at least, trigger something important in my capacity as a mere student.

To be continued...