Ethno-History of Social Background

As mentioned above, the historical social background is one of the data set that is required for an SIA study. This kind of data provides relevant hidden information that helps assessors to understand historical norms and values, and these norms and values affect the reactions of local people towards development. The survey found that the people living in Beliong who originated from different places, chose to start a new life and settle there when the place was open to anyone who was willing to turn it from jungle into farms, during the White Rajahs period.

“White Rajahs” refers to the Brooke‟s Kingdom (1841-1941) that ruled Sarawak before the British colonists came to Sarawak. Under the Brooke administration, legal rights for land use had been created (Ngidang, 2005). According to an article written by Yuan Min (1989) for the Fuk Teck Kung Temple Special Issue Publication, Beliong was virgin jungle before the 1900s. People started to clear the land in Beliong for farming purposes in the early 1900s when the White Rajahs, who ruled Sarawak at that time, encouraged people to develop farming activities in the river mouth area.

Table 5.5 Information on Possible Changes.

No. Type of Changes Relevant Changes Frequency Percentage (%) Frequency Rank

I Individual  Willingness to stay in village 4 13.3 1

 Engagement with different buyers 4 13.3 1

 Engagement with a multi mixed farm 3 10.0 2

 Engagement with the agricultural expert

from outside

3 10.0 2

 Engagement with the developer 2 6.7 3

II Collective  Institutional power 7 23.3 1

 Kampung‟s home attachment culture 5 16.7 2

 Women‟s empowerment 2 6.7 3

 One Malaysia concept 1 3.3 4

III Environment  Modern living environment 10 33.3 1

 Accessibility to and from the city 5 16.7 2

 Technology intensive farming systems 5 16.7 2

 Agricultural facilities 4 13.3 3

 Convert the coconut farms into others 4 13.3 3

 Transforming of agricultural land image 1 3.3 4

 Safe and healthy environment for seniors

and children

1 3.3 4

Farming activities were necessary to meet the demand from Kuching residents for fresh vegetables at the market. The White Rajahs saw the potential of Beliong for farming

activities and offered lands in Beliong to people to solve the problem of the lack of vegetable supplies in the market. The White Rajahs gave people special permission, allowing everyone to cut trees in the virgin jungle, for five years. Within these five years, they were allowed to cut down as many trees as they could for carrying out farming activities; no land tax was enforced and all the land cleared and developed was then measured and issued with a proper land title, which was seen as a way of officially rewarding their hard work by recognising them as land owners for all the areas cleared (Yuan Min, 1989).

This marked the beginning of a human presence or human life history in Beliong and the start of biophysical changes taking place in Beliong. The place changed from a natural jungle with no sign of man-made features to a place with villages, farms, infrastructure and more that supported daily human activities. Since then, development has been kept going to provide the Chinese, Malay and Iban communities with a better living and working environment.

5.1.5.1.1 Chinese community

Many Chinese farmers became big farm owners under the system offered by the White Rajahs in the early 1900s. Most of them were attracted to settle in Beliong because of the

opportunity to own suitable lands for farming and living, without paying anything for the land (Special Publication for Fuk Teck Kung Temple, 1989). The ownership of land was then transferred to their children and many of the descendants of the original settlers remain big farm owners in the case study area, continuing their lives with commercial farming activities as their forebears have done for nearly a century. The Chinese in Beliong are believed to be the descendants of Chinese immigrants who arrived earlier, before the offer of farming lands by the While Rajahs, and also, a group of new immigrants from China who accepted the White Rajahs‟ invitations.

As stated in the Special Publication for Fuk Teck Kung Temple (1989), most of the ancestors of the Chinese people in Beliong came from China in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when China faced war with Britain, France and Japan. Many Chinese people migrated to Nanyang (Southeast Asia) to country‟s like Malaya (now known as “Malaysia”), with the hope of starting a new life. The settlement of Chinese people in Beliong began with a small group of people and then expanded as their relatives and friends joined them, having seen the better way of life in Beliong. They slowly cleared out the jungle lands and turned it into farms; they planted fast growing vegetables first and then more effort was put into planting commercial crops, especially coconuts. Some of the Chinese settlers became big farm owners, owing to

their hard work in clearing the jungle lands and planting the areas with coconut trees (Special Publication for Fuk Teck Kung Temple, 1989).

Yuan Min (1989) pointed out that the White Rajahs tried to source new Chinese immigrants to develop the farming sector in Kuching in the 1900s. The invitations to people in China to come to Sarawak were supported by providing transportation to Kuching for those who wanted to accept the invitation. The group of people targeted by the White Rajahs were mainly peasants who had experience in farming activities. The White Rajahs hoped that the farming knowledge and skills of these people would be transferred to others in Kuching and, at the same time, the skills and knowledge of these immigrants would manage to produce sufficient daily vegetable supplies for the people in Kuching (Special Publication for the Fuk Teck Kung Temple, 1989).

Jong (1989) stated that the fertile soil in Beliong was suitable for planting. The harvest from the planting activities was encouraging, with excess to sell. In the early stages, people in Beliong only planted crops such as melons, yams and ginger to fulfil their own needs and to generate cash incomes in the short term. Then, the planting of coconut trees and other fast growing cash crops such as corn, rice, bananas and pineapples, followed. Some of them were even involved in raising livestock such as pigs, chickens and ducks. They were among the main suppliers of daily goods for the people in Kuching during that time. Bigger farms were mainly planted with coconuts and a few other types of commercial crops such as bananas, peppers, cocoas and green oranges established later on (Special Publication for Fuk Teck Kung Temple, 1989).

5.1.5.1.2 Iban community

It is believed that the ancestors of the Iban people moved to Beliong for the same reasons that attracted the ancestors of the Chinese and Malay people to the case study area. That is, the offer of using the unlimited farming land attracted them to settle in Beliong. The elder Iban people claimed that they were originally from Kampung Tabuan Dayak in Kuching, one of

the Iban settlements that was located upstream of the Sarawak River (Malay language: Sungai

Sarawak). The Sarawak River is the river that marks the western boundary of Beliong and the Iban settlement studied for this research, is located to the south-west side of Beliong, which is not far from small streams that flow into the Sarawak River.

Chang (2006) stated that Kampung Tabuan Dayak was an old village, aged about 150 years, that existed in the 1860s. The people were the descendants of people who had migrated from West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Their ancestors had first travelled and settled in Sri Aman.

Some of them moved out from the area later on and settled in several areas in Kuching, before occupying the land at Kampung Tabuan Dayak (Chang, 2006). Chang also mentioned that the old Kampung Tabuan Dayak then expanded into two new villages, called “Kampung Tabuan Lalang”, which was established in 1959 and “Kampung Tabuan Paya”, which was established in 2000. This was mainly due to the population pressure increasing. However, no further discussion or statements were made by Chang about the fact that some of them had migrated to other places, such as Beliong, between the period of the early 1900s to 1959, or later. The findings gained from the survey conducted for my case study at Beliong adds new information to the ethno-history of the Iban people in Sarawak.

5.1.5.1.3 Malay Community

The ancestors of the Malay people settled near the riverbank, not far from the Fuk Teck Kung Chinese Temple. The respondents reported that their ancestors came from Saratok, in the Betong Division of Sarawak. They reached Kuching first, in 1884, before moving to Beliong. The settlement started with only two families and it has now become the settlement with the largest number of households that are still living there. As distinct from the Chinese and Iban people, the first two Malay families who arrived in Beliong did not start their life in Beliong working on farm activities for economic survival, but instead they carried out fishing activities in the case study area for a living.

Later, more Malay people moved to the case study area for labouring jobs when the Chinese farm owners started to hire labour to work for them. Due to daily needs, the Malays then also planted some crops such as rice and vegetables, for their own consumption; few commercial crops were planted by the Malay people at that time. This situation is changing, however; Malays are planting commercial crops right now and their numbers are greater than that of the Chinese or Iban people who are still living in the case study area.