It all started with a can of Stewed Pork..

Puzzled with my choice of a title for my post? What I meant is the subject I'm going to blog about was inspired by what transpired when I went to the local hypermart to buy a can of stewed pork hehehe.

So there I was, looking for a cashier that I could go to pay for my stuff. Alamak! All wearing tudung (headscarf) ler... Then my eyes scanned for a non-Muslim cashier, ah!... I saw an Indian girl cashier sticking out like a sore thumb because she was rather on the plus size. What the hell?! How come everyone's making a beeline to her counter!? Her queue was long!!! "No choice", I thought. Then I spied a Muslim cashier who was serving the last customer at her counter. So I went to her counter hesitantly and put my stuff on the counter. Without even batting an eyelid, she promptly picked up the can of stewed pork, scanned it and put it in the plastic bag. I gave her my RM50/- note and looked at her face to see any expression of disgust, zilch! Rather amused by her non-chalantness, I engaged her in small talk,

A Dusun Ghost Story

Since the month of August is also the Hungry Ghost festival month (the Muslim Ramadhan falls on August this year), I'm going to blog about ghost stories hehehe... Alright, it's also because I've ran out of idea for my Sedihrela series and has to resort to “cheap parlor trick” to satiate the insatiable reading appetite of Sunflower's mistress. Sunflower, if you're reading this, you might have to tell your mistress that I might “gulung tikar” on the Sedihrela saga due to poor readership :P.

Ok, let me start. There won't be any particular order or format on how I tell the stories. I'll just say whatever comes in mind. They are bits and pieces and I restrict the stories to only Dusun related ghost stories.

The Dusun Tatana's word for ghost/spirit is rogon. Dusun Tatana are the Dusuns found mainly or possibly only in Kuala Penyu, in the old days at least. Old folks swear that in the old days, before Christianity was spread among the Dusun Tatana, sightings of rogons were quite normal. Before Christianity, the Dusun Tatana practiced their pagan religion. So I guess maybe that was why rogons presence were aplenty in those days. Ok, some smart fellow just scoffed at this notion. Yes, I'm aware that the reported sightings could just be due to the Dusun Tatanas' being superstitious and attributing everything that was out of the norm to paranormal activities. I'm trying to tell a story here, do you mind?! Geez..! You're such a wet blanket, aren't you. I'm retelling a culture's folklore here, not the instruction on how to build a rocket to the moon!! It's like watching a Superman movie, do you think that people could actually fly? But you still watch it, didn't you? Why? Because it is entertaining! Oh?! What did you say? Superman isn't human but is an alien from Krypton. So you believe aliens exist but not spirits? Hoookay! You lost me in aliens... Shoo! Shoo!

Dusun Tatana Wedding Dowry?

It's hot during the day to work and having nothing better to do, I decided to rummage through my mom's stuff hehehe.. Yeah, I'm an Indiana Jones of sort but for good reason. You see, I'm collecting whatever family history I could before my mother forgot about them. Her mind is not as sharp as it used to be and these days, she's becoming more and more absent minded. Gosh, she's not going senile! Why did you even think of that! Just her internal processor slowed down a bit. This one cannot upgrade, hardware too obsolete for the new processor out there these days. 

Anyway, I found the only thing that she inherited or claimed as her right(being the eldest) from my late maternal grandmother Mary Motto(cool surname right)! She's half suluk by the way or at least that is what family story says so. They say her father got shipwrecked and stranded in Kuala Penyu. His name was Disman and he was called the Laksamana by the people of Kuala Penyu and he was from the Philippines. Name me one seafaring people from the Philippines who often either raided or traded with the natives of North Borneo? The Sulu or Suluk comes to mind. You should see her brother's(my late Ingkung or granduncle) descendants, they have sharp facial features! High nose bridge, not very common in Dusun people. Macam ang moh! And what do we at this side of the family get? Typical Dusun noses LOL. *fist in the air* Damn you gene! [I'm not mentioning names here to protect the privacy of my beautiful relatives :P]

Pesta Rumbia 2011 - Kuala Penyu

Seeing that Pesta Rumbia will be celebrated from today till 10 July 2011 in Kuala Penyu, I thought I dedicate the following video to all the Dusun Tatana out there and also in honour of my Dusun Tatana heritage.

Take special notice of the Tatana's traditional war dance called Bakanjar.

North Borneo Folklore : Origins of the Dusunic People

I've posted briefly about the origin of the Kadazandusuns or Dusuns before. According to legend, our ancestors came from Nunuk Ragang, which was a huge Banyan tree which was claimed to be somewhere east of Ranau and Tambunan. The Dusuns lived under the tree and the tree provided their daily need. 

Eventually, the Dusuns had to abandon their beloved tree and started spreading all over North Borneo.

That's the Nunuk Ragang on the left. Actually, that's a picture of the Tree of Souls from James Cameron's Avatar. I'd like to think that the Nunuk Ragang was just as beautiful as the Tree of Souls.  

James Cameron must have read or heard the legend of Nunuk Ragang. I can't help but compare the similarities between the Navi and Dusuns. The Dusuns were also sort of driven from their home because of the abundance of their home. Outsiders lusted for the wealth of our land. Now World Bank confirmed that we are the poorest state in Malaysia albeit that we are resources rich. Hey, why am I talking about politics here?? 

Turtle Legends of Sabah

I was surfing the internet looking for stories/legends/history of Sabah and I stumbled upon this site called Sabah Folklore. One particular post in the site caught my attention, Turtle's Legends in Sabah. It tells the story of a turtle that helped an old woman and in return, the turtle got the old woman to tell her people not to eat turtle meat. The story ends with "To this day, many people in Sabah do not eat turtle meat". 


Interesting I thought because my late maternal Grand mother Mary Motto side of the family has a legend of their own with regard to turtle, specifically a specie called 'Labi Labi' in Malay. Labi Labi is a fresh water turtle belonging to the Trionychoidea family. Their story also ends with the turtle making someone promised not to eat turtle meat but their 'rules' were more extreme.

Depends on who I ask, the details of the story varies from one family member to the next but they all 'believe' that the 'curse' on the family is true. 

Once upon a time, in a place within Kuala Penyu or its fringes (my mom has a theory that it was in Klias), there was a wedding. All the kampung folks attended the ceremony. The newly weds' house was across a river (which is why my mom thinks it is in Klias because there is a river called Sungai Klias there and also she said most people who are affected by the 'curse' are in Klias). They had to use a boat to cross the river to reach the newly weds' house. Wading across the river probably would not be a good idea because Klias river is infested with crocodiles and going to a party soaking wet would not have been a good way to start your merry making. 

Unbeknown to the Kampung folks who crossed the river, they have left behind a little girl. So this poor girl was standing there on the opposite side of the riverbanks, probably feeling helpless and wondering why the adults in the boat could not hear her yelling at them. She probably said, "Woi! Cilaka! Kenapa kamurang kasih tinggal aku bah!". Ok, maybe she would not have said "Cilaka".

The Peter Tananak Clan

I attended the clan gathering of my Dusun side recently on 20 November 2010 at Kampung Kabunau, Kuala Penyu. It is an annual gathering started by the Kimsin branch of our clan. The annual gathering is a way for us to rekindle and strengthen relations among the descendants of my great Grandparents, Peter Tananak & Monica Sanandu. This year, the honor to host the gathering fell to the Emok branch of the family.

I had the pleasure of having interacted with my great grandpa. He outlived my father in fact. My dad passed away on 19 December 1977 at the age of 39 and my great grandpa passed away on 22 November 1981 at the age of 103.

Most of the interaction I had with my great grandpa occurred at my late grandpa James Sunam's home at Kampung Takuli, Beaufort. I think I was no more than 10 years old then. Those days there was no electricity at my grandpa James Sunam's home. At dusk, my grandpa James Sunam would 'crank up' the Hurricane Lamp and there was no TV at night. So you could have guessed by now that I was not very big on staying overnight at my granpa's home.

On hindsight, I think I know why my maternal auntie Margaret Sunam tricked me and my younger sister into tagging along with her to my grandpa's home on one particular day. She enticed us to follow her to my grandpa's home and promised that we would not be staying overnight. I think they had wanted us to meet our great grandpa and resorted to trickery to get us going.

I remember that night I was throwing tantrum because I wanted to go home. It was dark, no TV and I was miserable. The adults made excuses as to why they could not send us home that night. I remember my grandpa called me to his side and I complied. Sitting next to him was a familiar old face, I had seen him before. My grandpa told me that the old man was my 'Datuk'. Still sulking, I acknowledged half heartedly. I was young and did not know the significance of the moment. How could I? The concept that my grandpa has a father was not apparent to me. I thought my Datuk was just another old men, a friend to my grandpa.

I remember that my grandpa was very (I mean VERY) respectful to my Datuk, almost to the extend of reverence. That night, my grandpa tried to prod me into having a longer conversation with my Datuk. I remember it did not last very long because soon I lost interest; I did not have any interest to begin with on account that I was upset at being tricked into staying overnight. I might even had been rude to my Datuk but he just brushed aside my attitude with a sagely smile. There is this vivid scene etched in my head, of him staring at me affectionately. His face was all wrinkly but I remember his eyes were very alive and alert. So there we were, my grandpa trying to make me talk and the surrounding was aglow in yellow hue from the candle light. Datuk spoke to me in Hakka but I cannot remember what he said to me. Anyhow, my Hakka was not really good anyway.

The next time I would see Datuk again, was at his home at Kiambor. By that time, he was bed ridden and frail. When he passed away, I was not brought along to his funeral.

I always thought that my siblings and I are second generation Chinese on the Chinese side of the family. Am I confusing you? Sorry, I have trouble putting my train of thoughts in proper order. Let me explain, my father was a Chinese Hakka, he was borned in Sandakan. His parents came from China. Hence, my father and his siblings would be the first generation Chinese Sabahans. My father married my mother (of course, Captain obvious) whom is a Dusun. So my siblings and I are Sino-Kadazan (The National Registration Department would of course say there is no such thing but I beg to differ, check Article 161A (6)(B) of the Malaysian Constitution which says that a person who either has one parent or grandparent whom are a native of Sabah, shall be considered as a native him/herself).

Apparently, my mother was not her family's first trailblazers in marrying someone of different race! My Datuk himself was either a Sino-Kadazan or full fledged Chinese! Why I cannot for certain say what his actual race is because we do not have the details of his mother. None at all! But we know who his father was.

Thanks to gatherings like our annual clan gathering, the older generations of our family could share their knowledge of our clan history. This is what I gleaned so far:

The Malays are offshoots of Dusuns in Borneo?

I revisited my blog post about the Bununs & Dusuns today because apparently, most visitors that landed to my humble blog came because of this post(according to Blogger stats). Apparently, some folks had been reposting that post in Facebook and Twitter hehehe.. I am glad they were entertained by it, it was done for amusement. However, it has generated a kind of buzz that got people sharing their knowledge etc. That is a pleasant 'by product' I did not expect.

Anyway, like I said, I was revisiting that post and checking on comments made about it and I found this link that someone has shared in response to someone else's post about my post hehehe.. 

So I am sharing it here. It says some scientists are conducting research and suggested that the Malays in Peninsula Malaysia are in fact, Dusuns who migrated there. And Yunnan China is again mentioned. Click on 1Malaysia for the link. 

Dedicated Page for links to Dusun & Sabah Cultures articles

History & Cultural Relations - Dusun : added on 28 May 2010
Dusun word was derived from a Chinese word "luisooun"? : added on 28 May 2010
Dusuns in Brunei? : added on 28 May 2010
Sindurang Balakang, a pioneer of defender of the Kadazan rights in North Borneo : added on 28 May 2010

Dusun Tatana - Origin

I am curious to find out more about my heritage. If you have facts that contradict with my version, please, pray tell. I would love to hear from you.

Tatana is one of the Sub-group of the tribe, Dusun. Dusun in Kuala Penyu, Sabah, refer themselves as Dusun Tatana.

(Note: These days Dusun has been ‘bundled’ together with the Kadazans. We are called KadazanDusun now. Politically correct)

According to oral history passed down to my mother (whose memory is not as sharp as it was before, I’m just writing what she told me), the word Tatana means ‘earth people’ or in Malay, ‘orang tanah’.

In the old days, the Dusuns in Kuala Penyu were constantly harassed by a neighbouring tribe called the Bisaya. Quite common those days. Old folks say that a village was considered a country back then, hence, if it was a fight between 2 villages, it was actually considered as a fight between  2 countries. And head hunting was still being practiced back then. Hence, the raids could be a head hunting party.

As a defence, the Dusun in Kuala Penyu started building underground hideouts. When the raiding party came, the Dusuns would hide in these underground hideouts. That is how Dusun Tatana came to be known as Tatana.  

It is also claimed that due to the constant harassment by the Bisaya, some Dusun migrated in land, as far as Tambunan. Not sure whether Tambunan already had its Dusun community then or whether the present day Dusun Tambunan are the progeny of these Dusun Tatana that migrated there.

This is the problem with oral history. It changes each time it’s retold.

Technorati Tags: Kadazan,Dusun,Bisaya

Legend of Mt Kinabalu – Mixture of Myth & Truth

The following story was taken from Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association’s website.

One of many KadazanDusun legends compiled by Joanna K-Kissey, Director of State Archives. Please take note that I copied it verbatim.

One of popular legends of Mount Kinabalu is about the dragon who lived at the top of Mount Kinabalu, who was said to have a ‘Butiza’, a lunimous jewel a bezoar stone, which he used as his lamp and plaything.

On moonlight night the people of Ranau and Tamparuli places would look up at Kinabalu and they saw the bright gem being tossed up and caught again and again on the dragon’s forked tongue.

The story about this dragon luminous jewel, spred beyond the seas, even as far as China. The Emperor who heard about it was determined to get possessions of the jewel. He send away of his best warriors to get it but all in vain. Till, he finally decided tosend his two sons, Wong Wang Kong, the elders, and Wong Song Ping, the younger brother. The brothers sent in their own junk equipped with men.

When they finally reached Borneo and came to Kinabalu Mountain, they found out that it was such a difficult task. The elder brother was disappointed with their futile attempt but the younger brother was working on his strategy to take the jewel.

The Dusun(Sabah,Malaysia) and Bunun(Taiwan) connection?

Years ago, I heard talks about how KadazanDusun’s culture and rituals are quite similar to that of a tribe in Taiwan. It suggested a possible common ancestry. I thought nothing more of it but today, perhaps I got too much free time on hand, I revisited that theory. Surfed the net, read articles, read forums.

From herein, I will refer KadazanDusun as Dusun because the former is long and I’m too lazy to type long names. In anycase, KadazanDusun is a recent coinage, a marriage of the tribe name of Kadazan and Dusun by our leaders for unification purposes. I’m not here to discuss kadazanDusun, if you want to know more about the background of the name, I suggest you visit Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association’s website.

The following is an excerpt from http://en.allexperts.com/e/k/ka/kadazan.htm

The Kadazan language is an amalgation of various influences, mainly coming from other indigenous tribes in North Borneo and the adoption of various Malay words. According to legend, the Kadazan language has its roots in the migration of a band of seafaring Chinese from Southern China. Anecdotes describe a provincial Chinese tribe whose language differs greatly with the common Chinese dialects but bears striking similarities to the Kadazan language; a tribe whom purportedly bear a physical resemblance to Kadazans as well. However, no research or concrete evidence has risen to support these claims although it is supported by authoritative figures in the Kadazan community.