Singing Iban through societal changes

IN MALE-dominated longhouse hierarchy, Sijah Anak Ejut of Sungai Siong stands tall. Not only is she a tuai rumah (head of an Iban longhouse), she also has a career as a singer who is popular among the 5,000-plus longhouses of Sarawak.

A tuai rumah is elected by longhouse inhabitants and is recognised by the Sarawak government as the longhouse legal representative in all official dealings.

The tuai rumah receives an allowance of RM450 ($183) a month.

Sijah was elected in 1999 at the age of 27, putting her among the youngest women to head a longhouse.

"My late grandfather, the tuai rumah before me, proposed two names including mine for the longhouse folks to choose as their leader," said Sijah.

The original wooden longhouse of 53 families has been split up mainly due to limited land and fire concerns.

Sijah is now building a modern concrete longhouse surrounded by individual houses and a primary school.

This only child of a single-parent family (her parents divorced when she was a baby) bears the mantle of authority with ease.

She is not just a longhouse leader, but also the Sungai Siong community leader chosen in 2004 by the state from outstanding tuai rumah to serve the community better. As such, she represents eight longhouses with an estimated population of 800.

Her uncle, Malaka Anak Sigan, helps her as the assistant tuai rumah when she is not staying at the longhouse.

The outspoken Sijah is not afraid to express her disappointment at the slow pace of development in her longhouse area.

"Although our longhouse is only 35km from Sibu town, we are lagging behind in basic amenities and infrastructure.

"We do not even have electricity or tap water," she pointed out.

"Imagine in this 21st century, a school and a clinic near a town centre depend on their own generators for electricity and collect rain water for consumption," she said.

She called on Rural and Regional Development Deputy Minister and Selangau MP Joseph Entulu Beluan and Tamin assemblyman Joseph Mauh Ikeh to do more for the rakyat.

She said that much of the surrounding areas had been turned into oil palm plantations but did not bring much benefit to the local community as most of the workers were foreigners.

"The most significant benefit is perhaps the road leading to our longhouses that the oil palm company built. However, it is not tarred and is always in poor condition. We pay RM10 ($4) per car annually to use the road," she lamented.

It is not all bad news, though.

Sijah was quick to note the things the community was proud of.

Among them is SK Sungai Siong, one of four rural schools in Malaysia that received the Anugerah Sekolah Cemerlang at Universiti Putra Malaysia two weeks ago.

The award came with RM50,000 ($20,360) cash, which is much needed to renovate the school.

Built in 1957, SK Sungai Siong has only 65 pupils. It achieved 100 per cent passes in the UPSR examination for three consecutive years since 2006. Last year, four pupils obtained five As. The school also excels in sports.

"I am proud that, despite the lack of basic facilities, a rural school can do well at national level," said the longhouse chief.

Sijah studied at SK Sungai Siong until Year 4 and completed the rest of her primary education at SK Rasau, several hours away by boat. She then attended SMK Jalan Oya, 24km from Sibu, and later SMK Rosli Dobhy, also in Sibu, for Form 4 and Form 5.

She said there were many graduates from the villages and regretted that she did not further her studies.

While growing up, she had to juggle school and work. Besides planting padi and tapping rubber, she also collected food and firewood from the jungle, jobs traditionally done by men.

She sees it as a blessing in disguise as the challenging childhood moulded her into a strong and independent person.

Even today, she still plants padi twice a year. "We do not have to buy from town as we always have sufficient rice from the harvests. This saves a lot of money," she said.

"We" includes her mother Edot Anak Sigan, who never remarried and stays with her, helping to take care of three grandchildren.

"Look, my palms are so rough after all the farm work, nothing like a sexy and sophisticated singer," she laughed as she showed her hands.

Her fans may disagree.

She has recorded five albums, with a sixth to be released soon. Two of her albums are duets with husband Peter Aaron, whom she met during one of her performances.

While Aaron works full time as a journalist with a daily newspaper, he also performs at shows singing Iban and Malay songs.

Sijah has been performing since she was a student, singing at school and longhouse functions as well as competitions.

After leaving school, she became more active by performing at social and cultural events in central Sarawak.

Her career took off when she won second place at an Iban singing competition in Sibu in 2005.

This success was immediately followed with an offer to be a freelance recording artiste with an Iban company. Her fist album was released in the same year.

"I aspired to be a singer since I was a girl, but in those days it was difficult to learn and practise as we did not even own a radio," she recalled.

She later learned to sing on her own by listening to songs via radio, television and music cassettes.

In between her roles as tuai rumah, community leader, singer, farmer and mother of three school-going children, Sijah relaxes by fishing at Sungai Siong near her longhouse.

"This is where I find peace and think about things, and indulge in memories of my childhood," she said. ANN/The Star