Bujang Berani 2000
The warriors days celebrations in Sarawak
January 2001

THIS year the 11th Bujang Berani Festival that took place from October 27-29, travelled to Uma Badeng, Long Lawen, Sungai Tekulang, a longhouse by its very existence symbolises the resistance against Bakun. The Long Lawen community was previously residing in Long Geng, one of the Kenyah longhouses affected by the Bakun Hydroelectric Dam.

Long Lawen is Long Geng left behind, peopled by those who dared to refuse moving to Sg. Asap, the Bakun Resettlement Scheme. The longhouse is situated among tranquil hills; a newly constructed home perched by the cliff overlooking the Tekulang River.

After 4 hours of driving from Bintulu, when Sahabat Alam Malaysia's (SAM) officers finally reached the longhouse, they were welcomed by the customary ngajat and traditional music. A smaller affair compared to previous year's celebration in Batu Kalo, the spirit nonetheless remained high.

THE festival was officially opened by a lawyer friend from Bintulu, Mr. Paul Rajah. It began with an outdoor procession, filled with different ethnic attires. Prayers were offered and a wild boar was sacrificed at the entrance of the house. Speeches interspersed with dances and good food, filled the three-day affair. Representatives from the Penan communities from Belaga for the first time attended the ceremony to the delight of other guests. Unfortunately, a number of Penan from Baram, fresh from putting up blockades against the logging companies could not make it to the celebration, for mysteriously, on the same dates; another affair was being planned for them.

On the last night of the festival, the guests and hosts danced, performed and partied together till sunrise, enjoying such unbelievably humorous contests from "hot coffee drinking competition" to "joget-stop", or rather statue-dancing, to "guess-what-is-in-the-box contest" only to find out that the organisers even put things as bizarre as water from the Tekulang River in the box. Different languages, different people and different ages, but all united for a common cause.

The festival ended in high spirits on a Monday morning. Next year it will travel back home to Uma Bawang, where the first Bujang Berani Festival was celebrated to welcome home the warriors who were wrongfully detained by the police for putting up blockades to protect their customary land.