What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
– William Shakespeare, English playwright, poet and actor
WHILE serving in a teachers’ college and later in a few schools from Kanowit to Bau and of course going around the longhouses in Krian, Saribas, along the Rajang basin from Bawang Assan in Sibu to Nanga Mujong in Baleh, Kapit; from Medamit in Limbang to Temburong in Brunei, I came across peculiar names, thanks to imaginative Iban parents.
Instead of conventionally deriving names from their forebears/ancestors, they name their offspring after an event, a happening, a phenomenon, or even after world leaders and ‘others’, the latter posing the question ‘to name or not to name?’
as in Shakespeare’s play ‘to be or not to be’ (Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1).
So out of these we come across interesting names such Helikopta after a helicopter while Bilun (aeroplane) as well as Engkabang (illipeanut) are related to each other – Bilun buah Engkabang is Iban word for helicopter. I know a few in Saratok named Jipun, mostly born in 1941/1942 during the Japanese occupation as Jipun is the Iban word for Japan and Japanese.
Two of them are my relatives.
These might have something to do with the enhanced presence of helicopters at the beginning of the Japanese era in Sarawak. While in BSB Brunei in 1999, I also came to know an Iban police inspector Bilun from Temburong, whose parents were from Betong.
In schools I came across two students named after the assassinated US President John Kennedy whereas a former Sessions Court judge was named at birth after two of the country’s leaders combined, namely Nixon Kennedy. There are a few Iban named Churchill, even one or two Saddam and a few Sadat after the two Middle East leaders of different eras.
Some are testaments of history for being named Malaysia, especially those born on Aug 31, 1963 while a relative of mine was given the name Sarawak at birth.
Closer to home and family, my late younger brother who lived only for forty days was named Tambi (an Iban equivalent of Indian) after a Pakistani carpet seller who lodged with my family at the time of his birth in 1959.
My big brother Edward Jelani, 81, a veteran Iban RTM recording artiste, named his second son Jokerson Jembu, 49, with the ethnic Iban name after my paternal grandfather whereas Jokerson was chosen because Edward was busy playing a game of ginramy (where cards bearing images of the ‘jokers’ are very useful) when the son was born on Valentine’s Day that year (1974) but his uncle had already taken the name Valentine two decades earlier. Jokerson’s younger sister Florence May is so named for being born on first of May 48 years ago. As such the Bee Gees popular song ‘First of May’ always features on her birthdays.
Some nostalgic and sentimental Iban parents name their kids after doctors or nurses present at their births. So we have Iban kids being name Rao Suresh, Lila, Gracia or Garcia, Lingam and many more names that are after doctors and nurses. An inventive non-English speaking Iban father named his kid Don Hiroshee that sounds Japanese but I was later told it came from a combination of three English words Don’t Hero She.
Two couples, both our close relatives, used to call me fondly as ‘Ajak’ till the day they were called home by the Lord many decades ago. My late mom once explained ‘Ajak’ was after a Malay male ‘Razak’ who headed a group of Malay rubber tappers working at a vast rubber plot, belonging to one of the aforesaid couples. Mom guessed I was fondly called ‘Ajak’ by the two uncles and aunties probably because of a failed attempt by Razak and wife to adopt me when I was an infant.
There is also a relative named Berayan – the Iban equivalent of ‘accidently dropped/miscarried’ – for being born ‘dropping’ from the birth canal while the mother was enroute to a detached latrine outside their longhouse about 55 years ago.
Berayan’s deformed torso is proof of this adversity.
For the average Iban parents, Christianity brought about some changes but most of them stick to convention of naming their offspring after their forebears. However, sadly this is slowly becoming history as most modern parents do not even know the names of their grandparents. This becomes a vicious circle thus resulting in them adopting Christian names only.
When we were in USM, Penang some friends made fun of our ethnic names. Some called me Valentine Taruh Seluk whereas my Kelabit friend, the now retired former SMK Tebakang principal Carter Ballang Kapong, was teased with names including Kata Balik Kampung. We did not get offended; in fact we took pride in such teases and our names.
The moral is take pride in whatever name given to you. And to take heed of Confucius, don’t laugh at others’ names, unless you want others to laugh at yours.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
