Folklore provides a socially sanctioned outlet for the discussion of the forbidden and taboo.
– Alan Dundes, American interpreter
There are still many in the Iban community of the current generation who still submit fully to their families’ taboos or injunctions.
These prohibitions are inherited from their forebears who were compelled to practise them in the past for various reasons, including real happenings, special episodes and more often in the form of interdicts by the unseen spirits or deities via dreams plus a few other possibilities.
For instance, in the case of some families in middle Krian, Saratok who are the descendants of a brave warrior Ranggung many generations ago, they are forbidden to kill or eat burung tiong (Hill Myna), a type of bird with a very distinct sound as its name suggests (tiong-tiong-tiong). And this species of bird can also be trained to speak, making them greatly favoured pets with some even costing up to RM3,000 each in the market.
Ranggung was put into the limelight when he decided to lead some men in protecting women who were working in their farm plots during the days when the Kantu tribe from Kalimantan Barat were still at war with the Iban ethnics.
There were usual Kantu attacks at their area making it not safe for anyone to do farming and other acts unguarded. Prior to that very moment of Ranggung’s decision, the ladies used to be guarded by warriors from other longhouses, an item that put to shame the able men of their own longhouse.
As expected, on the way to their farm lots, the Kantu guerillas with no fewer than 20 strong and heavily armed men, ambushed Ranggung and his group, including about 10 women that they guarded. Being ready and in total fighting mode, Ranggung fought fearlessly using his sharp nyabur war blade and wooden shield.
His colleagues used both their parang-ilang machete and spears. They were heavily outnumbered but it was the sounds of burung tiong flying in great number against the enemy direction that became their saviour. Their adversaries were thinking more of Ranggung’s men were coming for reinforcement.
“It’s better for us to withdraw from here. Even fighting this guy alone is impossible, now more men are coming. Let’s run,” the Kantu warrior head shouted to his men that were clearly heard by Ranggung and company.
So the tiong-tiong sound by the big number of Mynas really became the saviour for Ranggung, his men and their ladies. None of them got killed or seriously wounded. Back in the longhouse the men and their charges heaped praises on Ranggung for his gallant act. He was their new hero and a breath of fresh air in giving their farming ventures a boost.
During his sleep later that night Ranggung dreamed that he met an old man dressed in a warrior gear. The man told him how he and his men had helped him (Ranggung) to scare and drive away his enemies earlier during the day.
“I am the tiong chief. From now onward you and your descendants are forbidden to catch, keep, kill or eat any of my subjects (burung tiong or Hill Myna),” the old man told him. The next day Ranggung gathered his family members and relayed to them the edicts from the tiong chief.
Subsequently such notice of prohibitions was spread all over the immediate neighbourhood, including all families in the longhouse. So, for generations these descendants have been observing and adhering to this prohibition known as ‘mali tiong’.
Any act of going against the ‘pemali’ or taboo is likely to involve bad or negative and possibly fatal consequences on the culprit or individual involved.
For example, in some longhouses in Rimbas basin, in Debak, many people are ‘mali kijang’ – they are forbidden to take the meat of the barking deer (muntjac) – and many who have failed to comply with such taboo find out that their limbs bear the white stripes of the lower part of kijang’s legs. My children from first marriage are all ‘mali kijang’ as a legacy from their mom.
In another taboo case of old, one Kiah, a mother of two daughters, was ‘mali buntak ruai’, namely she was forbidden to eat ‘buntak ruai’ a type of edible grasshopper. This was because her spirit was kept inside that type of grasshopper.
Her sick and stubborn youngest daughter, despite having been told about this, out of annoyance, killed a ‘buntak ruai’ she kept as pet while her mom was away working in the farm. Upon her return, the mom felt something was terribly wrong with her. She just managed to reach home before dropping dead. This was an extreme case of not adhering to prohibitions.
I will share more ‘pemali’ in the Iban community with readers later.
