LOCATION IDENTIFICATION

5.2 LOCATION IDENTIFICATION

“Because today, the Tutong, Dusuns and Kedayans still have their village, united, when the Belaits came here (dispersed) attacked by the crowd, Belaits are defeated. So they get influenced from left to right, that is the reason.” “It is because the Belait community is no longer as one, it has broken up, and I feel life

in the village is special in terms of unity.”

The above extract is taken from my field work data where my respondent have described from their point of view of what Mukim Labi and Kuala Balai meant to them as a Belait ethnic. They compared themselves with the other ethnic groups in Brunei such as the ‘Tutong’,’Dusuns and ‘Kedayans’ as united and not dispersed, they believe that the existence of a village that is exclusively settled by an ethnic group would yield unity. In their case their village was once an important community that acts as a social cohesion for all the Belait ethnic in Brunei or at least in Kuala Belait for both Mukim Labi and Kuala Balai.

My respondents felt that if the Belait ethnic group wanted to elevate themselves from being forgotten they needed social cohesion or unity amongst themselves;

“Jadi semangat bersat u semangat bergotong royong urang belait baik di labi atau di kuala balai sudah habis, pacah sudah. “

“So the spirit of unity and working together as a belait whether they are in labi or in kuala balai has long gone.”

“aku sampai masa ani masih lagi angan2 supaya kampong kuala balai atu masih berkembang maju, atu saja antara salah satu caranya supaya urang belati atu

bersatu”

“It has been my long dream for the village Kuala Balai to still stand developed, but one way of doing it is for the Belaits to unite as one”.

The way my respondents have described Mukim labi and Kuala Balai to them is a home, a home filled with other belaits as neighbours, where life was simple in its form. The words ‘masyarakat’ community and ‘gotong royong’ working together depicts a once unified Belait ethnic; they are attached to their long lost villages.

Why this is as an important marker is because they felt a sense of belonging, an idea that the other ethnic groups are easily identified such as the tutongs and kedayans from their village or place of origin, in our current setting a Belait district resident is more likely an out- migrated family from other districts who are not a Belait ethnic. Belait district does not identify you as a Belait ethnic according to my respondents but to be born and raised from Mukim Labi or Kuala Balai in the early 1940 to late 1970 meant that you are a Belait ethnic group.

Even though a majority of them have migrated out from their villages they still identify Mukim Labi and Kuala Balai as what makes an ethnic Belait, I say majority because there are still a very small number probably 2 or 3 families still living in Mukim Labi or Kuala Balai. As I have mentioned above they have a sense of belonging, much of their lives are spent in Even though a majority of them have migrated out from their villages they still identify Mukim Labi and Kuala Balai as what makes an ethnic Belait, I say majority because there are still a very small number probably 2 or 3 families still living in Mukim Labi or Kuala Balai. As I have mentioned above they have a sense of belonging, much of their lives are spent in

I asked how my respondents would identify a Belait ethnic group today and he answered by asking who my grandparents were and by doing so they immediately recognize her name and where she used to live and that identifier then extends to my own place within the ethnic Belait;

“You have to ask their origin, like I have asked you earlier, who is your

grandmother? And only then I knew that you are a Belait”

“For example labi is a Belait village so he/she is a Belait, kuala Balai makes

them a Belait. If its here of course it is difficult probably only when the person talks, ‘are you a Belait?’ no, you will not hear anyone asking such”.

Mukim Labi and Kuala Balai has been and will always be identified as the villages of the Belait ethnic group even if they have migrated out, this requires a form on consensus as well as social closure or a general agreement although not publicly stated that they share the same sentiment towards what they identify as part of their ethnic legacy and most importantly what was once a place of community that once hold a strong ethnic Belait.