LANGUAGE: IS IT SIGNIFICANT?

5.6 LANGUAGE: IS IT SIGNIFICANT?

5.6.1 IT IS PURE AND NOT HYBRIDIZED

“If I am with her I would speak in Belait, with my siblings yes in Belait but outside form that I would not want to. In fear of no one would want to reply to

me, because they are embarrassed, for example at weddings you can hear for yourself, between two belait in front of a crowd they would speak in Malay but as an individual, I feel offended if I were to speak in Malay with her, as If I am mocking her, because what is the point of me speaking in Malay with a belait like her? Embarrassed of the language right?”

In this section I will focus on the Belait language to show how it is significant despite being less emphasise as a survivability of the ethnic belait. The Belait language is pure in its form and speech, what do I mean by this is that there exists no hybridized form of the Belait language at least to my knowledge and from years of observation and listening to my own family. The language is unique although a similar language exists in kiudang and in a region in Malaysia the Belait ethnic however denies similarities and claims that they are of a different dialect and there are differences in pronunciation and tones. Below are some of the responses from a conversation that I share with one of my respondent;

“Truthfully I would rather speak in Belait, English is also better rather than Malay with me, insulting me and my ethnic group”

“If someday I meet someone of the Belait ethnic and he or she speaks in Malay I will not reply until they speak in Belait, not to be arrogant but I feel offended. How can you speak Malay with another Belait, they are embarrassed of their

own ethnic group”

The Belait language is significance as something uniquely Belait meaning that it is inclusive only between the Belaits, he mentions that he will only speak with another Beliat member in the Belait language and refuses to speak in the Malay language with a Belait member. In fact my respondent express resentment towards the usage of Malay language between Belait ethnic members “hina rasaku kalau ku ckp melayu dengan kedia” he feels insulted if he were to speak in Malay with another Belait.

“‘speak in malay haji’, ‘I am a belait’ I said it is not wrong to speak in belait and what does it have to do with you? I am a belait and he is a belait, I am speaking in belait with another belait whats wrong with that? I should not speak in Brunei with that fellow Belait i, they will laugh at me.”

The Belait language may not be of significance in the survivability of the ethnic group’s identity but it is significant as an element of differentiation between what makes a Belait and

what makes a Malay. The fact that he made a clear distinction between Malay and Belait language meant that there is no hybridize form of the Belait language for example Brunei practices a hybridized Brunei Malay language with English which sets it apart from traditional Malay and Malaysian Malay.

Language in this context acts as a social cohesion that binds together members of a Belait ethnic group, they may located in different areas of the country but still persists to communicate in the Belait language with one another. However looking back at what my respondent has said before “language may no longer exist within the younger generations but customs and traditions are easy” here shows a strategic way of maintaining the Belait ethnic

group through an alternative easier route than trying to maintain language where the difficulty is acknowledge.

5.6.2 LANGUAGE IS LESS IMPORTANT THAN CUSTOMS

Analysing the data what can be seen from the interviews is that language is seen to be given less emphasis by my respondents as oppose to their customs, this is important to note because emphasising on one aspect means the deemphasising of another, when one is deemed more important another aspect is left on its own.

“The belait language may no longer exist within the younger generations but customs and traditions are easy, hold on to the customs. No need to go far for example balik itga hari , eating beras rujut , for us to show that we are a belait

ethnic and still hold on to our customs and traditions”.

From the above text it is possible to deduce that language holds little significance to the survivability of the Belait ethnic to what I have believed before, instead emphasis is put towards the practice of beras rujut as can be seen above. My respondent acknowledges the demise of the language in the current generation of young Belaits but sees the importance of beras rujut as the key to the survivability of the ethnic group. Below is how the same respondent perceives customs and traditions in his perspective;

“To maintain means so that it does not deteriorate, the people exist but without customs as if the tribe no longer exists. Because if a tribe exists they must possess

customs, because once the custom ceased to exist the tribe itself do not.”

To him, customs and traditions meant the very definition of existence for any ethnic group or tribe hence why such emphasis is put towards it. The same goes for other respondents towards the interview sessions they have mentioned a lot of how the practice of beras rujut needs to have its own workshop for everyone to learn and bring forward.

This emphasis and de-emphasis of two key elements of what makes a Belait ethnic identity leads to the insignificant of Language putting it in a position to be less looked on, the language in this sense is not the key to the survivability of the ethnic identity.

5.6.3 LANGUAGE IS NOT NEEDED IN CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS

My personal observation in the practice of beras rujut quite a number of years back has showed me that the ceremony is purely an act of gestures of pouring and passing of the beras rujut , the beras holds the very meaning of the whole act because it is script less no chants or specific rites are required or said during the ceremony, there is no distinction that requires them to speak in Belait throughout the whole process. Again to put forward the idea of customs over language in this context, language may be of significance and a good ethnic marker but it has less significance through its ceremonies and how the people see them.

5.6.4 UPBRINGING OF FAMILY

“Nowadays the belait language has faded. Because their children do not know how to speak the language, it is either the parents did not teach them or they do not want to learn it…This is because the parents themselves did not speak the belait language to the children, because our mothers and grandparents are embarrassed. I would not be if it was me, because it is a sin for us no to use the belait language”.

I have touched on the matter of identification and significance of how the Belaits identify themselves today however in this section of the chapter I will talk about the factors that has affected the identity of the Belait today and its language with retrospect of past events.

The data from my respondents suggests that one of the reasons why the Belait language is becoming extinct is because how parents are not teaching their children the language and once these children grow up they are less interested in learning the language hence the demise of the Belait language, below are the thoughts from my respondents towards the matter;

“From my own experience, once they do not know how to speak the belait language that will never want to anymore. It is not that they are arrogant, for example if you do not know how to speak English then you would not reply in English, just like that. A belait will not speak the language, they would not reply

in belait to us…It is not embarrassment, they do not know how to. Don’t know how to speak the Belait language, it is true a lot of kids nowadays say that they are embarrassed but it is not the case, because they do not know how to speak

the language.”

The upbringings of the generation of Belait have missed the knowledge of the Belait language, some of these could be because of intermarriages;

“I did not speak the belait language with them (kids), the father did not know how to speak the belait language then how can I speak the language to my

children?...I have no one to talk in belait with; my eldest son would speak in belait if he meets another belait but in Malay if it is with me.”

Form the above dialog my respondent described it as not having anyone to talk with in the Belait language because her husband did not speak the language hence she finds in difficult to converse in Belait with her own children hence the language then slowly disappear. However there are Belait families that has successfully pass down the language to their children and grandchildren from my own observation as I was doing fieldwork a family of three generation with children who were younger than me spoke fluently in the Belait Form the above dialog my respondent described it as not having anyone to talk with in the Belait language because her husband did not speak the language hence she finds in difficult to converse in Belait with her own children hence the language then slowly disappear. However there are Belait families that has successfully pass down the language to their children and grandchildren from my own observation as I was doing fieldwork a family of three generation with children who were younger than me spoke fluently in the Belait

5.6.5 INTERMARRIAGES

An important factor would be intermarriage between individuals coming from ethnic groups. “Yes but their children, once they have husbands and wife who are tutongs, or Bruneians, they spread , migrate. Some build their own houses” As the Belaits out-migrated to towns to

get better jobs and schools they get married with those of a different ethnic group for example tutong and dusuns. In some cases the language survives but for some I cannot say the same, there seem to be a chain of repeating cycle of family upbringing. My respondents mentioned that as they are married to their spouse who are from a different ethnic group they find it difficult to converse with their children let alone to their spouse, hence they use the Malay language to communicate with each other. The fact that these children are educated in the Malay medium helps to enforce the use of the language to the already weak ties of the native language their parents have.