Effects of the Malaynisation Strategy

2.4 Effects of the Malaynisation Strategy

As mentioned above, one of the effects of the Malaynisation strategy is the emulation of a Muslim way of life among the non-Muslims. One feature of that Islamic lifestyle which is commonly adopted by the non-Muslims in Brunei is the Muslim dress code. In theory, such dress code is a useful index of identification that suggests the wearer is

a Muslim. In the recent years however, the way the Dusuns dress and appear would not distinctly set themselves apart from the Muslims as there has been an apparent similarity in the way the Muslims and the Dusuns dress themselves. School uniform is one of the means that contribute to the mutual emulation of the Muslim dress code where female students are encouraged to wear headscarf. Whilst the working-age

Dusuns who are in the public service have been similarly accustomed to wearing Islamic-like dress sense because those within the workforce have been encouraged to adopt a Muslim dress sense so that the image of the national workforce is parallel to

the government‟s effort to establish a strong Islamic image of the country. A twenty- three-year-old Dusun who converted to Islam in 2008 succinctly expressed her

experience in the following interview excerpt:

[E7.Muslim Dusun.I14]

In the past, many of my friends thought I was a Muslim because I wore headscarf to school. Even my class teacher could not tell I was a non-Muslim. I remember on one occasion, she asked me to participate in the mass recitation of Al-Quran organised by the school. I know it took her by surprise when I told her that I could not to join the event because I was a non-Muslim... [Trans.]

This case of mistaken identity was also experienced by another Muslim convert who converted in 1995:

[E8.Muslim Dusun.I36]

I first wore headscarf when I attended the teacher‟s training centre. Although the Muslim dress code was only applied to the Muslim

teacher trainees and the non-Muslims were only encouraged to wear them, I did feel comfortable wearing the headscarf. What I started to notice was that, those who met me for the first time would greet me

with „Assalamualaikum’... [Trans.]

The above interview excerpts can be taken as illustrations of how the Muslim way of dressing has become the basic part of the social life of many non-Muslims in Brunei, and the cases of mistaken identity clearly demonstrate the minimal differences in the way the non-Muslims dress themselves vis-à-vis the dress manner of the Muslims. This observation is in line with King‟s (1994) argument that it is rather difficult

nowadays to distinguish between those who are originally part of the mainstream nowadays to distinguish between those who are originally part of the mainstream

i.e. rest of the ethnic groups (King 1994:186).

The relevance of the above discussion to this study is that the breakdown of the cultural differences influences the characters and the definition of the stages in the conversion process of the Dusun Muslim converts, as will be explained in Chapter 5. The early exposure to the Muslim lifestyle and dress sense becomes a handy tool in supporting the conversion process of the Dusuns, particularly during the stage where they underwent some preparations to break from the Dusun religion before they could proceed with their conversion.

What is more, the manifestation of such cultural similarities inevitably leads us to question the extent of attachment that the Dusuns actually have with their ethnic religion. The following section will explore this issue.