A Study of the Belait Ethnic Group in Br

UNIVERSITI BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

A Study of the Belait Ethnic Group in Brunei Darussalam : an Emic

Perspective

Muhammad Nur Fa’iz Abdul Razak

11b8231 November 2015

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITI BRUNEI DARUSSALAM NEGARA BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, ALHAMDULILLAH all praises to Allah the Almighty for His guidance for me to complete this research thesis. This Honours thesis is the pinnacle of my undergraduate degree and for that I would like to express my great appreciation to my supervisor Dr Farah Purwaningrum for the endless support, constructive criticisms, and guidance in producing my very first independent research work. I would also like to extend my gratitude to UBD lecturers especially Professor Zawawi Ibrahim, Professor Lian Kwen Fee, Professor Jeremy Jammes and Dr Zhang Yanxia for their excellent lectures and seminars, which have helped me to develop my intellectual skills.

I wish to acknowledge the help from my fellow colleagues and friends for their moral support, guidance and assistance throughout my four years of study in the University.

A very special appreciation goes to my parents Abdul Razak Haji Daud and Risnani Haji Abdul Halim and loved ones for their endless support, encouragement and prayers throughout my undergraduate study and for believing in me all this time. I would like to extend this appreciation to my grandmother Hjh Putit bte Seruji for providing me with her assistance during my fieldwork. My special thanks also go to the respondents for giving their time, trust and cooperation for sharing their stories and knowledge.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Aims and objectives

1.3 Principal Research Questions

1.4 Significance of Research

1.5 Limitations of Research

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ON ETHNIC GROUPS IN BORNEO

2.1 Literature review

2.1.1 The state and nation building policies

2.1.2 Other Ethnic Groups of Borneo

2.1.3 Boundary blurring and Boundary making

CHAPTER III

FACTS AND FOLKLORE

3.1 Brunei Darussalam

27 3.1.1 Brief History

27 3.1.2 Politics

28 3.1.3 Economy

29 3.1.4 Culture and society

3.2 Mukim Kuala Balai : Golden Age

31 3.2.1 History

31 3.2.2 Economy

31 3.2.3 People, Culture and Society

CHAPTER IV HISTORICAL EVENTS: BELAIT ETHNIC & ITS VILLAGES

4.1 Reminiscing the past: Hardships and Physical Labor late 1930 39

4.2 Compromise: Resettlement, 1952 Onwards

4.3 The Push towards an Educated Nation 1984 Onwards

CHAPTER V BELAIT ETHNIC GROUP: PERSPECTIVES FROM WITHIN

5.1 Introduction 47 5.2 Location Identification

47 5.3 Symbolic Practices

5.4 Religion: Muslim and non-Muslim Belait Ethnic 51

5.6 Languages: is it Significant?

54 5.6.1 It is Pure and not Hybridize

54 5.6.2 Language is Less Important than Customs

56 5.6.3 Language is not needed in Customs & Traditions

57 5.6.4 Upbringing of the Family

57 5.6.5 Intermarriages

59 5.7 Strong Influence of MIB

CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSION

6.2 Further Research and Suggestions

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The study of Ethnicity has been and is still being studied by Sociologists and Anthropologists worldwide, may it be on the political, micro, macro, or regional ethnicity has played an important part in how society has developed since the start of human categorization; citizenship, ethnicity, nationalism and race. However from previous comparative studies done by researchers of the social sciences, this system of human categorization is dynamic in nature and changes overtime. On the state level or the macro approach, these human categorizations are fixed and sometimes forced upon for statistical purposes however there are implications of such actions. We will not look at these implications in this particular research thesis but we are going to look at the dynamic process of human categorization specifically ethnic grouping on the macro and micro level.

This research thesis will look at the Belait Ethnic group in Brunei Darussalam with the question in mind; of its ethnic formation, language, culture and why are these elements facing extinction, however not to be confused with the Belait residence in the Belait district of Brunei. The Belait ethnic group in Brunei are an ethnic group composed of their own language and culture altogether unique from those who reside within the Belait district.

As mentioned earlier this research thesis will look at the dynamics of ethnic groupings of the Belait ethnic group accompanied by theories of ethnicity and ethnic boundary making as well as narratives from a few Belait ethnic people themselves. I will elaborate more on the ethnology of the Belait ethnic in the upcoming chapters.

There are a number of factors that has led to the extinction of language and cultures of many ethnic groups around the world, for some it has been the process of nation building and nation state policies. For the case of the Belait ethnic group I will look at the perspective of migration, intermarriages and the collection of narratives from the Belait ethnic as to explore the intrinsic and extrinsic values that may have led to the decline of its language and cultural practices in Brunei.

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This research thesis aims to uncover the ethnology of the Belait ethnic group; at the same time it is also to create a sense of awareness to the readers of the situation that is being faced by the group. We will look at the intrinsic and extrinsic events that have led to the development of the Belait ethnic group that we know today, as well as analysing these events, intrinsic events such as those choices made by the ethnic Belait and the extrinsic nature of the state in its policy making in nation building.

Through the ideas presented by authors who have written on ethnicity and national building, we will look at this from the perspective of boundary making, negotiation of identity, migration and with that comes in intermarriages to show how these can affect the language, culture and the overall current status of the Belait ethnic group. As well as a collection of narratives from members from the Belait group themselves, as a way to present a personal account and their point of view. This is done through semi-structured interviews that were carried out in two areas within the Belait district, namely Mukim labi and kampong Mumong, as well as desk research at the history centre and national library and notes from observation.

1.3 PRINCIPAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Main Research Question: What are the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that shapes the Belait ethnic group? Sub research questions

1. How can language be of significance in the survivability of the Belait identity as an ethnic group?

2. What events lead to the difficulty in identifying the Belait Ethnic group and its language?

3. What are the internal categories that make up the Belait ethnic group?

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH

This research is significance because there has not been any literature done in the context of Brunei in terms of Ethnic study of its indigenous groups, specifically the Belait ethnic group, while there are numerous accounts made on its culture and practices nothing has been done on the aspect of narrations. Where a collection of narratives from the people themselves that will provide us with personal accounts of their lives and their views, and open up awareness and share their worries of the troubles that they face.

This research thesis will open up a new field of possible future research that needs to be done on other aspects of ethnic studies in Brunei, at the same time this paper will hope to entice the importance of one’s ethnic identity in Brunei. Where Brunei is growing towards a

homogenous identity and culture one must always remember their roots.

1.5 LIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH

This research is by far from perfect, the main limitation was the resources there is not much literature to begin with on Brunei specifically on its ethnic groups. My visit to the history centre and the national library provided me with minimal data, and then the process of gathering primary data was also difficult and could be improved. The data collected was a collection of five interviews that took time to locate the interviewees, to find the right respondents of Belait native origin and those willing to be interviewed. The process and time spent on interviewing was challenging as these respondents are between the ages of 60 to 96, the interview questions and the nature of the interview required them to recall past events that had was decades ago and this took time and a lot of repetitive questions.

There is also the language problem during my field work; I had privilege of being accompanied by my grandmother who is a Belait native in helping me translate the Belait language. While having my grandmother can be good it can also be a challenge as twenty There is also the language problem during my field work; I had privilege of being accompanied by my grandmother who is a Belait native in helping me translate the Belait language. While having my grandmother can be good it can also be a challenge as twenty

1.6 METHODOLOGY

This form of interview has an open- ended character that has the “ability to challenge the preconceptions of the researcher, as well as enable the interviewee to answer questions within their own frame of reference” (May, 2003) this will help the research in attempt to collect narratives that is not influenced or not led by the researcher’s question. Where meanings of the events that are being told are interpreted by the interviewee themselves, this avoids the researcher to assume analysis of these meanings which may or may not be accurate. With the use of open-ended interviews this will give the research a better point of view that the interviewee is trying to give, unlike structured interviews where it is strictly objective and interviewees are restricted to only answering in accordance to what is asked by the researcher.

As mentioned by May (2003) the importance of the role of the researcher with respect to his or her age, race, sex and accent as well as either as a friend or impartial scientists. In this case, under the focus group of people that would need to be interviewed would be the elderly members of the Belait Ethnic group and in my attempt while taking considerations from

May’s account is to bring in a member of the same age and ethnic ties whom I have close ties with in assisting to carry out the interview session. This in turn would carry on establishing

what May called ‘rapport’ this is vital in the interviewing process of collecting the right data that this research seek, rapport is the understanding of both parties on the concerns and ideas to communicate well. Establishing rapport is of paramount importance in this research, in attempting to do this there must first be descriptive conversations as mentioned by Whyte (1984) that it is important that the interviewer does not ask evaluative questions that would lead to the interviewee answering in the light of what they are expected to be.

According to May (2003) there are four process of establishing rapport; first would be descriptive questions from the interviewer as mentioned above. The second process is the exploration of what has been discussed based on what is liked and said from the first process.

The third stage would be cooperation where both parties understand ‘what to expect of one another’ ease of communication. And the last stage is participation; this according to May is

where participants fully cooperate with the researcher in providing information. In this stage informants would reveal new information that was probably previously not mentioned in stage one.

Another method of interviewing that would be useful to use in light of my research interests would be sequential interviewing, this is where the interviewer would ask about the events that the person being interviewed have been through. Just like life-history interview where the researcher is interested in the documentation of an interviewee’s life past events, experiences and meanings. Sequential interview focuses on a chronological format, where they can look back at certain events that the person may have previously stated and re affirms or change it or to reflect back. This is useful because people go through different social transformation where people create situational meanings depending on what events have unfolded in their life time. This type of interview would help to access historical data.

During my field work in Kuala Belait, I have designed a semi-structured interview which focuses on three sub questions (see appendix) these questions are life history in nature where it focuses on past events and personal experiences while allowing some freedom for new ideas to be brought up during interviews. The target group that I had chosen were elderlies; some of the strategies that I have used during my field work were to start slow with casual conversations regarding the issue that I am interested in. I have purposely organized my interview questions categorically; internal categories, events and language as to avoid confusion and unorganized data. A voice recorder is a compulsory aid for any researcher especially when dealing with elderly as they tend to repeat and deviate from answering the questions. Some questions are worth asking two to three times but not forcefully, repeating questions can result in more in-depth answers as they do take time to recollect their memories of past events.

Some of the possible difficulties that I may face during the data collection process are actually executing the process of conducting interviews especially on my target group where establishing rapport is no easy task where there could be language barrier even if assisted.

1.7 OBSERVATION

Observation is the where the researcher immerses him or herself into the social scene of everyday life of the interested group. This method is based on the idea that social life is always changing and that people’s perception changes overtime, where interviews may obtain certain statements from an individual would be true on that particular day and setting, may not be true or the respondent may have a change of thought days or months to come. In observation the researcher would have the advantage of experiencing this change as the method itself consumes a lot of field work time. In conducing observation there is a great flexibility in analytical developments where the researcher could re-evaluate his findings in terms of the observation he or she has made and take this into account on the questions that

he or she might want answers.

There are always difficulties in any social research, as for observation the presences of the researcher may affect the data presented by the respondents. With respect to the methodology chosen i.e. unstructured interviews and observation, I would also gather secondary data from the history centre of Brunei Darussalam. In an attempt to gather valid data cross reference would be made from two methods of research, oral history interview data would be cross checked with the secondary data obtained from the history centre as well as data collected from participant observation. Voice recorders would assist during interviews, where

according to feminists approach in May’s (2003) book mentioned that the tape recordings “guard against interviewers substituting their own words” for the respondents.

Why have I resolved in using these methodologies is because for the kind of social research that I am doing there is lacking of secondary data available at the national library and also at the history centre, not to mention the very few literature written by any researchers in Brunei Why have I resolved in using these methodologies is because for the kind of social research that I am doing there is lacking of secondary data available at the national library and also at the history centre, not to mention the very few literature written by any researchers in Brunei

The challenge to overcome possible bias was not easy, as I was accompanied a relative to help in translating some questions into the Belait language. What I did was to let the respondent talk on the topic as much as they want, I present to them key words that they recognize such as ‘beras rujut’ immediately my respondents would talk about it on lengths only then I would ask questions of experience that and follow up questions that I needed to know. There were really not much possible biased answers when it comes to the presence of my relative because from what I have observed and recorded the data were pure expressions of their own account. The interview questions were designed to eliminate possible bias this is possible by constructing open ended questions and questions that are subjective for example experiences and thoughts.

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW OF ETHNIC GROUPS IN BORNEO

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

In this research thesis I will be using an ethnology approach which looks at the characteristics of people and the various relationships between them at the same time utilizing a sociological analysis of macro and micro changes in the formation of societies developed through history as a result of complex social processes that is made up of intrinsic and extrinsic events. It is particularly important and practical for this type of research mainly because I am looking at the past events that has affected the Belait ethnic group

This research thesis seeks to examine the possible causal event that has happened in Brunei and also around Brunei that has affected particularly the Belait ethnic group. Some of these events will be explained in two parts in the following chapters where at first I will talk about the historical profile of Brunei as the overall vehicle of causal events in the past. Then I will talk about the historical profile of Mukim Kuala Balai, focusing on its golden years as an administration centre. These two profiles are significant to the historical sociology process as it provides a gateway to the extrinsic events and follow by the intrinsic events that have happened in these two locations.

Hence this research aims to use semi-structured interviews; unstructured interviews and observations, as well as secondary resources form the history centre and national library, life- history interviews will be conducted with the Belait ethnic elderly. Both methods are interested in attaining historical events to justify or explain social processes that have yet to

be analysed.

In this respect I will conduct my research in the Belait District area for conducting my interviews while desk research will be done in the History centre located in Bandar Seri Begawan. As a historical sociological research I aim to focus my study between the years of 1945 and 1950, in an attempt to capture the events that happened during the times when the Belait language and identity was more present. With this in mind, it is hoped that by this research I will uncover the casual events that make up the Belait identity today.

There have been only a few ethnographies written on the Brunei society let alone on its ethnic groups. So much of the knowledge is at risk of being lost in history and folk stories, it is important that we explore these untapped knowledge and stories of the ethnic groups in Brunei. Brunei society itself is a multiracial society consists of various ethnic groups which are not particularly of Brunei, there are seven officially recognize Malay ethnic groups in the sultanate namely Brunei Malay, the Kedayan, Tutong, Dusun, Bisaya, Belait and Murut. The Belait group being my choice of study as there are still traces of the Belait culture and language but little is known about them and who they actually are. According to Mahidin (1992) before there was Kuala Belait there was a town called Kuala Balai which still exists today but merely a deserted village, all economic and administration relations were conducted here. Kuala Balai was home to six different ethnic groups namely the Meting , Dali, Dusun, Murut, Bong and the Belait ethnic, however much of these groups have migrated to Labi and parts of Daerah Belait and left the Belait and Dusun as the main resident of this village. In contemporary Belait district there has been little evidence of such existence of the Belait ethnic group in terms of its language.

In this research thesis, I attempt to investigate how people negotiate boundary making in terms of the development of the Belait ethnic group, in doing so it is important to take into account surrounding areas outside of Brunei, the study of the Belait Ethnic group of its language in the Belait area in the past. The following literature will discuss the possible causes and effect to support the hypothesis.

2.1.1THE STATE AND NATION BUILDING POLICIES

First of all let us touch on the function of nationalism with regards to nation building, language and ethnicity. The article written by Craig Calhoun may serve to lighten our research on the possible theories of nationalism and ethnicity within the state. Nationalism is when an individual is identified or become attached to nation’s ideology or belief. Nationalists have been seen to use nationalism as a rhetorical tool “their Modern invocation as nationalism as ‘a theory of political legitimacy” (Calhoun, 1993). “We live in a world system that recognizes certain cultural differences as representing “cultures” while at the First of all let us touch on the function of nationalism with regards to nation building, language and ethnicity. The article written by Craig Calhoun may serve to lighten our research on the possible theories of nationalism and ethnicity within the state. Nationalism is when an individual is identified or become attached to nation’s ideology or belief. Nationalists have been seen to use nationalism as a rhetorical tool “their Modern invocation as nationalism as ‘a theory of political legitimacy” (Calhoun, 1993). “We live in a world system that recognizes certain cultural differences as representing “cultures” while at the

their time that they had the need to “scientifically classify” the people in the colonial islands.

Why should we look at the state as an important element is because according to Wallerstein ( 1988) “Modernization theory thus predicted that when outlying regions were incorporated into a social system they would gradually be “homogenized” into cultural similarity with the

rest of the system, nationalism centred on the surrounding state would grow and conflicting ethnic movements would be temporary” this is highly plausible when we look at the

diminishing of the Belait culture being overlapped with the dominant Malay culture and this is also experienced by all minority groups in Brunei. “It is the modern state that defines

nationhood, and pre-existing ethnic relations are revised either to coincide more or less with its boundaries” (Calhoun, 1993).

According to Calhoun (1993) there are two types of nationalism, “claims to have ruled out of traditi on identities such as ethnicity by the founding of a true and modern nation” i.e. France and “claims to national identity and sovereignty rooted precisely in ancient ethnicity” i.e. Germany. Brunei uses the second type of nationalism where unlike France Germany

emphasizes that “their nations are simply given and unchanged (i.e. Ethnic)”.

2.1.2 OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS OF BORNEO

K.B Tan (2001) talks about the bumiputeras and pribumis in Malaysia and Indonesia here he argues that the state “emphasizes the commonality of indigenity of the majority constituency

(as opposed to the minority ethnic Chinese of foreign origin and of relatively recent arrival) ” (K.B.Tan, 2001). It is believed that in the constitution of the state, every state favours one group as dominant over other groups, for example the bumiputeras in Malaysia having special rights and as well as having diplomacy rights as well as opposed to its Chinese counterpart who are economically dominant. In addition (K.B.Tan, 2001) mentioned (as opposed to the minority ethnic Chinese of foreign origin and of relatively recent arrival) ” (K.B.Tan, 2001). It is believed that in the constitution of the state, every state favours one group as dominant over other groups, for example the bumiputeras in Malaysia having special rights and as well as having diplomacy rights as well as opposed to its Chinese counterpart who are economically dominant. In addition (K.B.Tan, 2001) mentioned

recent arrival)” (K.B.Tan, 2001). This is backed up by King (1994) “This process of ethnic change usually involves two important elements: conversion to Islam and broader cultural

emulation of Brunei Malays” What we can come to agree here is that, we cannot ignore the state’s role in affecting the changes that these ethnic groups faces.

Much of the changes are led by the interest of nation-building as mentioned by (K.B.Tan, 2001) but unlike the bumiputera and the pribumis the Brunei state is not facing economic competition. According to Calhoun (1993) nationalists tend to use rhetorical claims when it

comes to claims that their nations were ‘given and immutable’ that, it is not like any other countries like the United States where their country is of recent historical action or

“tendentious contemporary claims”. With respect to what Calhoun has said above, it “naturalizes” the idea of nationhood as a base of a liberal democratic government and this

affects the choices that third parties have, they have the choice of either acknowledging and accept that naturalized identity or totally ignoring its ‘genocide’.

Here I will put out an interesting argument on the construction of traditions or histories of countries, it has been recognized that a nation has a founding moment. In Calhoun’s (1993) article he mentioned how the Indian nationalists appropriated “both the rationalist rhetoric of liberation and the claim of deep ethnic history, tradition almost to the point of primordiality”. “The origins of the Brunei Malay as a separately defined ethnic groups are obscure. The Brunei Malay oral epic poem Sya’ir Awang Sim awn provides an account of the origins and historical development of Brunei in the deeds of the founding heroes...most likely interpretation of them is that at some unspecified time, local pagan populations converted to Islam; it is these who are the ances tors of today’s Brunei Malay” (Maxwell, 2004).

In that sense the poem Sya’ir Awang Simawn is what Smith (1983) classify as the establishment of ethnie, an ethnie is the “myths and symbols-and shows that these exist in

both modern and premodern times and w ith notable continuity through history...” The idea of the founding moment of Brunei as portrayed by Sya’ir Awang Simawn continues to survive both modern and premodern times and w ith notable continuity through history...” The idea of the founding moment of Brunei as portrayed by Sya’ir Awang Simawn continues to survive

According to Calhoun (1993) before the modern form of social organization people were categorized according to their affiliation to the groups that they belong to, or ascribed statuses based on age, gender, kinship, descent and the like. However, as Calhoun (1993) suggests that this old method of recognizing oneself is no longer true for modern form of social organization the idea of individual meant that the previous social groupings were sets of

‘equivalent’ persons or similar groupings of persons rather than the complex interrelationships amongst different hierarchies of persons. Calhoun’s argument could be seen in the ‘constructed, conducted and quantifying’ state statistics of ethnic, national and racial categories. The argument put forward by Calhoun suggests that in modern state organization, the method of classification of its nation is becoming less interested in identifying specific groupings of ethnic identity based on true kinship roots, persons of mixed marriages between two ethnic groups find it troublesome to identify their true lineage hence in some cases they tend to associate themselves as part of both groups. In Brunei the identification of ethnic groupings has become difficult particularly the Belait ethnic group due to intermarriages and migration, also as suggested by Calhoun the modern form of social organization meant that in modern social organization in Brunei the state does not officially records one’s ethnic affiliation to any specific groupings but as all locally born persons in Brunei the state recognizes them as a ‘Malay’ only. This in turn affects a person’s knowledge

on who do they belong to in terms of ethnic groupings, hence people tend to decide their ethnic group based on lineage and kinship ties although this can become difficult and at some point it has become less significant.

Just like the Malaysian and Indonesian counterpart Brunei has also developed a favour for a dominant group that is the Brunei Malay although this is less apparent. In King (1994) he has mentioned that there is a stratification system of commonality amongst the social structure of Brunei in which he argues that core nobility status was reserved only for the Brunei Malays however that those of the lower ethnic group – usually of different religion and culture from the Malays are categorized as servants or subjects. K.B.Tan (2001) argued that the “premised Just like the Malaysian and Indonesian counterpart Brunei has also developed a favour for a dominant group that is the Brunei Malay although this is less apparent. In King (1994) he has mentioned that there is a stratification system of commonality amongst the social structure of Brunei in which he argues that core nobility status was reserved only for the Brunei Malays however that those of the lower ethnic group – usually of different religion and culture from the Malays are categorized as servants or subjects. K.B.Tan (2001) argued that the “premised

process of redefinition is also promoted by such measure as the Brunei government’s classification of much of the indigenous population of the country as ‘Malay’ or ‘Malay race’ for census and other purposes”. The power of the state in managing its social structure is what Goldberg (1992) claimed “Ethnicity is the process of cultural identification and distinction”. In that sense “nationalism arose from activities of cultural elites seeking histories and consti tuted the identities of nations” (Hroch, 1985). In this sense, considering what has been argued above the redefinition of the ethnic group Belait as a part of the wider Malay group in Brunei meant adopting the wider Malay language as their lingua franca.

For the purpose of my research thesis I will also look at the vicinity surrounding the areas of Brunei but keeping the context within Borneo. According to King (1994) the Kedayans were not only found in Brunei but also in the Sarawak area of Miri and Lawas, on the island of Labuan and also in Sipitang Sabah. The kind of work that these Kedayans did as they went into economic exchange with the Brunei Malays were agriculturalist and supplier of rice while the Brunei Malays were mostly fishing folk and office holders. They regard these Kedayans as low status and low class farmers.

This same phenomenon can be applied to the rest of the ethnic minorities in Brunei, according to Metcalf (1975) the Belait and Tutong ethnic groups are “remnant populations scatte red in the Lower Baram basin region” in present day Sarawak. In the writings of Amran

(1992) also mentioned in King (1994) the Belait ethnic who settled in the Kuala Balai area was frequently oppressed by the aggressive kayans however it was not mentioned in the writings of Victor T.King that in an attempt to bring peace into the area, a cabinet was formed headed by pengirans whose title are inclusive of the Brunei Malays only. This significance approves the stratified position of the lower and higher ethnic groupings in Brunei.

As mentioned above on the argument presented by K.B.Tan (2001) and King (1994) the Belait ethnic was always faced with pressures from the state and the dominant Brunei Malay As mentioned above on the argument presented by K.B.Tan (2001) and King (1994) the Belait ethnic was always faced with pressures from the state and the dominant Brunei Malay

Islamization and the concept of Malay Islamic Monarchy helped to strengthen the dominance of the Brunei Malay culture, although it was not stated for ethnic groups to assimilate into the dominant Malay culture but it was expected of them to acknowledge and self-identify themselves with the culture King (1994) “it does translate into active strategies to incorporate the on- Malay ‘sub-groups’ into the dominant society and culture”. In K.B.Tan (2001) argument on the Islamic resurgence in the late 1970s, Malaysia and Indonesia experienced Islamic revivalism and this resulted in “religion increasingly bears on conceptions of identity as most bumis are Muslim”. The process of Islamization on the context of Brunei meant the very essence of the Brunei Malay Identity, so for the Belaits to convert themselves to Islam meant adapting the Malay culture which seemed to correlate with the teachings of Islam. Although there should not be any confusion where a person of a different ethnic converts to Islam it does not mean that they ‘convert’ into Malay but it is rather the process of cultural assimilation into the dominant group. “The conjunction of ethnicity and religion, as a constituent part of one’s ethnic identity, has led to the perception that the divide between bumi and non- bumi in the political, economic and socio-cultural landscapes carries religious overtones” (K.B.Tan, 2001).

Probably one of the most prevailing theories as to answering the question on why has the Belait language been less popular in the developing Brunei society is the theory put forward by Anderson (1991) where “nationalism involved the privileging of vernaculars in place of

Latin and other previously widely used languages of high culture and administration. It often Latin and other previously widely used languages of high culture and administration. It often

His argument progressed on the notion of Capitalist production of books and newspapers where through these mediums they assert a unified language for all members of the nation to use and live by, where their source of knowledge in Brunei context is the Brunei Malay language. The newspapers and news cast in Brunei are only in the Brunei Malay language

and also in English. This in turn creates “the specific linguistic communities associated with the final national identities” (Anderson, 1991).

This has been argued by Anderson (1991) proceeded to form an “antiquity conducive to the notion of long- standing national identity” as if it has always and will always be the Malay language as the language for all Bruneians. In addition, by doing so this has overshadowed the languages that was spoken by earlier ethnic groups in Brunei i.e. the Belait language and seen as something impossible to understand. To further marginalize the language of minor ethnic group “print-capitalism standardized usage of certain administratively sanctioned languages, thus disadvantaging within each real the speakers of other languages” (Anderson,

1991). The argument presented above confirms the current situation in Brunei where the official language used in writing and formal events of Brunei is the Brunei Malay and Brunei Malay only.

Constitutionally recognized as ‘Malay’ these different indigenes that are of minority status are not distinguished based on their different ethnics (King, 1994). K.B.Tan (2001) “The apparent thrust of Indonesia’s ethnic policy has been to forge an overarching national identity that supersedes ethnic, cultural and religious differences through the integrating mechanism of the Pan- casila national ideology and the national language, Bahasa Indonesia”.

The state’s way of asserting ethnic dominance over the country is by prompting cultural assimilation through language, as an example in Brunei there are signboards that encourages The state’s way of asserting ethnic dominance over the country is by prompting cultural assimilation through language, as an example in Brunei there are signboards that encourages

newspapers and novels, which not only engage in history making but constitute the nation as

a community if like readers in the imagination of each. Here Anderson states that through print capitalism for example the newspaper similar language and information reaches to people from the centre to the peripheral, although these people never met one another through the sharing of similar knowledge and one familiar language promotes nationalism, particularly in Brunei context promotes the Malay identity.

One dimension of this was the attempt to forge a unity between the language of literature and intellectuals and that of ordinary people-since groups previously separated by language were now to be united by a national language. This in return puts pressure on the minority groups to learn and live by the national language, as they go through school and the workforce, King (1994) “the Brunei Malay dialect functions as the lingua franca of Brunei among various indigenous groups”. In an article written on the Brunei Times Masli (2010) stated “ the need

to have a good command of the country's official language, Malay, as inscribed in the national institution...applicants are required by law to pass a written and oral Malay test in order to become a citizen”.

Considering the argument presented above by Anderson (1991), Calhoun (1993), Haas (1986), K.B.Tan (2001), King (1994), Smith (1983) and Wallerstein (1988) all these are authors have argued on the basis of nationalism and how the state has played an important role in affecting the social structure of the Belait ethnic group. However these arguments can

be used as a basis for the following theory of boundary making and negotiation. We have now understood the role of the state and its workings, now we shall look at how ethnic boundary is maintained and stabilized at the micro level.

2.1.3 BOUNDARY BLURRING AND BOUNDARY MAKING

Andreas Wimmer (2008) has provided some theories of boundary blurring and boundary making that could help to explain the situation faced by the Belait ethnic in Brunei; first of all Andreas Wimmer (2008) has provided some theories of boundary blurring and boundary making that could help to explain the situation faced by the Belait ethnic in Brunei; first of all

“emphasizing civilizational commonalities is another way to blur ethnic boundaries” (Andreas Wimmer, 2008) In the case of the Belait ethnic, the dispersed members may made cultural compromises that they would identify themselves as part of the bigger group or in this case a Malay. Cultural compromise as put forward by Wimmer is the process of negotiating ones culture over another and agreeing on a cultural consensus, this however may

be in the form of a whole group or at the individual level.

As a world religion and also how the world treats it also comes into play when it comes to blurring ethnic boundaries for example, Wimmer (2008) argued that the British Pakistani people sees their religion as more important in their daily life as opposed to their Pakistani category, now we have to consider the argument by Anthony Reid that much of the classifications of people are of English product. In that sense, looking back how the British Pakistani identify themselves religion first could be said the same for the Ethnic Belait “English writers such as Hugh Low, Henty Keppel and James Brooke use the phrase ‘Brunei Malays’, to distinguish the Muslim population of the capital and the court from other peoples of the interior.” (Anthony Reid, 2001, pp 295-313). The Islamization of the country played an

important role in the blurring of ethnic boundary in Brunei; Islam is a world religion that is politically salient because of how it is treated over the past decade.

In Brunei there are equal rights to privileges for those who hold the yellow identity card regardless of race and ethnicity as long as that person fits the criteria to obtain a citizenship in Brunei, it could be argued that there was a cultural compromise and cultural consensus between the Belait ethnic group and the state during the writing up of the constitution where Belait was part of the seven indigenous group in Brunei hence eligible to all the same rights as the other groups as well as the bigger Malay group. As pointed out by Wimmer (2008);

“Minorities are encouraged to cross the boundary into the national majority and pursue strategies of passing and assimilation that will overcome the consequences of the new “Minorities are encouraged to cross the boundary into the national majority and pursue strategies of passing and assimilation that will overcome the consequences of the new

Hence the crossing of boundaries between the two groups, where they are classified as Malays;

“Melayu means the grouping of indigenous groups of the Melayu race. It contains Malays, Bruneis, Totong, Belait, Kedayan, Dusun, Bisayah and Murut. This division of communities is to avoid the mistakes found in the 1960 census, since many indigenous

communitites acknowledge themselves Malay because they follow the Islamic religion.”

(Anthony Reid, 2001, pp295-313)

As part of a Malay race, one must follow some of the aspects of what it means to be Malay that is to be loyal to a royal decent and adhere to the religion of Islam, “a consensus may result from the “exchange” of different economic, political, and symbolic resources between individuals occupying different social positions.” (Wimmer, A. 2008).

What makes the crossing of boundaries and cultural compromise seemed easy for the Belait ethnic is that Wimmer (2008) argued that enforcement on ethnic boundary is less when there are low level of inequality, and that it will be impossible to be brought up to the eyes of the people when these boundaries are non-existence and it is widely accepted by the majority of the two groups as he puts it “the more encompassing a compromise-that is, the more symmetric and complete it is- the less politically salient a boundary will be.” (Wimmer, A. 2008). People will tend to move about their social identity, depending on the situation and location that they are in one might expose themselves as a Malay and at times would identify themselves as a Belait ethnic and this happens when boundaries of ethnicity has no political importance that there are no real threat to ones’ economic pursuit and status in society he or she may define themselves as a both.

In the Brunei context boundary crossing has become inevitable and this can be explained in two factors; the first is high level of intermarriages, where in Brunei it has become a norm the culture does not emphasise on marrying persons of the same ethnic background in fact the culture does not emphasise on ethnicity at all when it comes to most matters. The lineage pattern for most Bruneians are of mixed ethnics and this leads to complication if someone was to identify him or herself as part of one ethnic group, some may even have mixed lineages of three or four decent groups. With this complication individuals opt for a generic idea of what it means to be a Brunei Malay or simply a Bruneian.

The second factor would be the Malay high culture, with the nation emphasising its national ideology as a Malay Islamic Monarchy and stating that all of its seven ethnic groups are in fact constitutionally ‘Malay’ in nature provides a similar idea to what Smith (1986) has

mentioned about the establishment of ethnie, it has blurred the boundaries between ethnic groups in Brunei. Hence boundary crossing is inevitable because of the complex social organization that is the state defined Malay culture as encompassing and true for all cultures.

However this is not all true for some of the ethnic groups in Brunei, the Belait are made up of those who cross cut between boundaries while those who are true to their ethnic affiliation, boundaries are maintained and stabilized by individuals who identify themselves through the means of multigenerational and unilineal descent lines as opposed to those boundaries defined by behavioural.

This is all possible because of the nation building and as well as the agglomeration of ethnic identities and group ing of people by colonial rulers and scientists “insisted that the major groups held to be indigenous…were all ‘Malay’ in a legal sense.” (Anthony Reid, 2001, pp295-313) “It is not clear when the Islamic elite of Brunei began to see themselves as ‘Melayu’, but the nineteenth-century English habit of wanting to classify peoples by race or nation rather than place seems likely to have had something to do with it.” Anthony Reid,

2001, pp295-313

There is a possibility of all the Ethnic groups in Brunei to be assimilated into one major culture that is the Malay high culture with additions from other ethnic groups, where people

constantly negotiate and expand the high culture. As Wimmer (2008) calls it the ‘Endogenous shift’ where there is a cultural consensus amongst the two ethnic groups that allow them to cross boundary and this in turn may result in the extinction of the assimilated group in the case of our research the Belait ethnic group.

In this literature review I have presented various studies about other ethnic groups that are part of a wider body that is the nation as well as those from neighbouring countries as a comparison and benchmark, but this research thesis has come to a shift from analysing my data through a major theoretical framework to an emic approach driven by my data to come up with its own perspective. It is however still a sociological approach where in chapters four and five I have divided it into a macro and micro attempt at presenting my data, I will clarify how this research thesis an emic perspective and should be analysed as such in chapter 6.

CHAPTER III FACTS AND FOLKLORE

3.1 BRUNEI DARUSSALAM: COUNTRY PROFILE

3.1.1 BRIEF HISTORY

Brunei Darussalam was once a kingdom that encompasses its ruling from the “coastal areas of North- West Borneo, parts of Kalimantan and the Philippines.” This was during the ruling of Sultan Bolkiah in the 16th Century. However at the end of the 16th century Brunei had lost all its glory due to internal conflict, losing territories to colonial such as the Dutch, Spanish and British empires. During the 29th century Brunei seek help from the British Empire to