ToMalaysians in Sarawak, Bruno Manser, wasnothing more than Mat Salleh sesat, a lost Mat Salleh, which is the localreference to a Caucasian and sesat literally means lost thoughthe usage here connotes an odd or weird Caucasian.
It is sobecause 99.9% of the local people do not fancy staying in a makeshift hut beingsurrounded by young girls, the life that had been romanticized and led by Brunoduring his sojourn to the remote region of Ulu Limbang/ Ulu Baram in theNorthern region of Sarawak.
Most ofthe Europeans, who come to Sarawak nowadays,generally appear unkempt and dirty, much to the surprise of the local peoplewho have been used to seeing smart looking expatriate officers during thepre-Independent era. Generally, theState Government allows foreigners, mostly Europeans, free access to the localpeople under the program of CAN or Challenge, Adventure and Nature, the State’sunique program to promote tourism.
BrunoManser, who claimed to be an archeologist, was allowed like anybody else toenter Sarawak as the State believes in sharingthe local ambiance and nature with the rest of the world.
Hisadventure into the interiors of Sarawak mainly in Ulu Baram/Ulu Limbang area,which covers world renowned places like Bario (Kelabit highlands), Mulucomplex, the world nature heritage and Long Semado and Ba’kelalan (the MurutHighlands) obviously exposed him to the simple way of life of the Penan community,who comprises of about 5,000 people out of which about 500 still choose to livetheir traditional nomadic way of life. They wander over a wide forest area, which they perceive as their own,for their games and sources of food.
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| Bruno Manser believed that he was King of the Penan tribe |
Obviously,Bruno Manser took fancy to their way of life. Generally, they are simple andgood natured people. They are innocent of the intention of visitors towardsthem. The girls as young as 12 years oldcan be very friendly and are prepared to stay awake with visitors throughoutthe night.
Ofcourse, Bruno Manser, who came in with a lot of money in US dollars, wasinitially looked upon as a modern white Rajah (king) among them. Stories were abound that he would keep younggirls as companies in his makeshift hut, which used to be 100 times better thanthose of his wandering band of Penans, who he considered as followers. To thePenans, for the white Rajah to stay with girls as young as 12 years, is not asin.
Sarawak inherits the common law thatmakes it an offence for a man to stay with minors as temporary wives, thearrangement is still being allowed by a section of the tribe, from the Britishcolonial administration. Bruno Manser, who is the product of hippy age, makeshis indulgences with young Penan girls cannot be anything else but sexualabuses or statutory rapes. The generalview of the local people on Bruno Manser is that he was philanderer. He took full advantage on the ignorant of thecommunity, most of who were of inferior human beings than him, to impose hiswishes on them.
Obviously,he preferred to make the community to remain backward, so that he, with hislayer of superiority in terms of knowledge and money over the members, couldcontinue to put them into full enslavement. It was the only way for him to continue with his fantasy of being awhite Rajah among a primitive community.
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| Bruno wanted the Penans to be preserved like human museum |
Hebrought a lot of money in cash in US dollars when he first came to Sarawak. He would make frequent trips across the borderto Kalimantan to change them either in Rupiah or Brunei dollar, before he convertedthem into Ringgit. He did so to evade detection of his huge cash.
Hestarted to be on the run with his small band of nomadic Penan families to evadearrests once his visit pass expired. Inthe meantime, he had to use his network with other Penan groups to organizeblockades to disrupt operations in some timber areas as a way to tell theworld, his sponsors in particular, that he was in the interior of Sarawak tofight against the so-called excessive loggings being carried out by MalaysianGovernment, the State government in particular that could displace the Penansof their traditional nomadic way of life.
Obviously,he had to create a facade of his modern white Rajah style of living among thecommunity. He did so by instigating them, how innocent and ignorant they mightbe, to organize blockades against timber operations in Ulu Limbang/ Ulu Baramarea in the name of saving the world environment, which has no relevance to Sarawak.
As hecould not find substantial flaws in the State’s forests policies, which havebeen endorsed by ITTO based on sustainable management of the resources, hedecided to take the fate of the Penans to the world. Of course, some people in Europe, without knowing that the Penans onlyconstitute less than 5,000 people and only 500 of them are still wandering inthe forests fall preys to his line of campaign.
Hemanaged to blow out to the world the fate of the nomadic Penans to portray Sarawak as neglecting one portion of the populationin development. Some of the criticswould say that the Penans should be preserved like human museums. The Human Rights group, on the other hand,would say Penans should not be left in isolation in development, which is beingenjoyed by the rest of the society.
Both areright of course, depending on how one looks at it. These are the classic examplesof conflict of views, which sometimes are hard for the people toreconcile. Obviously, Bruno Manserbelieves that he does not owe to us to tell the truth or to expose a balancedview between ours, who are affected by his campaign and his, who has beencampaigning against us.
When thelaw eventually caught up with him, he was escorted out of the State in early1999. However, he came back under a different name, which was allowed in Switzerland. He entered Sarawak via Bruneiand went up Makam river right to Bario to join a countryman, who had alreadymarried a young Penan girl.
By then,he already believed that he was a revered King of the Penan tribe, regardlessof what Malaysians in Sarawak think ofhim. To the outside world, to his sponsors in particular, he was the championof a tribe that had been getting ill treatments from the government, the Stategovernment in particular.
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| Some young Penan women resting in their makeshift hut |
TheState Assemblyman for Batu Danau, Paulus Palu Gumbang, whose area bore thebrunt of activities being carried by Bruno Manser in organizing the Penans tohold blockades against timber operations, says Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has beenmeddling in the internal affairs of Sarawak by spreading lies and makingbaseless allegations with the evil intention to disrupt its existing economicand political stability.
He says Bruno Manser as the little white Rajah of thePenans never did anything to assist them to integrate into the society and uplift their socio - economicprogress. It was obvious that he wantedthe Penans to preserve their traditional way of life so that they would remainsubservient to his whims and fancies. His disappearance remains a mystery.
He saysit is ironical that Bruno disappeared in the thick jungles of the rainforests,which he had lied to the world to have been completely destroyed. Perhaps, therainforests apparently had destroyed him when he reportedly entered the dense,natural forests near Batu Lawi and failed tore-emerge. Generally, the peoplebelieve that he disappeared in the deep forests between Samerang and Batu Lawiin Ulu Baram.
Paulus Gumbang, a former Director of InformationDepartment Sarawak, believes Bruno Manser could also have staged his owndisappearance as he would not be able to return to Europeto face his sponsors, without doing anything to help the Penans. More importantly, more and more elders of thePenans began to know his true colors and intention to become the revered Kingof the tribe.
Besides, he was always accompanied by people on bothsides of the border to change a huge sum of money from US dollars to localcurrencies like Rupiah and Brunei and Singapore dollars. It was unavoidable, his presencealso attracted attention of the people on both sides of the border. Whatever itis his disappearance remains a mystery.
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| An aerial view of Batu Lawi |
Paulus questions the legality of the setting up ofBruno Manser Fund, which carries the name of a person, who mysteriously disappearedmany years ago in the dense rainforests in the interior of Sarawak.Obviously, those behind the setting up and operations of the fund are ignorantof his notoriety to live as the modern white Rajah among the primitivetribe. Generally, they are very ignorantof the local situation and do not believe in fair and factual reporting. Theiractivities, if left unchecked, can injure the reputation of Sarawak andundermine its existing political stability and racial harmony.
Paulus,says the campaign being carried out by BrunoManser Fund fund deserves strongcondemnation by Malaysians in Sarawak, the elected the representatives of thepeople in particular.
A book entitled"Bruno Manser: The Inside Story" by James Ritchie, a veteranjournalist, describes Bruno Manser as a self -styledenvironmentalist and the product of the "hippy age" of free sex and drug. He was known to be disillusioned with therapid changes in his own homeland and fanaticizing the life of a modern whiteRajab among the primitive natives of Borneo.
Officially,he entered Sarawak on the pretext of carrying out research as an anthropologistafter spending much of his youth in the Swiss Mountains where he turned to "Yoga" as a means toescape from the realities of life and find "Nirvana" in life.
benuasains
*Photos Source:
google.com.my
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