Wednesday, May 16, 2007

BORNEO'S FUTURE CHILDREN



Two generations in their brief lifetime encounters....one that witnessed the waning days of gutta-percha warfares, colonial Tuans, headhunting or Konfrontasi, embracing those that may have to deal someday with the aftermath of Borneo's final victimization of global corporatist greed...

Locations:
Long Mekaba (Sarawak), Nawang Baru, Jenggeru, Long Bagun (East Kalimantan), Kelayam (West Kalimantan)
Dates: 2002-2005


(Note the wooden toy in the second picture - a mock STIHL chainsaw.)



THE BUKIT BURAQ MATO COMMUNITY



The Bukit Buraq Mato community inhabit the borders of East and South Kalimantan, on the fringes of the eastern part of the Meratus Range. Based on local sources, the community identifies its linguistic links with other Meratus communities, such as the Dusun Balangan and to some extent the Dusun Deyah in neighbouring South Kalimantan, which brings us to a conclusion that they are a part of the larger Luangan – Ma’anyan – Paser speaking population.* However, longstanding contact with the Banjarese population has also prompted the assimilation of Banjarese language into the local dialect.

The local economy is based on subsistence farming on swidden rice fields in a rugged terrain setting, a practice the developmentalist Indonesian government attempted to eradicate in the early 1980s with little success . Additional sources are derived from small-scale cash crops such as rubber, coffee, kemiri and beeswax, usually sold in small quantities to nearby local markets in Halong and Sengayam in South Kalimantan. Recently, logging fees from logging companies constitutes additional cash sources through which new oil-dependent consumer patterns emerge (such as the purchase of TVs and VCD players).

* Personal email communication w/ Kenneth Sillander (2002)

Location: Muara Andeh village, Pasir district, East Kalimantan
Date: October 2002




Photo notes:
Landslides destroyed the local mining road, forcing the Buraq Mato community back into economic isolation. A typical problem throughout Borneo is the overcoming of physical isolation of remote communities once mining or logging companies shut down operations. Once the companies pack up, so does the maintenance of roads.


Apah Kangui, the Buraq Mato Adat chief, with his blowpipe.



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Monday, May 7, 2007

CROSSING BORNEO BORDERS

THE LEGAL ENTRY FROM KALIMANTAN INTO SARAWAK

Location: Entikong (Sanggau District, West Kalimantan) & Tebedu (Kuching Division, Sarawak)
Date: March, 2007




The official border checkpoints at Entikong (West Kalimantan) and Tebedu (Sarawak) opens daily at 5 AM (or 6 AM Eastern Malaysian time. Officially opened in 1991, it is Indonesia's first regulated landborder crossing point - with at least 8 transnational buses commuting daily between Pontianak and Kuching.






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THE SOMEWHAT LEGAL ENTRY FROM KALIMANTAN INTO SARAWAK

Location: 15 kilometers outside Lubok Antu, Sri Aman Division, Sarawak
Date: March, 2003





A police checkpoint outside the bordertown of Lubok Antu (Sarawak). When this photo was taken (early 2003), access into Sarawak was only granted to those Indonesian borderlanders possessing the 'Pas Lintas Batas/PLB' (borderpasses). As PLB access into Sarawak was limited to visits within the perimeter border of the Lubok Antu sub-district (Daerah Kecil) area, police checkpoints like these were setup to prevent 'illegal' breaches of the perimeter.

For timber logs it's a different story. Log exports from West Kalimantan to Lubok Antu are officially banned by the Indonesian government, but smuggled timber enjoys immediate legalization once processed by Lubok Antu sawmills. Another task of the police here is to confirm the timber's virtual 'legality'.

A perfect illustration of globalisation's real intentions: shackle humans, liberate commodities.











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THE OLD 'HIGHWAYS' INTO SARAWAK

Location: The borderlands between Sarawak's Kapit Division & East Kalimantan's Malinau District.
Date: February 2003




This is the traditional route through which the Kenyah Dayaks of the Apokayan highlands in East Kalimantan, one of Indonesia's most isolated regions, go on their daily shopping sprees to logging camps inside Sarawak. Pictured here (center below) is a Kenyah family resting on the exact (but unmarked and unguarded) Malaysian - Indonesian boundary.






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