©The
Star (Used by permission)
by Hilary Chiew
Pictures by Sia Hong Kiau
• Against their will
• A neglected people
Teenage schoolgirls have become the latest target of unscrupulous timber
workers.
BLOCKADES have sprung up again in middle Baram in the midst of the padi planting
season in interior Sarawak.
Several Penan communities have abandoned the padi fields to put up symbolic
barricades – flimsy wooden gates across logging roads – to stop encroachment
into the last stretch of remaining ancestral forest in a region that has seen
extensive logging over the last 25 years.
The once–nomadic tribe, noted for their unwavering rejection of logging on their
territory and synonymous with blockades since the late 1980s, is fighting a
losing battle against the Government–backed timber industry.
Yet another sinister threat has crept into the remote communities – Penan women,
especially the young ones, are preyed on by workers from logging companies.
At grave risk : Young Penan women bathing and washing in a polluted river next
to their sett lement. As the Penan communities in middle Baram struggle to stave
off the continuous destruction of their ancestr al lands by logging firms, their
womenfolk are being victimised by timber company workers.
About three weeks ago, a media release by non–governmental
organisation Bruno Manser Foundation (BMF) brought to light a long–held concern
– the sexual abuse of Penan women.
The Swiss group charged that workers from two timber companies were preying on
Penan women in the various settlements within the companies’ operation areas,
and targeting female students who relied on the companies’ transportation
service to get to school.
Students from middle Baram are boarders in secondary schools in the interior
towns of Long Lama and Long San, which could take up to a week to travel on foot
from their villages. The Baram district in Miri division is almost as big as the
state of Perak.
The allegations were flatly denied by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu
who dismissed the NGO’s claims as baseless. Jabu, who is also Rural Development
Minister, challenged BMF to name the villages otherwise “it would be a waste of
time to investigate”.
Largely ignorant of their rights and not well–versed in criminal law, the Penans
have long suffered the transgression against their womenfolk in silence.
The problem is further compounded by stigmatisation associated with rape in the
predominantly Christian communities.
Sexual violations
A visit to several villages reveals the prevalence of sexual abuse since the
advent of commercial logging. Village leaders who readily air their grouses of
hardship brought by logging are hesitant to talk about the sexual exploitation
by workers from nearby logging camps.
Nonetheless, at Long Pakan, Bulan Laing, a female elder
claims that violation of the women began around 1996 when a Miri–based logging
company arrived.
“There have been three pregnancies so far; the last one was in 2006. In one
case, the woman married the Indonesian worker who violated her but was later
divorced after she was sexually abused by another worker,” recalls Bulan.
Asked if the cases were reported to the police, Bulan appears not to know that
rape is a criminal offence.
“We complained to the camp manager. He assured us that they would take action
against their men but we’re still suffering.”
Her husband, headman Pada Jutang, says: “We’ve lost hope in the police taking
any action. So we stopped going to them.”
The village’s nearest neighbour, Long Item – two hours’ drive away – faces a
similar predicament. Headman Balan Jon reveals the modus operandi of
unscrupulous timber workers.
He says the workers come to the village in small groups of not more than five,
either on motorcycle or by company vehicle, with alcoholic drinks and entice the
young men to join them for drinking binges at night.
“They become bold after several drinks and will coax our boys to bring them to
houses with young women or girls.
“Or they bring along instant noodles and persuade the victims to cook them a
meal on the pretext that they have not yet had dinner. They then hang around and
wait for the chance to strike after other occupants of the house turn in for the
night,” adds Balan.
Bulan explains that young Penan men are curious about “anything from the cities”
and are easily influenced despite advice by village leaders to be wary of these
outsiders. She also suspects that the victims could have been drugged.
Balan laments that complaints to the company’s managers on the ground are not
taken seriously.
“There are always new workers showing up. They are also good at covering their
tracks and the camp manager refuses to investigate or take action,” he says
dejectedly. Like Pada, Balan says he has given up on the police.
Further north in the Apoh region, Long Belok’s headman Alah Beling recalls no
less than four cases of sexual violation. The latest incident resulted in a baby
born last December. He reckons that the known numbers could just be the tip of
the iceberg. Victims who do not end up with unwanted pregnancies may choose to
remain silent to hide their shame.
Easy targets
It appears that schoolgirls are the latest to be preyed upon, according to
villagers at Long Kawi, next to Long Item. They complain that timber workers
come to the village during the day to identify the young girls and return later
at night to carry out their plans. The harassment gets worse during the school
holidays when the girls are around.
But the latest revelation of female students being made to stay overnight in
logging camps, thus exposing them to sexual abuse, has plunged the Penan
community into despair.
The Penans have abandoned their nomadic lifestyle so that their young ones could
get an education and have a better life.
“If we don’t send our children to school, we are blamed. But providing them
transportation is beyond our ability. We are at the mercy of the timber
companies. We’ve to beg them to ferry our children to the secondary schools
which are far away.
“I walk my younger children to Long Kevok (a four–hour drive away) to attend
primary school. This problem was discussed at the school’s parent–teacher
association meetings a few years ago. The school asked us to get help from the
Government. There were promises but we’re still waiting,” says Galang Jutang,
Pada’s younger brother.
Principal of SMK Long Lama, Ng Cheng Soo, acknowledges that transportation
remains a huge problem for Penan students who make up about 12% of the 945
pupils.
“We put in a proposal for a transport allocation in 2006 to the Resident Office
in Miri,” says Ng. Resident Ose Murang could not be reached for comment on the
status of the proposal.
Ng adds that Penan students are catching up in their studies as shown by their
better examination results and lower dropout rates.
“We hold special remedial classes and show them that we care for them. They
appreciate it and they like coming to school. Penan kids are the first to
volunteer for any gotong–royong events,” Ng says, adding that being rather
timid, Penan students are easily bullied.
Instances of students trekking in the jungle for days to get to school and even
missing major examinations when company transportation fails to materialise, are
common. Hitching a ride by the side of dusty logging roads makes teenage girls
especially vulnerable.
Following recent publicity of the alleged sexual abuse of Penan women in the
local media, Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohmad Salleh says the force
needs a police report to be lodged to facilitate investigations.
Dismayed by the police response, the Women’s Centre for Change pointed out that
according to the Child Act 2001, the authorities must take action if they
suspect child sexual abuse has taken place. Under the Act, anyone below the age
of 18 is a child.
The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and the Human Rights
Commission have announced that they will investigate the claims.
Against their will
ON a sunny Sunday morning last year, 16–year–old Cynthia (not her real name)
boarded a four–wheel drive dispatched by logging company Samling to ferry
students to SMK Long Lama from her longhouse in Long Kawi, middle Baram,
Sarawak.
However, the driver did not send the passengers – two boys and three girls – to
the school directly. He dropped by a logging camp and told the students that
they had to spend the night there.
“It was around 4pm. Although the school is not far from the camp, the driver
didn’t want to continue the journey. The boys and girls were separated into two
rooms. I was with my younger sister and another girl. When night fell, the men
in the camp were drinking. In the middle of the night, several men came into our
room. One of them dragged me from the room and took me to the bushes behind the
camp,” Cynthia recalls her ordeal. The other two girls were not harmed.
The Form 3 student became pregnant and delivered a baby girl a few months ago.
Cynthia, who harbours hopes of being a nurse, is now unsure of her future as she
has been absent from school due to her pregnancy.
The fair–skinned, soft–spoken girl had previously been harassed by workers from
a Samling camp but managed to elude them.
Samling, when contacted, says the camp implicated in the incident may not have
belonged to the company and urged those making the allegations to contact the
police and provide accurate information to enable criminal investigations.
Samling’s head of corporate communications Cheryl Yong says: “We are very
concerned over the latest allegations even though we do not operate in the
Temela Camp (where the alleged sexual assault took place). We do not condone any
criminal acts within our premises or by employees.”
Yong explains that Samling has a zero–tolerance policy towards alcohol
consumption during work hours. Furthermore, alcohol sale is unavailable on its
premises and anyone found consuming alcohol while working will be dismissed.
At Long Belok, Rina (not her real name) who was raped in her house and delivered
a baby girl in May 2005, is fearful of timber camp workers. “If I see them in
the village, I will run and hide in the forest.”
She is glad that she did not have to marry the man who raped her despite
persuasion from her parents and neighbours’ unkind remarks.
The youngest in a family of two boys and two girls, Rina, 20, says life is
difficult with an extra mouth to feed. At times, she confesses that she feels
like running away.
Mindy (not her real name) of Long Item, recounts the intimidation, deceit and
harassment of a 40–something man who works for Interhill.
“We know him as Ah Heng. My parents and I got a ride in his vehicle from Ba
Abang sometime in 2005. Shortly after that, he came looking for me in the
village. He offered to take care of me but I declined. He then said I should
give in or he would hurt me and my family,” says the 21–year–old woman who
eventually acceded to his demands and has since borne him two girls, one in 2006
and another in February.
Ah Heng now rarely visits nor provides maintenance for the family after his wife
found out about his activities and accused Mindy of seducing her husband.
“I don’t want him to come here anymore; I will raise the kids myself. I don’t
even love him,” says Mindy.
A neglected people
THE Penan’s protracted resistance to deforestation and the international
attention the tribe continues to receive must have irked the Sarawak government.
The state government continues to dismiss their concerns over the loss of forest
resources brought on by industrial logging that degrades the forest and pollutes
the rivers.
At the height of the international anti–tropical timber campaign in the late
1980s, the state set up a Penan Affairs Committee to help the nomadic tribe to
lead a settled life with promises of socio–economic development. The state
announced allocations worth millions of ringgit.
Two decades later, the benefits remain elusive for many Penans. The rapid
expansion of acacia and oil palm plantations eats into their ancestral land. To
top it off, the natives are becoming illegals with many not having official
documents.
The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) has raised the issue of poor MyKad
registration which complicates the issuance of birth certificates.
Suhakam has thus far failed in persuading the state government to resolve the
land rights issue inflicting every native group in Sarawak.
In recent years, the Penans are turning to the court of law to stop further
encroachment.
But the nomadic Penans face a tough battle in claiming native customary rights
(NCR) as the Sarawak Land Code 1958 states that one cannot stake a claim for NCR
if one had not cultivated that piece of land before Jan 1, 1958.
In May 2007, further restrictions were imposed when the clause “any other lawful
method of establishing land claim” in Section 5(2) was dropped. Lawyers had
previously used that provision to argue for a broader interpretation of land
use.
“When environmental groups suggest setting aside forests for wildlife, the state
will agree but when we demand for our forests to be protected, we are ignored.
It seems that the wildlife living in the forests are more valued than us
humans,” notes a young Penan.
Although disillusioned, the Penans remain hopeful.
As Balan Jon of Long Item puts it: “It’s not only our livelihood but our culture
and survival as a tribe has been affected for so long. We’ll die if we continue
to be neglected.”