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
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
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 1
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 4
1.1 Introduction 5
1.2 Aims and objectives 6
1.3 Principal Research Questions 6
1.4 Significance of Research 7
1.5 Limitations of Research 7
1.6 Methodology 8
1.7 Observation 10
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ON ETHNIC GROUPS IN BORNEO 12
2.1 Literature review 13
2.1.1 The state and nation building policies 14
2.1.2 Other Ethnic Groups of Borneo 15
2.1.3 Boundary blurring and Boundary making 21
CHAPTER III
FACTS AND FOLKLORE
263.1 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 30
3.2 Mukim Kuala Balai : Golden Age 31
3.2.1 History 31
3.2.2 Economy 31
CHAPTER IV
HISTORICAL EVENTS: BELAIT ETHNIC & ITS
VILLAGES
384.1 Reminiscing the past: Hardships and Physical Labor late 1930 39
4.2 Compromise: Resettlement, 1952 Onwards 41
4.3 The Push towards an Educated Nation 1984 Onwards 43
CHAPTER V
BELAIT ETHNIC GROUP: PERSPECTIVES FROM
WITHIN
465.1 Introduction 47
5.2 Location Identification 47
5.3 Symbolic Practices 49
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 59
CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSION
626.1 Summary 63
6.2 Further Research and Suggestions 64
REFERENCES
65CHAPTER I
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
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?
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
percent of the time my respondent would speak in the Belait language with her and vital
information may be missed, although I had the help of my mother to translate these Belait
languages into my transcription.
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
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
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
and foreign if any not specific to the Belait Ethnic group. It is then only through the use of
semi-structured, observation and archival can I obtain a rich data although it is has more
room to be improved on. Hence I have in my attempt to collect empirical data; I have my
focus groups who are the elderly of the Belait ethnic group. The type of research I am doing
requires historical accounts of the past, those who have experienced and lived through the
changes in the social structure of the Belait ethnic group. This type of data can never be
obtained from using a qualitative method of research through surveys and statistics, because
it does not yield depth and personal accounts of these respondents I would not have obtained
just personal narratives of their own personal experiences and feelings. Observation method
adds in another layer of richness that gives the narratives more character and honesty and
these are hidden from quantitative surveys and questionnaires.
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
CHAPTER II
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
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
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
same time suppress others internal or cross-cutting variations.” (Calhoun, 1993). However we
should also look at the reason for a representing culture as noted by Anthony Reid (2001)
where he argued that it is the habit of colonial powers or specifically the English writers of 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 tradition 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
something that is intriguing, “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). 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 Simawn 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 ancestors 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 with notable continuity through history...” The idea of
because of its materialization into artefacts and activities which carries on as symbols,
memories and values, Smith (1986) argues that once it is formed, it is “durable under ‘normal’ vicissitudes, and to persist over many generations, even centuries...”
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
on bumi indigenity, the quest for national unity finds its inspiration in the unified bumi
identity and predominance”, bumi being the dominant Javanese group. King (1994) “the
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 constituted 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 scattered 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
from the moment they settled in Brunei. The process of being officially recognized as one of
the seven ethnics in Brunei meant inclusion into the wider social structure (Goldberg, 1992)
however as presented by King (1994) this also meant the exclusion of certain privileges
received by the Brunei Malays in terms of social strata. The Belait ethnic groups were slowly
assimilated into the wider dominant culture through intermarriages, education and also
workforce. To be part of the Malay identity they had to adapt Malay culture, speak the Malay
language in their everyday practices, as this is part of the nation’s philosophy the Malay
Islamic Monarchy (MIB). The conversion to Islam also played an important role in the assertion of dominant culture as the Belait’s had to leave some of their cultural practices behind as it was believed to oppose the teachings of Islam such as the act of loitering.
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
depended on the integration of more or less distinctive dialects or members of language
families into new common languages. Print technology and capitalism gave language its
efficacy in relation to nationalism.”
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”.
its people to use the ‘Bahasa Melayu’ as part of their national identity. Anderson (1991) develops this point with more systematic attention to the role of the "print capitalism" of
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
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
he argued that groups of social actors choose to identify themselves through common
identifiers that they share between members of that group as a sense of belonging
“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
structure of exclusion and discrimination or, to the contrary, to divert the stigma
associated with the minority status through boundary blurring.”
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
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 grouping 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
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
CHAPTER III
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 fend off ‘Dayak’ pirates and whilst appointed James Brooke an “English adventurer” as the “Rajah of Sarawak in 1839”. This event had led to a further loss of its territory to Great Britain, “the island of Labuan in Brunei Bay and the final loss of what is now Sabah, East Malaysia, in north-eastern Borneo”.
In 1888 Brunei became a British protectorate and its administration was helped by a British resident, who the will be the Sultan’s advisor. Only in 1929 when oil was discovered in Seria town had the country saw a dramatic increase in its economy where it became a resource base
economy. However during the World War 2 Brunei was occupied by the Japanese army from
1941 until 1945 where much of its oil refinery in Seria was burned by the Japanese army and
had helped from allied forces of the Australian army to help rebuild the town. Only then did
the British come back and independence of Brunei was in the works.
3.1.2 POLITICS
Brunei Darussalam practices absolute monarchy who the head of state is the Sultan, he is also assisted and advised by five councils “the religious council, the privy council, the council of cabinet ministers, the legislative council and the council of succession”. It was on the day of
independence 1st January 1984 that the sultan of Brunei establishes a national philosophy
Malay Islamic Monarchy (Melayu Islam Beraja, MIB).
“Negara Brunei Darussalam adalah dengan izin serta limpah kurnia Allah Subhanahu
Wata’ala akan untuk selama-lamanya kekal menjadi sebuah negara Melayu Islam Beraja
yang merdeka, berdaulat dan bedemokratik…”
Ever since the establishment of a national philosophy the country’s direction at development
has been accompanied by the core values of MIB, ‘Melayu’ means the essence of values of what it means to be a Malay; loyal to the king, practicing the Malay ‘adat’ . The Malay element however comprises of the 7 ethnic groups that has been immortalized its status under
the constitution which are; the Melayu Brunei, Melayu Belait, Melayu Tutong, Melayu
Bisaya, Melayu Dusun, Melayu Kedayan and Melayu Murut. Other ethnic groups such as
Chinese and Indians are also accepted as citizens.
Islam as the official national religion of Brunei, where recently it has started to practice the
Sharia Law, again most of the development is moving towards the approval of either
conforming to Islamic values that it practices.
‘Beraja’ means ‘to have a king’; a king who overlooks his people and take cares of their welfare. Brunei does not have a democratic system of elections, the current Sultan holds the
position of King, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, the supreme commander of the
“Kuasa memerintah yang tertinggi bagi Neagara Brunei Darussalam adalah terletak di dalam tangan Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan dan yang Di-Pertuan”
The above text is taken from the Brunei constitution of 1959 where it states that the power to
command and rule the country Brunei Darussalam falls in the hands of the Sultan.
Together as ‘Melayu Islam Beraja’ the state enforces the Malay language as the lingua franca on the daily basis of communication as well any official business relations within the country.
The state has successfully execute its national philosophy by infusing Malay values with
Islamic way of life, these two elements profess to abide the king and to be loyal to the
country without questioning its legitimacy.
3.1.3 ECONOMY
Brunei’s economy is heavily dependent on the natural resources that it has, that were discovered in 1929 in Seria town. Since then the country’s GDP is contributed with more than half with the exportation of oil and gas. However with the discovery of oil, the country
has benefitted and provided its citizens with one of the best living conditions in Asia with
“one of the highest per capita incomes in Asia” (Damit, 2014) It is also affected by
fluctuating oil prices and competitions from other oil exporting countries and with the current
decrease in oil prices the country is moving towards a new national agenda that is aimed at
the diversification of the economy through exportation of manufactured goods and services
(Country Facts, 2015)
The country has been mobilizing projects and schemes to promote new strategies in
diversifying its economy for example the push towards eco-tourism and entrepreneurial
skills. It has also concentrated more towards developing its human resources quality
according to (Country Facts, 2015) there are shortages in the skilled workforce and that the
industrial skills in its human resources. The establishment of a Halal industry Innovation Centre “there is a market for halal products outside of the Muslim community, as there is a global trend towards more organic food” (Hamit, 2015) said the minister of industry and Primary Resources.
3.1.4 CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Brunei is home to approximately 420000 people over a small area of 5,765-sq km. Brunei
Darussalam practices the Islamic religion as well as the Malay culture, with Malay being the
official medium of communication within the country as well as for official use. Since the
enforcement of the national philosophy MIB, the country has advocated the cultural practices
and strongly encourage for the people to follow and practice the values of the Malay culture.
The term Malay is not exclusive to the Brunei culture only, Malays have a very long history
within the Asian region and there are other Malays as well living in other parts of the region,
like Singapore and Malaysia. However unlike the Malays in the other countries, Brunei
Malay is unique in its expanded definition in the Brunei context. It has been stated before that
Brunei consists of seven recognized ethnic groups and of which all are Malays, however this
is not true for neighbouring countries like Malaysia where Malays and Bisaya or Murut are of
different category and practice different culture. In Brunei context these other ethnic groups have their own cultures but since they are categorized as ‘Malays’ they practice the Malay culture and values.
The country is also home to other ethnic groups such as the Chinese, Indians and Ibans from
neighbouring country Sarawak Malaysia. Although the country emphasises on the Malay
culture, globalization with media consumption is unavoidable with variety of popular cultures
being adapted by youths. This is also a contributing factor to our main research problem of
disappearing ethnic identity.
The Brunei society also emphasises on stratification of people according to statuses as
pengirans are inherited through lineage, a thorough discussion has been pointed out in
chapter one.
3.2 MUKIM KUALA BALAI: GOLDEN AGE
3.2.1HISTORY
Kuala Balai located in the Kuala Belait district was once a busy lively community and as well
as the centre of administration in Kuala Belait, it was once the largest community in the west
of the country and its river system was their main travel system of transferring goods and
people from upstream Mukim Labi. “Strategically situated on the confluence of two rivers it
was a flourishing trading post were Damar resin and other jungle produce were traded for
Chinese pottery and various condiments” (Dols, 2015). The area comprises of a 142-sq km
with 15 km distance from the current Belait jetty today (Mahidin, 1992), the name itself was said to believe to have derived from two elements from the village; first ‘Balai’ meant gathering as the village was known for its frequent gathering of people from those passing by
to more important gatherings to discuss village issues, while ‘Kuala’ was given as the strategic location of the area between two rives hence the name ‘Kuala Balai’ (Mahidin, 1992).
There were about 500 people living in Kuala Balai in the 1970s with about 30 families
working together producing sago, there was once enough people to support a school system.
The river was important to them as it provided a two way travel system from Kuala Balai to
Labi, and people commute every day to bring in goods to sell or to go to work.
3.2.2 ECONOMY
The main economy of what was once a bustling community was mainly agricultural work,
also produced Jelutong, rotan, damar lilin lebah (dian) and getah para (Mahidin, 1992) these
items are then sold to towns and sometimes they travel upstream to sell or go by road to the
city. They also produce thatch roofing made from Nipah palm trees and sell them to make
offices and houses.
Their Sago or ambulong comes from a tree called rumbia or its scientific name the
Metroxylon sagu, this tree produces a powder called ambulong which they could use to
substitute rice. For them to get the sago, thee trees are cut down and are cut into lengths of
four to six feet long, these branches are then transported through the river to be sent to the
villages and to extract them involves two processes; First is to scrape the pieces of rumbia
and the second process is the stomping of the sago powder (Mahidin, 1992).
Much of these have changed since the discovery of oil and the reallocation of the
administration centre for Belait, people have left the agricultural work to do service based
work in towns and have also migrated out from their dwellings to be closer to their schools
and jobs. Modernization has also affected the way that they produced the sago, there exist a
number of sago processing factories but this type of work has declined in favour for a more
rewarding and less labour intensive jobs in the offices and towns. Now none of these sago
factories are in operational and are left abandoned (Dols, 2015).
3.2.3 PEOPLE, CULTURE AND SOCIETY
As a place that was once home to a busy area of economic and cultural activity Kuala Balai
was not only home to the Belait ethnic but it was also home to other indigenous groups such
as; the Meting, Dali, Dusun, Murut, Bong and the Belait. These ethnic groups now have long
migrated out or has been assimilated into the wider society of other groups, there are however
still a number of settlers from the Belait and Dusun ethnic groups living in Kuala Balai.
While these groups are said to live in groups of their own and only come together when there
are business to discuss according to (Mahidin, 1992). The Belait ethnic group was estimated
to be about around 800 people living in the Kuala Balai area however these numbers have
ethnic group who made up the majority of Kuala Balai had their own unique language apart
from the Malay language and this language is slowly dying. According to King (1994) the
Belait language is closely related to the Lemeting language and that this is due to the
intermixing of the two groups, he also notes that the Belait language is also on the verge of
extinction due to the greater influence of the Malay language.
It is important that I explain the differences of what constitute as a tradition and what is
considered a ritual in the practices of the Belait ethnic group. The practice of ‘Beras Rujut’ is
considered as a tradition that has been passed down through generations of ethnic Belaits and
holds no elements of animism or religious rites while the practices of; ‘Mengalai padi’,
‘Mengalai’ during the wedding and calling the spirit of the ill are categorised as rituals in the sense that these involve specific rites and sequence that involves supernatural beings.
Before the conversion to Islam the Belaits practiced animisms, this can be seen from their
culture of ‘mengalai padi’, mengalai padi is considered a ritual that takes place after the
harvesting of padi and before it is to be consumed. This ritual is widely practiced by the
Belait ethnic only, family members would gather and bring their harvest to those who possess
the knowledge to mengalai. The process of mengalai usually involves elderly women
chanting and dancing in circles to bless the harvested rice, music is also played during the
ritual with specific songs and tunes while they make offerings to the animistic gods. There
are also those who mengalai to cure illnesses and those with this knowledge usually can also
tell fortunes is newly married couples. However this has all been left behind since the arrival
of Islam and its rising influence in Brunei, where King (1994) mentioned that the Beliats of
1000 individuals were ‘predominantly Islamic’.
The culture that was practiced in Kuala Balai is predominantly of the Belait ethnic, and these
cultural practices as mentioned above have been left behind since the conversion to Islam and
modernization. Some of the cultural practices that was once part the Belait ethnic group are;
the hunting of animals, the rituals and customs before, during and after marriage, the ritual
and customs during and after pregnancy, the ritual of calling of the spirit of the ill and the
When agriculture was their main source economy the Belaits were hunters in the forests, they
would use dogs as an aid in hunting down preys and they could be equipped with ‘Cangkuk’
or ‘Tebuliang’ which are similar to spears and functions as one as well. This practice of
hunting and gathering then slowly dispersed as they shift to the selling and buying of goods
in the market (Ramle, 2014)
There are a number of customs and rituals that are involved in a Belait marriage ceremony,
before the actual day the couple are not allowed to leave their respective houses for a week,
where for the bride to be her body will be covered in ceremonial powder that believed to
prevent any unwanted tragedies like death while both groom and bride will be treated like
kings and queens in their homes during the seven day confinement (Ramle, 2014).
There are similarities when it comes to wedding practices that the Belaits have with other
groups like the Malays, for example the before Islam the groom’s family must send gifts to
the bride’s family such as; ‘Aluk berujut’ which will be carried by a female of middle aged
and possess good manners and is married, then clothes and jewellery to be placed on a bronze
like holder which will be carried by any of the family members who possess good manners
and is not handicapped and the third item is the ‘saput ikap’ which is a blow-dart like device
that has pine leaves tied to it and is only allowed to be brought by a male member who also
possess good manners and is not handicapped (Jeludin).
During the wedding day the groom’s family brings upon ‘Beras Rujut’ which is uncooked
rice placed into a big bronze chalice to be presented to the bride’s family, family members from both sides are then required to take turns in scooping the rice and putting it back in
without dropping a single grain of rice. This process requires four men and four women from
either side of the family with the condition that these individuals possess good manners,
middle aged, woman who is not widowed, married and is not handicapped and the whole
process is repeated for a total of 16 times. After the activity of ‘Beras rujut’ is done, the rice
is then given to the bride’s family and is to be eaten the next day (Jeludin). This particular
tradition however is still practiced today because they believed that it does not go against the
On the same day of the wedding, the couple are required to sit on a ‘tawak’ an object similar
to a gong that is used in traditional music, where the bride will be required to be dressed only
in cloth and the groom half naked. Then approaching from behind is the person whom has
knowledge of ‘mengalai’ this person carries with her a live chicken which she then slit the
throat and pours the blood form the chicken onto the couple while chanting unknown words
(Jeludin) (Ramle, 2014).
After the wedding ceremony there are taboos that needed to be avoided, the newlyweds are
then required to be confined in their home for another one week in fear of being disturbed by
supernatural beings, as these beings are capable of human emotions and has to ability to
capture humans into their supernatural world (Ramle, 2014). According to Jeludin Bakir
approximately at six in the morning three days after the wedding ceremony the newlyweds
are then accompanied by four to five people either for a walk or row by boat towards the
rising sun at about two hundred feet distance they return and this is called ‘pali’ then the
newlyweds are brought back to the groom’s house along with ‘beras rujut’ and ‘saput ikap’.
Upon reaching the house, they are greeted by an old lady who prepares items such as a
chalice made of bronze filled with water, an axe, a grindstone, one ‘liang jiwang’ and one
‘sari membangun’ as they enter the bride’s right toe is then sprayed with water. They return
to the bride’s house the following day with kitchen tools such as pots and plates (Jeludin).
Another ritual that was practiced by the Kuala Balai residents primarily the Belait ethnic is
the superstition during pregnancy; according to Ramle (2014) as soon as the woman knows
that she is pregnant she has to hammer a nail onto the door of her house, this process is done
three times. It is believed that it is to ward off any unwanted incidents and to ensure the safe
delivery of the baby the health of the mother, on the day of labour the husband is required to
pull out the nail and if is not done properly, the mother and baby might be in danger of death.
After the safe delivery of the baby, the mother is then under a forty day strict diet and
confinement from activities. Such activities according to Ramle (2014) involves sewing, or
threading needle, trim their finger nails, to clean or wash their hair and to pluck their hair for
whose skin has thorns, specific vegetables, food with high salt content and large sized fishes,
this is to avoid the newly born child from sickness.
Lastly, the ritual of calling of the spirit of the ill is similar to the harvest festival ‘mengalai’
we can consider them as witch doctors or shamans because they heal illnesses and require no
payment of some sort (Ramle, 2014).
While these traditions and rituals were part of the Belait ethnic natives, none but one is still in
practice today that is the tradition of ‘Beras rujut’. It can be argued that the rituals and
wedding practices are in fact boundary makers as they are significant to the Belait culture
however it is no longer true since the majority of them have converted into Islam.
Other cultural practices that the Belaits are known for are music and their unique law and
how items are symbolized or given meaning as something of value and wealth to them. Part
of the culture of the settlers of Kuala Balai primarily the Belait ethnic is music, it is in the
form of traditional instruments that are similar to other ethnic group in Brunei and elsewhere
the difference is in the type of songs that they play and the occasions that they play them in.
According to (Ahmad, 1999) there exists 15 types of music or tunes that the Belait ethnic
play; ibang-ibang, Gendang parang, Gendang Lambat, Seri Alam, Gendang Belait,
Pengalaian, Tiga-tiga, Labik, Gendang Bangkar, Gendang Pancak, GendangDombak,
Gendang Belait (kedua), Langkas nakud Dalai, Perakung and Dua -dua. However just like
their traditional practices some of these music no longer practiced since their conversion to
Islam for example gendang perakong is said to be animistic in nature where they play tribute
to spirits and use the skulls of human remains as part of their performance (Ahmad, 1999).
Before the use of currency in the country the Belaits used gongs as symbols of property and
wealth, these gongs played an important part of their lives as these gongs can be used as
payment for punishable acts and as well as wedding gifts. The Belaits have their own
unwritten law that they practice for example (Shariffuddin, 1980) in his article if a man and a
