| The Longhouse A longhouse is really a village under a single roof. [tis a system well adapted for defence and close social contacts, {1 is the normal type of village for all the interior peoples of Sarawak and it should be emphasized that there is nothing whatever primitive about a longhouse. It isa well set up, well planned building, admirably suited to the climate.- It is very fir from being a primitive type of residence. There can be few people with experience of both who would not prefer to live in a good Sarawak longhouse than in a crowded shophouse in one of the cities of Malaysia. The longhouse does possess defects from the point of view of social evolution and improved farming. 1 is also very vulnerable to destruction by fires which often destroy whole villages and all the property of the villagers. But from the human point of view the longhouse is an advanced and well developed form of habitation where people work together and co-operate and are never lonely. In many places in Sarawak longhouses are now tending to break up and to be replaced by yillages of individual house: In the old days head-hunting habits presented a considerable problem. War parties and the taking of heads were an outlet for youthful enterprise. Heads were taken by Ibans and other peoples because they were believed to confer great benefits on the house they were brought back to, In some Dayak longhouses they are still to be seen hanging in a place of honour. But head-hunting has been long” abandoned. The visitor is at least as safe and probably a good deal safer in the countryside of Borneo than in the streets of most big cities. Heads today are only seen in the non-Christian houses. Chris- Wianity is making rapid strides and when a house is converted naturally the human skulls are given decent burial. Perhaps a digression may be permitted here. When reference is made to jungle it must not be thought that the average longhouse is still surrounded by immense areas of untouched jungle. The old forest has nearly all been felled in all settled areas and only secondary forest remains there. The longhouse will be surrounded by tall trees but these are mostly fruit trees planted there by the inhabitants. They have also’ planted a‘great deal of rubber and rubber gardens are to bé found scattered all over the country. The great forests which exist are either in the coastal swamps which are not suitable for settlement ot in the distant interior where people have either not been interested in settling or have been pre- 1 7 Scanned with CamScanner> vented for some reason or in those areas where the jungle protected for forestry Ble has heen One of the great differences between Sarawak and West M: is that in West Malaysia the primary forest comes down to th of Chinese and estate settlement. In Sarawak there ; settlements and beyond that the Dayak a mixed together. The old jungle is usually v alaysia Ne edge are Chinese 1s OF Sometimes the two ery much further away Exercises 1. In what ways does the writer try to convince us that longhouse is quite pleasant? What disadvantages, if any, are mentioned about living in a longhouse? Is it likely that longhouses will exist for a long time? Why did some Sarawak tribes take to head-hunting? How is it possible to tell a Christian longhouse from a non- Christian one? 6. How do we know that the inhabitants of longhouses are agri- culturalists? 7. What is the difference in land settlement between Sarawak and West Malaysia? 8. Do you agree or disagree with each of the following propo- sitions. Give reasons. (a) People are never lonely in a longhouse. (b) Life is more rushed in a modern city than ina longhouse, (c) Longhouse conditions are bound to be primitive. (d) Old people in a longhouse will be well looked after. (e) A person will have greater independence living in a city. 9. What ‘outlets for youthful enterprise’ are available to the town- dweller in Malaysia? 16. Avoiding the definition given in the passage, how would you explain to a foreigner the meaning of ‘longhouse’? life in a yee Scanned with CamScanner