Kampung blacksmiths — a dying breed

FIRE and hammer, metal and heat.

Sayang Bidi was hooked the first time he saw some of his elders using their artisanal skills to forge metal into useful tools at a village separated from the town by a forest.

His first thought was: “Oh man, it’s red hot iron … a killer!”

That was more than 40 years ago when he took his old and blunt farming and cutting tools, mainly parangs, to the blacksmith for repairs. He was then in his early 20s.

At the time, Sayang and most of the villagers were still living at the old Kampung Taba Sait in Upper Penrissen. To get there, one had to trek through jungle trails and hills about one and half hours from Kampung Bengoh.

In those days, blacksmiths were paid according to the kampung custom of items such as rice, preserved fish and wild boar meat as well as cash. The custom is still observed today even though the villagers have moved to a modern setting at the Bengoh Resettlement Scheme (BRS).

Sayang’s interest in blacksmithing began at a young age but he dared not try it back then. He only decided to take up the sledgehammer after discovering his old farming and cutting tools would decay and become useless if left idle without maintenance.

Moreover, he also had to make sure he had a ready supply of rice, preserved fish and wild boar — apart from cash — if he wanted to do business with the metalsmiths in the kampung.

“We can, of course, pay with rice and cash. But fish and wild boar meat are part of the deal and they are no longer easy to get,” pointed out Sayang, now in his 60s.

Since he had an interest in blacksmithing, he decided to learn the craft from the former village headman, the late Ketua Kaum Pendek.

“He was an expert blacksmith and more than willing to teach me. I learned how to make and repair parangs and knives.”

Sayang is now not only one of the skilled blacksmiths in his village but also the headman of the new Kampung Taba Sait in BRS.

The idea of creating something new, something that did not exist before a blacksmith laid hands on it, inspired him to learn the craft of metal forging.

Although Sayang has already picked up considerable skills, he only became a much sought-after blacksmith in his village after his mentor, Pendek, died, leaving his legacy to his protege.

To date, Sayang has spent some 10 years as a part-time blacksmith. And he still gets paid in cash, rice, preserved fish and wild boar meat by his fellow villagers — but cash only by outsiders.

“We can’t just do away with this long-standing custom. It was a pantang (traditional belief) at our old village before we were relocated to BRS. And we still have this belief,” he explained.

Working with steel

Sayang said while blacksmiths in the past only worked with iron, today some of them also worked with steel.

“Iron is actually pretty rare these days because cutting tools made of iron are not hard enough and don’t last very long. But if people bring me iron to make their cutting tools, especially knives, I will still do it for them,” he said.

Like the workshop at the old village, the BRS workshop is shared among all the blacksmiths. It’s a simple place equipped with a small forge, an anvil, a sledgehammer and a half-cut oil drum for containing water. Every blacksmith in the village can use these basic facilities.

I found it absolutely fascinating watching Sayang and his fellow blacksmiths displaying their craft — how a piece of straight inch-flat metal is forged, pounded and worked into a cutting tool.

There are real skills involved, skills honed through years of practice.

“You must be able to tell how hot the metal is by the colour it turns into from the heat of the fire. If not hot enough yet, it cannot be shaped properly or may even crack or break when pounded. If too hot, it may melt and be ruined,” Sayang explained.

The shape and edge of every hole on the anvil has its own function.

For Sayang and his fellow blacksmiths at Kampung Taba Sait, a simple forge is used to soften metal. Sometimes they repair old knives or make new ones.

Making new knives or parangs can be difficult work as it requires materials like charcoal and, more importantly, human strength.

However, being an old hand, Sayang knows exactly how to make good quality knives and parangs. He heats the metal and forges it before hardening it in cold water. For the water quenching process, he dips the edge of the knife or parang into the water — about one centimetre for three seconds — then lifts it out.

He repeats the process a second time until the edge of the parang turns yellow — an indication that it has already hardened.

The workshop is often seen as an uncomfortable workplace. It is hot and one can get burnt as well but the workshop at Kampung Taba Sait is much better to work in.

Anyway, blacksmiths seem to develop a tolerance for adversity, and furthermore, blacksmithing is a good skill to have.

Decades back, almost every Bidayuh village at Penrissen had a smithy — a man who made or remade cutting tools, mainly parangs and knives, and other metal necessities.

But as time went by, interest in blacksmithing among the community also waned. Now, one can only find a blacksmith workshop at BRS. The workshop is called beran in Bidayuh Penrissen.

Young kampung smithy

Boy Gauus is a young part-time smithy from Kampung Taba Sait. He has loved producing handicrafts since he was young and derives great satisfaction from the ability to create “something beautiful and warm from something so plain and cold”.

“Imagine creating things with heat, pounding and sweat. It’s very satisfying,” said the 40-year-old.

Boy said he felt extremely lucky to be part of his village’s blacksmithing community, especially when not many people want to do this kind of work nowadays.

He usually uses small metal pieces to make new knives and parangs. He repairs old ones on request.

“I learned blacksmithing from Tawet, the younger brother of the late Pendek when I was 20 plus, making my own cutting tools first before doing it for others,” he revealed.

Boy’s older brother, Suwe, is also a smithy. Like his younger sibling, Suwe has also been blacksmithing part-time for over 10 years.

“I learned by observing how the old-timers made knives and parangs — then through trial and error doing my own stuff,” he added.

Indeed, not many people understand how much work goes into the forging, pounding and hardening processes. Many people seek out a good blacksmith because they want a degree of quality only found in an experienced and skilled craftsperson.

When people hire a good blacksmith, they expect the workmanship to be as exact as possible. And the trio — Sayang, Boy and Suwe — appear to be producing good quality farming tools.

I found it really educational watching them in their element, creating farming and household items from raw metal, while I also acquired some tips on shaping cold iron or steel rods or bars.

At the workshop in BRS, blacksmiths work by heating pieces of wrought iron or

steel until the metal becomes soft enough for shaping with hand tools such as a hammer, anvil and chisel. There, heating takes place in a forge fuelled by charcoal, lit up by a blower.

Colour is important for indicating the temperature and workability of the metal. From my close-up observation, as iron heats to higher temperatures, it first glows red, then orange, yellow and finally white. The ideal heat colour for most forging is bright yellow-orange.

Pantang and customs

The blacksmith workshop in Kampung Taba Sait at BRS is unique in that it adheres to some prohibitions or pantang.

For example, it is prohibited to bring an egg or eggs into the workshop and women are also not allowed in the premises.

Sayang said if these pantang were not observed, the iron or steel may crack or break if pounded with a sledgehammer on the anvil.

He also said infants — who cannot crawl yet (usually below nine to 10 months old) were also not allowed in the workshop otherwise they may develop physical defects.

Meanwhile, Sayang revealed he and his fellow blacksmiths at BRS only resumed their craft recently — after about four years doing other jobs.

At the old kampung, they forged thousands of knives and parangs between them over the past 10 years or so.

“There wasn’t a lot of money in it. But I just love to make things with my hands,” Boy pointed out.

Sayang concurred, saying: “If somebody asks me to make or repair parangs, then I will do it. That’s the way I sell my works.”

The price of new parangs made by the blacksmiths in Kampung Taba Sait is between RM20 and RM80, depending on the size and material. The charge for repairs is between RM3 and RM5, depending on the size of the implements.