Jimmy (standing, fourth right) joins the volunteers in a photo-call after putting up the swing.
THE towering ‘Itut’ is set to add a touch of Melanau heritage to the upcoming 16th Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF) 2019, running in Sibu from July 18 to 27.
The Itut, a traditional Melanau swing, is now regarded as a distinctive BCF feature. It was also a crowd-puller last year, according to Jimmy De Rozario, the Itut project coordinator.
“It has become a tourist attraction. The response last year was very encouraging and we had a log book to record our visitors from different parts of the world – like the US for instance – who came to check out the Itut.
“This year, some 50 volunteers from the Melanau Welfare Association of Kampung Nangka, Sibu, erected a 50-foot (over 15m) Itut at Dataran Tun Tuanku Bujang Phase I (formerly Sibu Town Square) last Sunday (July 7). The structure is slightly higher than last year’s.
Jimmy (second left) and some volunteers looking for suitable wood to make the Itut.
“They did this with the help of a crane under the supervision of Sahari Ubu, who was in charge. The scorching heat did not dampen the spirit of the volunteers who finished the work ahead of this year’s BCF,” he told thesundaypost.
He said the entire process – from finding suitable wood to putting up the structure – would usually take about three weeks.
Sahari (right) and his team race against time to get the Itut ready for BCF 2019.
In fact, according to Jimmy, putting up the structure alone took an entire day.
“It’s certainly no walk in the park. The wood itself is about 50 feet long and the swing, about 29 feet.
“If it were shorter, it would slow down after a few swings. So the taller (it is), the better. We aim to complete it three days before BCF,” he pointed out.
The festival will be open to public starting July 18, from 7.30pm to 10pm.
“As the event is for 10 days, we have our team of volunteers to help visitors ride on the Itut. Safety is a top priority,” Jimmy gave his assurance.
Sahari, 78, a former headman of Kampung Nangka, stressed that a ritual must be performed before the swing could be used.
For safety, the septuagenarian added, a fence would be put up to prevent people simply entering for a swing without supervision.
Volunteers work together to assemble the structure, with the help of a crane.
Brief Itut background
The swing is said to have been brought to Sibu by the first Melanau settlers in Seduan – a part of Sibu – and their descendants are the Melanaus living in Kampung Nangka.
“This means Itut has been around for more than 100 years. It’s known by various names – for instance, ‘Tibau’ in Mukah and ‘Barieew’ in Oya,” Jimmy said.
In the past, Itut was played during the fruit seasons when the settlers would gather and socialise as many of them lived far apart and this would go on for months, until the end of the fruit seasons, he added.
“Apart from this, Itut was played to celebrate VIP visits. The villagers would welcome these important persons with performances on the swing.”
According to Jimmy, the tallest Itut ever constructed stood at about 70 feet – constructed by the Melanaus of Kampung Nangka. The significance in terms of height is that the higher it is, the longer it swings.
It takes the workers an entire day to erect the 50-foot structure alone.
Making the Itut
Jimmy knows how tough it is to put together this traditional swing.
To set up the Itut for BCF, he joined volunteers from the Melanau Welfare Association of Kampung Nangka Sibu to extract suitable wood in Ulu Pasai Siong near Sibu.
A volunteer cuts wedge marks on a log slated for the Itut.
“Getting the right wood is the first step. The wood needed is called ‘kayau bedaru’ in Melanau. It’s a very hard and strong wood as safety is our top priority. Putting up the structure alone took the entire day.
“Taking the wood out of the jungle to the town square with police escort took another day. That aside, rattan and bamboo, which are among the building materials required, had to be found as well,” he recalled.
The swings are made of long strong rattan and bamboo sourced from Tanjung Latap, some distance across the Lanang Bridge.
Jimmy revealed other types of wood were required to make steps on the Itut poles and for support – which was why, he reiterated, the entire construction took about three weeks to complete.
He understood that in the old days, between 60 and 70 village volunteers would be involved in the work by ‘gotong-royong’ (work party).
“But these days with the help of machines, the manpower has been reduced,” he noted.
For continuity, former headman Sahari was happy that he had ‘more or less’ identified a successor to pass the skills of making the Itut to – his assistant, Raymund Seleman, might just be the man.
Meanwhile, Jimmy revealed that an attempt to assemble a 60-foot Itut was in the pipeline.
“We want to make it higher to have a longer oscillating momentum. If it’s shorter, it would slow down after a few swings. The taller, the better,” he enthused.