Saban ladies at Long Banga village in the interior of Baram.
MIRI (April 22): Sabans, one of the smallest ethnic communities in Sarawak, are appealing for constitutional amendments to recognise them as Sarawak natives under the state and federal constitutions.
Saban Association Miri, Sarawak president Usat Bilong said they have been fighting a long time to get the government’s attention on this issue through Federation of Orang Ulu Associations (Forum) but the community’s prayers are yet to be answered.
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“Until now we still don’t have the answer and the same also goes for our Berawan and Lakiput brethren,” he told The Borneo Post.
Usat Bilong
There are officially over 1,000 Sabans, close cousins of the Kelabits, in the state. They are found mostly in Long Banga in the interior of Baram bordering East Kalimantan province of Indonesia. It takes about eight to ten hours’ drive by 4WD vehicles through logging road to reach from Miri city.
Rural Air Service operator MASWings operates bi-weekly flights by Twin Otter aircraft to Long Banga. The community’s settlements are also found at Long Puak and Long Peluan.
Usat said, as a member of Forum, the association is hoping for and will support any government initiative to amend the federal and state constitutions or rules to recognise the Saban community as a native in Sarawak.
He added that such recognition is very important to their community who reside in far-flung villages in the state as they have faced problems in ownership of native customary rights (NCR) land and even in opening an Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) account, a privilege enjoyed by other communities recognised as natives.
“Saban children also miss out on the opportunity to further their studies or in education assistance from the government, a conundrum which could be resolved with constitutional recognition,” he pointed out.
Under Article 161A(6)(a) and 7 of the Federal Constitution, the term ‘Native’ means (a) in relation to Sarawak, a person who is a citizen and either belongs to one of the races specified in Clause (7) as an indigenous to the state or is of mixed blood deriving exclusively from those races and (7) the races to be treated for the purposes of the definition of ‘native’ on Clause (6) as indigenous to Sarawak are the Bukitans, Bisayahs, Dusuns, Sea Dayaks, Land Dayaks, Kadayans, Kelabits, Kayans, Kenyahs (including Sabups and Sipengs), Kajangs (including Sekapans, Kejamans, Lahanans, Penans, Tanjongs and Kanowits), Lugats, Malays, Melanaus, Muruts, Penans, Sians, Tagals, Tabuns, and Ukits.
The terms Ibans, Lun Bawangs, and Bidayuhs are new terminologies yet to be included in the federal list, prompting the Sarawak Legislative Assembly on April 30, 2019 to unanimously pass a motion that proposed a comprehensive amendment to the Federal Constitution upon conclusion of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) discussions with the federal government. This was preceded by debates close to seven hours by 47 lawmakers from both sides of the political divide.
The term ‘Native’ in the Federal Constitution will be amended accordingly once the MA63 discussions with the federal government is concluded, said Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Youth chief and Balai Ringin assemblyman Datuk Snowdan Lawan then.
Meanwhile, Saban Association Miri, Sarawak declared its support to the call by Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and Rurum Kelabit Sarawak Association for the state government to recognise children of mixed marriages between a native and non-native to be recognized as a native of Sarawak and be entitled to their ancestral rights.
“We also support this to enable our mixed marriage children to enjoy their native rights, especially on land and studies matters,” said Usat.