Where does the human hand meet the grain of rice?
In this clip, we see Mutang Tu’o (Tu’a Kampong / Headman of Ba Payeu) with his wife and family in their rice farm
In this clip, we see Mutang Tu’o (Tu’a Kampong / Headman of Ba Payeu) with his wife and family in their rice farm
The farm is sunken in the mountains of the Tutoh and Upper Baram region of Sarawak, Malaysia. We see Mutang and his family “tai majou” (“rice picking”). For Penan families in Sarawak, farming rice and other forms of agriculture have only been relatively new in practice.
When Mutang grew up he was living a nomadic life within the primary forests, surviving via hunting and gathering. However due to the deforestation of his homelands, Mutang and many Penan peoples have had to adopt horticultural modes of subsistence in order to survive. According to Mutang, each month there is a new practice for rice harvesting. In February we plant the new rice, and in later months of the year we harvest. However, with a changing climate the conditions are often altered and having ongoing shift in the health of the farms and the resulting crop. “Pete” is a Penan word to describe the heat of the sun.
After the primary forests have been destroyed over the last 40 years, by the logging mafia owned by members of the Malaysian government; after these forests have been cleared, now “Pete” is a common word. The heat is rising; the crops are burning; and the work of being on the farm is often within temperatures far exceeding the previous times. The work is exhausting and the results continue to disappoint with harvests affected by the changing climate. However, we continue to sing in the fields, tell jokes, and make the most of the situation. This is our journey of rice farming in Sarawak.
