page_title: Penan people
section_title: Future of the Penan
hierarchical_section_title: Penan people / Future of the Penan
context_page_description: The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei, although there is only one small community in Brunei; among those in Brunei half have been converted to Islam, even if only superficially. Penan are one of the last such peoples remaining as hunters and gatherers. The Penan are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary. Most Penan were nomadic hunter-gatherers until the post-World War II missionaries settled many of the Penan, mainly in the Ulu-Baram district but also in the Limbang district. They eat plants, which are also used as medicines, and animals and use the hides, skin, fur, and other parts for clothing and shelter.
context_section_description: The future of the Penan has been a controversial subject since the confrontation between indigenous rights and state land use began. National and International Non-Governmental Organisations have been pressing for indigenous self-determination and respect for Penan human and land rights in accordance with UN International Labour Organisation Convention N. 169 (1989) that removes “assimilationist” orientated international standards towards indigenous rights, a convention that Malaysia has not adopted. However, many Malaysian politicians have criticised NGOs for meddling in Malaysian domestic affairs and have accused them of attempting to inhibit development projects and keep the Penan 'undeveloped' and unassimilated into mainstream Malaysian society. Most see the Penan's lifestyle as uncivilised and antiquated (compare White man's burden), an example of this is a regularly recited poem by ex Minister for Environment and Tourism Datuk James Wong.
  "O Penan - Jungle wanderers of the Tree 
  
  What would the future hold for thee?....
  
  Perhaps to us you may appear deprived and poor 
  
  But can Civilization offer anything better?....
  
  And yet could Society in good conscience 
  
  View your plight with detached indifference 
  
  Especially now we are an independent Nation 
  
  Yet not lift a helping hand to our fellow brethren? 
  
  Instead allow him to subsist in Blowpipes and clothed in Chawats [loincloths] 
  
  An anthropological curiosity of Nature and Art? 
  
  Alas, ultimately your fate is your own decision 
  
  Remain as you are - or cross the Rubicon!" 
  Many Malaysian organisations have joined the debate such as Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), Borneo Resource Institute (BRIMAS) and Rengah Sarawak. These grassroots organisations have supported indigenous rights and accused the Sarawak state government of repeated neglect of Sarwak's indigenous citizens and exploitation of Sarawak's natural resources. The Penan are more impoverished than ever, confined in sub-standard living conditions that, despite government promises, lack the most basic of facilities and infrastructure. Those who are forced to live in government settlements are constantly fatigued by frequent food shortages and poor health, with little access to (inadequate) health care. Many of the Dayak population have also struggled to get accustomed to a settled lifestyle and adopt agricultural skills, which they must employ more and more as their forests increasingly dwindle.
  The opposition party Parti Keadilan Rakyat has also taken up the cause of the indigenous people's plight, claiming that they are "living lives of quiet desperation that now and then flares up in action that invites police attention, not to mention the notice of the rest of Malaysians who don't quite know what it is to be under the tyranny of geography." With the help of such NGOs many Penan communities have mapped their proposed ancestral lands and filed claims in Sarawak's courts in the hope of preventing and deterring illegal logging of their forests. A precedent was set in 2001 when an Iban village of Rumah Nor won a court victory against Borneo Pulp and Paper and the Sarawak Government for violating their Native Customary Right (NCR) or adat. The victory was recently publicised in a short documentary,  named Rumah Nor, by the Borneo Project. The verdict is being threatened by a Federal Court appeal by the state government and Borneo Pulp and Paper. However, 19 Penan communities have now mapped their NCR and four are beginning litigation and in others the logging has more or less stopped in the territory where litigation is pending. Indigenous action has therefore shifted from the human blockades of logging roads to empowerment through the political and legal system and international publicity.
  The Penan's future also hangs on Taib Mahmud's decision to either adhere or extinguish plans for the Magoh Biosphere Reserve. However, it is Taib Mahmud who is responsible for approving and denying all logging licences. It is he and his closest friends, political associates, senior military offices and family relatives who own m
caption: Old woman from Baram in Penan in Sarawak, Malaysia with extremely elongated earlobes carrying brass pendants.
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