Money collected to help Penans being used to finance life of little white Rajah

MuluView

To Malaysians in Sarawak, Bruno Manser, was nothing more than Mat Salleh sesat, a lost Mat Salleh, which is the local reference to a Caucasian and sesat literally means lost though the usage here connotes an odd or weird Caucasian.

It is so because 99.9% of the local people do not fancy staying in a makeshift hut being surrounded by young girls, the life that had been romanticized and led by Bruno during his sojourn to the remote region of Ulu Limbang/ Ulu Baram in the Northern region of Sarawak.

Most of the Europeans, who come to Sarawak nowadays, generally appear unkempt and dirty, much to the surprise of the local people who have been used to seeing smart looking expatriate officers during the pre-Independent era. Generally, the State Government allows foreigners, mostly Europeans, free access to the local people under the program of CAN or Challenge, Adventure and Nature, the State’s unique program to promote tourism.

Bruno Manser, who claimed to be an archeologist, was allowed like anybody else to enter Sarawak as the State believes in sharing the local ambiance and nature with the rest of the world.

His adventure into the interiors of Sarawak mainly in Ulu Baram/Ulu Limbang area, which covers world renowned places like Bario (Kelabit highlands), Mulu complex, the world nature heritage and Long Semado and Ba’kelalan (the Murut Highlands) obviously exposed him to the simple way of life of the Penan community, who comprises of about 5,000 people out of which about 500 still choose to live their traditional nomadic way of life. They wander over a wide forest area, which they perceive as their own, for their games and sources of food.

Bruno Manser believed that he was King of the Penan tribe

Obviously, Bruno Manser took fancy to their way of life. Generally, they are simple and good natured people. They are innocent of the intention of visitors towards them. The girls as young as 12 years old can be very friendly and are prepared to stay awake with visitors throughout the night.

Of course, Bruno Manser, who came in with a lot of money in US dollars, was initially looked upon as a modern white Rajah (king) among them. Stories were abound that he would keep young girls as companies in his makeshift hut, which used to be 100 times better than those of his wandering band of Penans, who he considered as followers. To the Penans, for the white Rajah to stay with girls as young as 12 years, is not a sin.

Sarawak inherits the common law that makes it an offence for a man to stay with minors as temporary wives, the arrangement is still being allowed by a section of the tribe, from the British colonial administration. Bruno Manser, who is the product of hippy age, makes his indulgences with young Penan girls cannot be anything else but sexual abuses or statutory rapes. The general view of the local people on Bruno Manser is that he was philanderer. He took full advantage on the ignorant of the community, most of who were of inferior human beings than him, to impose his wishes on them.

Obviously, he preferred to make the community to remain backward, so that he, with his layer of superiority in terms of knowledge and money over the members, could continue to put them into full enslavement. It was the only way for him to continue with his fantasy of being a white Rajah among a primitive community.

Bruno wanted the Penans to be preserved like human museum

He brought a lot of money in cash in US dollars when he first came to Sarawak. He would make frequent trips across the border to Kalimantan to change them either in Rupiah or Brunei dollar, before he converted them into Ringgit. He did so to evade detection of his huge cash.

He started to be on the run with his small band of nomadic Penan families to evade arrests once his visit pass expired. In the meantime, he had to use his network with other Penan groups to organize blockades to disrupt operations in some timber areas as a way to tell the world, his sponsors in particular, that he was in the interior of Sarawak to fight against the so-called excessive loggings being carried out by Malaysian Government, the State government in particular that could displace the Penans of their traditional nomadic way of life.

Obviously, he had to create a facade of his modern white Rajah style of living among the community. He did so by instigating them, how innocent and ignorant they might be, to organize blockades against timber operations in Ulu Limbang/ Ulu Baram area in the name of saving the world environment, which has no relevance to Sarawak.

As he could not find substantial flaws in the State’s forests policies, which have been endorsed by ITTO based on sustainable management of the resources, he decided to take the fate of the Penans to the world. Of course, some people in Europe, without knowing that the Penans only constitute less than 5,000 people and only 500 of them are still wandering in the forests fall preys to his line of campaign.

He managed to blow out to the world the fate of the nomadic Penans to portray Sarawak as neglecting one portion of the population in development. Some of the critics would say that the Penans should be preserved like human museums. The Human Rights group, on the other hand, would say Penans should not be left in isolation in development, which is being enjoyed by the rest of the society.

Both are right of course, depending on how one looks at it. These are the classic examples of conflict of views, which sometimes are hard for the people to reconcile. Obviously, Bruno Manser believes that he does not owe to us to tell the truth or to expose a balanced view between ours, who are affected by his campaign and his, who has been campaigning against us.

When the law eventually caught up with him, he was escorted out of the State in early 1999. However, he came back under a different name, which was allowed in Switzerland. He entered Sarawak via Brunei and went up Makam river right to Bario to join a countryman, who had already married a young Penan girl.

By then, he already believed that he was a revered King of the Penan tribe, regardless of what Malaysians in Sarawak think of him. To the outside world, to his sponsors in particular, he was the champion of a tribe that had been getting ill treatments from the government, the State government in particular.

Penan women

The State Assemblyman for Batu Danau, Paulus Palu Gumbang, whose area bore the brunt of activities being carried by Bruno Manser in organizing the Penans to hold blockades against timber operations, says Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has been meddling in the internal affairs of Sarawak by spreading lies and making baseless allegations with the evil intention to disrupt its existing economic and political stability.

He says Bruno Manser as the little white Rajah of the Penans never did anything to assist them to integrate into the society and uplift their socio - economic progress. It was obvious that he wanted the Penans to preserve their traditional way of life so that they would remain subservient to his whims and fancies. His disappearance remains a mystery.

He says it is ironical that Bruno disappeared in the thick jungles of the rainforests, which he had lied to the world to have been completely destroyed. Perhaps, the rainforests apparently had destroyed him when he reportedly entered the dense, natural forests near Batu Lawi and failed to re-emerge. Generally, the people believe that he disappeared in the deep forests between Samerang and Batu Lawi in Ulu Baram.

Paulus Gumbang, a former Director of Information Department Sarawak, believes Bruno Manser could also have staged his own disappearance as he would not be able to return to Europe to face his sponsors, without doing anything to help the Penans. More importantly, more and more elders of the Penans began to know his true colors and intention to become the revered King of the tribe.

Besides, he was always accompanied by people on both sides of the border to change a huge sum of money from US dollars to local currencies like Rupiah and Brunei and Singapore dollars. It was unavoidable, his presence also attracted attention of the people on both sides of the border. Whatever it is his disappearance remains a mystery.

An aerial view of Batu Lawi

Paulus questions the legality of the setting up of Bruno Manser Fund, which carries the name of a person, who mysteriously disappeared many years ago in the dense rainforests in the interior of Sarawak. Obviously, those behind the setting up and operations of the fund are ignorant of his notoriety to live as the modern white Rajah among the primitive tribe. Generally, they are very ignorant of the local situation and do not believe in fair and factual reporting. Their activities, if left unchecked, can injure the reputation of Sarawak and undermine its existing political stability and racial harmony.

Paulus, says the campaign being carried out by Bruno Manser Fund fund deserves strong condemnation by Malaysians in Sarawak, the elected the representatives of the people in particular.

A book entitled "Bruno Manser: The Inside Story" by James Ritchie, a veteran journalist, describes Bruno Manser as a self -styled environmentalist and the product of the "hippy age" of free sex and drug. He was known to be disillusioned with the rapid changes in his own homeland and fanaticizing the life of a modern white Rajab among the primitive natives of Borneo.

Officially, he entered Sarawak on the pretext of carrying out research as an anthropologist after spending much of his youth in the Swiss Mountains where he turned to "Yoga" as a means to escape from the realities of life and find "Nirvana" in life.