Deepavali is not dull in Sarawak

In Sarawak, where mixed marriages are an increasing norm, the Indian heritage is deeply preserved through celebrations of religious and cultural festivals.

       By Admin

KUCHING: Deepavali is not a gazetted holiday in Sarawak but it hasn’t stopped the 10,000 strong native Indian community from throwing their doors open and celebrating it the Gawai way.

Local-born Indians in Sarawak number around 6,000, while the rest constitute people from Peninsular Malaysians who have been stationed here as doctors, teachers and nurses as well as students.

The community maybe miniscule when compared to Sarawak’s 2.5 million population but in reality they are much respected and their cultural influence ‘strong’.

The biggest concentration of Indians live around Kuching but there is also a significant Indian population in Miri, Sibu and Bintulu.

The Indian community’s historical ties with Sarawak dates back to the 1860s when Indians and Sri Lankans were brought in by the Brooke administration to work in the coffee plantations. Majority of them at the time were Hindus.

When the plantations closed, many returned to their respective homelands, but some stayed on embracing Sarawak, its people and culture.

Although Sarawakian Hindus celebrate other religious festivals such as Navaratri, Thaiponggal, Thaipusam and Hindu New Year, Deepavali however has an exceptional place next to Gawai, says octogenerain T Komarusamy.

Komarusamy is the community’s state-appointed penghulu. In Sarawak every community has a Kapitan and a penghulu to represent the group’s needs to the state administration.

Said Komurasamy, a father of eight children, 21 grandchildren and a great-grand child: “Deepavali is the biggest celebration by Sarawak Hindu and just like during Gawai, Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Christmas, we have open houses for our friends and relatives.

“That is the trend for us here. We have similar practices with the other races here. And thus, we had been accepted like fellow Sarawakians.”

Open houses

He proudly declares that he was “born and bred” in Sarawak and that although mixed marriages were common in the community, Indian practices and the culture were much retained.

“A large number of men in our community have chosen natives as their wives, especially girls from the Iban and Bidayuh communities.

“But in most cases when an Indian man married a native, the family adopts the Indian customs and the children become a part of the local Indian community.

“We have always respect each other’s culture,” said Komarusamy, who is also the president of Sri Maha Mariamman Temple here and chairman of Sarawak Malaysia Hindu Sangam.

He said Indian here still embraced their customs and traditions in full during Deepavali.

“On the eve of Deepavali, we have special prayers for those who had departed, before having a family dinner.

“On Deepavali morning, the head of the house will perform prayers, then anoint gingerly oil on the heads of each family member to be blessed.

“Then we go the temple for prayers and meeting friends, before going back to the house to entertain visiting friends,” he said, adding that Deepavali open houses usually extend well into the night.

This he said was because the festival is not a gazetted holiday and most years it falls on a weekday.

“So our open houses begin in the evening and lasts to late late nights,” he said adding that as in other families, his children too return home for Deepavali.

Strong cultural influence

A typical Deepavali menu in a Sarawakian Indian household is no different from their counterparts in the Peninsular except that here you will find lemang, satay Sarawak’s kek lapis alongside muruku, omapodi, tosai and briyani.

The fact that Deepavali is not a public holiday in the state although it is national vacation does not bother the community here.

“The government here grants Indian public servants unrecorded leaves for Deepavali, so no complains at all,” said Komarusamy.

Another Indian community leader Lucy Lingam shares Komarausamy’s views on the holiday.

“I’ve tried to ‘whisper’ the request (about a holiday) to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak recently, but before I could tell him about it, he immediately answered politely that the number of Indians in Sarawak were too small,” said Lucy, who is of Indian-Kadazan parentage.

“There are more than 40,000 Dayaks in Johor, but they cannot get a public holiday for Gawai there. So what can we Indians here expect?” added Lucy, who is the community’s first woman Kapitan.

According to Lucy, Deepavali celebrations are a case of different strokes because the community is increasing infused with multi-cultural flavour and linguistic groups.

“In Sarawak, just like in the Peninsular, there are several different linguistic groups within the Hindu community, and this is further complimented by mixed marriages. As such, one can notice that there is no standard pattern of celebration,” she said.

And just like in most other cultures, Lucy said Sarawak Indians working outside the state make every effort to be home for the celebrations, so that they can receive blessings from the parents, guardians and family elders.

“This is an integral part of Deepavali celebrations. They cherish being home with the families and friends,” said Lucy.

According to Lucy the local Hindu community lives widespread among the other Sarawakians.

“The local Sarawakians are very appreciative and always make it very important to visit their friends and relatives, especially when there are intermarriages (with Indians).

“The influence of the Indian culture is very strong here. The children (of mixed marriages) become very much attached towards the Indian traditions,” said Lucy, whose son Sivanesan is married to Fazila, a Bidayuh woman. fmt