Anthony Richards--remembrances.

[Editor's Note: The remembrances that follow, the first by Temenggong William Linang and the second by Dato Tra Zehnder, are excerpted from interviews conducted by Jayl Langub, Nicholas Bawing, and myself (Clifford Sather) on 19 February 2002 at the Majlis Adat Istiadat offices in Kuching.]

Temenggong William Linang

I first met Tuan Richards at Sri Aman. I was then in Song and later in Kanowit. After the Second World War, we met again in Simanggang [now renamed Sri Aman], where I got to know him better.... I was transferred to Lingga sub-district for 2 months(1). Later, Richards was doing research on Iban adat and land matters and I attended the aum in Sri Aman [that is, the Conference on Dayak adat held in 1961]. Richards did a lot of traveling and was constantly writing (iya rajin ngambi' surat). He always had a notebook with him, a small [pocket-sized] notebook (or bup utang). He spent much time talking with people in the longhouse, listening to them until 12 o'clock, or even 1 in the morning.

J. Langub: How would you compare Tuan Richards to other District Officers in those days?

The other District Officers, they talked only, but Richards, he wrote down what people said. He asked more questions beyond official business, mostly on customs. If he was in a boat traveling, and there were Penghulus or knowledgeable people in the boat, he asked questions and wrote down what they said. He was a diligent writer (iya ga' rajin nulis). He was an especially good friend of SAO Jarit Meluda; they were best friends and often traveled together [Jarit Meluda and Richards wrote an excellent little book together on various kinds of Iban fish traps, hunting gear, and fishing and hunting lore, including methods for "calling" mouse deer and fish, published by the Borneo Literature Bureau in Iban as Penemu Begiga (1962). An English translation, called Hunting Lore, was published by BLB in 1965].

J. Langub: When they held the gathering (aum) on Iban adat at Simanggang, were you there? Where was it held?

J. Langub: Then it was just like a berandau (discussion session) held in a longhouse?

Yes, that's right. Tun Jugah arrived, leading a group representing the Rejang. Richards and Hermanus Assan acted as co-chairmen. (2) The people of the longhouse were very fond of Richards because he was respectful of people (Sida' rumah panjai endang rinduka Tuan Richards laban iya manah enggau orang). He shook everyone's hand. He was not like some "big shot" (nadai baka orang big shot iya). And he joked with (betundi') the ladies. He was good.

C. Sather: Why do you think Richards took such a special interest in the Iban?

Well, I'm not sure, but he wanted to record their oral traditions, their way of life in the longhouse, their adat. He wanted to talk to them and write down what they told him. He found it all interesting. Also he was posted to Iban areas. The Orang Ulu lived far upriver in those days and he never served in an Orang Ulu area.

C. Sather: What kind of personality did Richards have, do you remember? How did he deal with people? Can you say more about that?

When he dealt with a land dispute, he more or less spoke like us (baka ku' kitai), he knew the procedures (iya nemu ngatur). In fact, he tried to put himself in the shoes of the people, seeing things from their point of view, what it was like for them. He always talked nicely to people, never roughly. He was gentle, but firm. He knew how to talk with people, and they liked that.... He was diplomatic. He knew the Iban language well and people respected him for that. He also knew the polite language (jaku' karung) and it helped him a lot in working with people. (William Linang, a retired Senior Administrative Officer, was appointed Native Chief with responsibility for the Kuching Division following his retirement)

(1) Temenggong Linang was born in the Betong district and started his career in the Sarawak administrative service as a Native Officer. He briefly served under Anthony Richards for two months, as he indicates here, when he was SAO at Lingga. Richards was then the District Officer at Simanggang. The more general purpose of this interview with Temenggong Linang was to collect narrative materials relating to the activities of Native Officers in the early colonial period immediately before and after World War II

Yes. The gathering was opened by lemambang (priest bards) who made offerings. That was on the first day. On the second day, we divided into sections, like workshops. It was held in the District Office. Tables and chairs were removed and mats were spread on the floor. That's where everyone sat, on mats, on the floor.

(2) As Richards indicates in his account of serving as a Sarawak administrative officer, he was asked in 1961, near the end of the British colonial period, to undertake a study of Iban adat and practices related to land subject to Native Customary Rights (called NCR land). The results of the historic Simanggang gathering, the culmination of this study, appeared as Dayak Adat Law in the Second Division (Kuching: Government Printers, 1963). Richards also produced a companion compilation, concerned with Bidayuh adat and covering the First Division called Dayak Adat in the First Division (Kuching: Government Printers, 1964). Richards describes his work as that "of recording local ideas on land tenure to help a land reform committee ..." But, as he notes, politics intervened, so that the committee's recommendations were never acted upon. More recently, however, the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak has handed down a landmark decision upholding the legality of Native Customary Rights with regard to NCR land in which Richards' work was extensively cited in support of the Court's decision (see Nor anak Nyawai et al. vs. Borneo Pulp and Paper Sdn. Bhd.), Editor.