Immerse yourself in the rich diversity of Sarawak's indigenous and settler communities, discovering their traditions, languages, and communal ways of life.
Listen — all 6 episodes free
0
Thirty Peoples Under One Rainforest Canopy
This series, Voices of Borneo: Sarawak's Ethnic Tapestry, explores the remarkable diversity of cultures woven into this corner of Malaysian Borneo.
0:00
1
The Iban and Their River Longhouses
The Iban were among the most feared warriors in all of Southeast Asia, their reputation for headhunting so formidable that even colonial powers approached their…
0:00
2
Bidayuh Bamboo Builders of Southern Sarawak
The Bidayuh construct their longhouses almost entirely from bamboo — walls, floors, even the water pipes that channel streams from nearby hillsides into the community.
0:00
3
Highland Craftsmen and the Sacred Sape
The sape, a boat-shaped lute carved from a single block of wood, produces sounds so haunting that it was once reserved exclusively for healing ceremonies.
0:00
4
Spirit Callers Turned Coastal Traders
The Melanau people were once animists who practiced elaborate spirit-summoning rituals to heal the sick, using carved wooden figures called blum as vessels for displaced…
0:00
5
Chinese Traders and Forest Nomads of Sarawak
Sarawak's Chinese community arrived centuries before the Brooke era, with Hakka and Hokkien traders establishing gold mining cooperatives in the western districts as…
0:00