Berawan community mulls book on culture, traditions
MIRI: The Berawan Sarawak Association plans to publish a book on the Berawan culture and traditions in an effort to preserve the identity of the community for future reference, especially among the younger generation.
Its president, Datin Catherine Awing Wan, said the association expected the book to be completed next year.
She said the association was in the midst of collecting and fi nalising data with experts in the Berawan culture and traditions to ensure authenticity.
“What’s special about this book is that for the first time ever it will be written in the Berawan language. We are collaborating with the Sarawak Native Customs Council in this aspect. Our biggest hope is that it can be completed and published next year,” she told Bernama.
Catherine said the association was also mulling to set up its own cooperative to enhance the Berawan community’s participation in the economic sector.
“At the moment our community is actively involved in tourism, especially in Loagan Bunut and the Mulu National Park, both located in Miri,” she said.
She said the community was good at doing business, and cited the example of a Berawan having set up business in the agriculture sector in Auckland, New Zealand.
“We are also considering to amend our constitution to allow the association to set up branches in other towns in Sarawak so that more members of the community can join our association,” she said.
Catherine said that based on statistics, the Berawan accounted for about 0.4 per cent or 10,000 people out of the estimated 2.4 million population of Sarawak, and the majority of the community lived in Miri.
She said the association had been around for 43 years now and it was high time that it expanded its presence in the state and welcomed new members.
“We are a small community and need to work together with the other communities. The association hopes that besides enhancing the economic status, we can improve the education standard of our community,” she added. — Bernama