About Bahasa Iban

Iban is a tribal language of western Borneo, spoken in Malaysia's state of Sarawak, the Indonesian state of West Kalimantan, and Brunei.

A branch of the Dayak ethnic group formerly known as "Sea Dayak" who live in Sarawak, the Indonesian province of Kalimantan Barat and in Brunei, Iban (also known as "Bahasa Iban") belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.

It is closely related to Malay. Iban is also known as a the "headhunters language" in some, unflattering, circles. The language is mostly taught to students in rural areas with a large Iban population, such as Baleh (Kapit), Betong, Saratok, Lubok Antu and Pelagus (Kapit).

According to my research, during the colonial regime (1946-1963), the Iban language was recognized/used during the Council Negeri meetings.The Borneo Literature Bureau was set up to help popularize the language through its Iban magazine called Nendak and through the printing of Iban books. When Sarawak obtained independence through the formation of Malaysia, the Borneo Literature Bureau (BLB) was abolished and in its place, in 1978, the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) took over. The abolishment of BLB saw several hundreds of Iban books and magazines destroyed.

The Iban committee tirelessly worked to get this language back in schools, although it is still difficult to find publications in the Iban language. However, just this month, an Iban dictionary was to be published containing "17,000 core words and over 60,000 imitatives from the different regions of Sarawak". "There are English-Iban, Iban-Bahasa Malaysia and Iban-English dictionaries, but as far as we know, it is the first of its kind. It is possibly the first in the country, if not the world", according to Dr Robert Menua Saleh (the research director at The Tun Jugah Foundation).

Some sample Iban phrases, courtesy of Omniglot, are as follows:

Welcome Selamat datai
Good morning Selamat pagi
Good afternoon Selamat tengah hari
Good night Selamat lamai
Long time no see Udah lama enda betemu

Ramadan

If you work in the localization industry and handle Middle Eastern languages, you quickly become familiar with Ramadan as it is the time of year when it is notoriously difficult to find an available Arabic translator. This year, Ramadan began on July 20 and will continue through August 18.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and a time of spiritual reflection and increased devotion and worship. It is also the month believed to be when the Holy Qur'an was sent by God to the great Prophet Muhammad. There are a billion Muslims around the world, with approximately 8 million located in North America.

At many mosques during Ramadan, about one thirtieth of the Qur'an is recited each night in prayers known as tarawih. By the end of Ramadan, the complete scripture will have been recited.

During this month, from dusk to dawn, Muslims obstain from eating, drinking, sex, smoking and absolutely anything else that would draw their attention away from service. It is believed that fasting (sawm) teaches a number of virtues, including modesty and patience. Fasting means there is no eating or drinking while the sun is shining.


This type of fasting usually begins at 12 years of age for a Muslim. Fasting is considered to be one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The others being shahada (confession of faith), salat (prayer), zakat (almsgiving), and hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca).

Fasting serves to keep the focus off of the body and its needs and desires and place the focus on one's faith and otherworldly, spiritual needs.

Every part of the body must be restrained. One cannot take part in gossip (restraint of the tongue). The eyes must not look at obscene things. The hand must not touch anything that does not belong to it. The ears must refrain from listening to idle talk or obscene words. The feet must refrain from going to sinful places. In this way, every part of the body observes the fast.

At the end of Ramadan, a celebration known as Eid-ul Fitr (the Festival of Fast Breaking) takes place. During this time, the fasting comes to an end. This year, this will take place on August 19.

Ramadan is a time of self-restraint, a time to cleanse one's body and soul and to devote time to the worship of God.