ILMU SAKRAL KAUM KEDAYAN : RITUAL MANTERA DAN MAGIS

BUKU INI MEMBAWA PERSOALAN PENGEKALAN NILAI TRADISIONAL DALAM KEHIDUPAN SUKU KAUM DI SARAWAK. PROSES PERMODENAN YANG BERTERUSAN BERLAKU DITANDAKAN MELALUI PEMBANGUNAN MATERIAL YANG MEMBAWA KEPADA BEBERAPA PERUBAHAN STRUKTUR SOSIAL DALAM MASYARAKAT

Traditional knowledge management and usage of medicinal plants as daily medication in healing rituals among the batek of Kuala Koh, Gua Musang, Kelantan : an exploratory evidence

Traditional knowledge related to medicinal plants of the indigenous people are indeed a useful asset for the community. The knowledge that had been traditionally inherited from their ancestors is an integral part of their survival as they live symbiotically with the forests. While many researches and literatures are focusing on documenting and recording these knowledge, not much has been researched in understanding the holistic process of the knowledge management particularly at the indigenous community level. This paper provides an attempt to reveal empirical findings about the management and use of medicinal plants in ailment healing rituals. In order to enable a holistic view of the management of knowledge at the study site, the main question asked was what happened during the four processes of knowledge management namely knowledge generation, knowledge codification, knowledge utilization and knowledge transfer. Using the Batek community of Kuala Koh, Gua Musang, in the state of Kelantan as a case study, ethnographic methods of individual and group interviews, observations and participants observations as well as document analysis, were employed to gather the data from the study site and the grounded theory approach was used for data analysis to enable the emergence of the themes to understand the phenomena at the study site. The study, conducted from 2014-2016, involved prolonged stays with the community. The findings revealed that there was an ‘undocumented means of knowledge generation with potential loss of traditional knowledge’, while there was a non-codified knowledge being practiced in the community and widespread inability of basic reading and writing skills among younger generation. In addition, there was a high level of traditional knowledge utilisation in the community but some procedures such as ritual practices have been simplified while there was a complete absence of documentation of traditional knowledge by members of the community that might weaken knowledge transfer

Combining the methodologies of ethnography and grounded theory approach in understanding the characteristics of traditional knowledge related to medicinal plants of the batek in Kuala Koh,Gua Musang, Kelantan

Traditional knowledge related to medicinal plants of the indigenous people is a valuable asset to the community and could potentially bring economic returns to them if it is utilized appropriately. While much of the existing researches have been focused on documenting the knowledge, not much however, has been made known on the ‘holistic’ practice of the knowledge at the community level particularly in the Malaysian context. This is an important aspect as documenting the knowledge alone would not bring any meaning if the knowledge itself is not sustainably practiced by the communities who hold the knowledge. However, it is not an easy task to understand the management aspect of the knowledge especially if the researcher comes from a ‘different world view’ that the indigenous people themselves. This study is an attempt to combine two methodologies namely ethnographic approach as data gathering method and the principles of grounded theory approach as data analysis in understanding how the traditional knowledge related to medicinal plants is being protected by the indigenous people. Using the Orang Asli Batek in Kuala Koh, Gua Musang, Kelantan as a case study, this research involved multiple prolonged stays with the community (2013-2016) and employed ethnographic techniques of individual and group interviews, observation and participant observation as well as document analysis to gather the data. The collected data was analysed using the principles of grounded theory where all responses that were recorded in verbatim was organised and analysed in stages of coding such as ‘initial coding’, ‘selective coding’ and ‘theme’ which upon further analysis, had enabled the description of the characteristics of the traditional knowledge related to medicinal plants of the Bateks. The result of this study found that the combination of the two methodologies are indeed useful and in fact are complementary with each other in understanding the characteristics of the traditional knowledge related to medicinal plants of the Bateks of Kuala Koh as part of the indigenous community in the country. In particular, employing the two methods has enabled the study to identify the characteristics (forms) of the TK that can be found in an indigenous community such as the Bateks of Kuala Koh. This research has provided a greater understanding on the existing state of protecting the TK being practiced by the Bateks. The study also provides useful contribution to the body of knowledge as the methodological approach used could be employed by future researches in understanding similar approach in understanding similar phenomena

The Uses of Balau Among the Melanau Community Especially in The Traditional Healing Rituals

Indigenous Knowledge is defined by UNESCO as the understandings, skills and philosophies that is formed by communities through a continuous interaction between the natural surroundings with its people. The traditions and customs of indigenous knowledge particularly traditional healing rituals within the Melanau community are being forgotten as they are less practice nowadays. Balau or scientifically known as mextroxylon sagu is a plant that is closely related to the traditional healing practice and the way of life of the Melanau community. The objectives of the paper are: to identify the uses of balau among the Melanau community and to analyse the types and practices of Melanau traditional healing rituals. This paper uses a qualitative approach which includes in- depth interview and observation to gather all the data. The findings of this paper are: there are many functions of balau in the daily use of the Melanau community as a source of food, income and healing; and there are several types of traditional healing rituals that already not practice by the Melanau community due to the availability of modern medicine and religious conversion. To preserve the practices of indigenous knowledge mainly traditional healing rituals are challenging due to the rapid modernization

Natural Resources Uses

Samunsam ids Sarawak's oldest Wildlife Sanctuary and one of several Important Birds Areas in the State. The site gazetted in 1979, and in line with state development plan, a number of areas near the Sanctuary have been identified as of economic importance. Therefore, the Samunsam area is likely to see significant impacts in the near future, derived from an isolated area to more accessible to human