INTERVIEW WITH ANDERSON MUTANG URUD:
Leader of the Malaysian Indigenous People's Struggle
Against the Destruction of the Sarawak Rainforest
by Prasiidananda Avadhuta
Prout Journal: Andy, how did you get involved in the indigenous people of
Sarawak's struggle to save the rainforest?
Anderson Mutang Urud: In the beginning, it wasn't clear to me that I was
saving the rainforest; it was simply a matter of survival for our people and
respect for the land we've been using for hundreds of years. I belong to a
settled tribe, the Klabit. We live and farm along the river basins of the
Sarawak mountains. The Malaysian government insists that all the land
belongs to them, but we believe it belongs to us.
When a timber company moves into the forest, it doesn't consult us or pay
us any compensation. It has no respect for our holy places or burial grounds.
They have bulldozed more than sixty of our graveyards, and destroyed
many gardens and fruit trees. In the deepest part of the river there are
many caves where fish breed, but because of the logging, the rivers are so
polluted that the fish have disappeared.
The Penan people are our neighbors in the forest. They visit our settlements
to trade forest products like sago, fruits, rattan baskets, and animal parts
which are used in Chinese medicine. The Penans are totally dependent on the
forest for their survival. Now, bulldozers and chain saws are destroying their
way of life. As one of our old women said: "This logging is like a big tree that
has fallen on our chest. I wake up in the middle of every night, worried and
depressed. I talk to my husband and wonder what the future holds for our
children."
PJ: How are your people trying to fight back?
AMU: The forest is our home, our house. If a thief comes in, we must take
action. To us, the loggers are thieves in our homeland.
We have never advocated violence. But in the beginning, because of our
desperation, we burned bridges, tractors and some of the timber camps. We
did this to make the authorities and the logging companies understand that
we did not like what they were doing. Then we organized sporadic blockades
and resistance in different places.
In 1987, we decided to organize a massive blockade; it lasted for seven
months and the logging companies lost millions of dollars. They tried to pay
us off, but we refused. That year the Malaysian government detained 140
ecological activists without trial under the Internal Security Act. Because of
tremendous international pressure against this draconian law, everyone was
finally released. Then in November, 1987 new legislation was passed which
makes it a crime to blockade a timber road punishable by up to two years in
prison and a $2000 fine. I have been named in many of these court cases.
Our last blockade lasted eight months, from June 1991 to February 1992.
They had the authority to arrest us, but they didn't use it because this time
many women, children and elders were in the front line. When the police
interrogated us, we explained that it wasn't our plan; it was the older
people's idea. These people have gone through a lot, and I don't think we
should underestimate them. They are very wise. I like to remain with them
because their words and thoughts are really pure.
Activists like myself have been harassed and intimidated by Malaysian
Special Branch agents; they often catch us when we're alone and threatened.
In February, 1992, I was arrested and put in solitary confinement for 30
days. A friend of mine was imprisoned for 60 days, and another friend's
passport was confiscated when he was departing to attend a meeting in
Japan. When I was about to be released on bail, they detained me on charges
of disturbing public order. International pressure finally forced them to
release me, and I left the country in April, 1992.
PJ: We met at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro shortly after that.
What did you experience there, and what do you feel was the spirit of that
gathering?
AMU: A lot of people were pessimistic about the Earth Summit, but I think
that it would be unrealistic to expect too much from it. The mere fact that
leaders from 195 countries met to discuss what's happening to the earth was
a significant start.
I was involved in the Indigenous Peoples Conference, and that was
encouraging because I met many other people there with similar problems
and issues. I also participated in the Earth Parliament. That was also good
and should be continued.
Unfortunately, some non-governmental organizations (NGO's) have
participated in so many international conferences that they've begun to
create their own membership programs and engage in a lot of politicking.
Some of the international and Malaysian NGO's have sidelined us--we want
to bring our message directly to the world, but they prefer that we channel
our message through them. This has caused some misunderstandings, but I
still feel that we can work together. If we are sincere enough then we can
remove whatever barriers are in our way. If the issue is logging, we need to
focus on logging and leave our egos out of it.
PJ: Have you had any important personal or spiritual experiences that have
changed the way you look at the world?
AMU: I had a very poor childhood. My father died when I was five, and my
mother had to take care of nine children by herself. When I was still young,
our family was converted to Christianity and I was introduced to the
American dream of material wealth. I chased it for a long time, finally
ending up in Kuala Lumpur where I completed my education.
One day I felt a great urge to be alone. I sat down by the seaside to pray and
meditate. I think that was the starting point for me, for my work. I realized
then that I had a moral obligation to go back to my people and help them to
overcome their difficulties. It was my responsibility because I had an
education--I knew how the government worked and how to petition the
authorities. But as time passed and I became more involved, I realized that
the system just doesn't work. The government's attitude is, "If you aren't for
us, you're against us." We wrote so many letters, and took our leaders to
meet the national leaders in Kuala Lumpur, but they wouldn't listen to us.
PJ: You recently visited Vienna to lobby the Austrian government. What
happened?
AMU: Many countries, including Australia, Italy, Austria and other EC
countries, have tried to legislate control over the importation of tropical
timber. In the United States, a resolution has been introduced into the
Senate, but, so far, only Austria has managed to pass legislation to label
tropical timber and impose a levy on its importation.
When the Austrian representatives went to Malaysia, the Malaysian
government threatened a boycott of Austrian exports by all timber-
producing Southeast Asian countries. So when they returned, they pulled
back and removed the levy. They told us, "We feel lonely up here because no
other countries are supporting us." I went to Vienna to encourage them, and
to tell them that other countries, such as Norway, Sweden, Finland and the
Netherlands, are supporting our movement.
I don't feel guilty if the government doesn't sell Sarawak timber, because
our country has supplies of petroleum and gas. Ninety-five percent of the
petroleum revenue goes to the federal government. We only see five percent
of it, yet this accounts for more than half of our gross annual earnings. If we
could add another five or ten percent, we would not need to cut the forests.
We could then satisfy the demands of the environmentalists and still use
other forest resources like medicinal plants and rattan for furniture. People
from the community could get involved in a sustainable forest economy.
PJ: I've heard that you meditate, and that you fast on the first day of every
month. How have your spiritual practices changed your outlook on your
political struggle?
AMU: I feel that there are certain limitations to what I can achieve because
God is in control. For example, I really would like to go back home right now,
but that's just my short-term, selfish attitude. God is eternal; I am just a
small speck in God's time. God is controlling everything--the stars and the
planets are not just flying randomly. Even the situation in Sarawak is not out
of control; it is also under God's control. This gives me peace. So I just work
and do my best.
Sometimes people think that I am a hero for doing all these things. But I
believe it is the simple things we do that matter. If we believe in truth and
hold onto it, and don't lie to ourselves, then we are all heroes. However,
some are recognized, while others are not.
_______________________________
[The following section can be used as side-bar to the above interview.]
TESTIMONY BY ANDERSON MUTUNG URUD
TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS
My name is Anderson Mutang Urud, and I am of the Klabit people from the
state of Sarawak in Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Sarawak is less than
one-fiftieth the size of Brazil, yet it currently produces almost two-thirds of
the world's supply of tropical timber. Even if the current rate of logging were
immediately reduced by fifty percent, all primary forest in Sarawak would
be destroyed by the year 2000.
When an area is logged, fish, wild animals, sago palms, rattan and medicinal
plants disappear. The trees which bear the fruit which feeds the wild pigs
are cut down for timber so the pigs disappear, and with them the main
source of meat for our peoples. Many of us are now hungry. Trees and vines
with poisonous barks are felled, and find their way into the streams, killing
the fish. Mud from land which can no longer keep its topsoil pollutes the
rivers, bringing disease and destroying our sources of drinking water. Even
when we mark our burial grounds, the logging companies bulldoze them
with no regard for our feelings. Hundreds of graveyards have been
destroyed in this way. When we complain about the destruction, they
sometimes offer us a small sum of money as compensation. But this is an
insult to us. How can we accept money that is traded for the bodies of our
ancestors?
Our situation now is like a child who has fallen into a fast-flowing river and
cannot swim. The child cries out, extending its arm for someone to help. If no
one takes the hand, the child will surely drown. I ask you, the United
Nations: must people die before you respond? Must there be war, and blood
running in the streets, before the United Nations will come to a people's
assistance? Even though we are desperate, our people have avoided
violence. We have used only peaceful methods of protest.
I say to my country, and to other developing countries, that in our race to
modernize, we must respect the ancient cultures and traditions of our
peoples. The wealth of indigenous communities lies not in money or in
commodities, but in community, tradition, and a sense of belonging to a
special place. The world is rushing toward a single culture. We should pause,
and reflect on the beauty of diversity.
Let 1993, the Year of Indigenous People, be a year of peace and hope, a year
for the restoration of our bleeding forests and our threatened cultures. Let
this year carry its message deep into the forest of Borneo, to a woman who
weeps in the night, praying that the days of her children will not be like
hers.
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