Association to write about the history of Kelabit people

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/26/sarawak/6130500&sec=sarawak

Monday April 26, 2010

Association to write about the history of Kelabit people

THE Rurum Kelabit Sarawak Association education unit is embarking on a project to record their community’s oral history into written text.

It is one of eight innovative projects undertaken by the association, said the unit’s chairperson Lucy Bulan Sineh Raben Bala.

The other projects are a Kelabit to English dictionary, setting up their own preschools in Bario and Miri, standardising the Kelabit writing and spelling system, producing reading materials in Kelabit, translating the English bible into the Kelabit language, setting up leadership training camps throughout Sarawak and starting an information data bank on Kelabit graduates.

“It is important for our future generation to know the past struggles of their forefathers and for the future generation not to lose sight of the rich heritage of our community, especially our language and traditions,’’ she said during the education unit’s annual dinner in Miri on Saturday.

Rurum Kelabit Sarawak president Gerawat Gala, in his speech, said education had always been one of the association’s priorities. He said the education unit had done a great job in helping Kelabit children attain high scores in public examinations.

“It is very important for us to strive for excellence in everything we do and sustain these success because we are a small community. We must make up for our small numbers by our quality,’’ he said.

He hoped that Kelabit graduates will excel in more professional and business fields to extend the influence of the community in more vital sectors in the state and country.