Don: Rural folk want map to determine land ownership

http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/09/25/don-rural-folk-want-map-to-determine-land-ownership/#ixzz2ftFwDR60

by Eve Sonary Heng, reporters@theborneopost.com. 

Posted on September 25, 2013, Wednesday

UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE: Sean Chai of Santumn Enterprise with the helicopter.

INNOVATIVE ICT APPLICATION: A Ba Kelalan photo-montage map.

LOW-COST: Unimas campus trials with the helium-filled balloon.

KUCHING: Rural communities are showing increasing interest in grassroots initiatives to develop maps of their territories.

In a statement yesterday, a visiting professor from the Institute for Social Informatics and Technological Innovation at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) Dr Roger Harris said in a recent Global Conference on Community Participatory Mapping on Indigenous Peoples’ Territories held in Samosir, North Sumatra, indigenous groups from countries including Malaysia, Nepal, Panama, Mexico and Brazil, explained how they had adopted affordable, high-tech mapping technology to retrace the history of their land ownership and to catalogue their natural resources.

He said in Sarawak, eBario Sdn Bhd, the organisation that operates the multi-award-winning eBario telecentre, has initiated the eBario Innovation Village Project as a living laboratory to incubate innovative grassroots applications of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) capable of stimulating development within Malaysia’s isolated rural and indigenous communities.

In partnership with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and with funding support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the project is testing low cost aerial photography for community mapping, using digital cameras attached to tethered helium-filled balloons and radio-controlled model airplanes.

“The resultant photographs are stitched together by computer to form an aerial view covering a wide area which is then geo-tagged with global positioning co-ordinates to form detailed maps.

“Such maps can be used for a range of applications including land-use planning, claims for land rights, eco-tourism, development of agriculture, hydrology, animal migration plotting, indigenous knowledge inventories, environmental surveillance, documentation of climate change impacts, dispute resolution, road mapping, forest management and cataloguing of cultural sites. Low cost technologies and the skills to use them bring these applications within the reach of grassroots communities,” he said.

The eBario-Unimas team is working with Sean Chai Ching Loong of Santumn Enterprise, a local firm that specialises in aerial photography with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Using both helium-filled balloons and UAVs, the team has begun to generate high-quality photo-montages that form the basis of detailed maps.

This month, the team visited Ba Kelalan in the highlands of northern Sarawak to test their approach in the field.

Community representatives expressed their interest in the results and have asked the team to return to extend their coverage into surrounding areas.

“Detailed maps are generally not available to the general public, or they are either prohibitively expensive or insufficiently detailed for the purposes that rural communities would wish to use them.

“Modern maps are based on aerial photographs but with low cost technologies and contemporary computer software, rural folk need not be excluded from their use. Actually, aerial photographs provide a truer representation of reality than even the most detailed maps,” he explained.

As more ICTs become available to Malaysia’s rural communities, and especially to those in isolated and remote locations, as with the eBario initiative and its sister projects in Ba Kelalan and other locations, so the residents can be facilitated towards more activities which they themselves prioritise and which cater to their specific needs.

Curtin, eBario, association ink MoU

http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/09/07/curtin-ebario-association-ink-mou/

Posted on September 7, 2013, Saturday

MIRI: Curtin Sarawak is extending its expertise in the development of student learning activities, training, research and collaborative projects with eBario Sendirian Berhad and Rurum Kelabit Sarawak.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the project was signed recently between eBario chief executive officer Councillor John Tarawe, Laila Raja for Rurum Kelabit and outgoing Curtin Sarawak pro vice-chancellor Professor Ian Kerr.

Present to witness the signing were incoming pro vice-chancellor Professor Jim Mienczakowski, Curtin Sarawak Research Institute (CSRI) director Professor Aaron Goh, CSRI senior research fellow Dr Lisa Marie King and Supang Terawe of Rurum Kelabit Sarawak.

Mienczakowski said the MoU marked an important milestone for Curtin Sarawak and demonstrated its commitment to engage with local communities in its pursuit of academic excellence.

King, who was instrumental in establishing the cooperative relationship between the different parties, echoed Mienczakowki’s sentiments.

“As a member of CSRI, I am keen to apply my knowledge and expertise to enhance the well-being of communities in Sarawak. Our close engagement with eBario and Rurum Kelabit Sarawak will lead to significant activities and joint projects that can have a positive impact, both on the university’s learning experiences and the communities,” she said.

eBario Sdn Bhd is an award-winning initiative that runs projects and activities such as the eBario Telecentre, eBario Innovation Village, Radio Bario, eBario Knowledge Fair, Bario Slow Food Festival and eBorneo Research.

Wired to the world

http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Features/2013/04/22/Wired-to-the-world.aspx

Published: Monday April 22, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Friday April 26, 2013 MYT 12:30:24 AM

Spark! by ALVIN UNG

Aishah working on her blog. The Internet has given her new opportunities for growth.

The amazing untold story of how broadband was made accessible to rural Malaysia, thanks largely to the initiative of a quiet man with a big vision.

ONE hot afternoon in March, I bought a woollen hat woven by a young woman living in Felda Jengka 24, an oil palm plantation in the heart of Pahang.

The brown-and-yellow hat was adorned with a three-dimensional white flower. Aishah took eight hours to crochet the hat. It was for sale for RM18.

“Can I buy this hat online?” I asked, as we chatted at a rural broadband Internet centre which began as a Pusat Internet Desa, or PID.

“Yes, I’m on Facebook,” said Aishah, smiling shyly, as she sat on a tall chair. “Just let me know the size, colours, and how many flowers you want on the hat. You can also contact me on Yahoo Messenger.”

I fished out two red notes from my wallet. I wasn’t sure how to hand her the money.

“Thank you for buying the hat,” Aishah said in Bahasa Malaysia, as she raised her leg high. She took the two bills from me using her big toe and second toe.

Nur Aishah Ariffin, 26, the youngest in a family of six children, was born with stumps instead of arms. The school teachers did not allow her to enrol in school, so she stayed at home watching television everyday until she turned 18, when she joined a community centre. She taught herself how to crochet. Using her feet, she used scissors to snip yarn, wrapped the yarn around the crochet hook, and began pulling loops. She made beautiful hats and bags.

But what use was it to sell a woollen hat in the middle of an oil palm plantation? Who would buy Aishah’s foot-made products? How would this motivated, bright young woman find opportunities for growth and learning?

Aishah’s story of untapped potential could be repeated thousands of times in rural households all across the country. Even for people who do not face the daily challenge of living without hands and arms, the rural poor face other kinds of invisible disabilities. For example, they spend far more time and money to do the things city folk take for granted, whether it is reading the news, writing an e-mail, or applying for entrance into universities.

The Internet is the great leveller. Global research has shown that the rollout of Internet services in rural communities can reduce urban migration while generating new income and home businesses in villages.

Getting there has been a challenge for Malaysia. Less than 15 years ago, Internet penetration in the country was less than 10%. None of the primary or secondary schools were wired to the Internet.

Access in rural areas was zilch. Most villagers had not seen a computer.

Since then Malaysia has been playing catch-up. The biggest game changer is the Communications Multimedia Act (CMA 1998) introduced as one of the Bills of Guarantee for the Multimedia Super Corridoor (MSC). This Act encourages the building of civil society. Less known, but equally important, is one of the 10 objectives: “to ensure an equitable provision of affordable services over ubiquitous national infrastructure.” In other words, rural folks should also get access to affordable Internet technology.

But creating sound policy and passing laws is only the first mile in a marathon. It is the ability to implement simple, scalable and sustainable solutions that will ensure whether the change effort endures or withers away.

Therein comes the rub: It is not in the interest of private telecommunications to spend billions to lay out broadband for so few people across jungles, rivers and mountains. And even after you build Internet centres in villages, it is an even bigger challenge to educate the people to use the Net.

Last month, a Felda settler and village chief told me that when he first sighted a desktop PC, he grabbed the mouse by its “tail” and swung it like a lasso.

So who were the people who helped to build the foundation for rural broadband access in Malaysia? And years later, has that made a difference?

“Dr Halim is the man you’re looking for,” declared Dr Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek, the NKEA director at Pemandu. “He’s the spark who made broadband accessible in the rural setting. During a time when broadband was not available, he was persistent in pushing for the idea. He convinced the telcos to join in. And he always went down to the ground to make sure things were happening. It’s an amazing, untold story.”

A few weeks later, I found myself sitting in a Proton Perdana with Datuk Seri Dr Halim Shafie, the chairman of Telekom Malaysia (TM), as we drove along the Karak Highway to visit a community broadband centre in Jengka, a two hours’ drive from Kuala Lumpur.

In 1999, when Halim was appointed as deputy secretary-general of the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications, there was no broadband outside the city. Today there are hundreds of rural broadband centres. More than a hundred are being set up this year. All 10,000 schools and hundreds of rural libraries are broadband-enabled. Halim helped to kick-start these initiatives.

“How did you even get started?” I asked Halim.

“We started by asking a question,” Halim recollected as our car motored past trucks going uphill on the Karak Highway. “How do we push communications and the Internet into rural areas?”

“If you can put Internet access into Bario, you can put it anywhere,” said Leo Moggie, the then energy minister from Kanuwit, Sarawak.

Bario was a Kelabit village in the highlands of Sarawak near the Kalimantan border. As a kid, Idris Jala (now CEO of Pemandu) recollected walking one week through jungle and travelling another week by boat to reach Miri.

Halim enlisted Telekom Malaysia, Mimos and Unimas to install a VSAT facility and an Internet centre so that villagers could access voice and Internet services via satellite. When the service was launched in 2000, the headmistress in Bario spoke, in tears: “For the first time in our history, we can make a phone call from Bario.”

Halim was almost in tears, too. “We saw how the Internet opened up the whole world for rural folks, particularly kids,” Halim told me.

Now the challenge was scalability: how do you do this again and again in hundreds of obscure villages in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia? And how do you put in place the systems and structures to make such an undertaking sustainable over the long-term? Or to put it bluntly: how do you avoid building glorified cyber-cafes left to rot in the jungle?

Interestingly enough, Halim’s childhood prepared him to tackle these perplexing questions.

Halim grew up in a rural village in Kuala Ketil near Sungai Petani, Kedah, where he walked or cycled 5km to an estate primary school called Batu Pekaka English School, led by the then headmaster David Raman.

“David was the best teacher I ever had. He knew we all came from very poor families,” said Halim, who grew up selling rubber, bananas, chickens and flowers from the backyard in order to buy rice, flour and kerosene. When Halim entered Standard Six, the headmaster applied for Halim to enter Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) even though Halim had not heard about the famous boarding school.

“David was extraordinarily kind and committed to us. He gave us opportunities we never had. I could never repay the debt I owed him,” Halim said.

Halim went to MCKK without a school uniform during the first week but he made the decision to work harder than anyone else. He woke up in the pre-dawn hours and walked alone across a dark field (where the “Green Lady” was rumoured to haunt) so that he could study in a lit classroom.

Halim subsequently read Economics in Universiti Malaya, graduated in the top 2% in the Masters programme at Pittsburgh University in Pennsylvania, the United States, and obtained a PhD in Information Transfer from Syracuse University (in New York, the United States) in 1988.

“I am not intelligent,” Halim said. “Coming from a rural school, I did not get much exposure to the world. But I realised I could go somewhere in life because I made the decision to work harder than almost anyone, almost anywhere.”

Hard work drew him across the divide from rural poverty to the urban middle class where he spent nearly three decades climbing the ranks in several government ministries until he became secretary-general of the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications in 2000.

At this point, unknown to him, all the pieces of the jigsaw were now in place for Halim to repay the debt he owed to his primary school headmaster.

Halim’s reminisces were interrupted by our arrival at Felda Jengka 24 – a squat building with a dozen PCs, WiFi, a living room area and a training room. The TM chairman was given an official welcome.

Amid the speeches, I found myself drawn towards Muhammad Shafudin, manager of the community broadband centre, which was recently rebranded as Pusat Internet 1Malaysia. As we chatted, I discovered that Shafudin’s essentially a tech evangelist who transformed the broadband outpost into a community hub.

Since starting his job in 2010, he has trained more than 1,400 people on how to use Word, access the Internet, assemble computers and set up a blog. He has educated home-makers on the dangers of cyber crime. He has helped grassroots entrepreneurs set up blogs and e-commerce sites to sell products such as coins, rings, keris, frozen food, apple vinegar, olive oil, papaya seed extract, and virgin coconut oil.

“We try to give our best using the existing infrastructure in this centre,” Shafudin told me. “We do everything from sweeping the rubbish to recruiting volunteers and emceeing community events.”

If the elderly cannot come to the centre, Shafudin and his assistant manager will bring computers to their homes to educate them. Last year, Shafudin made a video on Aishah’s story which won a U-Pustaka 2012 national award.

What keeps Shafudin, a Gen Y university graduate, motivated to work in a rural place? Shafudin said he is allowed to earn extra income when he opens the centre after hours or when he provides a service, such as installing Windows into a PC.

“I use the centre to help the community, but the community also helps me. My work here has given me the business opportunities to improve my life,” said Shafudin, the father of a one-year-old son.

Ongoing efforts to bridge the urban-rural divide are being coordinated under Pemandu’s Economic Transformation Plan – in an Entry Point Project called “Extending Reach.” The first initiative is building community broadband centres such as the one I visited; 162 new community broadband centres are expected to be set up this year. The second initiative provides wireless access to selected villages through an initiative called “Kampung Tanpa Wayar.” There were 2,489 rural wireless spots built in 2012; 689 more wireless sites are planned for 2013.

Of course, transforming any community requires a combination of high-tech and down-to-earth initiatives, including revamping the local Saturday market.

One of the projects which Pemandu is coordinating with the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (FAMA) is to modernise local markets into a 24-hour community market called Pasar Komuniti in Jengka.

Azlin Abdullah, a Felda manager, told me the Jengka community – comprising 70,000 people who live in Maran, Jerantut and Temerloh – were fortunate to have four Internet centres. “With these centres, the kids don’t have to go to cybercafes. During school breaks, hundreds of children come here everyday. The older kids use the centre to fill in online applications for universities,” Azlin said.

“When I was in the city, I didn’t dare to touch a computer,” said Samad Arshad, the ketua peneroka of Felda 24. “Now I dare to hold a mouse.”

On our car ride back to Kuala Lumpur, I found Halim in a reflective mode.

“When we put Internet access in rural areas for farmers, housewives and kids, we are opening up their world. I really believe in that. There are kids with potential everywhere. What we need to do is provide them opportunities and facilities to realise their potential,” he told me.

At that moment, something clicked for me. I realised there wouldn’t be a Shafudin or an Aishah talking to me today if not for the foundation that Halim built a decade ago when he was secretary-general of the Ministry of Energy.

“You built a foundation of success for these people just as David Raman built the foundation for you,” I told Halim.

“What I’ve done is nowhere near what David has done for me and so many others,” Halim said immediately. After a while he nodded slowly. “But, yes, I suppose I am now doing it for others.”

Aishah herself is a recipient of Halim’s – and David Raman’s – legacy.

Since meeting Shafudin at the community broadband centre in Jengka, Aishah has begun sharing her story through her Facebook page and selling hats, bags and origami items through the Internet.

Aishah’s now downloading YouTube videos to learn beading which she hopes will make her products more saleable.

“If I could, I would come here everyday. I’m learning so much by studying what other people do in art and craft,” Aishah said, as she keenly observed me taking notes on my iPad.

Now Aishah sells only a couple of hats or bags a month. But that’s not the point. The point is that the Internet has connected Aishah to the world.

She now has the opportunity to contribute her talents in ways she could never have done before. Who knows where this will lead her? So if you are able to connect tens of thousands of Aishahs to the rest of the world, then you are, in the words of Steve Jobs, making a dent in the universe.

“There are thousands of people in the most rural areas who will flourish when we give them opportunities,” said Halim as our car re-entered Kuala Lumpur. “Even under the most extreme circumstances, we can discover human potential.”

■ Alvin Ung is a facilitator, executive coach and author of the bestselling book Barefoot Leadership. To view more videos, photos and insights on Datuk Seri Dr Halim Shafie, please visit www.businesscircle.com.my. The column and multimedia content are a collaborative effort between the columnist and the Economic Transformation Programme.

New Radio Bario hits the airwaves at 94.5 MHz FM

http://www.theborneopost.com/2011/10/15/new-radio-bario-hits-the-airwaves-at-94-5-mhz-fm/

Posted on October 15, 2011, Saturday

BARIO: The Kelabit community of Bario became better connected on Thursday when their brand new radio station hit the airwaves. Radio Bario is Malaysia’s first community-run radio station, and the Kelabit community never had their own broadcast media, until now.

Representing a milestone in Malaysia’s broadcasting and media development, Radio Bario is a project by eBario Sdn Bhd, the organisation which operates the eBario telecentre, with funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) — under their Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility.

It is operated ‘by and for the community’ and has a limited radius of between 20-30 kilometres from the station, serving the scattered longhouses and farms.

The creation of Radio Bario is highly significant. Not only will the station broadcast in the Kelabit language, but for the first time listeners will hear news, interviews, stories and music with direct relevance to their culture and history.

Radio Bario has also been successful in mobilising the local community to make the station their own.

The people of Bario undertake every role, from on-air presentation to collecting local news and encouraging the participation of the whole community.

It is the product of four years of planning by eBario Sdn Bhd, which collaborated with RadioActive Ltd. RadioActive is a UK-based company with a strong track record in installing community radio stations.

They provide equipment, training and technical assistance to help build community radio stations around the world, having previously worked in over 20 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Community radio is a not-for-profit low-cost limited reach broadcasting facility providing a variety of information and entertainment services to the residents of a restricted geographical area.

Normally operated by volunteer programme producers drawn from within the community itself, its function is to supplement mainstream broadcasting with local news, entertainment and cultural programming, mostly in the local language.

John Tarawe of eBario expects that the success of the Radio Bario launch would lead to the launch of other community stations in Malaysia. He said in a press release, “our work with eBario has demonstrated a successful track record with community mobilisation. Radio is one of the best examples of that.”

RadioActive director Max Graef says; “Radio Bario is our 50th project. Each one is unique, but Bario has been a memorable experience because of the warmth and commitment of the local community.

“After just a few training sessions we’re already hearing some great results on air. Community radio can have a great impact, especially considering the low costs involved in getting a station started. We hope to see many other communities in Malaysia benefiting from this technology in the near future.”

As national radio does not reach many of the isolated and remote rural parts of Sarawak, and with its assortment of mother-tongue languages, community radio opens up a new channel of communication for the State’s underserved communities.

Moreover, it provides opportunities for conducting public debates on issues of local interest.

With the widespread use of hand phones these days, listeners can participate in phone-ins from wherever they happen to be.

Useful information can now be easily spread throughout isolated communities in a faster, more timely and economical manner than ever before.

Stanley Isaac, the station manager, is one person who’d endorse this view. A former schoolteacher, Stanley presented Radio Bario’s very first live programme in his native Kelabit.

“For three years it was a dream. Now people are blinking their eyes and saying “Is it true?” he enthused.

Ex-Pemanca Ngimat Ayu added: “This is a very important thing because the indigenous communities don’t hear themselves in the mainstream media and now we feel connected. This will help to conserve and preserve our language and our identity.”

Given the positive experience of Radio Bario’s launch, eBario and RadioActive have formed a joint venture to install more radio stations in Malaysia.

At a recent dialogue in Miri, several representatives of other indigenous groups in Sarawak expressed their interest in establishing their own community radio stations.

Anyone interested to do so can contact John Tarawe on 0194381777 or by email at john.tarawe@gmail.com.

Malaysia’s first community radio station to broadcast from Kelabit Highlands

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/9/22/sarawak/9547543&sec=sarawak

Thursday September 22, 2011

By CINDY LAI
sarawakstar@thestar.com.my

MIRI: Bario Radio, the first community radio to be established in Malaysia, will broadcast in the Kelabit language by the end of next month.

This non-profit radio station will be managed by eBario Sdn Bhd, the operator of the award-winning eBario rural telecentre.

A dialogue organised by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) to discuss the station’s policies and practices here yesterday garnered the participation of 20 interested parties from Bario and Miri.

The dialogue was aimed at stimulating public debate among the stakeholders on policy formulations and related practices that would allow further applications of community radio stations in Malaysia.

The station has received a RM50,000 funding from the International Fund for Agriculture Development and Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics and will be managed by volunteers.

Bario Radio will be implemented next month with the installation of equipment followed by training of local Kelabits in the operation of the station.

The programmes will be conducted in Kelabit by volunteer broadcasters drawn from the community.

According to Unimas Institute of Social Informatics and Technological Innovations director Professor Alvin Yeo, the station would reach out to people in remote areas in Sarawak, initially around Bario.

“The dialogue was to raise awareness and understanding of guidelines for implementation among potential adopters of community radio stations.

“It was also an effort to initiate momentum for the wider deployment of community radio stations in Malaysia as a means of achieving the national development goals.

“Hence, it will create awareness among policymakers on the need of Malaysia’s indigenous people, particularly the Kelabits, to have their own media to overcome their vulnerability and marginalisation,” said Yeo.

The eBario project was started by the local university in 1998 to provide computers and the Internet to the remote and isolated highland community in Bario.

The project has had a considerable impact not only on the residents but also on the development of Government policies to provide similar facilities for the rest of rural Malaysia.

In 2002, the eBario facilities were handed over to the people of Bario and eBario Sdn Bhd was established as a vehicle to continue its operations and management.

The eBario telecentre was meant to provide communication technology for Bario to reach out to the world.

Under a new policy by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Comission (MCMC), other communities in Malaysia, especially isolated kampungs and ethnic groups that are starved of information, are assured of enjoying similar benefits.

Under this policy, MCMC granted the licence for the first community radio station to be operated as Bario Radio.

Bario Community Radio a possibility by year-end

http://www.theborneopost.com/2011/07/13/bario-community-radio-a-possibility-by-year-end/

Posted on July 13, 2011, Wednesday

KUCHING: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) expects to launch its pilot project, Bario Community Radio, by end of this year.

Associate Professor Dr Alvin Yeo from the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FCSIT) said the Kelabit-language station would allow Bario residents to communicate with each other.

“It’s like a one-stop centre for information. Let’s say someone out there don’t have Internet access they can call the station and ask for information about a certain topic. The person at the station can go online, look for the information and share it through the radio,” Yeo said.
The project, an extension of the e-Bario centre, is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

According to Yeo, they already had the licence to operate the community radio but they first needed to talk with the federal government, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture.

The university’s vice-chancellor Associate Professor Datuk Dr Khairuddin Abdul Hamid added that the project was the university’s initiative to bring technology into the rural area.

“E-Bario is a good lab for innovation. We’re now upgrading the infrastructure the first one since we introduced e-Bario. We have introduced a long range Wifi. From Bario, we can connect to a number of longhouses and villages in the (Bario) area,” he said during a press conference after the launch of the 7th International Conference on IT in Asia (CITA) 2011.

He added that Bario was very well aware of the available technology and were pushing for them to introduce those technologies into the area.

Tourism industry a revenue generator for Bario

http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=83435

Tourism industry a revenue generator for Bario

by Justin Yap
justinyap@theborneopost.com.

Posted on December 31, 2010, Friday

KUCHING: Tourism in Bario has grown from its accidental beginnings to being a mainstay of the local economy evolving along the way into various niche markets including ecotourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, research tourism and the latest manifestation of development conferencing.

Bario is the traditional homeland of the Kelabit people, one of the Borneo’s smaller ethnic minorities numbering around 5,000 people with an estimated 1,000 still living in or around Bario.

“The growth of tourism in Bario is closely interwoven with other aspects of the social and cultural development of the community which it has grown alongside,” said one of the homestay owners in Bario Jaman Riboh Tekapan, who has 22 years of experience in the tourism industry in the community.

“Tourism has been recognised as a small-scale and non-agricultural activity that can constitute an important source of revenue generation and thereby create new venues for economic growth in Bario,” he pointed out to The Borneo Post in a recent interview.

He further noted the recent road linkage as well as the airstrip made it possible for tourist to visit Bario and the closest house was also the home of the headman. However, guests did not feel obliged to pay for their keep until the headman’s son placed a sign on the house proclaiming it as a ‘homestay’.

“That is how the tourism industry started in Bario,” he pointed out.

According to research, the next major stimulus to tourism was the recent infrastructure development, the eBario project which introduced telecommunication services into the community.

“The latest project we have for Bario is the community radio slated to be launched in March next year,” said eBario Sdn Bhd’s (eBario) project director John Tarawe.

“eBario has been recently granted the content applications service provider (CASP) class licence by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). With the CASP class licence, we will be the first company to deploy a community radio station in Malaysia,” added Tarawe.

By connecting the community to the outside world, the eBario project has had a profound impact on the community. The project has provided a significant boost to the tourism industry by facilitating the growth of websites for promotion and the exchange of information between potential visitors and the homestay operators in the community.

“From a slow beginning in the late 1990s, when there was only a single guest house, there are now around a dozen. Trekking tours range from a few days hiking with overnights in the scattered longhouses to more arduous expeditions of up to a week or more including jungle survival training,” Tekapan highlighted.

Adventure tourism involved exploration or travel to remote hostile areas, while cultural tourism was a genre of special interest tourism based on the search for and participation in new and deep cultural experiences.

“Cultural tourism in Bario is boosted by the ‘Bario Slow Food Festival’ which was established in 2005 and was held for its fifth year in June 2010,” he pointed out.

Research tourism in Bario, on the other hand, was a recognised concept that valued the contributions that researchers could make to the communities. The community was now adopting a more proactive approach towards any research to which they would consent that was to be conducted on their environment, he highlighted.

Accordingly, the benefits of research in Bario now far exceeded the contributions that researchers made to the local economy through their presence as it contributed knowledge that would underpin their own development objectives.

“In this regard, the eBario telecentre plays a vital role in providing communication and data processing facilities to visiting researchers. Coupled with the ready availability of research assistants who have gained experience in research in the social and natural sciences, researchers from outside could hit the ground running when they come to Bario.

“Research tourism has therefore developed into a critical component of the community’s economic development plans,” Tekapan explained. “Development conferencing is another type of tourism that is being pioneered in Bario.”

In December 2007, eBario organised the ‘eBario Knowledge Fair’, a multidisciplinary conference held in Bario. ‘The Knowledge Fair’ was held to showcase how a remote and isolated indigenous community had appropriated ICTs. It brought together more than a 100 participants from 15 countries.

Tarawe shared his view that travelling to attend a conference was a form of tourism. It was a particular type of tourism in which groups of people were brought together to share knowledge and promote their products.

“The term ‘pro-poor tourism’ has emerged as a mechanism for ensuring a larger proportion of tourism revenue. It is earned by the poor residents of popular tourism locations, something that is not an automatic outcome of the growth of global tourism,” he added.

Tourism in Bario is making contributions to the Bario community that go beyond increase in incomes and the creation of ‘income-earning’ opportunities. The combined effects of improved communications and road linkages has resulted in a further opening up of Bario and the Kelabit culture to the wider world.

In spurring an increase in the number of flights and in feeding off as well as contributing to the growth in use of ICTs, tourism had become intertwined with local development, growing from its accidental beginnings to a mainstay of life in the Highlands.

Bario is globalising on its own terms and tourism is an integral component of the process.

Bridging the digital divide through eBario concept

http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=83149

Bridging the digital divide through eBario concept

by Justin Yap
justinyap@theborneopost.com.

Posted on December 30, 2010, Thursday

KUCHING: Bario known as the ‘Land of a Thousand Hand-Shakes’ is the homeland to the Kelabit ethnic minority. The indigenous community that emerged from isolation only within the last half century has shown massive positive development from the results of eBario projects.

PHOTO: John Tarawe

eBario began in 1998 as a research project undertaken by the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) with the support of the International Development Research Centre of Canada and the government of Malaysia. The objective was to demonstrate opportunities for sustainable development in a remote and isolated rural community from the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

“The project was undertaken against the background of the government’s aggressive adoption of ICTs for national development and the underdeveloped infrastructure as well as the scattered population of the nation’s largest state,” eBario Sdn Bhd project director John Tarawe told The Borneo Post during an exclusive trip to Bario.

Before the eBario project, communications were limited to rudimentary radio links and electricity was obtainable from household generators or solar panels. “At the heart of the Borneo island, Bario represents an extreme example of the digital divide,” said Tarawe.

According to Tarawe, a baseline study was conducted in order to understand the conditions of life and computers were progressively introduced, beginning with schools. “With the assistance of Telekom Malaysia, a community telecentre was established which consisted of computers with satellite (VSAT) access to the Internet as well as public phones and a reliable generator-driven power supply.”

In July 2002, the project was handed over by the research team to the community, with a local project manager and management committee. The project demonstrated that access to ICTs, specifically the Internet could precipitate significant improvements in the lives of such communities.

E-Bario has won many awards and was featured by the International Telecommunications Union as ‘one of the most notable of Malaysia’s Internet development initiatives.’

Due to the great success of the eBario project, the Unimas team was given the opportunity and honour by the government to replicate the same implementation model to five other nationwide remote sites throughout Malaysia.

Tarawe, who is also the telecentre manager for Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics (CoERI) said the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) had allocated RM4 million for the project. “Four projects have been implemented at Long Lamai and Ba’Kelalang in Sarawak, Kg Buayan in Sabah and Larapan Island in Semporna. The remaining will be used to upgrade the telecommunication facilities in Bario.”

With the implementation of telecommunication services in community villages, Bario is finally on the global radar. Riding on the new visibility, Bario is currently enjoying a steady trickle of visitors who are attracted by the unique culture and hospitality of the residents as well as the pristine highland rainforest environment.

Tourism is now a significant contributor to the local economy. There has been an increase in the number of lodges and restaurants providing accommodation and meals since eBario began. The increase in tourism has had the effect of doubling the number of flights between Bario and Miri.

“This has had a knock-on effect on the agricultural economy. Bario is famous for its rice, which is grown organically and is highly sought after due to its light taste and delicate fragrance. The increase in the

number of flights has allowed the farmers in Bario to send more rice to the urban markets and this in turn has stimulated rice production during that period,” Tarawe pointed out.

However, he also revealed that Bario’s rice production had drop significantly during the last few years because of the lack of manpower. In order to overcome this issue, CoRIE was currently working with National Padi and Rice Board (LPN) to introduce SMART farming concept for the community.

Another benefit relates to the use of the telecentre by the local clinic which became the first rural clinic in Sarawak with internet access. The medical technician at the clinic has been able to share medical information with doctors in the towns, obtain better information about the drugs at the clinic and about the common ailments among the residents.

The Kelabit community regularly conduct online discussions on topics that affect their future. “The eBario telecentre now allows Kelabits living in the highlands to participate in these discussions on an equal footing with their compatriots in the towns and overseas,” said Tarawe.

“Moreover, the entire Kelabit community is now developing online facilities to preserve their cultural heritage by capturing the recollections of the old folks and by assembling a digital library of Kelabit writings,” he added.

According to a study, the improved communications that Bario now enjoys with the outside world has lead to a number of significant changes. Family interactions have greatly improved and this had

been most keenly felt at the time of family emergencies, such as at times of sickness and bereavement.

Previously, relatives often heard about such emergencies well after the event when it was too late to act.

Additionally, the telecentre played a crucial role in coordinating search and rescue operations after a helicopter crashed in the nearby rugged highlands. Flight operations have also been enhanced by the improved communications that provide pilots with vital weather conditions that could be highly variable over short distances in the highland terrain.

“The eBario experience has been shared nationally and internationally with several agencies, including presentations organised by UMDP, UNESCAP, IDRC and the government of Malaysia,” said Tarawe, who is also the chairman of Kelabit Association of Sarawak and chairman of the Heart of Borneo Forum (Formadat).

The project team adopted Participatory Action Research (PAR) as the research methodology. Adopting PAR led the researchers and the community to jointly agree on a community development agenda that would be based on the use of the telecentre. The agenda consisted of a set of activities in which information systems and ICTs were embedded, but which also included associated human activities as well.

“The agenda serves as a long term vision for community interaction with itself, with the wider Kelabit diaspora, researchers and other external agencies leading to community development that is mediated by ICTs,” Tarawe explained.

Bario Radio on air soon

http://tribune.my/prime/2246-bario-radio-on-air-soon.html

Bario Radio on air soon

Thursday, 02 September 2010 11:58

KUCHING: eBario Sdn Bhd, a social enterprise established to operate the remote and isolated eBario telecentre located in the Kelabit Highlands, became the recipient of Malaysia’s first license for a community radio station issued by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on Aug 31.

MCMC described community radio as “a small scale, low cost, not for profit radio broadcasting system designed to deliver content that has specific interest to the community it serves.” Acknowledging the recent interest in the provision of such services, most notably by eBario Sdn Bhd, MCMC pointed out that the concept is relatively new to Malaysia.

Accordingly, the regulatory body has recently issued new guidelines for applying for a community radio license.

Community radio stations have blossomed in much of Africa and Latin America and have sprung up in neighbouring countries in Asia.

Within their limited reach of 15-30 kilometres, and the relatively low cost of setting up and ease of use, they are used by communities to broadcast information of local interest.

Broadcasts are usually prepared by the residents themselves and are often conducted in local languages or dialects that national media do not cater to.

The Bario community radio station is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), under its Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF).

According to John Tarawe, CEO of eBario Sdn Bhd and a research fellow and consultant at the Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics (CoERI) at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, the proposal to set up the station was one of forty successful submissions to the IPAF out of more than 800 from around the world.

He added that the proposal was an initiative which took two years of lobbying by the community with support from Rurum Kelabit Sarawak Tarawe, who is also a Kelabit resident of Bario and district councillor, stated that the station is intended to serve the people within the Forum of the Indigenous People of the Highlands of Borneo, known by its acronym Formadat (Forum Masyarakat Adat Dataran Tinggi).

“The eBario telecentre currently provides information services to the Bario community via shared public access to the internet.

“Having won multiple awards for its innovative approach to the use of Information and Communications Technologies for the social and economic development of the people living in the remote Bario area, the radio station is seen as a natural extension by delivering information right into the homes of the residents,” said Tarawe.

The station will be managed and operated by the community themselves, broadcasting much of its material in the local Kelabit language.

With their internet connection, it also planned to broadcast programmes on the internet to provide information services to the wider Kelabit diaspora living throughout Malaysia and beyond.

Members of the Bario community have been involved in every step of the proposal and they are enthusiastic about the prospect of operating their own radio station.

Expressing concern that the Kelabit language is dying as the younger generation moves away from the area, Tarawe said, “It is expected that the radio station will contribute towards the revival of the language.” The station will also broadcast local news collected by the residents themselves as well as facilitate debate on issues of local concern.

It will also provide a channel for public service announcements in the local Kelabit language, including the relaying of national news, providing information to promote better agriculture, encouraging commercial enterprises, preserving the local culture, extending education and improve public health.

The initiators of Bario Radio expect it to herald more such proposals for community radio stations to improve information flow to Malaysia’s isolated rural and indigenous communities.

For more information on eBario, call John Tarawe on 019-4381777 or email him at jtarawe@ bario.net

eBario Sdn Bhd miliki stesen radio komuniti pertama di Malaysia

http://sarawakupdate.com/home/berita/zon-utara/ebario-sdn-bhd-miliki-stesen-radio-komuniti-pertama-di-malaysia/

eBario Sdn Bhd miliki stesen radio komuniti pertama di Malaysia

KUCHING, 1 Sept (Bernama)

Sebuah perusahaan sosial, eBario Sdn Bhd, yang diwujudkan untuk mengendalikan telepusat eBario yang jauh dan terpencil di Tanah Tinggi Kelabit di Sarawak, muncul penerima pertama lesen bagi sebuah stesen radio komuniti di negara ini.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutifnya, John Tarawe berkata lesen untuk mengendalikan stesen Radio Komuniti Bario itu dikeluarkan oleh Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia (SKMK) semalam.

Tarawe, seorang fellow penyelidik dan perunding di pusat kecemerlangan informatik luar bandar, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), berkata:

“Cadangan untuk mewujudkan stesen itu adalah antara 40 permohonan terpilih daripada 800 dari seluruh dunia, kepada kemudahan Bantuan Masyarakat Adat (IPAF), dan merupakan inisiatif yang mengambil masa dua tahun untuk komuniti itu melobi dengan mendapat sokongan Rurum Kelabit Sarawak,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan di sini hari ini.

Tarawe, daripada suku Kelabit yang tinggal di Bario dan seorang ahli majlis daerah, berkata stesen itu, yang berhasrat memberi perkhidmatan kepada penduduk dalam lingkungan Forum Masyarakat Adat Dataran Tinggi (Formadat) — dibiayai oleh Dana Antarabangsa bagi Pembangunan Pertanian, di bawah IPAF.

Ekoran kejayaan meraih pelbagai anugerah kerana pendekatan berinovasi dalam penggunaan teknologi komunikasi maklumat bagi pembangunan sosio-ekonomi penduduk di kawasan pedalaman Bario, beliau berkata stesen radio itu dilihat sebagai sambungan semula jadi telepusat eBario dengan menyalurkan maklumat terus ke rumah mereka.

Pada masa ini, telepusat itu menyediakan khidmat maklumat kepada penduduk Bario menerusi perkongsian akses awam ke internet.

“Stesen itu akan diuruskan dan dikendalikan oleh komuniti itu sendiri, dengan penyiaran sebahagian besar daripada bahannya dilakukan dalam bahasa Kelabit tempatan,” kata Tarawe.

Dengan perancangan untuk menyiarkan program di internet untuk menyediakan khidmat maklumat kepada sejumlah besar perantau Kelabit yang tinggal di seluruh Malaysia dan sekitarnya, beliau berkata stesen radio itu juga dijangka memberi sumbangan ke arah menghidupkan semula bahasa.

Selain menyiarkan berita tempatan yang dikumpul oleh penduduk sendiri, stesen itu akan menyediakan saluran untuk pengumuman khidmat awam dalam bahasa Kelabit, termasuk menyampaikan berita nasional, selain menyediakan maklumat bagi menggalakkan pertanian yang lebih baik, menggalakkan perusahaan komersial, memelihara budaya setempat, memperluas pendidikan dan menambah baik kesihatan awam.

Sementara itu, SKMK menggambarkan radio komuniti itu sebagai “berskala kecil, kos rendah, sistem penyiaran radio yang bukan bermatlamatkan keuntungan direka untuk menyampaikan kandungan yang mempunyai kepentingan khusus kepada komuniti yang diliputinya.” — BERNAMA

Rethink on Development

Rethink on development

by Margaret Apau
March 21, 2010, Sunday (The Borneo Post)

SOMETIMES, money can’t make problems go away.

PARADISE: Isolated and remote, the Bario Highlands are the best testing ground for an ICT project.In 1971, the Norwegian government made a generous donation of $22 million to Kenya. The funding would go to building a fish-processing plant on Lake Turkana in the hope of providing the residents with gainful employment.

The plant was up and running immediately after completion but was shut down after only a few days. Why?

What was meant to give work to the Turkana people through fishing and fish processing for export became a drain on finances. The cost to operate freezers was phenomenal and the demand for clean water in the Kenyan desert too high.

To add insult to injury, the Turkana people they were trying to help were desert nomads with no history of fishing or even eating fish.

Add this to the list of other failed development projects and too many times, you’ll see such funded projects around the world flopping because project-managers just don’t ask the right questions.

Which is what the Rural Informatics Team at Unimas did.

Bario, for all its isolation and remoteness, was the perfect testing ground for a daring project — e-Bario, comprising eight academics from various disciplines such as anthropology, cognitive science, community development, education, electrical engineering and computer science.

“The thrust of the e-Bario project was twofold — bring sustainable social and economic development to a remote community, and use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to uplift the people’s well-being,” said Dr Alvin Yeo Wee, e-Bario project team leader and today, director of the Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics (COERI).

It was 1998. Barring several weeks of travelling across rivers, valleys and mountain ridges, there was only one practical way to get to Bario — daily flight by Twin Otter.

Moreover, the remote community had no telephone or Internet access to Bario.
While the community had developed their own means of communication between Bario and the rest of Sarawak (including a tedious two-way radio service hookup), they would gather at the airport and wait for passengers to Kuching to deliver letters to loved ones. The urgency for speedy communication was essential.

“At this time, nobody thought about using satellite technology for rural areas,” Dr Yeo noted.

But they weren’t going headlong into it either without getting the community onboard first.

Although Bario was already familiar with Unimas from a previous biodiversity project, the community were still skeptical about the ICT project. They had already had bad experiences when another organisation failed to bring technologies in as promised.

Creating rapport and building trust with the community then was key.

“We wanted to make sure they were involved because this kind of partnership gives the community a sense of ownership and pride,” he said.

The exchange of ideas and the brainstorming between the team and the community leaders as well as planning took about two years from first contact to the actual introduction of ICT.

The first step was to understand the community — how they live, their cultures, existing uses and access to information sources as well as their needs for improved information delivery.

“The project was very much community and technology-based. When community development happens, you have community empowerment,” Dr Yeo added.

So while the researchers learned about life in Bario from the community, the community learned about ICTs from the researchers. Together, they would mutually benefit from the project.

It also helped that Kelabit lecturer Poline Bala was part of the e-Bario Project Team. Besides, a steering committee, comprising community leaders and local champions like John Tarawe (project coordinator in Bario) and Lucy Bulan (SMK Bario principal), were vital in keeping the momentum going to the end.

“For the people in Bario, communication, especially Internet connectivity for their children, was the first thing they wanted,” Dr Yeo said.

“The community played an equal and active role throughout the project. For example, proposals for information systems using the Internet were agreed upon together with the community representatives.”

Gatuman Bario

In the next phase, two schools received computers with training provided for teachers and the community.

They would surf the Internet through VSATs (a satellite communication system) before computers and Internet access were made available through a telecentre — Gatuman Bario.

Transport was an issue. Without road access, everything had to be flown in, including fuel for generators.

Today, the telecentre may be running on solar panels but in 2002 when first opened, it was partly dependent on diesel generators — not practical for a region where logistic costs are sky high.

In 2000, one gallon of diesel in Bario cost RM12 compared to a paltry RM3.21 in the city.

Today, it costs RM25. Imagine the cost when a generator needs a gallon of fuel to run for three to four hours. So the generator was dropped.

Now, the power problem has been solved with collaboration and funding from the Organisation for Sustainable Engineering in South East Asian Nations (Osean), Unimas, Cambridge University and Engineers without Borders, UK.

In June 2005, more solar panels were installed, enabling the telecentre to run six hours a day, six days a week. More activities have been made possible with the power solution resolved like training, and using the telecentre as a resource centre for government workshops.

Today, bringing ICT into Bario has brought a wealth of benefits not just to that community but also the rest of Sarawak and Sabah. Tourist traffic via Internet has increased, giving birth to at least seven homestays and lodges in Bario. The more subtle but no less significant offshoots of bringing business to Bario means the community enjoys a sustainable income to keep the community thriving.

From e-Bario, COERI was formed. Anchored at Unimas’ Faculty of Computer Science and Information technology (FCSIT), the centre was created to replicate the success of e-Bario in other remote locations like Long Lamai, Ba Kelalan and the most recent addition — the island of Larapan in Sabah.

Perhaps, most notable is the role (centre of operations) the telecentre played in the search and rescue mission when a helicopter crash in July 2004 claimed four lives.

On the global scale, e-Bario has become a model of sustainable development via ICT. The project has garnered a slew of awards, the most outstanding one being the International Innovations Awards, Commonwealth 2006 when they beat out 112 submissions from Commonwealth countries for the gold medal.

The e-Bario project is a true reflection of innovation, more significantly perhaps, for its emphasis on the most important part of development — the people.

Homestay plan to draw tourists

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/3/12/sarawak/5837846&sec=sarawak

Friday March 12, 2010

Homestay plan to draw tourists

By ZORA CHAN
zora@thestar.com.my

A HOMESTAY programme is in the offing at Pulau Larapan, one of the 49 islands off Semporna, Sabah.

Researchers from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) are collaborating to help the villagers kickstart the homestay programme.

Villagers will be trained in ICT so that they can use the village’s telecentre, eLarapan, to promote the homestay programme worldwide, said eLarapan project leader Dr Mohd Faizal Syam Abdol Hazis.

eLarapan is a replica of a community ICT project in Sarawak’s highlands of Bario called eBario. Unimas’ Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics (CoERI) is implementing eLarapan.

“We are developing a business model for the people, which is a homestay programme that will involve the whole community.

“Ten houses have been identified for the programme.

“Visitors will have to book rooms online,” he said in Kuching recently.

He said the telecentre with three laptops, three desktops and a VSAT satellite would be powered by solar energy.

Although scenic, Larapan is one of the poorest islands off Semporna. From Tawau, it takes an hour to reach Semporna and from Semporna, it is a half-hour boat ride to the island.

Populated by the Bajau, the island has two villages — Kampung Larapan Hujung and Kampung Larapan Tengah. The island has about 1,365 residents.

The main economic activity is fishing while a handful of the locals work at pearl farms nearby. Many women in Pulau Larapan are into small-scale tapioca farming to support their families.

Dr Faizal said the villagers lacked health services, depended on generators for electricity and travelled to mainland Semporna to buy water for washing and drinking.

He said the island had a lot to offer in terms of tourism and hoped that the telecentre could be of help in improving the people’s livelihood.

“Villagers will eventually be taught how to communicate with their children who are studying in Semporna using the telecentre,” he said, adding that the island’s primary school only provided education up to Primary Three.

E-Bario for more Sarawak outposts

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/8/nation/4272153&sec=nation

Wednesday July 8, 2009

E-Bario for more Sarawak outposts

KUCHING: The successful e-Bario project in the Kelabit Highlands of northern Sarawak will be implemented in four other remote settlements in Sabah and Sarawak.

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) deputy vice-chancellor (research and information) Prof Peter Songan said the e-Bario model would be used in Ba’kelalan and Long Lamai in Sarawak, Buayan near Penam­ pang and a yet to be identified settlement in Tawau district in Sabah.

“We have done the groundwork,” he told reporters after the opening of the sixth international conference on information technology in Asia at the Kuching Hilton yesterday.

Prof Songan said Unimas had worked with Universiti Malaysia Sabah and a non-governmental organisation for the projects in Sabah.

The four projects are funded by a RM4mil grant from the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry.

Prof Songan said the projects would be implemented through regular dialogues with the villagers and based on their needs. Training the villagers in ICT would also be carried out.

Prof Songan said Unimas’ e-Bario project, which connects the Kelabit Highlands to the world through an information and communication telecentre, has benefited about 5,000 villagers, including students.

The project, which was implemented in 2000, has won numerous international IT awards.

At present, the people of Bario are able to independently maintain the telecentre and related equipment.

Prof Songan said Unimas was now working to upgrade e-Bario to a pilot model broadband network site for rural communities.

ICT to preserve indigenous traditional knowledge

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/7/nation/20090707122037&sec=nation

Published: Tuesday July 7, 2009 MYT 12:18:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday July 7, 2009 MYT 12:19:11 PM

ICT to preserve indigenous traditional knowledge

By JACK WONG

jackwong@thestar.com.my

KUCHING: Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud wants the traditional knowledge of the state’s nearly 30 ethnic groups to be preserved through the use of information and communication technology (ICT).

He said many of these ethnic groups passed down knowledge orally from one generation to the next, through stories and songs for example.

“There is much to be learnt from these communities, the knowledge they have on health, history and way of life,” he said in a speech to open the sixth international conference on information technology in Asia at Kuching Hilton Tuesday.

Taib’s text of speech was read by his deputy Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam.

Taib urged Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), which organised the four-day conference, and other research institutions to identify ways in which ICT could be used to preserve traditional knowledge.

“There is a need, for example, to enhance speech-recognition technologies to speed up the process of converting speech to text so that the text can be stored and analysed.”

He said machine translation software, which Unimas was doing research on, should be developed for local languages.

The move, he added, would enable indigenous languages to be translated to English.

Taib commended Unimas for its successful e-Bario project, which enabled students and villagers in the Kelabit highland in northern Sarawak to connect to the world through ICT telecentres.

He said as the state was still short of competent and skilled IT and engineering professionals, Unimas could play a vital role in human resource development programmes.

“Unimas will be at the heart of the state’s Multimedia Super Corridor activities, particularly looking at the incubation facilities for technology startups and in addressing the state’s human resource development needs.

“This would assist very much in the Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy project which aims to create 1.6 million jobs with 10 social and commercial sectors to be opened up,” said Taib.

e-Bario: The Kelabit Gift to Malaysia

http://202.187.94.201/e-bario-the-kelabit-gift-to-malaysia-

e-Bario: The Kelabit Gift to Malaysia by Laura Lee

UNDP

Just picture this: rolling hills, fresh crisp air, the tranquil and serene environment greets and welcomes you the Kelabit Highlands of Bario. This indigenous community in Bario, Sarawak consists of warm and very friendly people. They lead simple lives of planting the famous fragrant Bario rice, hunt from the jungle for daily food or just trading in small business enterprise. Despite being so remote and cut off from nearby developed towns, the place produced some fine leaders in the country. Datuk Seri Idris Jala, the CEO of MAS hails from this Kelabit community of just over 5,000 people. Amongst others are many successful businessmen and women, academicians and high ranking government officials. Many who made it also returned to Bario to set up small business enterprises in hope of elevating their families out of poverty.

One such person is a local empowered women named Maszuin. Originating from Bario, she operates the local Mini Market called Y2K. The small business enterprise is likened to the "Megamall" to residents in Bario. Supplies from the more modern towns of Sarawak could usually be found at this quaint little shop although at somewhat higher prices due to the high costs of flying the merchandise into Bario.

Moving on to other members of the Bario community, there is a couple by the names of Lucy and David Labang. They operate a travel lodge longhouse in Bario. With internet connectivity via the e-Bario telecentre, the couple is able to communicate with tourists from all corners of the world wanting to make reservations to stay at their travel lodge. Guests staying at the Labang longhouse will be well taken care of with a good spread of local delicacies and warm Kelabit hospitality.

Adjourning from dinner, David will proceed to gather guests around a bonfire in their kitchen where some night entertainment entails. Skillfully playing a traditional instrument called 'sape' (boat lute), David will sometime play a duet with a younger member of the community. The lady members of his family might don their traditional headgear and take to the dance floor with the graceful movements of the hombill dance.

Bario, being so remote and cut off from the rest of the more developed areas in the surrounding region, do not even have proper roads. The more affluent members of the community will own 4WD vehicles to travel on the dirt tracks. The rest might just travel by motorcycles whilst some just walk to reach their target destinations. Electrification is supplied via solar power or generators. Despite being so remote and rural, ICT was able to bridge the digital divide when it arrived in Bario a few years ago. Connected via VSAT technology, e-Bario came into existence - the only telecentre in Bario and its surrounding region that provides connectivity to the world beyond the highlands of the Kelabits.

The benefits of ICT were tremendous especially in impacting and improving the livelihoods and economic conditions of the Bario people. From only 2 travel lodges, Bario now has 6 travel lodges. The fragrant high quality Bario rice is being marketed over the internet whilst family members were able to communicate with their loved ones outside of Bario - news that used to take weeks or months to arrive is now only a click of the mouse away.

Bario – The Perfect Venue for Development Conferencing

http://202.187.94.201/06-12-2007-bario--the-perfect-venue-for-development-conferencing

(06-12-2007)

Bario – The Perfect Venue for Development Conferencing

UNDP

The recent e-Bario knowledge fair held concurrently with the UNDP Workshop on e-Inclusion and media for indigenous peoples from 6-8 December 2007 managed to gather participants from four continents around the globe to openly discuss and share knowledge on ICT and indigenous peoples and utilizing media to generate more awareness for the abovementioned topics in the name of development.
The event brought together over 150 people to share knowledge and brainstorm ideas on issues relating to ICT and indigenous peoples whilst using media as a powerful tool to generate greater awareness. Amongst delegates were participants from Indigenous Communities who were either experts or practitioners in the thematic areas of ICT or indigenous peoples. There were also members of the media representing several indigenous groups attending the conference.

The three day event saw active interactions between the local Kelabits and the guests to Bario, where exchanging knowledge and information were the order for the day. There was a blend of academic and local Kelabit presentations in the Plenary e-Tracks, whereby a balance was achieved in the inclusion of foreign and local presentation flavours.

Wang Jianhua aka Ayoe, a Chinese from the tribal Akha people group found the event educational and informative. He also reckoned it was a creative way to gather information and knowledge. Pio Jun Verzola from Philippines quoted that the on site workshop in a place like Bario is a great idea especially in driving home some key points of discussions that would otherwise remain abstract and theoretical only. Daniella Schiller, an intern researcher from Germany found the location to be the highlight of her stay. She quipped, “… it wasn’t a workshop just about Bario but also a little bit for Bario in that people could present as well (most important!) and also get some financial benefits out of it through the sale of handicrafts and the home-stay programme.”

Florance Lapu Apu, the local tour guide was impressed that Bario was chosen to host this international event and hopes that there will be more future events. He would like to see more local Kelabits participate and learn from the foreign experts at events such at this.

The local vicar, Reverend Solomon found the event filled with enriched interactions, especially in the exchange of ideas and innovation where all were able to learn from one another. Through the exchanges, many ideas surfaced and some profound ones were exposed.

Dick Bala shared the same sentiments and recorded that it was great for the Kelabits to be able to interact with the different ethnic groups found at the event.

Mary Peter, a local Kelabit lady expressed that it was interesting to see many people from different countries and cultures coming together in Bario for the event. She found the delegates were very accommodating and hardly complained especially when it came to food – no one was choosy and accepted whatever food served to them. Mary further explained that the menu in Bario is not predictable as they do not have much choice with regards to food supplies. They will cook as the supplies flew in on the small airplanes.

Jesse Fiddler from the Nishnawbe tribe of Northern Canada (Sandy Lake First Nation) highlighted that he learned about the challenges the indigenous peoples are facing in Asia when trying to implement ICTs in improving lives for their people, despite the many obstacles faced. On the other hand, Sanjay Nadkarni, and Indian residing in Macau said that the event achieved in generating awareness about the plight of the indigenous peoples and the role of ICT in mitigating the socio-economic situation whilst simultaneously allowing them to retain their distinct culture and identity.

Ina Hume, a development worker with children utilizing new media concluded that it was a fascinating conference and workshop in a beautiful place. She found the sessions to be informative and interesting and graciously thanked the hosts, the wonderful Kelabit people before ending with words of thanks and gratitude to UNDP for a job well done in organizing the excellent workshop.

Jim Remedio from CAAMA Radio, Australia shared the same views with Ina and he was delighted with the very well organized workshop by UNDP staff in such a place like Bario. He also found the workshop presentations very informative and realized that some participants were very passionate about their work. Jim also acknowledged the great group dynamics exhibited at the workshop.

For further details on how you could organize a conference on development at a truly down to earth place where dialogue with the local beneficiaries like the Kelabit people are made possible, please visit the following link at http://www.ebario.com/