Amana'

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In Eastern Kalimantan, Borneo, Bajau Laut have been living for generations. Originally they arrived on houseboats from the Sulu Sea.

Erik Abrahamsson, Amana’, visited Derawan Islands where he stayed for one week. The Derawan Islands are a tourist paradise with excellent diving spots and fascinating sea creatures as manta rays and hawksbill sea turtles. Most people on the islands are Bajau and they speak more or less the same dialect as in Semporna, Malaysia. The children were spending the afternoon swimming and playing next to sea turtles in the shallow waters.

Derwan Islands consist of a large number of island, of whom two are inhabited - Pulau Derawan and Pulau Maratua. The islands are far from as exploited as for example Mabul in Semporna, and all resorts are owned and run by local people.

One of the islands, Sanalaki, is well-known for their hawksbill turtles and coral manta ray . Here visitors can swim with the giant rays and watch when turtles entering the beach at night laying their eggs. On the island of Kakaban you can also find a lake full of jellyfish – but they are completely harmless.

Recently, many Sama Dilaut used to stay in the area, moving between Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia in search for fishing grounds. But today there are no nomads left, as the Indonesian government repeatedly have confiscated their boats and sent them back to Malaysia. They are not welcome as they lack legal papers.

The local people control the islands – they where empty when Bajau settled here for more than 100 years ago. “I want Sanalaki to become as Sipadan”, one local Bajau dive operator told me, ”a tourist heaven and a sanctuary”.

The Derawan Islands are also a key player in the live fish trade. From here, great numbers of lobster and groupers are transported to Surabaya on Java and Tawau in Sabah, Malaysia. Much of the fish end up on luxury restaurants in Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hongkong.

After Derawan, Erik is heading towards Southeast Sulawesi where I will visit Bajo Laut, who have lived in the area for hundreds of years. They are distant relatives to Bajau Laut in the Sulu Sea, but much of their lifestyle are the same. Here Erik will visit the Bajo village Topa - following the footsteps of professor Erika Schagatay, who was there for more than 20 years ago.

For more than one month, Erik Abrahamsson from Amana’, has been living with Bajau Laut (Sama Dilaut) in Semporna, Sabah. ”I have visited remote islands, been diving, attained a wedding and continued to learn the basics of Sinama”, says Erik.

Hundreds of sea nomads

In Semporna hundreds of house boats have their moorage, either close to one of the many islands in the region or simply in Semporna town close to the Sama Dilaut communities Kampong Halo and Bangau Bangau. They make their living entirely from the sea: they are net fishing, hook-fishing, spear gun fishing and dive for sea cucumber and pearls. During low tide they also go along the shallow corals and collect sea shells.

It is fascinating to see the water adaptation of the Sama – an adaptation that starts in early age. A child learns to swim when it is 2-3 years old, it learns how to paddle a boat at five and dive at the age of six.

Dynamite Fishing

Unfortunately, some of the Sama Dilaut fishermen are also involved in dynamite fishing and compressor diving. Fish bombing is, of course, devastating for the marine life as it completely destroys the corals. But as one fisherman told me: “when I go hook fishing I must wait a long time for a catch, but if I throw a bomb I will get plenty of fish in seconds!” Of course, bomb fishing is highly illegal and leads to imprison and big fines. I met one pregnant woman with small children whose husband and oldest son had been caught bombing fish, which left the family without livelihood.

It is important to note, however, that it is unusual that boat living Sama make a living from dynamite fishing. It is much more common among more settled, house-dwelling Sama Dilaut fishermen.

Refugees from Philippines

Nearly all Sama Dilaut in Sabah are refugees from the Philippines. Many of them lack Identity cards and passports. A majority doesn’t even have a birth certificate. Without ID you have no right to get medical support (it costs 50 RM, approximately 17 USD without ID for a medical checkup and only 1 RM if you are a Malaysian citizen) and schooling. However, many Sama Dilaut have a “lepa passport” (a houseboat passport) authorized by the local government which gives them right to stay in the waters of Sabah.

Probably, the reason behind Sama Dilaut’s partly devastating fishing methods is linked to the fact that they are not recognized as legal – as a matter of fact many Sama Dilaut do never set their foot on land because of fear of deportation. Hence, if you are living there illegally and don’t get any support from local authorities, you might be tempted to get involved in devastating fishing practices.

Ethnic discrimination

When I talk to the Sama Dilaut they all tell me one thing – they are afraid of the Tausug people of the Sulu – which have ruled the area for centuries. Today many Tausug are armed and some of them have been in part of the creation of the Abu Sayyaf guerilla. For decades they have been fighting against the Philippine government in order to establish a free Muslim state in southern Philippines. Recently, a peace agreement were settled which has calmed the overall situation, but single Sama individuals are still under huge threat (see: Philippines peace deal is far from a done deal for more information). Their catch and their machines are taken under night. Young women are forced to marry which make them escape in the middle of the night. Bombs have been thrown into their houseboats.

In Philippines, the police don’t do much to ease the situation for Sama Dilaut. In Malaysia, however, the police and military are very active, and thousands of tourists are arriving every year, which make the situation calm.

In the beginning of December, Erik will return to the Sama Dilaut community in Matina Aplaya, Davao. Here we are going to complete the terms of collaboration between Amana’ and The Badjao Community Association.

During my stay in Semporna I heard that many people were talking about Estino Taniyu, a Bajau Laut from Bangau Bagnau, who is working for the Malaysian Navy . They told me that he had won a swimming competition in Europe. “Melikan Taraug”, (‘the white men lost’), they said. I searched for Taniyu on the Internet and read that he had swum across the English channel, the third Malaysian and the first Bajau Laut ever to do so. He crossed the channel in 13 hours and 45 minutes.

Estino Taniy is far from the fastest swimmer who has swum across the channel, but we have to keep in mind that none Bajau swimmer have gone through professional training. Estino has grown up in an are that was completely water based only 50 years ago, when they arrived from Sitankai on their houseboats. It is also worth to mention that the first man ever who swam across the channel, Matthew Webb in 1875, needed more than 21 hours to complete the endeavor – and he hold the record for decades.

I met Estino Taniyu’s mother in her house in Bangau Bagnau. She told me that thousands of Semporna locals, including Pakistani and Malay people, had come to their house to celebrate when Estino returned from England. She also told me that Estino used to follow his father fishing when he was young.

“I made it through physical and mental preparation, the experience of being a village boy and the son of a fisherman and support from my team and the Malaysian army,” Estino told The Borneo Post in an interview. You can read more in their article: Semporna welcomes home English Channel swimmer

On October 18^th  Erik Abrahamsson from Amana’ are heading towards Southeast Asia for a six months long stay with Bajau Laut – The People of the Sea.

During the journey in Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia Amana’ will make a short documentary movie about Bajau Laut. In Philippines, we are also going to continue our co-operation with The Badjao Community Association in Davao City, which aims to enable a sustainable livelihood for the people in the Sama village.

Throughout the journey, Erik will also collect diving statistics for professor Erika Schagatay at the Mid-Sweden University. He is bringing three logging devices that will measure how deep the Bajau fishermen dive and for how long they stay under water.

We will make continuous updates on Amana’s webpage during the journey.

Recently a new book was published on the Aquatic Ape Theory: Was Man more aquatic in the past? – Fifty years after Alister Hardy. A large number of scientists from different fields have contributed to the ambitious work.