KOMUNITI SEMPADAN BA’KELALAN: ANTARA IDENTITI NASIONAL DAN IDENTITI BUDAYA BORDER COMMUNITY OF BA’KELALAN: NATIONAL IDENTITY VS CULTURAL IDENTITY

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Yusten Karulus
Maine Suadik

Abstract

Border communities, particularly in Southeast Asia have a similar identity before the formation of the modern nation state. The Treaty of Westphalia 1648 has separates nation state to various national identity (Chandler, 2003). With the establishment of national borders, collectives’ identity among some ethnic groups has been divided into different national identity related to their nationalities. Based on these arguments, this paper discusses the tendency of identity among the border community of Ba’kelalan, Lawas in Sarawak. Ba’kelalan is located about four kilometers from the international border of Malaysia-Indonesia on the Malaysian side. The interaction among Lun Bawang or Lun Dayeh in Ba’kelalan, Malaysia and Long Bawan, Indonesia has been going on before the border formation in this area. The close cultural and historical ties between people on both sides of the border are one of the main reasons for the intense cross-border social and economic interactions. A general phenomenon and the dynamics of political identity have been used to examine the dominant factors of national and cultural identity in the context of cross border relations. Research has been done by using ethnographic approach to the 32 informants.2 Findings show that cross border interaction in Ba’kelalan is conspicuously about maintaining their cultural identity. Specifically, the identity of being Lun Bawang as an ethnic group is more important than being Indonesian Lun Dayeh or Malaysian Lun Bawang. However, from the phenomenon of national identity, it shows that the sense of belonging among the Lun Bawang in Ba’kelalan is located on the Malaysian side - of being Malaysian Lun Bawang. 3



Keywords: Sempadan, Komuniti Sempadan, Identiti Nasional, Identiti Budaya, Sense of Belonging

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