KITA Discourse Series 6/2023: Living Together: Spirit ‘Guardians’ and People in Singkawang

LIVING TOGETHER: SPIRIT ‘GUARDIANS’ AND PEOPLE IN SINGKAWANG
By
Dr. Elena Gregoria Chai Chin Fern
Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry & Performing Arts Sarawak

ABSTRACT

Sebelum ada agama, adat sudah wujud (‘Before religion, there was tradition’) is an expression commonly heard among traditional medical practitioners in Singkawang, West Kalimantan. This saying hinges on the belief in penunggu, or ‘guardians’. Locals from different ethnicities – Chinese, Dayak and Malay – believe in the presence of penunggu in their surroundings. If these spiritual beings are disturbed, they will cause sickness or discomfort. To appease penunggu and cure sickness, the help of tatung or spirit mediums is called upon. Tatung, through the passage of spirits into their bodies, cure sickness and negotiate ways to bring about a peaceful relationship between penunggu and people. This paper looks at the relationship between these spirits of nature and humans.

PRESENTER’S PROFILE

Elena Chai is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UNIMAS. She is currently seconded to the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak. She heads the Arts, Culture and Heritage Section of the ministry.

She received her doctorate degree in Area Studies from the Institute of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Her doctorate thesis was about marriage rituals and identity of the Chinese Hakka in Sarawak, East Malaysia. She wrote her Master dissertation based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Houayxai, northern Laos, on Vietnamese Lao community and Identity through Soul Calling Ceremony. She also conducted fieldwork in Laos, namely Paksan (central Laos) and Vieng Chan (capital) for soul calling ceremony known as Soukhuan.

Dr Elena has conducted various international research projects such as temple research funded by Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation (Taiwan) for International Scholarly Exchange; Hakka studies in Borneo Sarawak by National Tsing Hua University of Taiwan; Social Transformation in Borneo funded by One Belt One Road Program of Beijing Foreign Studies University; Social Changes studies with Japanese researchers funded by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and a few others related to social changes, identity of multiethnic society. For national and local grants, Dr Elena is engaged actively as the head of a disaster studies project funded by Ministry of Higher Education (FRGS grant). Her present studies include empowering local communities with their intangible heritage and indigenous knowledge. She has a few ongoing projects such as the Sarawak Tua Pek Kong Heritage and Fort Trail of Sarawak.

Heritage to Dr Elena is a treasure that belongs to the people which must be protected and identified. Heritage bonds people with their past and gives them a sense of ‘place’ within the present ‘time’. It will bring them to a future with pride and confidence if the importance of heritage is properly instilled. Thus, heritage awareness must be promoted throughout the country.

TENTATIVE PROGRAMME

Date: 4 August 2023 (Friday)
Time: 3.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m. (GMT +8)
Venue: KITA Meeting Room
Platform: Zoom & KITA Facebook page (links below)

3.00 p.m.: Introduction by Moderator
3.10 p.m.: Seminar by Dr. Elena Gregoria Chai Chin Fern
4.10 p.m.: Q & A Session
5.00 p.m.: Closing

Join via Zoom

Join via Facebook

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [266.10 KB]