Malaysia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 412

(no sugar) or kopi kosong (black, no sugar).
Black tea/coffee is teh/kopi o kosong .
Drinking alcohol is only outlawed in
certain places on the east coast of the
Malaysian Peninsula, but there are
numerous places where the sale and
consumption of alcohol is frowned upon.
Elsewhere, alcohol is available in bars,
restaurants, Chinese kedai kopi , super-
markets and sometimes at hawkers' stalls.
Anchor and Tiger beer (lager) are locally
produced and are probably the best choices.
Wine is becoming more common and

competitively priced, too. Sarawak and
Sabah offer their own lethal tipple in the
form of tuak (fermented rice wine); the
young, milky wine isn't particularly strong,
but the clear, overproof stuff packs a punch.
here is a thriving bar scene in KL,
Penang and Langkawi; less so in other
towns. Fierce competition keeps happy
hours a regular feature (usually 5-7pm),
bringing beer down to around RM5 a
glass. Some bars open all day (11am-
11pm), but many double as clubs,
opening in the evenings until 2 or 3am.

6

groups, of which there are various tribes. Though most tribes retain some cultural
traditions, government drives have encouraged many tribespeople to integrate. The largest
group is the Senoi (with a population of 40,000), who live in the forested interior of Perak,
Pahang and Kelantan states and are divided into two main tribes, the Semiar and the
Temiar. They follow animist customs and practise shifting cultivation. The dark-skinned
Semang (or Negritos; pop. 2000) live in the northern areas of the Peninsula and share a
traditional nomadic, hunter-gatherer culture. The so-called Aboriginal Malays live south
of the Kuala Lumpur-Kuantan road.
SARAWAK'S PEOPLES
Nearly fifty percent of Sarawak's population is made up of various indigenous Dyak and
Orang Ulu groups - including the Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit and Penan tribes,
many of whom live in longhouses and maintain a rich cultural legacy. The Iban , a stocky,
rugged people, make up nearly one-third of Sarawak's population. Iban longhouse
communities are found in the Batang Ai river system in the southwest, and along the Rajang,
Katibas and Baleh rivers. These communities are quite accessible, their inhabitants always
hospitable and keen to show off their traditional dance, music, textile-weaving, blow-piping,
fishing and game-playing. In their time, the Iban were infamous head-hunters, but this
tradition has been replaced by that of berjelai , or “journey”, whereby a young man leaves the
community to prove himself in the outside world - returning to his longhouse with television
sets, generators and outboard motors, rather than heads. The Iban are also famous for their
intricate tattoos, each signifying a particular achievement in an individual's life. The
southernmost of Sarawak's indigenous groups are the Bidayuh , who traditionally lived away
from the rivers, building their longhouses on the sides of hills. Most of the other groups in
Sarawak are classed as Orang Ulu (people of the interior). They inhabit the more remote
inland areas, on the upper Rajang, Balui, Baram and Linau rivers, and their most striking
features are the elongated earlobes, achieved by wearing exceptional weighty earrings - a
privilege granted only to prominent members of the community. The most numerous, the
Kayan and the Kenyah , are longhouse-dwellers, animists and shifting cultivators. The Kelabit
live in longhouses on the highland plateau that separates north Sarawak from Kalimantan, and
are Christian. The nomadic Penan live in the upper Rajang and Limbang areas and rely on
hunting and gathering, though the number of true nomads has decreased to a few hundred
with government pressure on them to settle.
SABAH'S PEOPLES
The Dusun , or Kadazan/Dusun, account for around a third of Sabah's population. Traditionally
agriculturists, they inhabit the western coastal plains and the interior. Although most Dusun
are now Christians, remnants of their animist past are still evident. The mainly Muslim Bajau
tribe drifted over from the southern Philippines some two hundred years ago, and now
constitute ten percent of Sabah's population, living in the northwest. They are agriculturists
and fishermen, noted for their horsemanship and their rearing of buffalo. The Murut inhabit
the area between Keningau and the Sarawak border, in the southwest.