RUBBER AND THE MODERNISATION OF THE PAKU IBAN IN ...

7. Discussion
The Paku Iban were relatively better than many Iban settlements in Sarawak.
Several factors may account for this. First, is the Paku culture. In comparison
to many other Iban in many other Iban settlements, the Paku Iban always do
things formally. They respect each other, and help each other in times of need.
Their daily life and their relationship with other people are governed by
traditions and customs which they uphold earnestly. Respect for the traditions,
customs, and for the elders is paramount, and every man, woman, and child
knows their role and place in the Paku longhouse setting, and in the Paku
society in general. This has helped the community to grow. Second, they were
amongst the first Iban to go to school. The establishment of the St.
Augustine‟s school in Betong in early 1900s provided them the opportunities
to know about the world, and they quickly learned from this experience to
improve themselves.
8. Conclusion
In this paper, I discussed how the Paku Iban obtained their rubber trees, and
how they have benefited from planting them. I also have discussed the
background of rubber planting in Sarawak.
Rubber has made the Paku Iban more enterprising and open to new ways of
doing things. They have become more modern in outlook and style. Peter
Mulok Kedit confirms this new approach in lifestyle among the Paku Iban in
his study of the modernisation of the Iban which involved the Paku Iban.
With the money they obtained from rubber, Paku Iban bought properties such
as shop houses, not only in their own home town, Spaoh, but also in Betong
town, in Debak town, and even in Kuching. They started to adopt Western
style of dressing like by wearing coats and ties, and custom-made trousers
during Gawai festivals and weddings. With their increasing wealth, they also
started to buy modern household items such as kitchen wares, spoon and folks,
wardrobes, irons, clocks, watches, beds, and so on. To increase their mobility,
they bought outboard engines as the only means of transport in Paku at that
time was by river. To ensure that they would have a much safer future, some
of them put their money in the (post office) bank.
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