aiman.ai 2

Pantun Iban
The iban’s poetry
Muhammad Aiman Syahmie

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References
AICPA sets ethical standards for outsourcing. (2005). Journal of Accountancy, 199(1), 8.
Retrieved from http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/
American Management Association. (2010). The AMA handbook of business writing.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Aiman, Janice H.
The Iban Pantun
Includes biblographical references and index.
ISBN 9-788175-257665
Printed in the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Pantun Iban
The Iban’s Poetry

CONTENTS
Introduction - About Sarawak
Chapter 1 - The Iban Pantun
Chapter 2 - type of Pantun
Chapter 3 - The Structure of the Pantun
Chapter 4 - Example of the Iban Pantun

Introduction
About Sarawak
Sarawak, like Sabah, was ruled by the Brunei Empire until the arrival of the British adventurer
James Brooke in the early 19th Century. He helped to quell an uprising against Brunei by the
natives, and was given the title of Sarawak’s Rajah in return. Establishing a dynasty of ‘White Rajahs’,
Brooke and his descendants ruled till the Japanese occupation during World War II in 1945.
After that, Sarawak was ceded to the British Authorities until it became a part of Malaysia in 1963.
Just like Sabah, Sarawak has a diversity of indigenous groups, up to 28 in fact. Each has their own
distinct culture, traditions and skills. The main tribes are the Iban, who make up the majority, followed
by the Bidayuh, Melanau and Orang Ulu
Ibans
The Ibans are the largest indigenous group in Sarawak, forming one third of the total population.
They have a past reputation as fearsome head hunters and fierce warriors. Their traditional
establishments are located around the banks of Sarawak’s mighty rivers, such as the Batang Ai,
Skrang, Saribas and the Rajang River. They are also known for building some of the most intricate
and complex longhouses among all the indigenous communities in Borneo, utilising materials such
as bamboo, tree bark and hard wood. Each longhouse is led by a ‘Tuai’ or headman, and the people
who live inside form their own mini democratic administration system. Today, the Ibans grow crops
such as rubber, pepper, cocoa, palm oil and hill paddy to sustain their livelihoods. Many have migrated
to the bigger cities but still maintain their ancestral ties with longhouse villages.

CHAPTER 1
The Iban Pantun
The Iban pantun is sung aloud and would not be performed without the familiar melodic lines
normally associated with this form. It is the melody that serves as the vehicle through which the
actual words are utter. Like the Malay pantun, the Iban texts are improvised at the time of the
performance, and they are created and sung for specific occasions or events. Both Malay and Iban
pantuns maintain a certain rhyme and rhythmic schemes as the singers created and perform a
given piece, but the scheme are different in the Malay and Iban form.
In the Iban tradition, the pantun is not a high ritual form. It is perform at festive gathering to
welcomevisitor to the longhouse or to pay honor to special guest or well known personalities.
It may also be sung purely for entertainment purposes when at a large social gathering for instance,
the singer may improvise the lyric to request that the guests partake of the offer rice wine (tuak).
The pantun also sung at small gathering when rice wine is served, in which case poetic song
called sanggai (a type of pantun). For example, a woman might sing the sanggai pantun to address
a male visitor as he drink the wine at a gathering of intimate friends, and in this case, the lyrics
often have a hidden meaning (possibly relating to the visitor) known by only one or two persons
in the group.

Type of Pantun
CHAPTER 2
The verses or stanzas sung to praise or honor someone - or even a famous personality- are call
pantun puji (poetry/song to praise). If the text of the sung poetry is intended to offer
encouragement for something, it is refer to as pantun perangsang ( poetry/song for encouragement
or incitement). A mournful or plaintive poetic text is found in the pantun sebana (poetry/song
for mourning or complaint), while a sad or melancholy text offering symphaty or regret is refer to as
pantun sayau (poetry/song to express sympathy). A poetic text that recall personalities or past
events and situation, with sympathy or regret is the pantun kenang or sinu ngenang (poetry/song
to fondly remember someone or something)

CHAPTER 3
The structure of the Iban pantun
The verse or stanza.
The Iban pantun is structure in verses or stanzas, but the number of lines in asingle verse
is not set or fixed. Also there is no set number of verses in a complete pantun, therefore a
given pantun may be short or very long, depending upon the ideas expressed by the singer.
There are, however, certain poetical and musical conventions, which govern the way a singer
generates the line of text and the melodies. The term stanza, as use in this discussion of the
Iban pantun, mean a group of line that express a given idea, the first line of which usually begin
with a meaningless syllable such as ‘eeh’, ‘aih’, ‘enti’, ‘ga’, or other vocable. It is sung in a humming-like
fashion for an indeterminant period of time while the singer prepares to start the first line of the
texts in a given stanza. The voable is sung using a short ,rising melodic phrase that introduces
many of the important pitches that are used later in the pantun .
Internal rhyme.
Once the first line of text is begun, the singer must aware of the internal rhyme scheme, the
internal rhythmic pattern and the end rhyme for each stanza. These aspects of the poetry are
important conventions governing the poetic structure of the Iban pantun. It is interesting to note
that the singer consistently modifies words to make them stand out more strongly as rhyming words
within the given lines of text. For examples, the similarities and rhyming of sound in the final position
syllable of the words ‘tubuh’, and ‘jempulun’ become strikingly evident in the sung rendition in
which the words become pronounced ‘tubu-ah’ and ‘jempu-an’ (here the final consonant
sound, ’n’ is omitted)

CHAPTER 4
Example of Iban pantun
Ai Ansah Orang Ke Dulu Bejako – Mungkal Menalan:
(Tu jalai jako dikena ngangkat tauka meransang orang ke dulu bejako enti bisi utai deka dipansut
ka ngagai orang maioh enti bisi pengerami tauka begawai.)
Tu ai seribat pakau kawat,
Tumboh chap jako tuan,
Tu ga udah dikandang orang di gudang Pulau Pinang,
Bekunsi dagang enggau China Pulau Labuan,
Nya alai puchong tu udah bisi sain Agong tanda tangan,
Ari sapiak tu butol arak udah dichap perintah Sarawak,
Di kemendar ka masok pak pasar Padungan,
Udah nadai bantah ari perintah,
Disagi bala Menteri di Dewan,
Lalu dipedua ngagai Dayak bansa Iban.
Nya alai ka lemai tu tak merabensang ari balang butol besuran,
Tak merenchit ngagai chubit gelas ayam,
Ke lalu disua ka aku ngagai kita diberi ngagai nuan,
Laban aku meda belakang nuan tinggang seludang baju anyam,
Laban lengan kiba enggi nuan,
Bisi ditanchang tumpa tali jam,
Laban kening enggi nuan tak perenching mandang pisan,
Nya alai nuan aya ka lemai tu,
Digela aku manah bulu kelabu empitu,
Pegai tumu mungas menalan,
Mungkal midan muka kelang.

Nan Ka Kuta:
Nyadi jako ‘Kuta’ ditu nya ukai kuta ti dikena bejaga ari munsoh baka leboh menoa kitai agi siga kelia menya.
Pengawa tu dikena leboh maia gawai nikah. Kuta tu digaga ba rumah indu ka ditikah ba sanentang pala tangga
alai pengabang niki enggau ba tengah rumah. Kuta tu digaga ari pua kumbu ti endang dipilih serta manah
gamal lalu digantong awak ka kena surok tauka pansa bala Pengabang ti niki. Pua kumbu tu tadi dikelulu
ka nyadi kota lalu ditan ka orang ke endang dipadu ka sida sarumah nya bejako. Orang ke diasoh nan ka
kuta nya endang orang ke landik ba leka main, bapenemu ba ator pendiau Iban sereta mega landik berambai
ka jako. Kuta tu mesti dibuka ari kaban lelaki ke deka niki ngena rurun rambai jako orang ke endang disabong
sida bejako.
Tu ukai pua ngapa,
Tu ga pua ditenun niang Jara Indai Runai,
Peda nuan tisi pua labor api tu,
Digaga iya gambar antu gerasi,
Ke bediri dua berimbai.
Enti nyerumba Linda lemai hari,
Tu ke benyawa chai-chai,
Muru antu penyakit padi,
Ngasoh sida serta rari ka tisi punjong serarai.
Enti agi kelia menya,
Pua tu dikena sida nyerayong pandong,
Leka begumba balang begundai,
Ke begamal lempai-lempai,
Ujak tangkai jila isang.
Uji tentang kita enggau bulang mata kiba,
Redai punggai gantong pua,
Enggi kami di Kurong perabong Rumah lada,
Ke bebuah mua pemanah balat merera,
Ke senika nadai lapang.
Tu ga tengkebang ini kami,
Ke udah rimpi dulu lela,
Ke benama Dimah Indai Limpa,
Nya ga indu ke pandai di chunggai tinjok kiba,
Landik gawa tukang nengkebang,
Indu pantun tambun puji sida melanyi bujang biak.
Enti agi kelia menya,
Pua tu dikena sida nyerayong pandong sempuli padi paya,
Didenjang sida anak Bujang Lemambang kera,
Ngambi ka enda menawa nadai nawang.
Tang ka saharitu diredai kami di penyurai pala tangga,
Laban kami bisi nentang enggau bulang mata kiba,
Meda kita tak betubuh maioh enda jena-jena,
Tak begaya mua pengumba.
Patut kita tu digela aku baka jeliu betutu ikan banta,
Ngaban di pala Kerangan nunggang.
Nya alai dijangka aku aya,
Bisi bala kita juring di putting jari kiba,
Lansik dijelik mata meda,
Nemu nyangka ai lia bemain di pala dulang tapang.

Contains an anthology of selected pantun, songs of Iban tropes. The Iban use trobes
to express their feelings of sadness and happiness, hatred and admiration, curse
and compliment, and to channel their requests for favour, needs and wants. These
are elements of a serious pantun. However, some pantun are just entertainment,
usually carrying romantic messages. This book offers both. Pantun is worth learning
and understanding, especially if you wish to be sung to and offered a glass of rice wine.