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Koleksi Tamadun Pahang
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| Abstract : |
| The Pahang River basin of West Malaysia has contained a sizable population of Malay farming peoples for at least the last several hundred years. Many continue to live in villages along stretches of the river, and practice a mixed economy based on swamp rice farms, river and swamp fishing, cash from rubber and fruit production, with minor attention given to cattle and poultry rearing, kitchen gardens, and exploitation of natural forest products. While the Pahang Malay in recent decades are experiencing an incredible range of changes, mostly caused by Malaysian Government development programs in Pahang, and many are turning to newly available economic opportunities, the majority of them see their future in maintaining and adapting existing swamp rice and other indigenous resource utilization methods. While my study in the central Pahang village of Pesagi shows that most households are primarily supported by the production of rubber for cash, my informants took far greater pride in characterizing themselves as rice growers. In an ecological sense the highly adapted technique for producing rice and fish in the largely unmodified natural swamps bordering the Pahang river and coast is the Pahang Malay's niche specialization. This book on the swamp rice agricultural system of the Pahang Malay follows closely my doctoral dissertation, and a report prepared on this subject for the Malaysian Government. Fieldwork in Pahang was carried out with support from a Fulbright-Hays Graduate Research Fellowship from January 1976 until March 1977. This current product is the result of continuing research since that time utilizing the data analysis facilities of the Quantitative Anthropology Laboratory and libaries at UC Berkeley, and revisions made while teaching anthropology at the University of Texas at Dallas. While in Malaysia I received assistance from many people. I am obligated to members of the National xi xii Unity Board and the General Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department, to the staff of the National Museum and the University of Malaya. My local sponsor was the Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (MACEE), which helped me solve countless problems and made my stay productive and enjoyable. A great deal is owed to the Daerah and Mukim officials for their support and assistance throughout the fieldwork period. I must especially thank Penolong Pegawai Daerah Encik Mohammad Ibrahim bin Abu Bakar, Wakil Raya'at Yang Berhormat Puan Sariah binti Kamiso PPM, Pengulu Ishak bin Haji Awang Lembek, Pengulu Wan Mohammad Ali bin Wan Haji Abdul Malik, and Ketua Kampong Mahmud bin Mat Taib PJK. I am grateful for advice and encouragement from colleagues, especially William H. Geoghegan and James N. Anderson. Thanks are owed for help in preparing this manuscript to M.J. Tyler, Loel Miller, Linda Viloria, Dorothy Luttrell, Evelyn Stutts, Joan Seagraves, and the other staff at the Language Behavior Research Laboratory/Quantitative Anthropology Laboratory at Berkeley, and the School of Social Sciences at UT Dallas. Of course this book would not have been possible without the interest and cooperation of the villagers at Pesagi. My family and I were treated with such warmth and friendliness that we feel a lasting emotional attachment to our many friends there. Everytime I work with the data, use the materials in my teaching or writing, or think of the fieldwork experience I long to see my friends and Pesagi again. |
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