THE adoption of the pig as the election symbol by one of Sarawak’s smallest political parties, Parti Bangsa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDS Baru), for the 14th general election might be a little off-beat, but it hardly raised a flap among the state’s Malay-Muslim politicians or voters.

“Well, it does not have any effect on me,” Sarawak’s Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah told The Malaysian Insight today.

“Whether PBDS Baru wants to have a pig, a cockerel, a dragon or a snake as their mascot is up to them.”

Karim, a Malay muslim, brushed the symbol off as just another political stunt by a party which had been rejected by voters before.

“Maybe using the pig as a symbol might give them some luck,” he said, tongue-in-cheek.

Asked if he shared the criticisms that were posted on social media that claimed the pig symbol offended the sensitivities of the Malays and Muslims, Karim said he personally found the whole episode amusing rather than offensive.

Unlike in the peninsula, Malay Muslims who make up about 25% of the state’s population are generally more tolerant towards religious and cultural differences.

PBDS Baru had stood firm on their decision amidst the criticisms saying the pig symbolised “the unification of the various Dayak tribes in Sarawak”.

They pointed to the Kapit peacemaking ceremony in 1924 that ended inter-tribal wars and the practice of the “ngayau” (headhunting) in the Rajang River.

In Dayak folklore, it is believed the pig was “an intermediary between the tribes and their ‘Petara’ (creator).

However, Karim questioned since when have the Dayak treated the pig as the ‘bentara’ (intermediary).

“I believe the Dayaks are more associated with the wild boar (than the pig in traditional ceremonies). Pigs are a more recent introduction by the Chinese settlers I believe.

“I think PBDS Baru is confused.”

A former political secretary to the chief minister, Awangku Jamuddin Pengiran Kon, said the adoption of the pig is akin to the proverbial saying, “they have run out of powder”.

“Ngembeh beras enggau kopi, gula,” he said, quoting a popular Iban saying, which literally meant having run out of rice, coffee and sugar.

“It’s better for them to adopt the crocodile.”

The crocodile Bujang Senang is the mascot of the Sarawak football team.

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak political scientist Jeniri Amir agreed and said PBDS Baru certainly will not win over any Malay muslim votes in constituencies where they have candidates.

“Its super sensitive and I don’t think the Muslims are happy with this.

“They have thousands of mascots they could choose from, why the pig?”

“Weird choice” was how a former vice-president in the “original” PBDS described the adoption.

Wilfred Nissom, now the information chief of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), questioned if Dayaks from all the various ethnic tribes accepted the argument that the pig was an intermediary between them and their ‘Petara’.

He said it might be the belief of the Iban but it certainly was not the belief of the Bidayuh, which Nissoms is a member of, or Dayaks from the other ethnic groups.

PBDS was established in 1983 by former federal works minister Leo Moggie but was deregistered in October 2004 for failing to comply with the Registrar of Societies order to hold a fresh round of party elections after the 2003 delegates’ conference was declared null and void.

A group of hardcore supporters revived and re-registered the party in 2013 as PBDS Baru. – February 7, 2018.