The Semai Culture - Essay Example

Semai Culture and number of Semai culture has been shaped over centuries and the people have learnt to survive within their means, without the aid of the foreign world. Their core values of community life, which support each and every individual renders their existence as a peaceful tribe. Semai culture is one of the sub-cultures of Orang Asli in the Malaysian peninsula. “The Semai are a group of Orang Asli who live in south eastern Perak and north western Pahang states of West Malaysia. They practice swidden horticulture in what remains as State’s rain forests...” (Rawski & Ngah, 1998, p.193) As their primary mode of subsistence is horticultural, therefore they live in those areas that comprise of rain forests. Subsistence agriculture is adopted by these people so as to grow enough food for their families and tribe. As, they do not depend on any advanced agricultural techniques or procedures for growing crops; therefore, Semai horticulturists depend on natural and organic ways of agriculture. Their traditional methods of agriculture reflect their primitive ways of life and growing crops. It also indicates that they do not depend on trade of crops or foods from other places. This also means that they are ignorant of the advanced agricultural techniques or the exotic crops or fruits outside their surroundings. The Semai culture is embodied by the values of its community that have been shaped over thousands of years. Almost all such community based cultures practice shared lifestyle and concern for each and every individual because it benefits overall society. They adhere to their old customs and beliefs and they inherit the thinking and mentality of their predecessors. Their cultural and social system is isolated from the rest of the world and they are left with practicing and reinventing the mentality, beliefs and customs of their forefathers. They share a strong bond with their community and therefore, strive to yield to its rules and regulations. Their lives are defined in fixed parameters as outlined by the social and cultural values of Semai culture. Food sharing plays an important practical and symbolic role within the community, and mutual aid, generosity and harmony is valued above anything else. Helpfulness is also reinforced because the Semai believe that unfulfilled wishes— for food, sex, or anything else—make people vulnerable to attack by animals or spirits that can cause illness or death. (Sorensen, 2007, p.604) The customs and beliefs of Semai culture bind people together. Food sharing has a deep philosophy behind it. As the primary and only mode of subsistence of these people is natural horticulture, therefore all of them eat the same food. This way, even if for some reason the crops fail, nobody gets starved. Food sharing allows each and every individual to survive. This means that the strongest drive of the people of Semai is survival. The survival of community, rather than that of individuals, is focused upon because they believe in shared values of their community. Mutual aid gives each individual the assurance that when he/she would need help anytime in the future, the community will rush forward to help him/her. This enhances the helpful attitude of people because their vested interests lie at the heart of mutual help. The Semais have always led a community based life; they share their good and bad times with each other, regardless of their status or age or gender. Collectivism fosters their centuries-old cultural values and interdependency upon each other. The sharing culture of Semais inherently nurtures generosity and harmony. People assist each other because everyone benefits from collective sharing. Thus they live in harmony and peace and support each other, whenever it is needed. According to the beliefs of Semais, man is vulnerable to attack by animals or spirits, if any of their wishes is not fulfilled. Their world is inhabited and influenced not only by human actions but by evil and magical forces as well. Their actions and mentality is ruled by their ancient beliefs and they shape their lives according to their myths and beliefs. They are not aware of the intellectual power of human beings that excels animals, spirits or any magical power. They succumb to their harsh environmental conditions or wild tigers instead of fighting back or looking for intelligent alternatives. Their most common fears associated with animals or spirits are illness and death. Healing and sickness of Semai culture are based on shamanistic rituals. Shamans are believed to be those people that can interact between humans and the spirits that bring illness or misery to anyone. “The better known shamanic ritual among the Semai is known as sevang terang.” (Walter & Fridman, 2004, p.829) In the absence of doctors, and nurses, people belonging to Semai culture continue practicing their ancestral ways of healing the sick and put their blind faith in shamans. If the shamans succeed in curing the ill, they attribute it to his/her professional skill; and in case, illness could not be cured or the medical condition worsens with shamanic treatment, evil spirits are held responsible. As they only prefer to live in rain forests, therefore their movement is limited to a few places. Due to lack of exposure to other cultures, the ways of their life and mentality remain unchanged. People develop in their learning capabilities by interacting with different people or cultures. As Semais hardly ever go beyond their geographical locations, therefore they are oblivious to the outside world. In community-based cultures, and particularly Semai culture, people do not have the tendency to rival or compete with each other. Everyone lives for the common welfare of the community and this makes them a peaceful tribe or culture. They do not require any sort of political system nor do they wish to have just one individual rule over them. Each and every individual works for the survival of their community values, within which their collective interests lie. “Within the Semai community, both the absence of an overarching political tribe structure and the relative immobility of local groups led to a traditionally large variation of language, ideas and customs.” (Benjamin, 2002, p.240) The large variation of language, ideas and customs is attributed to the absence of a centralized political and educational systems and restricted movements of the people. As in other cultures across the world, there are certain standards of written or spoken language; or social or political phenomena. As Semai culture lacks all such centralized systems, therefore there are no fixed parameters of dialects, political ideas, or social customs. People have a natural tendency of inventing or recreating the common notions and beliefs; as a result, we see such vast variations in their culture. Though the people lead a harmonious life, but their ways of thinking reflect a certain level of independence to think and act on their own. People have developed sub levels of the main customs at their free will, owing to the absence of a centralized political power. This shows that the dynamics of the culture of Semai are not stagnant but in the process of continual change within a certain context. The loose structure of the Semai culture that allows variations of language, customs, ideas and beliefs also indicates that the original customs might have been entirely changed over the centuries. Despite their limited interaction with other cultures, they have naturally evolved their cultural practices on their own, which has enhanced and enriched Semai culture in a unique way. Semai, especially men, tend to be squeamish about human blood; men say that they can’t stand being around when a woman is giving birth, because the sight of all that blood makes them sick. East Semai men say that menstrual blood is so like fish-poison that menstruents cannot go on fish-poisoning expeditions without running the risk of being possessed by, and eventually becoming, a tigerish evil power. (Robarchek & Dentan, 1987, p.360) Apart from animals, spirits and evil forces, Semais are also fearful of human blood. So, fear is one of the main emotions that characterize the people belonging to Semai culture. Freaking out at the sight of human blood is also indicative of the fact that they associate blood with death or illness. It also suggests that Semais are afraid of hunting animals or killing wild beasts like tigers. Their non-violence and fear of animals actually make them vulnerable to merciless death at the hands of wild animals and snakes or neighboring tribes. Their act of peacefulness might actually be considered as a sign of weakness by any other tribe, and this makes them an easy target should any clash occur between them and a stronger tribe. They also think that women are more vulnerable to evil powers on account of their menstruation. This mentality has consequently given rise to the tradition that women that are menstruating cannot go on fish expeditions. Likewise, while giving birth, a woman would be attended by other women only because no man, even her own husband would not like to be by her side. Semais live in hot and humid conditions of rain forests. Therefore, they are likely to get infected by malarial parasites. In the remote rain forests where they live, they have developed their own sickness -healing phenomena. … there are numerous dangerous insects, leeches, worms, large snakes, and poisonous plants. The people are extremely afraid of tigers. Until recently, most babies died in the first year, and many young children contract malaria or a serious respiratory disease. (Domhoff, 2003) Under such climatic conditions and restricted resources, the people of Semai culture have found in their primitive ways the cure to their illnesses. They can physically relate to the causes of their sickness and become frightful of them, like: insects, tigers, poisonous plants, and snakes are responsible for the widespread and common illnesses of the people. The infant mortality rate also must be very high, though exact figure could not be known due to unavailability of authentic data. The health of pregnant women must also be endangered in such climatic conditions. Calling upon the spirits of heaven to their aid is the basis of shamanism of Semai and its related cultures. Pregnant women are attended by female shamans, also called bidat. “Bidat receive their skill from Jajag Bidat, believed to be the first midwife on earth. Her kloog is said to be residing in the part of heaven… she too assists all the bidat on earth.” (Walter&Fridman, 2004, p.829) Bidat is a mid-wife trained in the art of shamanism. Though bidats have been assisting deliveries since a very long time but they definitely cannot operate women. Thus, women who cannot give birth vaginally are at a risk of death, in the absence of a qualified doctor. The Semai culture is vibrant with its beliefs, customs and numerous dialects. They are living in isolated conditions and managing their lives on their own. Their world is shaped by the climatic and natural conditions of the rain forests they live in. They are surviving in the absence of advanced agricultural techniques or medical care on account of their values that are based on sharing, generosity and harmony. Perhaps, the developed-world should learn from their non-violent attitude, in order to make this world a peaceful place for our generations to come. References Benjamin, G. (2002). Tribal communities in the Malay world: Historical, cultural and social perspectives. Singapore: Institute of South Asian Studies. Domhoff, W. G. (2003) Senoi Dream Theory: Myth, Scientific Method, and the Dreamwork Movement. Retrieved from http://psych.ucsc.edu/dreams/Library/senoi2.html Rawski, F. & Ngah, D. (1998) Kejadian Manusia: An "histoire" of Malay/Semai Culture Contact. Asian Folklore Studies, 57(2),189-222 .Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1178752 Robarchek, A. C. & Dentan, K. R. Blood Drunkenness and the Bloodthirsty Semai: Unmaking Another Anthropological Myth. American Anthropologist New Series, 89 (2), 356-365. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/677760 Sorensen, J. M. Competing Discourses of Aggression and Peacefulness. Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, 19:603–609. Walter, N. M. & Fridman, E. Shamanism: An encyclopedia of world beliefs, practices, and culture, Volume 2. California: ABC-CIO Inc. Read More