Understanding my ancestory passion for the sea

Recently, I found an article from a CNA reporter in Singapore researching about Bugis Culture and attributes. It's interesting to note the labelling given to the Bugis people then and even now, that they are "pirates". Labelling a certain race or religion is still predominant now, so as to demoralise and cause anger to the community and religious believer. As an example: "Muslims are terrorist" or "Jews are Zionist". Owing to a few of them committing such crimes, the whole race and communities were labelled. Human beings were given the ability to think for themselves. We know a lot of our fellow being, are misguided and followed the wrong path. Some commit suicide upon them self, some became suicide bombers, some form atrocious group, some became gangsters and so on. They come in many forms. This smear tactics works to the not so knowledgeable folks. To the enlightened one, they will simply ignore the condescending remarks and carry on doing what's right and same token resurrecting the truth.

The Bugis people comes from the Indonesian Island of Celebes. It has a maritime culture. As you know, Indonesia has 17,504 islands. Maritime activities will without doubt becomes a normality. The World would probably knows only about the islands of Bali, Java, Sumatera and Kalimantan (Borneo) and Papua. What about the other 17,499 islands ? Mind boggling......About 50 per cent of Malaysians and probably 15 percent of Singaporean have their ancestors trace back to some of these islands. I was told that my great, great grandfather was from Makassar in the island of Sulawesi (Celebes). Hence, by descenders I'm a Bugis. To give you an idea how numerous those islands are, lets look at the old Dutch East India Company map of the areas.

EAST INDIA ISLANDS

Were the Bugis really pirates?  

Here are 5 things we found out :

The Malay Heritage Centre’s latest exhibition looks at proud, seafaring folk from South Sulawesi who made Singapore their home. It also runs parallel to the centre’s annual Malay Culture Fest 2017.

A Malay-Bugis wedding in contemporary Singapore. Note the Bugis dagger worn by the bride, which is unusual in a typical Malay wedding. (Photo: Jamal Mohamad

SINGAPORE: They have a couple of malls, an infamous street, a movie, and even an MRT station named after them – but how much do you really know about the fierce and proud seafaring Bugis people?

The Malay Heritage Centre (MHC) is putting the spotlight on the Malay sub-ethnic group in Singapore in a new exhibition titled Sirri Na Pesse.

The show – which means “Honour And Pride” in Bahasa Bugis – runs from Oct 14 2017 to Jun 24, 2018. 

image: The old Kampong Bugis located along the Rochor-Kallang River. (Photo: National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board)

Done in collaboration with the Bugis community in Singapore, it features around 40 artefacts as well as interactive installations and an artwork that takes visitors on a journey, from the group’s South Sulawesi roots to how they found their way to this part of Southeast Asia.

It’s the fourth instalment of the centre’s exhibition series on Malay sub-ethnic groups called Se Nusantara (Of The Same Archipelago). Previous exhibitions have put the spotlight on the Bawanese, Minangkabau and Javanese communities.

The Bugis exhibition runs in parallel with MHC’s annual Malay Culture Fest, which kicked off on Friday (Oct 13) and runs until Oct 28 2017. The festival lineup comprises various Malay cultural programmes, including those that highlight Bugis history and culture.

Malay Heritage Centre's new exhibition Sirri Na Pesse: Navigating Bugis Identities in Singapore. (Photo: Malay Heritage Centre)

These include the opening night performance Aga Kareba, which looks at the history of the Bugis, several guided trails, language workshops and demos on Bugis Silat and drums.

To start your initiation into Bugis culture, here are some interesting facts to note.

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1. THE BUGIS HAVE 5 GENDERS

Yes, you heard that right. There’s the masculine male and feminine female, but also the feminine male (calabai), masculine female (calalai), and bissu, an androgynous person who transcends everything.

According to curator Suhaili Osman, for the traditional Bugis, it was less about strict categories and more about what role they play in society. The bissu, for instance, acted as mediums who performed spiritual and magical roles.

A bissu, one of the five Bugis genders, conducting a ritual washing ceremony. (Photo: Mohammad Ridwan)

And even in Singapore, these fluid identities were evident. MHC programmes manager Jamal Mohamad, who is Malay Bugis, recalled seeing “joget pondan” during weddings in the 1980s. “These were groups of men dressed up as women who were dancing. That scene has slowly disappeared but that was what we were used to – seeing effeminate men and masculine women who were not queer,” he said.

There are hints of this at Jamal’s own recent Bugis-inspired wedding. His wife, who was also of Bugis descent, wore a badik or a Bugis dagger – something you don’t normally see women wear at Malay weddings.

2. THE BUGIS ARE NOT THE ORANG LAUT

It’s a mistake people often make, mainly because they’re both seafaring folk, said Suhaili. There’s one main difference: The orang laut or “sea people” in Malay spend most of their time on water.

Portrait of a Singapore-Bugis family. (Photo:: Family of Abdul Wafi Waliyudin)

They were also already present in this part of the region before the Bugis even arrived, acting as middlemen, navigators and hired guns for sultans. If that sounds familiar, it’s because when the Bugis came in during the 17th century, they basically took over the sea folk’s role.

“The Bugis wanted to be part of the political structures of the times which the orang laut were not interested in. The British and the Dutch then eventually came to rely on them rather than the orang laut,” she said.

3. THE BUGIS WERE INDEED PIRATES

It’s a stereotype that apparently has some ring of truth to it. There were indeed stories of English merchants being taken hostage by roving Bugis on their phinisi – or traditional sailing boats – and tall tales by the Dutch about bogey-men coming to take away children.

But it had mainly to do with the fact that they, at the start, were a pain in the backside of European colonisers, who tended to label people. The Bugis were originally farmers who took to the seas after the Dutch took hold of the port of Makassar, strangling their livelihood.

An early 1900s photograph of a phinisi, a traditional Bugis ship. (Photo: National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board)

But Suhaili pointed out that while there were indeed pirates among the Bugis, they are also known as traders and businessmen – something that they continued to do upon migrating to other parts of the Malay archipelago, like the Riau Islands and Johor.

“It’s said we’re quick-tempered, brash and proud but also industrious, adventurous and brave,” said Jamal. “I’ve heard comparisons, that the Bugis were the Vikings of the Nusantara – and that was where the piracy (stories) came from, because raiding was a way of life for people who didn’t have resources. But after the raids, they would trade.”

4. BUGIS VILLAGE ISN’T THE REAL BUGIS VILLAGE

It’s actually a bit further up the road and nearer Lavender MRT – an area that Raffles had allotted for the Bugis settlement beside the Rochor Kallang River. It’s been slated for development but there’s still a street called Kampong Bugis there.

The old Kampong Bugis located along the Rochor-Kallang River. (Photo: National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board)

As for Bugis Village of today, story goes that there used to be a canal running through the area where the Bugis would park their boats to trade. They established a settlement in the area from Kampong Glam all the way to Rochor River, before they were asked to make way for an Arab kampong in the early 1820s.

Interestingly, the area – especially Bugis Street – would gain a reputation for both gender-bending folk and sailors on R&R, two things that are closely linked to the Bugis identity.

5. YOUR SINGAPORE IDOLS ARE (PARTLY) BUGIS

It would seem they’ve got a penchant for singing as well. Two of the three Singapore Idol winners have Bugis blood in them. Taufik Batisah’s family is apparently of Indian and Buginese descent, while Hady Mirza’s family has roots in Sulawesi.

Other famous folk in Singapore with Bugis links? Well, there’s Suria celebrity BJ Kadir and contemporary artist Zai Kuning, for starters. Across the Causeway, there are plenty more, such as pop singer Ziana Zain and actress Lisa Surihani. And don’t forget Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Most notable are the Johor and Selangor Royal families!

For the most part, though, identifying a strictly Bugis identity is pretty hard today, simply because they swiftly integrated into the Malay community. “When the Bugis came to this part of the world and immediately participated in the politics, they needed to speak the language to gain any sort of influence,” said Jamal. “They needed to pretend to be Malay so they adopted Malay culture.”

Source: CNA/mm