00:00The Kelabit are among many of the unique indigenous tribes of Malaysia.
00:15Idris Jalla and his son, Leon, share with FMT Lifestyle what defines their Kelabit tribe
00:22and how these values are being kept alive in their family.
00:30Idris grew up in Bario, Sarawak.
00:34Despite having very few material possessions or modern comforts, he recalls always feeling
00:40content because of the strong sense of community he experienced there.
00:46So long house means you share everything together.
00:49In the olden days, there is no word for thank you.
00:54It's a very strange thing.
00:56In my whole life, I ask myself the question, how come a simple word like thank you doesn't
01:02exist in the Kelabit dictionary, it doesn't exist in the vocabulary, it's simply this.
01:08Everything you're sharing anyway, you're supposed to give it to somebody and it was a duty to
01:14give it.
01:15Although his father Idris has long left Bario and carved a name for himself in the corporate
01:21and political sectors, even becoming the first orang ulu to be made a federal minister, Leon
01:27shares that his large extended family remains close-knit.
01:32Something that my wife has observed and has pointed out, and it's the word warmth.
01:39So I think for her, observing from the outside, she says it's very interesting that your family
01:46is so, first of all, it's so large because we recognise even people who are six, seven
01:52times removed, we treat each other like first cousins as well, we're very, very tight-knit
01:58even at such a large scale.
02:00And I think for her, she says, well, first of all, there's a massive degree of warmth
02:04within the family unit.
02:06But she said the amazing thing is that extends even outside.
02:10So she said for her, the first time meeting the family, she said she felt very, actually
02:14quite intimidated going to a gathering with so many of us, feeling, will I feel a bit
02:21left out?
02:22But she was just so taken aback by everyone's hospitality and warmth.
02:33In the early 1970s, a spiritual revival swept through Bario, and Idris recalls trekking
02:39for four days to preach in another village.
02:43Today, Leon is carrying on his father's tradition by preaching in his church, where he also
02:49oversees the creative department.
02:52I think the faith, really, I would say even in this generation, it's something that we
02:58can all, many of us, we try to maybe run away from, myself included, and, but you start
03:06to see it pop up among people in my generation, where a lot of us are starting to rediscover
03:12our faith.
03:14And so I think for us, there's, because it's taught, we talk so much about it, we hear
03:19our grandparents, our aunties and uncles talk so much about it, there's this idea that no
03:24matter how much you try to reject it, at some point, at some point, it will come alive because
03:29the seeds have been planted.
03:32The Kelabit people also have a unique culture of storytelling.
03:42My dad, for example, he could recite a story with all the rhyme and rhythm.
03:50Every line is like a poetry, it's a story, and he would tell almost for five, three hours
03:58telling the story like Shakespeare.
04:02That's an oral tradition, and that art really is quite incredible.
04:07So I grew up not watching Netflix movies, but basically I had movies because they were
04:14told through stories of epic poetry.
04:18Today the father and son keep this storytelling culture alive, albeit with a modern twist.
04:25They host a weekly podcast together called The Game of Impossible that aims to inspire
04:31listeners to discover their own abilities and transform.
04:36Leon believes that the culture for storytelling among the Kelabit is born out of an appreciation
04:42for creativity.
04:44So I think as Kelabit kids, there's almost this joke that you don't really have a choice.
04:49It's almost expected of you to learn how to play some instrument or to at least be in
04:53music to a degree.
04:55In addition to painting and singing, Leon plays the guitar, which he learned from his
05:00father.
05:01Fun fact, in his younger days Idris was in a band that played rock and blues.
05:08He even wore his hair long.
05:11Today Idris owns 50 guitars and even learned how to make the instrument during the pandemic.
05:23Leon has begun exposing his own children to their Kelabit heritage by reading them books
05:28in the language and giving them Kelabit names.
05:32Maybe I can speak more into Kelabits like me who have maybe not really grown up in Barrio,
05:41who are maybe of kind of a mixed parentage as well.
05:44I think my hopes for this kind of next generation of Kelabits is that we would really start
05:52to walk and live out those values.
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