Penan community embracing the digital age

ABOUT three decades ago, Lucas Seman, an indigenous nomadic Penan, foraged the jungle daily and hunted wildlife for food in Borneo’s abundant rainforest, once the most inaccessible in the watershed area of Baram district.

In the early 1990s, along with his family and dozens of other members of his tribe, he left his nomadic lifestyle and settled at Long Kevok, a new Penan settlement established by the Sarawak Government to encourage the nomadic Penan to settle and live a sedentary lifestyle. Unfortunately, the settlement was destroyed by fire in 2003 but the settlers stayed put and rebuilt their homes.

Today, Long Kevok is a modern village, equipped with basic infrastructure, a rural clinic, a primary school, and a library.

Lucas, 43, has been elevated by the Long Kevok Penan community to be their leader and headman. He is now leading this once nomadic tribe to embrace the digital age. “My vision is to transform Long Kevok into a must-visit tourist destination in Baram. I want my village to thrive in all aspects of development. With digital technology and know-how, I think this is possible,” he declared.

Homestay operator at Long Kevok, Sapu Boi, pledged to upskill himself in the hospitality business. “It is our shared vision to make our homestay project at Long Kevok a resounding success,” he said.

Another homestay operator, Yakub Pun, said he fully supports the efforts to upgrade the tourism business in Baram. “Before managing a homestay, we need to acquire relevant skills such as how to socialise with people and promote local products. We are keen to attend more hospitality courses and go on study tours to see how homestay operators in other places manage their homestays successfully,” he said.

Handicraft maker Misi Dotton, 53, who hails from Long Latei, another Penan settlement in Baram, said without digital marketing know-how, the Penan community can only sell their handicrafts to a small number of visitors during major events at their respective villages. “We still don’t know how to market our products beyond our villages,” she pointed out.

Misi, Sapu, Yakub and Lucas were among the 50 Penan and Kayan participants who attended a digital marketing and customer service workshop held at Long Latei recently.

The workshop, known as “Program Memacu Kehidupan: Community Technical Outreach Programme (CTOP)”, was organised by global energy company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) and Centre for Technology Excellence Sarawak (CENTEXS) to upskill the Penan and Kayan handicraft makers and homestay operators on digital marketing and customer service. During the workshop, participants were taught how to use social media applications and platforms such as TikTok, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram to promote their homestays, and sell handicrafts and other products to markets beyond their villages.

“Our objective is to equip the rural communities with digital knowledge and know-how so that they can make their small business more sustainable by leveraging on digital marketing platforms and excellent customer service,” said Isrom Udau, the General Manager of PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd-Sarawak Assets (PCSB-SKA).

“We want to empower the local communities to thrive in their small business.  One way to do it is to teach them the technical and vocational skills in digital marketing and customer service. Digital marketing is the fastest and best way to promote rural tourism products and attraction to the outside world,” he added.

CENTEXS head of Partnership Management and Business Development Ruhazlina Syam Abdol Hazis said the centre offers a wide range of training programmes for various sectors including oil and gas, construction, hospitality and tourism, digital, agriculture, and green energy. “CTOP is a free training programme designed to provide Sarawakians with the technical skills they need to be successful in their businesses,” she said.

Telang Usan assemblyman Dato Dennis Ngau, who is also chairman of the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), said Baram district has a huge potential for tourism industry to thrive. “Baram and its subdistrict Telang Usan are rich with the Orang Ulu cultures and ethnic delicacies. The place offers stunning natural environment,” he enthused.

He said the Government is already making efforts to improve accessibility into Penan and Kayan settlements in Baram district. “Currently, the poor road conditions in the district make tourism products and services expensive. Transportation in the area is also still expensive,” he acknowledged.

According to Dennis, all the 88 villages within the Baram district are only accessible by logging road, which are treacherous and time-consuming to navigate during rainy days. “Due to the high cost, it is not possible to upgrade all 1,000km-long logging road at once. So far, only 160km of logging road have been upgrade to tar-sealed road,” he said.

But the poor accessibility will not stop the Baram folks, particularly the Penan, from creating opportunities for themselves in the tourism sector. The Penan have come a long way from their nomadic days to where they are today. And with their eagerness to embrace the digital age, this community will go far in their quest for development and modernisation.