Jatti Miriek wants ethnic recognition from Sarawak government

MIRI, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- The Jatti Miriek community, which is a minority in Sarawak, has long hoped for it to be recognised as one of the state’s ethnic, but until today it remains a dream, despite being among the oldest ethnic communities in the country.

The close-knit community has been yearning for Jatti Miriek to be official recognised as an ethnic by the Sarawak government after submitting an official application to the state government in 2016 to seek the long overdue recognistion.

Two years have passed, Miri Jatti Miriek Association secterary Ujut Rahman said the association was still awaiting an official reply from the state government to its letter that was sent to Sarawak State Secterary Tan Sri Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani on Dec 7, 2016.

He said another letter was sent on March 21 this year to the Director of Administration Unit of the Sarawak Chief Minister’s Department, Antonio Kahti Galis.

There was still not reply to both letters, he told Bernama here today.

Ujut said, despite been in existence culturally, as well as historically, in Sarawak for many decades, Jatti Miriek had yet be officially recognised as one of the ethnic by the Sarawak government administration.

One such example, he said, was the the Jatti Miriek community was categorised as Sarawak Malays in the race column in government application forms, unlike other ethnic minorities communities, such as the  Kayan and Kenyah.

"We want an official recognition so that in application forms, such as for scholarship or even lands ownership,  there is stated our race, Jatti Miriek,” he said, adding that they wanted the official recognition because the community also contributed to the state’s development.

He said it was also to ensure the future generation would be aware of the existence of Jatti Miriek community in Sarawak.

For the record, Jatti Miriek is said to be one of the oldest communities in the country and to have come to Sarawak about 200 or 300 years ago.

It is said the word “Miri” originated from Miriek.

The Miriek people number about 10,000 and they reside mainly in northern Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam.

The Miriek language, according to researchers, is one of the oldest spoken languages in the world and one of the languages in the world that are on the verge of extinction.

The only book on the language found in the country is "A Guide to the Jatti Miriek Language" which was printed and published by the association in 2008.

Though well-known for their ability in fisheries and agriculture, the Miriek have now successfully ventured into business or are working in the government and private sectors.

An academician had expressed his fears that the Meiriek language, being the language of a minority group in Southeast Asia, might become extinct due the shrinking numbers of speakers among the younger generation.

James T. Collins, a renowned linguistic expert from the Institute of the Malay World and Civilisation, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), in his paper at a seminar in Miri in 2005, said that this was also largely due to there being no official documentation on the language.

– BERNAMA