BAGAN SERAI, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- The Banjar people who live in the northern part of Perak are strengthening their relationship and maintaining their traditions through various programmes.
President’s Council member of the Banjar Association of Malaysia Jamaludin Asaari, 67, said various cultural programmes had been conducted by the organisation which has approximately 8,000 registered members all over the country.
“We do all kinds of activities like dancing, singing and so on. All this is done to strengthen the relationship that we have.
"We also made visits to Banjarmasin, Riau, Sulawesi and Surabaya (in Indonesia) to strengthen our relationship with Banjarese abroad," he told Bernama when met at his home at Jalan Banjar here recently.
Jamaludin who is also Perak Banjar Association (BBP) chairman said Malaysia’s Banjarese community hailed from South Kalimantan.
He said the large-scale migration of this ethnic group to Malaya, including in Kerian, took place in the early 1900s via sea, river and land routes.
"This migration is also concentrated in the padi growing areas because that is where their expertise lies, that’s why people say 'where there is padi, there are Banjar people’," he said.
Jamaludin said more than half of the Banjarese who live in Bagan Serai, Tanjung Piandang, Selinsing and Parit Buntar come from the lineage of the Kalua tribe.
The father of seven said there are also Banjarese who come from the Martapura, Barabai and Alai sub-ethnic groups and each of them has a different dialect.
On the traditional customs still practised by the Banjar community, he said the practice of putting a baby to sleep in a hanging cradle or ‘bapukong’, is one of them.
In addition, the former teacher said that in the 60s to the mid-80s, the Banjar community was very concerned about matters related to marriage.
He added that family members, especially parents, usually choose a partner for their child from among their closest relatives.
"They do this to prevent the property belonging to the family from falling into the hands of outsiders," he said.
-- BERNAMA
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