Political Will To Solve The Bajau Laut Predicament

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Education is so important whether it is formal or informal. I have always believed that because it was also what I was taught as a child by my parents.
They sent me to school and tried to give the best time of exposure and experiences outside of school as well. Now as an adult, I don’t think I could have asked for a better educational experience growing up as the one that was provided by my parents.
I am thankful because what my parents have provided me has allowed me to build a very nice life in terms of a career that I really enjoy and the ability to have a family that I really enjoy as well.
Overall, I am able to count my blessings every day and feel happy and content. So, with that, I also try to make sure that I can provide and do the same for my three children.
I am currently in Pulau Omadal, off the coast of Semporna in Sabah. It is a small island. So small that when I wake up in the morning to run my usual 5km run, I need to make four repetitive rounds of the inhabited part of the island to complete 5km.
It is, however, the home to a medium-sized community of Bajau people. Half of them are known as the Bajau Darat and the other half are the Bajau Laut.
What is the difference between the two? Actually, there isn’t much of a difference. They have the same type of names, they speak the same language, they practice the same culture, and they look the same too.
The only real difference is that the Bajau Darat are regular Malaysian citizens with ICs while the Bajau Laut are not considered Malaysian citizens and are stateless and undocumented.
I’m sure many people are now familiar with the Bajau Laut. They have been living in and around Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
It is an ethnic group that has been around for centuries and definitely generations, but because of their nomadic way of life and their kinship with the sea, so many of them are not considered citizens of either of these three countries. This is a big problem.
Bilkuin the teacher
I spent several days with Bilkuin, a 21-year-old Bajau Laut who has lived his entire life in Pulau Omadal. He is living in squalid conditions with his family, as many of the Bajau Laut families do.
They are ultra poor and because of their statelessness, they have no access to basic infrastructure and rights such as healthcare and education. That means, most of the Bajau Laut are illiterate and not so healthy.
Bilkuin, however, is a little bit different. 10 years ago, he had the opportunity to become a student of Iskul Sama Dilaut Omadal, a community-run school on the island founded by Chuah Ee Chia, which provides basic reading, writing, and arithmetic classes for the Bajau Laut children.
Now, Bilkuin has progressed to being one of the teachers and he harps about how important education is.
“If it wasn’t for Iskul, I wouldn’t know how to read or write. I wouldn’t have been able to be a teacher,” he said.
Bilkuin is now the breadwinner for his family. He is a teacher and also an up-and-coming social media influencer on TikTok. He is also a spokesperson of sorts for his community and he takes this role very seriously.
According to him, education can give his people a better life because it will give them opportunities to work and make a better living. It would most likely solve any social issues among them as well.
“My parents want me to get married because it’s important to them for their reputation in our culture. But I want to make sure that if I have children, they won’t be stateless too. So I must sort my situation out first,” he said.
He added that the only reason he can think this way is because of the education and exposure provided by his teachers. It gave him ambition and taught him responsibility and forward thinking.
He wants to make sure that all the youth in his community can start thinking like this and hopefully then they can organise themselves better to improve their own lives.
Statelessness roadblock
Bilkuin constantly asks me about furthering his education. He asked about the process of applying to study for a diploma, and how long it would take to study for a degree and post-graduate degrees.
I explained it all to him, and then he asked if he can actually apply. I told him that the prerequisite is taking the SPM exams or anything equivalent.
”But I need an IC to take these exams, right?” he asked.
Unfortunately for Bilkuin, he is right. He needs to be documented and hold a Malaysian IC. He does not. He sighed but he wasn’t totally dejected. I am confident with his attitude and smarts, he will be resourceful and will make something of his life.
As it is, he is already doing impressive things for his community and I get inspired looking at him.
All this just goes to show that we need to do something about the Bajau Laut and the issue of their statelessness. I totally am of the opinion that the responsibility lies on the government to provide the necessary human rights for them. They have been around on this world way longer than any of today’s modern governments or borders were ever established.
It is easy to solve this problem if you think about it. If the government can already start mulling about giving refugees the right to work in the country, then they can definitely mull hard about the Bajau Laut in Sabah. We just need political will.
They really are Malaysians anyway, and if anything, innocent children deserve the right to an education and basic healthcare. So let’s all be human and do something. - Mkini
ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academic. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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