Author: Humans of Kuala Lumpur

“I’m the person who witnessed the death of the samurai and found his body. I’m questioning all the different stories created by the wife and Tajomaru…it is all lies.

I’ve been here my whole life, this is my home. The problem is, they all lie, and I’ve never heard more mysterious stories than this.

One thing I can tell you is that everyone lies once in their life, it’s how you redeem yourself. How do you bear the consequences of lying? For me, maybe I lie, but I believe my story is true so what I can tell you is that as long as you think you’re right or you’re wrong, as long as you redeem yourself that’s all that matters.

I want my son to be able to tell me everything and I want him to be okay having me as his stepfather. I believe everything will be alright as my son will be a good man.

Don’t enter the Rashomon gates, don’t come to watch Rashomon. But if you do, just bear in mind that whatever we’re trying to tell you is the truth, each one of them is the truth, but can you bear the truth?”

– The WoodCutter Kazuki’s perspective played by Nabil Musawir

(In character) “Money was not everything, I also needed acceptance. The relationship with my husband was great, we love each other and we understand each other. Our life was also very rich as he is a samurai so we lived comfortably. However, it didn’t feel enough for me, I needed acceptance. I am very tough and aggressive and in many cases, I have different sides in me. I needed someone who can accept me for myself. For us Japanese women, we have to think about how to live and how to survive, it was very difficult in Japan at the time so a woman must decide on getting a husband first. If I had gotten raped, I cannot burden the shame to live anymore and I also could not be alone because I cannot earn money. So I have to decide, I have no choice. If I had the option to be free, I will most likely be with Tajomaru. I felt very fearful and in denial at first but little by little, I understand Tajomaru and I accepted him.”

– The Wife’s perspective played by Maiya Goshima

“I’m Tajomaru, a bandit, but I’m not a stereotypical bad man like people may think. I don’t know the meaning of love, especially from a mother. I was left behind by my mother because, at that time, it was very tough. It’s not easy to survive so my mother had to leave me in front of the gate. So I grew up alone, in a temple without any parents…I didn’t get any love from my parents. I ran away from the temple because I didn’t want to be there. I wanted to be free. But even if I was free, it’s difficult to survive in the mountains so there’s no choice but to steal from people to survive. I admit to raping the wife and killing her husband but in the end, I did not get her because she ran away. I also took her husband’s sword and sold it for alcohol but I was found by an officer as I wasn’t feeling well.”

– The Bandit Tajomaru’s perspective played by Doppo Narita

We eat a lot of prawns. We usually cook for one house. We have our own rice from the padi fields, and we eat monitor lizard (biawak). We capture it using a fishing line. We leave the trap in the river water, and 3, 4 hours later you’ll find a captured biawak there.

Don’t eat crocodiles, or else it will eat you or your relatives, children or family. It’s a traditional Iban belief. Here we don’t disturb the crocodile, or eat it, and we’ve seen it several times. They come here once in awhile but they don’t disturb us. We don’t disturb them, they don’t disturb us. It’s not like the ones in the other rivers where they are violent. 

We prefer to eat prawns, vegetables, fruits, chicken, kancil, anything else, but not crocodile. There has been a story at Sri Aman, deeper in the jungle where several men died. Perhaps their ancestors had eaten one of the crocodile’s back then. So we never disturb or eat them. We respect them, they respect us. 

Another time one guy caught a crocodile’s baby, and had a dream that night of someone telling him to return back the baby crocodile. He ignored it and didn’t care, and his son got eaten by the crocodile. They managed to catch the crocodile later on, split open his stomach, and found the boy’s body in it. Even if people give us to eat it, we refuse. There’s around one death a year. 

(They then brought a monitor lizard that was freshly cooked. The person next to me offered the ‘tail’ section…apparently, it was the tastiest part. I have to admit that yes, I tried it – with eyes closed. It tasted like meat but fishy and scaly with bones. It tastes like fishy chicken). 

We don’t have water at home, we shower here every single day.

Where are you going for Raya this year?

I’ll be here. The Raya here… The Ibanese celebrate Hari Gawai not Hari Raya. Hari Raya here for me, as a Muslim, would be a normal day for them. We will work as usual. The YBSB is very far from here to even give me duit raya [Laughs].

What is your Raya message to the people back in Semenanjung Malaysia?

Selamat Hari Raya! Maaf Zahir dan Batin. To my family, please do not forget about us. Always have us in your prayers.  And to everyone else never forget your parents or those who have raised you. We, the young, must work to take care of our elders – our mother and father. It is the least we could do for what they have done to bring us up.

What is the difference between a child’s life here and back in Semenanjung?

It is different. Here, the children are more free. They have more friends. Over there,the kids will only play at night. They would go to the mosque to pray. But kids back in Semenanjung would also play with their phones most of the time. I don’t see that here. I think phones are not good for growing children because it will disrupt their studies.

I am from Semenanjung Malaysia, I am Malay, my husband is orang Iban and my child is Muslim. I am only the one from Semenanjung Malaysia here.

How did you come here?

On the 30th of May 2016 we arrived in Labuan. After that, we came here. My husband is from here. He is Ibanese but a Mualaf (a Muslim convert).

He has been there in Semenanjung for 15 years. He worked everywhere; in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and even in Kajang. For myself, I was born in Kampung Sungai Serdang, nearby Kampar. 

I got married in 2010. I’m back here because my husband’s parents wished to see him. It’s been a while since he came back. His parents once made a police report because he did not come back. They thought he was missing when in actual fact, he was working in a faraway place and he did not tell his parents. He worked multiple jobs over the years from being a security officer to working in a clothes store in KL.

I used to work in security as well in Kuala Lumpur. We would travel just to find a job. I only managed to finish Primary School. I stopped in my first year of high school – in Form 1 – to sell kuih. Then I worked in a flower shop. All this was in Kampar.

Working here in Sarawak is difficult because the salary is little – only Rm 800 or Rm 900. Goods and foodstuffs are increasing in price year after year and there’s also GST now.

How can you manage with just RM800?

You have to learn to save.

I’ve been here for a year. Hoping to get other jobs to gather some money and go back home for a while.

I hope my kids will work hard in school and hopefully become a doctor or a policeman or even serve the army. It doesn’t matter whether they do it here in Sarawak or Semenanjung Malaysia but there will definitely be more opportunities in Semenanjung Malaysia.

When they are much older and have jobs, I would like them to come and visit us – their parents. To always remind them that they have come a long way to live a comfortable life thus they should be grateful for what they have now and to always visit their parents wherever they may be. 

My children go to school by car. Some kids go to the schools nearby, some attend boarding schools. Those in boarding schools would come back home by Friday and they are off again to boarding school on Monday.

Most of the people here would say that working in Semenanjung Malaysia is better because the pay is better. More opportunities there.

For how long more will you stay here?

I’m not sure. Probably two to three more years before I go back to Semenanjung Malaysia.

Did any of your family members say anything?

They call every now and then to ask how I am, to tell me to take care of my health and their grandchildren’s well being.