KEYAH ARTIST TUSAU PADAN WAS BORN IN A LONGHOUSE IN THE HIGHLANDS OF KALIMANTAN TIMOR, IN 1930. HIS INFANT NAME WAS ACTUALLY USAT , BUT AS HE WAS A WEAKLY CHILD HIS PARENTS WERE ADVISED TO RE-NAME HIM ILLIK. THIS DIDN'T IMPROVE THE LAD'S HEALTH MUCH; IT WAS ONLY AS TUSAU THAT HE GREW AND PROSPERED. TUSAU'S
CHILDHOOD WAS HAPPY; HE DESCRIBED HIMSELF (BY ANY NAME) AS A THIN, LIVELY, LAZY LITTLE FELLOW. THERE WAS A SCHOOL IN LONG NAWAN, A SIZEABLE "UPRIVER STATION" EVEN BEFORE THE WAR; MANY OF HIS AGE-MATES ATTENDED LESSONS AT LEAST LONG ENOUGH TO ACHIEVE BASIC LITERACY. "I ONLY WENT TO SCHOOL FOR A SHORT WHILE, I FOUND IT DULL!" HE SHRUGS, CONCEDING THAT HE "BLEW" HIS CHANCE OF GETTING AN EDUCATION. AS
FAR AS SCHOOL EDUCATION GOES, THIS IS UNDOUBTEDLY TRUE. BUT IN THE BORNEO HIGHLANDS THERE WAS ANOTHER KIND OF EDUCATION AVAILABLE; BESIDES FARMING, FISHING AND HUNTING, THERE WAS ART. THE CENTRAL BORNEO PEOPLE PEOPLE ARE HEIRS TO ORNAMENTAL CULTURE OF THE HIGHEST STANDARD. PHYSICAL-TRAVELLER DR. A. W. NIEUWENHUIS, WHO HAD VISITED LONG NAWAN AND ITS HINTERLAND, WROTE IN 1907 THAT "...THE DAYAK'S ARTISTIC SKILLS ARE MUCH MORE DEVELOPED THAT THEY ARE AMONG MORE ADVANCED PEOPLES. THE MAJORITY OF MEN AND WOMEN ARE CAPABLE OF EMBELLISHING ARTICLES IN COMMAND AND NO INSTRUCTION OTHER THAN WATCHING THEIR ELDERS..." THIS
IS WHAT TUSAU DID: HE WATCHED HIS ELDERS AND LEARNT THE CRAFTS, AS DID THE OTHER YOUNG BOYS. BUT HE SHOWED MORE TALENT THAN MOST. HE TRIED, FAILED, TRIED AGAIN UNTIL HE HAD REACHED A HIGH STANDARD OF PERFECTION, AND HE NEVER FORGOT HIS TEACHERS. "THEY WERE THE BEST!" HE RECALLED, YEARS LATER, "AMPANG ANGIN, PANJIN, TEMENGGONG ALUN, BAYA LALENG...WHAT YOU SEE ME DO TODAY IS WHAT THEY THAUGHT ME, LONG AGO." THE
THIN BOY GREW INTO A YOUNG MAN, RESTLESS LIKE ALL OF HIS KIND. A FEW YEARS AFTER THE WAR HE JOINED A GROUP OF MEN WHO WENT TO SARAWAK TO COLLECT JUNGLE PRODUCE AND LOOK FOR WORK. THESE ADVENTURE-JOURNEYS WERE AN ACCEPTED PART OF A MAN'S EDUCATION, AND IN MANY COMMUNITIES STILL ARE. TUSAU WORKED IN KAPIT FOR A WHILE, THEN FURTHER DOWNRIVER IN SIBU, THEN IN MIRI. HE SPENT A SEASON IN BRUNEI, HE TRAVELLED UP THE BARAM AND STAYED IN LONG NYIPA WHERE TEMENGGONG OYANG LAWAI JAU COMMISSIONED HIM TO DO SOME ARTWORK WHICH CAUGHT THE EYE OF VISITING MUSEUM STAFF. |
