Going back to her Tatana roots

KOTA KINABALU: A realisation that part of her heritage is slowly dying made Suzane Samy act.

The wake-up call for Suzane, whose father is Indian and mother a Dusun Tatana, an ethnic community mainly found in the southwest Kuala Penyu district, hit her one day when she realised that she and other younger family members could not speak their mother tongue.

And on a visit to her mother's village in Kuala Penyu several years ago, the Kuala Lumpur-based postgraduate student learned that the Dusun Tatana community comprised just over 6,000 people and only about 100 could speak their language in its purest form.

She also realised that many among the younger Dusun Tatana were slowly losing touch with their heritage and traditional skills such as building houses from the rumbia (palm) and dancing and singing their ethnic dances and songs.

Three years ago, Suzane set up an NGO Tatana Roots aimed at conserving the community's heritage through activities like education.

Recently, she decided to set up a homestay at Kampung Tutubon in Kuala Penyu.

The plan was not only aimed at bringing tourists to the coastal district but more importantly, to serve as a teaching centre for the younger generation of the Dusun Tatana.

The buildings will be built in traditional style by a contractor from the community and advised by an elder.

The project, which will be completed in about three months, will also be a centre where the Dusun Tatana elders could teach the younger generation their language apart from orally recording it.

For her efforts, Suzane's Tatana Roots became one of the recipients of this year's Shell Sustainable Development Grants.

Five of the 16 recipients of this year grants totalling RM560,000 received their funding from Shell Malaysia country chair Iain Lo on Friday.

Other recipients were Pacos Trust involved in assisting women from various indigenous communities to venture into income generating projects such as food processing, organic agriculture and handicraft.

Another was the Land Empowerment Animals People for its Community Abai eco tourism project in the east coast Kinabatangan district.

The Sabah Wetlands Society was also named a grant recipient for its work in monitoring and collecting data on water quality and possible pollution sources at the city's KK Wetlands in Likas.