Pirates, Sea Nomads or Protectors of Islam?: A Note on "Bajau" Identifications in the Malaysian Context

Abstract

This paper briefly examines the dynamics of ethnic identification of the Baj au through two related discourses: one is formulated by the authorities in an official manner, and the other is expressed orally by the Bajau themselves. Following Shamsul's [1996] discussion, the former is an authority-defined aspect and the latter is an everyday-defined aspect of an ethnic identity. Here I shall adopt this dual approach to understand changing identifications of the Bajau in the Malaysian context. The Bajau or Sama generally live in coastal parts of Sulu, the Philippines, Sabah of Malaysia and the eastern part of Indonesia. I limit the discussion here to the Bajau of Sabah, Malaysia. The paper first describes the changing images of the Bajau presented in such official publications as handbooks, censuses, and school textbooks by the authorities from colonial times through to those of independent Malaysia. It then presents several cases of the daily discourses of self-identification of the Sama Dilaut, or maritime Sama, a socially and economically marginalized group of Bajau. Finally, it points out that their way of self-identification is closely correlated with the authority-defined images shown in the former sections.