By Doreen Ling
KUCHING, Dec 1: The Majlis Adat Istiadat Sarawak (Council for Native Customs & Traditions Sarawak) is exploring the possibilities of recommending new provisions to address gaps, or ‘lacuna’, in several of the State’s native customary laws.
According to Minister in the Premier’s Department Dato Sri John Sikie Tayai, many of the ‘Adat’ (customs) were formulated many centuries ago and catered for the social relations and affairs of the native communities during those times.
He said that today, many are not quite comprehensive for the regulation of certain important social relations and affairs of the modern native communities, thus, there are many ‘lacuna’ in the Adat.
“For example, there is no clear Adat in the Iban communities regulating the distribution of property between the old longhouse and new longhouses built by the people originating from the old longhouse and situated in the same locality.
“Similarly, there is no clear Adat stating whether those ‘natives’ conferred under section 3 of the Interpretation Ordinance, 2005 are subject to the Adat of the native race which he or she claims to belong to,” he said during his ministerial winding-up speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS) sitting today.
He said that the council has continuously engaged with community leaders through a series of workshops as part of its ongoing efforts to review the Adat Iban 1993, Adat Bidayuh 1994, and Adet Kayan-Kenyah 1994, which have since been separated into two distinct ‘Adat’: Adet Kayan and Adet Kenyah.
“Throughout the year 2025, a total of 20 workshops were conducted. The objective was to verify the veracity of the Adat under review.
“As of now, the review exercises have shown remarkable progress in the drafting stage. Prior to that, the drafts have been verified and presented to the Ketua Masyarakat dan Ketua Kaum and tabled before the council in its meeting on November 10 and 11, 2025,” he said. — DayakDaily
