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Podcast: A Merdeka Story: from little things big things grow 🖤💛💙❤️

Jasmine Low

Warning: To Aboriginal & Torres Straits Islander readers, the following article contains images and voices of people who have passed away.

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On August 9th 2021, International Day of the World’s Indigenous^ Peoples themed ‘Leaving No One Behind’ left me thinking of our future, and of the concept of freedom.

🖤 Bloodland

On one hand, I’m in awe of the manner in which Australians embrace the acknowledgement of country at all official functions held by community, corporate and government. On the other hand, I’m uneasy about the fact that Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not acknowledged in Australia’s 121-year old constitution. It’s been 55 years since the first walk-off by the Gurindji people yet that theme of “leaving no one behind” this year, makes that walk-off just a distant dream.

As a third culture kid, I’ve lived in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Australia — not because of having what some may think as a privileged life but because I was a minor who towed along while my parents lived theirs. I felt compelled to write about freedom while thinking of the day Malaya got its independence from British rule in 1957. It didn’t feel right to celebrate another year without really knowing what got us there. Many of us experience independence day celebrations with fireworks, march pasts, dance performances and concerts all in the spirit of celebrating a nation’s freedom. But what got the nation there, to emancipation?

💛 Motherland

A quick dip into historical events would show the timeline from when the British East India Company made a deal in 1786 with the Sultanate of Kedah, a state bordering Malaya and Thailand, to form the first of what would be the Straits Settlement, comprising of Malacca and Singapore later on. At the time, Burma and Siam had the Sultanate concerned so, the arrival of Francis Light and his foresight in offering military protection (albeit without the knowledge of Britain at the time), to the Sultanate was welcomed and a contract signed to cede (actually, it was a rental agreement) the jungle island with only 58 inhabitants to Light. The trust backfired five years later when Light couldn’t supply the military support and instead, fought the Sultanate of Kedah, refusing to return the island. His predecessor Leith, extended the British grip on Province Wellesley on the mainland. Light reneged on a deal with the Sultanate, but what is admirable is that a young man from Suffolk set sail at age 25 to the unknowns of the Andaman Sea, met and then set up a trading post with his life-long Catholic partner Martina Rozells in Thalang, north of today’s Phuket. They were an influential and industrious couple, and she bore him three girls and two sons, one of whom was William Light who would later found Adelaide, in South Australia. Alas, it was the tropical mosquitoes that got Light, who died of Malaria at age 54. By that time, Penang’s population had grown to around 20,000, and being the first British outpost in the straits, it drew attention from traders, merchants and labourers from afar. Light rests in a prominent part of Georgetown, Penang and is acknowledged as its founding father, though not all would think so kindly of him as his statue in Fort Cornwallis was splashed with red paint last year.

Light paved the way from that one British outpost. By 1896, the British had formed FMS (Federation of Malay States) in consultation with the Sultans of Selangor, Perak, Negri Sembilan and Pahang and that stretched through until 1946 despite three years of interruption during WWII. It then came together with two of the former Straits Settlement (Penang & Malacca) and the unfederated Malay states of Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Johor to form the Malayan Union, and by 1957, independence as the Federation of Malaya. It was six years later in 1963 that together with North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore, Malaysia was formed with Singapore leaving in ’65 to go its own way.

And that is history, as told by text books.

Blindsided in school textbooks are stories about the indigenous peoples, like the Orang Aslis and Orang Asals, leaving generations of children growing up without much knowledge or understanding for the cultures of the first people. Where were they in history? What happened? Didn’t they also fight for peace during WWII? They make up 13.8% of Malaysia’s 32 million population so it’s a good question to raise and a strong reason to lobby for indigenous peoples and their stories to be told in schools, at the workplace and local community programs.

💙 Heartland

Coming from migrant stock, I’m sensitive to this topic and have been all in for First Nations appreciation since my arrival to Australia as a teenager when it celebrated its bicentenary. Australia is my heartland. It’s a second home and it always has a place in my heart. I quickly learned that there were two events in the one same city; Sorry Day in La Perouse south of Sydney and Australia Day in the harbour front of Gadigal Land. How can one celebrate when another is somber? This juxtaposition of thought camps remains the crux of January 26th for me personally.

Fast forward to 2020, in response to a socially-distanced society, Sydney’s iconic Opera House became the film location for a musician who had a dream to sing atop the sails of the Opera House… that dream became a realisation and Ziggy Ramo Burrmuruk Fatnowna was thrust into the spotlight with his collaboration with the Sydney Opera House for his powerful Black Thoughts album. Juxtaposition again, as we celebrate the rise of a First Nations Australian artiste akin to his people rising above the pain atop an iconic landmark. He’s made his mark overseas too, states a Sydney Morning Herald article.

Released 25 years ago today, From Little Things Big Things Grow has become an iconic Australian protest song, paying tribute to the Gurindji people, and becoming symbolic of the broader movement for Indigenous equality and land rights in Australia.

NICK HENDERSON – NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE AUSTRALIA

The ageless tune and lyrics of this song was remade in 2020 by Aboriginal Australian electronic duo, Electric Fields. Vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and keyboard player and producer Michael Ross performed the song in Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and English.

It’s humbling to go back in time and learn what people fought for. It was for their basic human right to exist freely on land their grandfather settled on. It was to say NO to unfair treatment in wages and worker’s rights. It’s humbling yet empowering at the same time, for someone like me who’s a migrant no matter where I go. Someone with no land to fight for, because my motherland is in my heart. But if I were to fight for land, it’d be in Malaysia where family has been in court battles for the past 60 years but that’s another story for another day. Right now, I’m in a place I call my heartland, a place my mother dreamed of, a new home for our generation, all of whom are already naturalised apart from myself.

Paying tribute to Vincent Lingiari

It was Labor’s Gough Whitlam, Australia’s 21st Prime Minister that was captured in a symbolic photo op, pouring red earth into the palms of Vincent Lingiari AM (1908-1988), a Northern Territory cattle stockman who led 200 men, women and children in what’s known as the Wave Hill Cattle Station walk-off, or the Gurindji Strike in 1966 which marked the beginning of a walk with intention to say NO, stop your bullying and threats, treat workers with human rights, stop your rape on our women, stop your threats. That photo was snapped in 1975 by Mervyn Bishop, one of the first Aboriginal photographers hired by the The Sydney Morning Herald and it captured Whitlam handing over land deeds of Gurindji Country to Lingiari. On 7 June 1976, Lingiari was named a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people.

Original Music Video of “Poor Bugger Me” sung by Ted Egan & Vincent Lingiari

And this month, in 2021, Lingiari’s granddaughter, launches a book titled, ‘Freedom Day’ to honour his legacy.

Songwriters Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly wrote and performed a national treasure of a song at the memorial service of The Hon. Gough Whitlam who served as PM from 1972-1975. This story told in rhyme is so powerful it’s been remade several times. Meanwhile, the fight for freedom and acknowledgement continues.

“From little things, big things grow”: Paul Kelly, Kev Carmody remember The Hon. Gough Whitlam

“From Little Things Big Things Grow”

Gather round people i’ll tell you a story
An eight year long story of power and pride
British Lord Vestey and Vincent Lingiari
Were opposite men on opposite sides

Vestey was fat with money and muscle
Beef was his business, broad was his door
Vincent was lean and spoke very little
He had no bank balance, hard dirt was his floor

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow

Gurindji were working for nothing but rations
Where once they had gathered the wealth of the land
Daily the pressure got tighter and tighter
Gurindji decided they must make a stand

They picked up their swags and started off walking
At Wattie Creek they sat themselves down
Now it don’t sound like much but it sure got tongues talking
Back at the homestead and then in the town

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow

Vestey man said “I’ll double your wages
Eighteen quid a week you’ll have in your hand”
Vincent said “Uhuh we’re not talking about wages
We’re sitting right here till we get our land”
Vestey man roared and Vestey man thundered
“You don’t stand the chance of a cinder in snow!”
Vince said “If we fall others are rising

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow

Then Vincent Lingiari boarded an aeroplane
Landed in Sydney, big city of lights
And daily he went round softly speaking his story
To all kinds of men from all walks of life

And Vincent sat down with big politicians
“This affair”, they told him, “it’s a matter of state
Let us sort it out, your people are hungry”
Vincent said “No thanks, we know how to wait”

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow

Then Vincent Lingiari returned in an aeroplane
Back to his country once more to sit down
And he told his people “Let the stars keep on turning
We have friends in the south, in the cities and towns”

Eight years went by, eight long years of waiting
‘Til one day a tall stranger appeared in the land
And he came with lawyers and he came with great ceremony
And through Vincent’s fingers poured a handful of sand

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow

That was the story of Vincent Lingiari
But this is the story of something much more
How power and privilege cannot move a people
Who know where they stand and stand in the law

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow

❤️ Homeland

A dedication to all Malaysians, especially Malaysia’s indigenous communities

As a Malaysian-born, I’ve been conscious of its long dumbed-down history of land rights among the aboriginal native orang asli and orang asal. I’ve seen friends tell through personal experiences, through documentaries they’d shoot, horrendous tales of blockades in the centre of the Earth as termed by the Temiars in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, blocking tree loggers from pulling roots out from their earth, their land, which was licensed out to commercial loggers. These brave individuals would set up blockades ala man versus tractor (I write about this two years ago).

The song, “From little things, big things grow” by Kev Carmody & Paul Kelly, remade by Ziggy Ramo and Electric Fields keeps the fire burning for the other people fighting land rights and there needs to be fires burning long through the nights for this fight to be fought.

On the eve of this 64th Merdeka Day in Malaysia, I’ve had this song translated into Bahasa Malaysia, and written this short piece to show respect to a culture if not protected, will be forever lost. It’s really baby steps forward but giant strides backwards if we allow our last remaining forests, ancestral land for the first peoples of Malaysia, what’s left of it, to be plummaged with no recourse. There is no turning back if we let it happen. We must not let it happen. Protect it at all costs just like how the tree huggers, Chipko activists in the 1970s in India did.

30 years ago in 1989, the International Labor Organization (ILO) adopted Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples to facilitate the development of dialogue between a country’s government and the Indigenous Peoples who live in that country. So far, only 23 countries have ratified this convention with no Commonwealth country on the list. The Indigenous and Tribal Peoples ILO 169 aims to protect the human rights of Indigenous Peoples and acknowledge the aspirations of these peoples to exercise control over their own institutions, ways of life and economic development and to maintain and develop their identities, languages and religions, within the framework of the States in which they live.

So with the help of my friend Cece aka Syuhada Adam, we worked on the translation of that signature song into Bahasa Malaysia. Maybe one day, young Malaysians will write their own versions of songs of liberation and continue their journey to speak up and speak out. Perhaps artists like Shaq Koyok could leave a legacy like Lingiari and his name and his Temuan culture be preserved and his people, Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

On this note, I wish you all Happy Freedom Day wherever you may be reading this from. For when we stop speaking out, even if it’s counter-narrative, our freedom to just be our authentic selves will be compromised.

“Dari Benda Kecil Benda Besar Berkembang”

Berkumpullah semua orang dan saya akan bercerita
Kisah kuasa dan keangkuhan sepanjang lapan tahun
Si British Lord Vestey dan Vincent Lingiari
Kedua-duanya pihak bertentangan

Vestey gemuk dengan wang dan kuasa
Daging urus niaganya, pintunya besar
Vincent tegap dan tidak banyak bercakap
Dia tiada wang, tanah keras adalah lantainya

Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang
Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang

Gurindji dulu bekerja hanya untuk catuan
Dimana mereka pernah mengumpul kekayaan tanah
Penindasan hari semakin genting
Gurindji memutus mereka harus menentang

Mereka mengangkat gendongan dan mula berjalan
Di Wattie Creek mereka duduk terperap bersama
Tindakan itu bukan sebanyak mana tetapi orang berketuk-ketak
Di rumah ladang dan juga di pekan

Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang
Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang

Lelaki Vestey berkata “Aku akan gandakan gaji kamu
Lapan belas paun seminggu kamu akan terima”
Vincent berkata “Tidak, kami bukan bercakap mengenai gaji
Kami duduk disini sehingga kami dapat tanah kami”

Lelaki Vestey mengaum dan lelaki Vestey gemuruh
“Kamu langsung tidak mempunyai peluang!”
Vince berkata “Sekiranya kami tumbang, lain akan bangkit

Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang
Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang

Kemudian Vincent Lingiari menaiki kapal terbang
Mendarat di Sydney, kota besar berlampu
Dan setiap hari dia berjalan memberitahu kisahnya dengan lembut
Kepada orang dari semua lapisan masyarakat

Dan Vincent duduk dengan ahli-ahli politik besar
“Urusan ini,” mereka beritahu dia, “adalah hal negeri”
Benarkan kami menyelesaikan, orang kamu lapar
Vincent berkata, “Tidak apa, kami tahu bagaimana untuk menunggu”

Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang
Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang

Kemudian Vincent Lingiari kembali menaiki kapal terbang
Kembali ke negaranya semula untuk duduk
Dan memberitahu orangnya “Biarkan bintang saling mengelip
Kita mempunyai kawan di selatan, di kota dan bandar”

Lapan tahun berlalu, lapan tahun menunggu
Satu hari orang asing yang tinggi muncul di daerah
Dan dia datang dengan peguam dan dia datang dengan upacara besar
Dan memberi segenggam pasir di tangang Vincent

Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang
Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang

Itulah kisah Vincent Lingiari
Tetapi kisah ini adalah lebih daripada itu
Bagaimana kuasa dan hak istimewa tidak boleh menganjak
Mereka yang berpendirian teguh dan dari segi undang-undang

Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang
Dari benda kecil benda besar berkembang

^Definition: Indigenous peoples are first nations or native people who are culturally distinct ethnic groups native to a place which has been colonised and settled by another ethnic group – Wikipedia.

References:

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