Circumcision
We were riding a bus in the eighth month of pregnancy from Kuching to Sibu. The ride was uneventful and we arrived at our hotel ready for a shower and sleep. The next day we would go exploring. At about 8 p.m. my wife went into labour. I called the front desk and asked for an ambulance. She said envelope. I said ambulance, and she said envelope. A guy came to our door with an envelope.
I had not worried about circumcision since I had two daughters. No problem. I had read articles about how the skin protected the penis head and made sex much more enjoyable. I felt if I had a son he would not be circumcised.
Dzul was born in Sibu and we had to take the boat back to Kuching. The necessary Islamic prayers were performed when I thought his circumcision was a thing of the past. When he became 11 on this side of the river or 12 on the Islamic side, I still haven’t figured that out, Dzul asked to be circumcised. The whole kampong agreed it was time. I was left out of the decision-making process.
Circumcision dates to antiquity. Most people say it was for cleanliness, especially during the performance of oral sex. The odour from the inside of the uncut rim is said to be horrendous. I wouldn’t know but it sounds like something that is female-driven.
We drove to the doctors’ office. Dzul lay on a table with a cloth covering his face. He didn’t want to watch. I wanted to take pictures but the Doctor wouldn’t let me. He said it was a private affair. He inserted a needle to deaden the pain. He cut what I thought was a bit much off. He then pulled enough suture to sew a batik shirt and stitched Dzul up.I thought it was a botched job but what did I know since it was my first circumcision?
We took Dzul back to the Doctor a few days later and I could see the threads encircling his penis. An Iban doctor came in and examined him and told us everything was fine. I was a wreck. As so happened, everything healed and Dzul didn’t complain. Everybody congratulated him on his circumcision.
I had read about circumcision in the Malay kampongs in a book by the famous cartoonist “Lat”. It was first published in the 1970s when I was here as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I recently read an article in the 2022 Iban journal Ningratwritten by Jinjang Ensiring Ngingit. After enquiries I made at the Tun Jugah Foundation on the 4th and 12th floors, I could not locate him. I also contacted the Dayak Daily to no avail. I was refused permission by Robert to reproduce the account for my website, the first and only refusal I have ever had. So, I will tell you what is in the article since the account is so different from my son’s.
Circumcision is considered among the Ibans as a change from childhood to becoming a young man. Where this idea came from I have no idea. Girls expect the transition and would often snigger at boys who had not undergone the process. I still have no idea what Dzul’s circumcise signified. I am guessing the Iban picked it up from the Islamic people but that is only a guess. All I know it was and is an ancient tradition. The Chinese do not believe in circumcision which I guess is why there are so many of them because sex is so enjoyable.
Uncle Jana was the person performing the cutting in this Iban episode. He asked the boys who wanted to undergo the procedure and none of the five raised their hands. We all knew we had to undergo the procedure and Uncle Jana said he would perform it tomorrow.
Early morning was the preferred time for circumcision “because the wound would bleed less.” We informed our parents and they were quite happy about us undergoing the ritual. The night before, Uncle Jana herded us into a room for the night.
Two hours before daylight went down to the pond to numb our private parts. After almost two hours in the pond, we shivered and our jaws clacked together. Uncle Jana laid out his tools and various ointments for the procedure.
I volunteered to be first and my private parts were shrunken to beyond recognition. I closed my eyes and the foreskin was drawn and pinned down to the ladle. I then felt the cut and was hurried back down to the pond.
We wore sarongs after the rite and made sure none of the cloth touched the wound. After the initial shock, I began to feel pain, especially in the morning when it was time to urinate. My parents told me to go ahead and just urinate.
Lotions made from herbs of local plants were applied. We were forbidden to eat pickled fish, shrimp paste, pickled meat or bamboo shoots because it was thought they were detrimental to healing and a month passed before I was completely healed.
Nowadays, circumcision, like the one I had, is usually performed at birth except in the kampongs where a ceremony for boys is held. Medical doctors come with scalpels, fire trucks arrive to hose down the boy’s privates and ointments are available.
For a copy of a sensitive Iban account please e-mail me at tom02@aol.com
BorneoHistory.net