Dewan Bahasa denies destroying Iban literature, books

KUALA LUMPUR: The national language and literature agency Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka has denied allegations in a Facebook page that Iban literature and books had been burned by the agency.

Dewan Bahasa said the allegation on the Sarawak Public Feedback page was untrue and misleading. It said all materials including 1,077 books received from the former Borneo Literature Bureau in 1977 were still preserved in storage.

“This includes 444 titles in BLB collections and 633 in the Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah collections which are still being preserved; this material can be used as reference by researchers, writers and the public who visit the Borneo collection at Dewan Bahasa’s Sarawak branch,” it said.

The agency said it is entrusted with safeguarding and upholding language and literature and has carried out research and documentation of tribal languages and indigenous folklore in Sarawak as well as published dictionaries of tribal languages such as Melanau Mukah, Iban, Vaie and Sarawak Malay.

In addition, Dewan Bahasa had also published 44 titles of folk literature and Iban language textbooks officially used for teaching in schools in Sarawak.

The agency said its Sarawak branch would continue to carry out research, conservation and publication “in honouring tribal languages, folk literature and the uniqueness found in the multi-racial community in Sarawak”.