The Dayak, the indigenous people of Kalimantan, living in Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to cooperate in education, culture and humanities to enhance ties and presence of the ethnic group in the two countries.
"The presence of an international network will allow us to bring Dayak concerns to the international fora and raise other issues such as education, health, and women empowerment, the National Dayak Cultural Alliance (MADN) chairman Siun Jarian said, as quoted tempointeraktif.com.
Jarian said the initiative was aimed at encouraging the ethnic group into becoming active members of society, particularly in contributing towards each country`s national development.
"The cooperation plan is yet to be finalized. There are still a couple of loose ends that will need to be addressed in January next year," he said.
Jarian added that the cooperation initiative was the byproduct of a cultural exchange between Indonesian and Malaysian Dayaks in Malaysia`s Kuching and Sabah that took place between Dec. 4 and 7.
The 150-strong delegate from Indonesia were represented by Dayak community leaders from West, South, East and Southeast Kalimantan.
Source:
http://www.thejakartapost.com (December 9, 2008)
