It was mango season in Temajuk when we arrived in the third week of November 2024.
Located near the northernmost tip of the Borneo island, Temajuk is part of the Paloh District in Sambas Regency, West Kalimantan. It is close to Tanjung Datu National Park, a protected area shared by both Indonesia and Malaysia. Known for its pristine beaches and breathtaking sunsets, the coastal village has also attracted attention due to its border related challenges.
It was here that 32 researchers from UNIMAS (Faculty of Education, Language and Communication and Faculty of Built Environment), IAIN Pontianak, UIN Raden Intan Lampung, UIN Mahmud Yunus Batu Sangkar, Badan Riset Nasional, Politeknik Negeri Pontianak, and Universitas PGRI Pontianak gathered for the International Collaboration for Research Writing and Publication Assistance Camp. The inaugural camp was part of an ongoing collaborative research effort between FELC UNIMAS, and our MoU partner IAIN Pontianak.
The four-day camp, held in Telok Atong Bahari, was packed with a variety of programmes and activities. These included knowledge-sharing sessions by experts from the various institutions, discussions and brainstorming sessions, and the highlight — a field trip to the centre of Temajuk to let participants immerse themselves in the area’s culture and lifestyle. The camp also provided an ideal setting for the researchers to establish professional network. We not only learned each others’ names and areas of research interests, but also preferences, personal experiences, favourite colours, and love for cats!
Studies on border communities basically agree on one thing: Border communities are unique and dynamic. These are the people who reside on the fringes of nations. During our field trip, we observed firsthand how locals share similar Malay dialects and maintain strong family and social connections across the border. We also recognised signs of Malaysian entertainment and identity seeping through in the forms of Upin & Ipin statues and the name of a burger stall (Burger Malaysia).
The porous nature of soft border meanwhile underscores the challenges of maintaining strict security measures. The Sarawak-Indonesia border is approximately 1,032 kilometers (641 miles) long, stretching from the highlands in the north to the lowlands in the south, cutting across dense forests, mountain ranges, and rivers. What we witnessed was a mere fraction.
The Temajuk trip, in short, was an eye-opener, not only to the vast potential of research explorations that can be conducted with our collaborators, but also to the complex interplay of border community identity, one that can only be fathomed when experienced first hand.
When the sun rose on the final day, it dawned on a strengthened relationship, new understanding, mutual respect amongst the participants, and shared agreement on how much we would miss the excellent food. We parted with plans to put our ideas in motion (and some sambal for the road).
May the year 2025 bring more meaningful collaborations within and beyond UNIMAS!
