Bugis of Sabah

The Bugis people are one of the ethnic groups of Sabah, Malaysia. The population is mainly concentrated on the east coast of Sabah, especially the districts within the Tawau Division. The Bugis people can be easily identified by their slang, which is quite different from the slang of the native people of Sabah.

History

The Bugis people probably arrived in Sabah during the 16th Century as merchants and fisherman, but there is no strong evidence to support that. Only in 1840 was their arrival in Sabah acknowledged. Ranggu (an area in Tawau) is said to be the first place they resided. They mainly work as merchants but some are also paid to fight against the pirates of the Sulu Sea by the Sultanate of Sulu.

In the modern day, the Bugis people are considered non-native ethnics of Sabah due to the high number of Indonesian immigrants of which many are Bugis. Since 1970, several groups of Indonesian Bugis have been invited to Tawau in Sabah to work as contract workers for British Rubber and Abaka (BAL) Plantation at Table Estates, Imam Estate, Tiger Estate, Burut Estate and Merotai Estate. At that time, all of them decided to work in Sabah temporarily. But soon, they changed their plan and stayed in Malaysia until they become Malaysian citizens.

The major history of the existence of Indonesian Bugis in Sabah was after 1980. It was the time when Sabah became adeveloping country. Because of the economic problem in South Sulawesi, there are a lot of Bugis in Indonesia who came from Sulawesi to find jobs in Sabah, especially at Tawau, as construction workers, plantation workers, transportation workers and market sellers. Now there are more than 500,000 of them around Sabah. There was also a very large number of non-registered and illegal Bugis immigrants coming from South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

There is a problem of illegal Bugis Indonesian immigrants in Sabah, especially Tawau. Some of them used false documents in application for citizenship of Malaysia or Mycard. Many of these immigrants were caught by the police. Many Indonesian people have arrested for having forged My Card or passport.

The expansion of the Bugis influence to Sabah began in the 20th century when members of the tribe migrated from Sulawesi to Java, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. Some Bugis men left their origin's place forever, came to Tawau and make a new family by marriage with native citizens.

In 1980, some moved to Tawau, where they settled at Ranggu, which was founded by the chief village K. K. Salim's grandmother of Sungai Imam village, Bombalai. The settlers were traders, and later others came as workers on plantations established by the British. Later, Petta Senong, who was a member of the Bone royalty, resided in the same village. He was sent by the Sulu government to stop the piracy around the Sulu Sea. The Bugis continued to explore new places to develop Tawau town; among the Bugis settlers were Puang Ado, Wak Neke (Jawa), Wak Gempe (Jawa) and Haji Osman (Suluk).

Looking at this tribe's social aspects, because of their close connection with custom and culture they placed strong emphasis on an individual's status as well as family relationships. The Bugis prefer to marry among themselves and they are strongly against divorce because they believe it can destroy family relationships and it is discouraged by their religion, Islam.

The Culture of Bugis in Sabah

Almost of all Bugis in Sabah are Indonesian from South Sulawesi places such as Watampone, Enrekang, Pinrang, Rappang, Sinjai, Bulukumba and Pare Pare.