When it comes to vehicle ownership, there is a large disparity between the villages but the length of time a village had been connected to the road to Miri had very little influence on the number of vehicles in the village. Pa Dalih which has been connected to the road to Miri for around five years had fewer vehicles per capita than Bario who had only been connected to the road for less than two years. The factor that appeared to have the most influence on vehicle ownership per capita for roadside villages in the Kelabit Highlands was the number of off-farm employment opportunities available in the village.
Bario had the largest number of vehicles (4WDs, motorbikes, tractors and construction machinery) both per capita and in total. It is said that before the road from Miri reached Bario, there had been only ten 4WD vehicles altogether in Bario (Resident's Office Miri Divison, 2005). It is now estimated that there is around 70 4WDs in Bario (not always at the same time). This is a large increase when you consider that it has only been two years since the road from Miri to Bario was completed and that Bario only has a population of around 600 permanent residents. Almost all of the 4WDs in Bario are used to support off-farm employment. Pa Dalih which has very few off-farm employment opportunities only has one resident who owns a 4WD.
Motorbikes are the most common form of vehicular transport in the Kelabit Highlands. Bario has experienced a large increase in motorbike ownership since the road from Miri reached Bario. Pa Dalih had no motorbikes before the road from Miri reached Pa Dalih but since the road connected to Pa Dalih, some residents started bringing motorbikes into the village. However motorbike ownership in Pa Dalih still remains low.
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It is now common to see people (especially children) riding around Bario on Mountain bikes. Mountain bikes were around before the road connected Bario to Miri but not at the number that can be seen in Bario today.
Bario is the only Kelabit village in the Kelabit Highlands were the residents own farm equipment (such as tractors) or construction vehicles (such as diggers). The Department of Agriculture has also delivered several farm vehicles (such as power tillers and harvesters) to Bario but these vehicles are said to be sitting idle at present. The number of farm and construction vehicles has increased dramatically since the road from Miri connected to Bario.
Before the roads reached Pa Dalih, other than walking, the main form of transportation around the Central Kelapangarea was by small wooden boats (as seen in figure 25). Boats are still used but the number of people now using boats has reduced since the inter-village roads were constructed in the Central Kelapang area.
Unsurprisingly, Pa Lungan which is not connected by a road had no motorbikes in the entire village, nor did it have any 4WDs, tractors or mountain bikes. What Pa Lungan did have was a large
number of buffalo, of which three of the eight participants from Pa Lungan continue to use buffalo to transport goods between Pa Lungan and Bario. The majority of participants from Pa Lungan stated that they would use a motorbike or 4WD if there was a road to Pa Lungan. In spite of this, many of them said that the cost of purchasing a motorbike or 4WD would hamper their ability to own.
There was a large gender gap when it came to operating vehicles. From the interviews and my own observation, all transporters were male and almost every vehicle larger than a motorbike was operated by a male. Women were definitely using motorbikes but if there was a male and a female on a motorbike it was the male operating the motorbike. In Pa Lungan, where the main method of transportation other than walking is via buffalo, no buffalo were operated by women as it is believed that women cannot control a buffalo. What should be pointed out here is the fact that men also outnumber women in the highlands by quite a substantial number and all though this does not explain why women are not operating the larger vehicles, it does go some way into explaining why it is possible to see such a disproportionate number of male drivers.
In the traditional Kelabit culture, the possession of certain items such as Chinese jars and glass beads was a way of establishing or confirming social status within the community (Bala, 2002). Now day’s vehicle ownership has become a status symbol. For the Kelabit
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community in the Highlands, vehicle ownership demonstrates success. Being successful is very important in the Kelabit culture as illustrated by the following statement from a key informant in Bario.
“Last Christmas, so many cars. Cars I have never seen before. People want to show off their car here you know. I have car so everyone in my family wants car too. Having car is like having dignity. It’s like a status symbol. Culturally, bringing your car proves your doing well. It makes our parents proud when they see we are doing well and they live longer when they are proud and happy”. (participant 6)