"MANSER (narrated from his journal):" "When I grow up I'd like to... have a good job dealing with nature, like a natural scientist." "I'm basically interested in anything that is natural, ... like amphibians, beetles, birds, mammals, fishes, ... mushrooms, stones, etc." "My profession should be a little bit of an adventure." "If I could go to Sumatra, Borneo and Africa... and live in the deep jungle amongst gorillas, orang utans... and other animals, living like a cave man." "I'd like to tear down all the factories... that are not essential for human survival... and replace them with a big forest with clear rivers and lots of animals in it." "BORNEO 1984/90" "Bruno Manser lived six years with the Penan, ... the nomads of the forest of Sarawak, ... a Malaysian province on the island of Borneo." "He learned to speak their language... and adapted to their culture." "The Penan accepted him as one of their own... and gave him the name "Laki Penan", ..." ""The Penan Man"." "In the world public Bruno Manser is known for... making the industrial countries aware... of the ecological and humanitarian disaster... that took place in the jungle of Borneo... and what caused him to make enemies." "His protests always were media events." "EU PARLIAMENT BRUSSELS, 1995" "In front of the parliament building BERN, SWITZERLAND, 1993" "( We're knitting a sweater for the members of the parliament )" "Parachute drop over UN building, GENEVA, 1998" "Gesture of reconciliation, KUCHING, 1999" "Shortly after his flight over Sarawak's capital, Kuching,..." "Bruno Manser returns to the jungle." "Bruno Manser vanishes in the year 2000" "Presented by Filmkollektiv Zurich" "A film by CHRISTOPH K?" "N" "Produced by MARIANNE BUCHER" "Bruno Manser's texts ANNELORE SARBACH" "Narrator CHRISTOPH K?" "N" "BORNEO, 2006" "NARRATOR:" "Following the trail of Bruno Manser... in the jungle of Sarawak." "Our expedition guide is Samuel... who is a nomad of the forest himself." "Dominique is our translator." "He's the one who organized the expedition." "Hilda and Satina were hired as cooks." "Moing, Asong and Adan are carrying the equipment... who all were born in the jungle." "They guarantee for our safety." "We're on our way to the indigenous people... with whom Bruno Manser used to live with." "BORNEO, 1984/90" "Bruno Manser starts early with the realization of... his childhood dream." "His siblings say that... when he was a boy in Basel, Switzerland, ... he slept outside on the balcony - even in winter." "After graduating from college he becomes... knowledgable in carpentry, tanning and weaving." "So he was able to make his own clothes, among other things." "That's how he would prepare for the jungle." "The months of May and June... which we chose for the expedition... were supposed to be dry months." "That's what they told us in Switzerland." ""These days things aren't what they used to be"... is what the nomads of the forest say... referring to the change in their environment... within the last decades." "Our guides tell us... when the nomads hunt a monkey mother with a child... they'll only kill the mother... and then take care of the child." "It's been over 20 years now... since Bruno Manser arrived in this jungle... which was still untouched back then." "His impressions and adventures during his trip... he wrote down in a journal... which we carry with us as a guide for our expedition." "It reads that in 1984 he leaves Switzerland... and then takes a flight to Thailand." "By foot, boat or railway... he travels southwards... to west Malaysia and Singapore." "In the spring he arrives on the island of Borneo." "As he sees the jungle, he writes in his journal:" ""Finally the jungle as I imagined in my dreams."" "At that time, Bruno Manser is 30 years old." "MANSER:" "Alone through the jungle... with a map, a compass, a little rice and sugar." "I'm trying to follow the trails of the boars." "It's tiresome to cut through the thick roots... and thorny palm trees with my machete." "A broken leg out here would be fatal." "Right before his first encounter with the Penan..." "Bruno Manser writes:" "A week ago shampoo and soap... seemed to be things of importance." "Under current circumstances... those things are just superfluous weight." "I wonder if it's possible to live solely from nature." "I haven't eaten in two days... and couldn't find any water." "Suddenly I see a bit of smoke in the distance." "I feel very excited and gain new strength." "NARRATOR:" "During our research we learn that the Penan... are considered to be the proudest of..." "Borneo's indigenous people who withstood... the modern way of life the longest." "BA UBUNG" "Let's eat some sago." "Here's some vegetable." "It's the heart of the sago palm tree." "Let's eat it." "It's very good, but be careful, it's hot." "Eat until you're full." "When you're hungry in the jungle... cut the heart of the sago palm tree... and eat it as vegetable." "Our ancestors already ate this kind of vegetable." "We cook it the same way." "We Penan call this:" ""Eating to survive"." "We were the first tribe that encountered him." "He came from Mulu." "We were hunting at Mulu when we met him in the jungle." "SIGANG" "He whistled to us, took a few steps towards us.... and without hesitating he raised his hand like this." "And he said:" ""I'm Bruno."" "I approached him and then remembered... that I had seen him before from a distance in Batu Bungang." "He had just woken up and was about to... take the cover off his primitive little hut." "The hut was put together from little twigs and young tree trunks... on which he slept." "We shook hands." "He put the cover in his backpack, ... took something out of his pocket.... and did like this:" "He spoke a few words in Penan and asked:" ""Do you know how to play the mouth harp?"" "The instrument was about this long." "He gave it to me and said:" ""Can you play it?"" ""Go ahead and take it!"" "So I took that thing, put it into my quiver... and walked away." "He also had a torch like I've never seen before." "When the light went out he opened it and poured something out... that looked liked the digested of a boar's stomach." "I don't know this kind of light, but I know he had one like that." "He also had those glasses on." "Even when he was running around in the jungle... he never took them off." "He always talked about visiting a people... that lives a life that is truthful to the origin of mankind." "This is what Bruno Manser's siblings told us." "A people that puts social equity first." "A people that shares." "That's what he had always been looking for." "The drawings he made after his arrival at the Penan... are like the first steps in a new world." "He made drawings of everything he saw -- leaves, trees, animals etc." "CHIEF ASIT NYELIT" "He was just new to the jungle." "He was especially fond of the climbing plants" "We call them "Mutan"." "They wrap around large trees and cover them almost completely." "When he saw one he stopped and started drawing." "It didn't matter if we were in a rush or not." "I was one of those he made a drawing of." "As we sat opposite each other... he started drawing me." "But before he started he asked me... if it was alright with me that he drew a picture of me." "After he was finished he gave it to me." "But I didn't take good care of it." "That's why it's already torn." "During his first days with the Penan, Bruno Manser writes:" "MANSER:" "Native man is superior to me... finding hold with his bare feet... where I stumble even though wearing shoes." "Where the white man uses a machete... the native man just bends down." "Native man adapts to the environment... rather than changing it as modern man does." "NARRATOR:" "Within the first time after his arrival... the 'white man' (Manser) wasn't able to live like them." "That's what the Penan told us." "They just smiled at him and called him "Laki Tawan", ... the "Lost Man"." "We weren't mean towards him." "We only said:" "You are like a little child... that doesn't know how to help itself." "Go on and tell them what happened... when he couldn't manage to scoop the water... with those leaves." "He said he would get some water." "PAJAK" "But he returned straight away and said:" ""I don't have a thing to scoop the water with."" "So I took a leaf... shaped a spoon out of it and gave it to him." "Then he asked me:" ""How do you store the water?"" "So I took a piece of bamboo which I already used earlier... and gave it to him as a container." "Then he went again, came back with the water..." ""You surely know how to help yourselves." "If I was alone out here I would be completely lost."" "MANSER:" "My lack of knowing their language makes it difficult for me... to gain access to these shy nomads of the forest." "Only after having spent 10 days with them..." "Laki Ayao tells me his name." "The women keep their names to themselves like a secret." "Also their children are quite fearful." "One of the little boys even screams when I come close." "Is it the red nose that frightens him?" "NARRATOR:" "In his journal Bruno Manser sometimes writes about... how demanding and debilitating life in the jungle is... for a person like him who comes from the city." "Yet, he continues... that he has to take up the challenge... in order to reach his goal." "The Penan tell us that they never asked him... why he came to the jungle." "They were simply happy about the visit of a white man." "The white man didn't sleep in one of their huts... but slept by himself in a hammock." "Bruno Manser must have enjoyed the solitude in the jungle." "Just as he commented on his audio tapes... that he sent back home instead of written letters." "(MANSER ON AUDIO TAPE) My loved ones back home, ..." "I'd like to tell you a bit about my day today." "I'm very tired and now it's evening." "I have cooked a soup for dinner." "A large lizard just ran away." "It just finished eating the leftovers of a dead Python." "Right now you can hear the sound of a cicada... trumpeting out into the night." "Wait, ... there's another one!" "As you can see, I'm doing fine." "I'd like to... sort my notes a bit next week... so I can send something home to you." "As you can hear, I'm yawning." "I'm done for today." "I'm just listening to the sound of the cicades." "PENAN:" "Hopefully you can cast away all the bad spirits from this place." "Actually, my dear sago palm tree, ..." "I hate to cut you down." "But I don't have anything left to eat and I'm hungry." "I don't have no choice." "MANSER:" "Without sago palm trees Besunge beetles would extinct." "The same goes for the indigenous people." "Doesn't mother nature provide everything we need?" "Earth with all its life forms is like a huge organism." "Even the smallest creature has its own designated space to live in." "Everything in nature is fit to work in harmonic cycles." "The way towards a self-supplying way of life... creates a bond with the environment... and everything else that surrounds us." "By confronting these matters we gain wisdom and freedom." "NARRATOR:" "The Penan tell us that Bruno Manser was a fast learner... in preparing and cooking sago for himself." "Sago was the welcome meal we received when we started our trip." "Even today sago is the main dish for the Penan, so they tell us." "The extraction from the sago palm trees... needs several hours work and a special technique." "At the same time the preparation of sago... also is a social event for the Penan people." "For hours they soak the substance... which they cut out of the core of the tree... in order to gain the sago." "It then drips through the mat of the upper grid... and settles on the lower mat." "Our ancestors lived as nomads." "They had to follow where the food was." "That was when the jungle was still untouched." "Today we only find the bare minimum to live in the forest, ... like sago, for instance." "When we run out of food in one place... we move on to the next place just like our ancestors did." "It takes about one day to get to the next place." "The sago concentrate's taste is similar to potato starch... and contains the same amount of vitamins." "When the preparation is finished... it gets dried and stored it as flour." "The Penan cook it with water until it turns into mush." "Then they eat it without any salt or spices." "MANSER:" "I found the shy people of the forest... of which some say that they're dirty like pigs... and of which others say that their skin is like silk." "My experiment takes me back to the root of all things, ... to a life of abstinence and modesty." "A healthy environment and enough food... are what it takes to inner happiness." "He who complains with full stomach... and within a peaceful environment... will still complain even if he owns half the world." "Soon the outer layer of civilization will fall off... and I'll become an indigenous man." "For months I haven't had salt." "My torch lays around unused, useless without spare batteries." "No soap." "I stopped to take the pills for protection against Malaria." "PENAN:" "When he went to the jungle by himself..." "I worried about him... as if he was my son." "He had no idea how to deal with serpents... or dangerous insects that are out there." "That's why I told him of medical plants... and how to use them." "This plant is called "Penawat Torok"... or "Penawat Tajem"." "You can it its peel... if you get bitten by a snake... or stung by a dangerous bee... or if you get hit by a poison arrow." "Nothings is more poisonous than a poison arrow." "If a poison arrow is deep in your skin... you will die... if you don't have this plant to cure the ailment." "Even I would die without it." "But if you have this plant you will survive." "Even if the poison arrow is deep in your skin, it'll help." "I assure you that you won't die when you have this plant." "We all know how poisonous a cobra is." "A cobra is as poisonous as a poison arrow." "But if you have this plant you don't need to be afraid to die." "To survive in the jungle we Penan use this plant the most." "When the woodcutters come and destroy it completely... we won't be able to find it elsewhere in the jungle." "MANSER:" "I stand calm with my eyes open... feeling like a pilgrim on our planet." "A deep sense of humbleness and bliss engulfs me." "NARRATOR:" "In Borneo's cities people look down on the Penan." "They are considered to be 2nd or even 3rd class citizens." "They're ridiculed due to their archaic way of life... and lack of school education." "Their knowledge of life and survival in the jungle... seems to be of no interest anymore these days." "However, the trees of the jungle are a highly sought-after resource, ... the basis of their existence... which is traded for huge amounts of money." "One day when he was with me he said:" ""I want to wear a loincloth like you."" "So I looked for this kind of tree and said to him:" "We call it "Kayu Beripun"." "He asked me:" "Can you make such a loincloth for me?" "So I cut the tree down and cut off a piece." "Then I hit it with a little piece of hard wood.... until the bark became as smooth as this one." "After that I cut the wood from both sides with my knife." "Then I could peel off the outer layer... which I then scraped off... until it looked like the one I'm wearing." "Then I handed him his loincloth." "When we saw him with his new loincloth... we thought it looked very good on him." "He wasn't ashamed to wear it." "He just tied it around like this and walked around with it." "He walked through the jungle with it for many hours." "He walked around barefoot, just like me." "After we walked for a whole day... it also started to rain." "So his loincloth started to rub against his skin." "Especially here on the edges." "He started to get blisters around this part of the body." "Later he said:" ""This loincloth is uncomfortable." "It hurts."" "He took it off and put his pants back on." "But after the blisters were gone... he put the loincloth back on, just like a Penan." "After that, he became used to it fast." "And he didn't have any issues with it anymore." "That's how it was the last time I saw him." "MANSER:" "Soon I will have the knowledge from the natives... to theoretically be able to live in the most modest way, ... equipped with only an axe, a knife and glasses, ... more or less mastering life in the jungle." "The fulfillment of my dream has come closer:" "To become as much as possible independent... from the false king of civilization: money." "(MANSER SINGING ON AUDIO TAPE) Mother, father, Erich and Aga..." "Monika, Ursula and dear brother Peter..." "To all of you lovely people I'd like to... give you something to take along on your way." "Mother, father, embrace one another... and love one another ever so dearly." "Watch the swan as he cleanses his white feathers... on which water drops turn into pearls." "Erich und Aga, look in the eyes... of your little ones and rejoice in life." "Monika, don't use the telephone for a while... and let the dial plate rest where it is." "Go outside and enjoy the fresh air." "Maybe you'll get to see a tomtit flapping its wings.... and building its nest." "That's the village." "Down there, we're almost there." "BA PERESEK" "I still remember how he came to us the first time." "CHIEF SELAI SEGAK" "I was surprised to see how that white man climbed up to my hut." "As if he belonged to the family." "They came to me, it was three of them." "The white man and two Penan." "At the time, we Penan still lived very different." "We didn't have any rice or sugar yet." "As they came inside I told my wife to go... and prepare sago and cook water without sugar." "I served it to them and asked... if the white men knew how to eat sago." "I was surprised when the white man replied... that he knew how to eat sago... and how to drink warm water without sugar." "I was baffled." "He couldn't speak fluently Penan yet." "Mostly he would ask for words like boar, deer, bear... and various leaves and tress of the jungle." "So we would teach these things to him... little by little in all details." "For instance, the word boar in Penan is "babui"." "And the word for deer is "payau"." "That's how we taught him the words." "And he wrote them all down." "He got used to observing all the different things... of which we told him." "So he started to understand step by step." "In Bruno Manser's journal from those days it reads... how he got rid of his self-crafted belt, ... the only remaining thing of his life in Switzerland." "When friends brought a toothbrush and toothpaste... he decided to share those items with the tribe." "A whole chapter in his journal is dedicated to a young monkey, ... a gibbon girl that becomes his companion." "PENAN:" "During his time with us he felt at home." "I was like a brother to him." "Wherever I would go he would follow me." "One day we went fishing, ... together with Asong and Ajai." "At Ba Pagin we cast our nets in the water." "PEGA" "He was sitting on a rock... while I was going upstream to take a bath." "As I walked past a bush I saw a python." "I ran back to tell Asong and Ajai about it." "Both of them were still very young at the time." "Then they told him about the python... that was in the bushes there." "He asked if this is true and Asong said yes." "Then he asked me if I had really seen a python." "She's over there, I said." "He said thanks and that he wanted to go and see it." "He walked straight to the python and grabbed it from behind its head." "Then he wrapped it around his body." "Ouch!" "It hurts!" "Take a picture of me, fast!" "I took 3 or 4 pictures when he suddenly screamed." "Ouch!" "It's so painful." "You should rather kill it!" "I said: "It looks good." "Wait, just one more photo."" "He screamed again." "Ouch!" "It really hurts a lot!" "So I took my knife and cut off the python's head." "She died slowly." "We left it on the stones and returned back to fishing." "(MANSER ON AUDIO TAPE) Dear Mom and Dad, ..." "It's been a while that you heard my voice." "It surely has been some time." "First I'd like to tell you how we're doing." "At the moment there are... one, two, three..." "Penan sitting with me." "One with a bald head, one with long hair, ... one who has a goatee, ... a woman with long ears and perky breasts." "And one of them is sitting there, cross-legged." "It's the old one... and his beloved one is smiling from ear to ear." "MANSER:" "The nomad life of the Penan is determined not only by... finding appropriate sago palm trees... but also by hunting certain animals." "And these animals depend on fruit season." "Yet it's hard for me to tell when that season starts." "Because the treetops block the view to the sky... it is not possible to develop any reference to it." "Since they don't even track the phase of the moon... it's not surprising that the Penan don't track years either." "Time is not important for the Penan." "They completely live from moment to moment." "There's only one thing that matters for the Penan:" "When there's a lot of fruit there'll be a lot of boars." "And that means there'll be enough meat." "There's no word for "Thank you" in their language." "Nature provides everything and they take what they need." "Give and take are self-understood." "There's no rich or poor." "Those who can share... will do so without the need of being asked to." "The Penan prove to be socially more advanced... than any of the so-called modern societies... in which making profit is the basis for people's actions." "NARRATOR:" "The jungle of our expedition isn't the jungle anymore... that Bruno Manser experienced and wrote about in his journal." "During his time in the jungle there were over 300 Penan families." "Today there are barely 100 families." "The Penan these days wear clothes." "As civilization changed their way of life... they now need clothes to protect from sunlight." "In his journal Bruno Manser writes about how modern life... is affecting the Penan's old hunting grounds." ""Vom Mühsamen"..." "(About Arduous Things) is a chronicle about a gruelling fight... to save the paradise once discovered by him." "PENAN:" "The name of this tree is "Pah"." "As you can see, we cut the wood only from one side." "So the other side is untouched and the tree can continue to live." "We can make many blowpipes from this side." "And later we'll use the other side." "A blowpipe lasts many years." "This way a tree can be used for a long time." "The wood of this tree will be used by... my children and their children... until they reach the very top of the tree." "Many Penan are looking for this kind of tree." "These trees are all equally usable... and can be found in this area." ""Pah" is a very good tree." "It is very important for us." "It's a very good tree, this tree called "Pah"." "It's going to be a big problem for us... when trees like this will not exist anymore." "If the woodcutters destroy them... we won't have appropriate wood to make our blowpipes from." "If the logging companies cut down the forest... these kind of trees will get extinct." "They'll take every last bit of this land... and this practically means that they will kill us." "NARRATOR:" "Bruno Manser suddenly sees his life experiment threatened." "He travels from tribe to tribe and organizes meetings." "He informs them about the illegal actions of the intruders... and educates them about their human rights." "It's the beginning of a series of protests in the form of roadblocks." "MANSER:" "It's a sad fact that the rich exploit the poor." "A shamelessly behaviour through which they demonstrate their power." "Ten years from now all of the untouched areas... will be destroyed unless someone stops them." "Being a non-native I feel uncomfortable... taking the lead in this matter." "The Penan should stick to their traditions... and rely on their own cultural roots." "But facing the intruders from the modern world... the indigenous people are powerless." "With resignation they watch the bulldozers... destroying their hunting grounds and are forced to retreat." "(MANSER ON AUDIO TAPE) Dear father, dear mother..." "Right now I feel..." "I was lucky to recover from another acute attack." "At the moment there are just a few symptoms left." "Even though I felt miserable the days before." "Because I ran out of medication to fight the malaria." "It doesn't look very good at the moment." "I just wanted to tell you the truth." "It's possible that the government still wants to get to me... as they have unsuccessfully tried for the last six months now." "As long as the malaria doesn't bother me too much... and if the medication supply arrives..." "I plan to come home next April." "If I don't have any further trouble due to malaria... you may expect to welcome me back home in short time." "TIO" "Here are some pictures of Laki Penan." "Can you still remember him?" "Remember when he cut your hair the last time?" "TOI LASO" "I remember when he cut my ear by accident." "At the time he stayed with us we were still nomads." "He didn't have a bad bone in his body." "He was of good character and he definitely was no fool." "He was always joking around with us." "Why did you change his name to Laki Penan?" "We called him Laki Penan because we were afraid... that the police might find him." "When they heard that name they didn't suspect... that it was him we were talking about." "Since they were looking for a Bruno Manser... it was much harder for them to figure it out." "They thought we just talked about another Penan." "LONG PUSIT" "The first time we met he asked me:" ""Is there a logging company at work in this area?"" ""Yes, there is one working in the area." "They're about to build a bridge over the river."" "CHIEF ALONG SEGA" ""When the woodcutters come here I will have to suffer."" "Then he said:" "There are companies in the country that are very evil." "If you don't do something about it... it's going to be the end of your little jungle." "From that moment on I was convinced to follow his advice." "NARRATOR:" "The chief tells us that in the old days... all Penan used to live peacefully in Mulu... which is north from here." "Then there was a dispute and they split up." "His grandfather came here to the Adang river... and claimed the area of this forest." "Back then things were fine and the jungle was untouched." "After his father died and when he became chief at the Adang river... the logging companies intruded into their area." "They even destroyed the grave site of his parents." "PENAN:" "The rivers are dirty and the jungle is cut down." "The soil is getting red all over." "They plan on raising palm tree oil plantations." "Then they want to build a hydroelectric power plant." "That will be the end of the jungle and our way of life." "My grandchildren and even I will have to suffer from this." "MANSER:" "Since they don't know how to read or write..." "I agreed to take the role of their secretary... if they show enough vigor to stand up and fight." "Will it be possible to educate all these people... and unite them for this fight?" "The answer is yes if all of the Penan's nomad tribes unite." "NARRATOR: "Bruno Manser achieved the impossible."" ""He brought all Penan back together", says the chief." "PENAN:" "For about one week he was with us at the roadblock." "He sat calmly admidst our things and we sat around him." "I told him not to move or he would be seen." "He was supposed to sit there and stay clam." "So nobody would notice that he's here." "Lots of police passed by at the blockade." "They wanted to know who organized the blockade." "We told them that there was no particular person in charge." "So they pretended to leave the place." "But in fact they stayed nearby so that they... could return and take us by surprise making a control." "So a couple of us went along with them..." "They kept the police's focus away from us." "That's how we hid him during the blockades." "AWING TEBAI" "Since he knew how to help us... the Malaysian people called him..." ""King of the Penan"." "You see, all these years he spent with us... and moved around with us... the authorities weren't able to catch him." "NARRATOR:" "His journal mentions two ambushes set up... by the police and the military." "They fire shots at him." "The government puts a bounty of 50.000 dollars on his head." "PENAN:" "During that time he was still very young." "That's why I decided to adopt him." "From that moment on he stayed with us... and I treated him like my son." "Whenever he went on a trip I was sure he'd return to me." "It was as if I was his real father." "MANSER:" "My paradise turns into a prison." "Is this really the end of my life in the jungle?" "There's still so much I'd like to discover and experience." "PENAN (singing):" "I'm telling the story of Laki Penan... who once came to our land." "Back then everything was still fine... and he loved our land more than his own." "When Laki Penan was on his way... he always had enemies." "And they followed him like the poisonous cobra." "They were always close behind him..." "When they caught him he was joking around... and called himself "The Lost Man"." "He went with them for a while." "And when they didn't suspect anything... he jumped into the river and swam away... until they couldn't see him any longer." "I know many smart men, but no one is smart as him." "No one was as good as Laki Penan." "We treated him like one of our own children." "LIMBANG" "JAMES RITCHIE:" "This was the story I was looking for!" "The big break..." "to become famous." "I think I spent about 2 or 3 months asking people... and going with the time people inside... writing letters to the Penan... sending messages and everybody says:" ""No, no, no.." "no such person"" "I could not get him, I wrote a few stories." "The police told me he's a Tarzan, he's a fugitive, ... he's a notorious guy like a king in Africa... like everybody was carrying him on a sedan chair, you know... and everybody treated him like a god, you know." "When I met him he was a bit angry:" ""Why do you say that they treat me like this?" "I'm a brother with them, I'm not their king."" " "But I see in some ways you are their king... because you are a white man."" "So later on he said:" ""Ok, you are a news man."" "And he tells me his struggle, his cause... and what he wants to do." "Principally it has never been my intention... to come to Sarawak to make politics... or anything like this." "I'm just a man who..." "How do you say?" "If I say in the Malaysian language:" ""A man who loves his natural habitat."" "That's my reason that I walk in jungles here..." "I have a soft spot for people who are lost." "I thought that he..." "When I looked at him with his long hair..." "I thought that maybe he was smoking marijuana... or something like that." "He looked like a hippie to me, you know." "I think later on he became like a Penan." "He became a Penan, you know." "He changed, his character changed." "MANSER (in Penan):" "The moment the forest... belongs to the Penan, I will be happy and go home." "Then, when my studies on the culture of the Penan... and the animals of the jungle are finished... only then I'll go home." "I offered him a letter..." "If he wanted a helicopter..." "I would try to get helicopter to go out." "But later on he says:" ""I don't want to go out... because if I go out I have a problem coming in."" "Because he wants to carry on and stay... and help the Penan." "He said: "One year"..." "but he stayed for six years." "MANSER ON AUDIO TAPE:" "I just have been touched... with the problems of the Penan tribe." "I couldn't just look at it." "So at first I just wanted to... put their will in a declaration to the government." "But there has never been any reaction to it." "So logging is always going on." "PENAN:" "We know that the strategy we chose has been very soft." "After our second blockade we really wanted to... use violence against the woodcutters and the police." "But he warned us that we shouldn't do that." "And we followed his advice." "He said we needed to be patient... that we should remain calm and proceed slowly." "Like the constant dripping of water wears the stone." "That's how we should do it." "That's what he said." "If it would have been only one company to fight... we probably would have been successful." "But the fact that the government... gave licences to many logging companies... to cut down the forest, ... this put a lot of pressure on him." "PENAN:" "This is my "Selikut"." "So beware as I will leave it here for you." "I need to make sure that you evil spirits are gone." "I think you are gone already, because my curse is powerful." "And with this chicken I'll tame you evil spirits." "I offer you this white, pure, fresh chicken." "And I ask you to leave us alone... and let us not get sick." "I offer you this chicken to represent all of us." "Don't let us get sick." "And keep misery away from us." "And you, ghosts of the land, the water, the rocks and the forest..." "Go away as far as possible!" "You mustn't stay here!" "You, feather, chase them away so that they don't stay here!" "If you're an evil spirit, go away and don't stay here." "Wherever you are..." "leave this place!" "MANSER (AUDIO TAPE):" "At the moment there's... nothing that keeps me staying in the settlement." "I longed for a little bit of an adventure." "And now I'm here..." "Batu Lawi is a magical rock... which sticks out of the jungle." "You can see it from all directions, from far." "But it always seems it stays that far." "Now I want to climb this rock." "Now I'm..." "I'm all by myself, away from the settlement." "It took four days to walk there." "And on top of that, I got lost." "But eventually I came very close to it." "I saw its beauty during sunset." "PENAN:" "Our ancestors passed a story on to us... that there was once a Penan long time ago." "He want to Batu Lawi on a regular basis." "He said up there lives a ghost." "His name is Sinan." ""Sinan Tegak Tebau Naha"." "The ghost and this Penan man were friends." "NARRATOR:" "The only food this Penan man took with him... was a little bit of sago, the chief tells us." "He climbed to the top with his bare hands." "The view from up there onto the jungle... must have made him feel as if in trance." "He fasted for days until he hears a prayer." "And whatever Bruno Manser experienced on Batu Lawi... he kept it a secret, says the chief." "He only told them that there was... something up there that drew him close." "Maybe he met Sinan... the good ghost and friend of the Penan." "MANSER ON AUDIO TAPE:" "So I climbed down from Batu Lawi... into the direction of the valley... until I came to the stream mouth." "It was a little creek with many big stones in it... so it's easy to jump from one stone to the next." "And suddenly I realized:" "Oops!" "I lost my knife!" "Then I wasn't sure if I should go back... all the long way to look for the knife." "But I thought without a knife it's tough in the jungle..." "How would I remove thorns from my feet?" "For that, I need a pointed tool." "So I put my bag somewhere and started to go back." "And I didn't walk far yet..." "Whoa!" "There was a huge python laying in the creek." "I thought it'd be exciting to catch a python once more." "Just for kicks." "It's not easy to catch a python... because a python obviously can bite you." "So I grabbed its tail and pulled like crazy." "I also had a stick, just in case... the snake would try to attack." "I successfully managed to grab the python... and then wanted to take some pictures." "While holding the snake I tried to... change the film and take some pictures." "Python meat is very tasty, but what's the point?" "The snake is way too heavy." "It probably weighs 45 pounds." "It would be a shame to kill it... since I'm only by myself and still have a long way back." "So eventually I released the snake... after it tried to bite me a couple of times." "Then I continued my way towards the valley." "The python made up a bit... for the loss of my knife." "PENAN:" "For two weeks he wouldn't come back." "After three weeks we started to worry." "Finally he returned." "I went to his hut, he was asleep." ""Wach auf!" He opened his eyes slowly." "I asked him:" ""Are you a ghost?"" "He said: "It's my body, not only my sould."" "Then I asked:" ""Do you feel sick?"" "He replied:" ""No, but I was very hungry."" "Well, Laki Penan, what did I tell you?" "I told you to take enough food with you." "You have to follow my advice." "We are experts in the jungle." "MANSER:" "My heart cries like a funeral song." "Does the paradise really have to die?" "Do you really want to be the savior... of a piece of untouched nature which is... barely the size of a speck of dust on this planet?" "Savior of a tribe most people never heard of before?" "Save a dying culture and tradition from its demise?" "Earth and mankind go their ways." "Do you want to stop the wheel of time?" "Planet earth and mankind obviously have to suffer." "Only the creator of this universe knows why." "MANSER ON AUDIO TAPE:" "The fight of the indigenous people... for the preservation of their tiny piece of land... where they find their food on a daily basis... seems to be a lost case." "Since the government and the logging companies colaborate... they have absolutely no intentions... to grant any rights to the indigenous people." "At river Laba a company threatened... to put their workers under police protection." "The workers are afraid of the Penan and their blockades." "Under police protection they feel save to continue their work." "They also hired this Chinese guy... who threatens to kill the Penan's children at night." "Of course, this is just a bluff... in order to scare them and intimidate them." "But to me it is clear... that those poor nomad people... which peacefully live in the jungle... dealing with their daily troubles and needs... won't be able to withstand... these violent forces of civilization... which work their way through the valley." "NARRATOR:" "During the last couple of months... of his stay at the Adang river... bad things happened to Bruno Manser, ... so the Penan tell us." "He was bitten by a viper... and tried to cut open the wound with a knife... to drain the venom from his blood." "PENAN:" "After he was bitten..." "I visited him about a week later or so." "He said:" ""Look at my leg!"" "I want to die, I can't stand the pain." "I said:" ""Here's a knife I just sharpened." "If you want to kill yourself, give me the knife first." "Go and cut my throat first." "Then you can cut yours." "I don't want to see how you die." "You're not a dog." "Even when you're in pain, you have to be patient."" "He said:" ""Well, I will carry on then." "Even though the pain is excruciating."" "PENAN WOMAN:" "After he was bitten by the snake..." "I treated him with our traditional medicine." "BULAN I boiled some water." "He already had cut open a piece of the swollen muscle." "Then rubbed his leg with the water." "And lots of smelly things came out... until the bone could be seen." "I washed his leg daily to get out the dead tissue." "The smell was terrible." "The affected area looked pretty bad." "We had to treat him for a long time." "NARRATOR:" "In his journal Bruno Manser describes... how he surgically removes his own extensor muscle." "Seeing his foot that he can't bend any longer... he notes how depressing it is that... he's no longer able to climb steep cliffs." "It takes over six months until he can walk without crutches." "So tell us the Penan." "MANSER ON AUDIO TAPE:" "It's night time." "Next to me they're playing the nose flute." "A boar has been hunted today." "And I have slept the whole day." "I still recover from my latest "adventure"." "I also thought about leaving the country... or turn myself in." "Sorry, but I'm about to fall asleep any second." "So I want to say to all of you once more... a warm, heartfelt bye-bye." "Enjoy your time." "PENAN:" "Originally he wanted to stay with us." "But a friend from his country came by... and told him that his mother got sick." "We had a farewell party." "MALENG" "We had jek fruit, durian, nakan, medang, pelutan." "and many more fruits from the jungle." "We had sago." "" " Sago!" "And everything we usually eat." "" " Everything we eat." "Boar, fish, etc." "It was a big feast." "He really knew how to eat our traditional food." "The day after the feast..." "Bruno got his hair cut and colored by his friend." "So he couldn't be recognized." "That was the beginning of our separation." "A POSTCARD MANSER WROTE TO THE PENAN:" "I got home safe and sound to my swiss family." "I'm doing fine, but I miss you a lot." "I will fight from here for our beloved land... and then return to you." "Laki Penan" "Mr. Manser, you have lived for years... with the people of the jungle." "Do you think it's possible to save the tropical forest... or at least slow down its desctruction?" "" " They way things are at the moment... the last prime forests eventually will be cut down." "Their destruction only has been slowed down a bit." "I think the main focus should be... to respect the human rights of the indigneous people." "NARRATOR:" "No one would be a more convincing spokesman... for the indigenous people than Bruno Manser." "That's what his activist friends tell us." "After very little success in Sarawak, they were hoping... that from Switzerland they could achieve more... in their fight for Borneo's forest nomads." "Ten years of public activism follow... supported by organizing creative events and ideas." "Bruno Manser fasts 60 days in front of the Swiss government... trying to initiate a ban on the import of wood from Borneo." "He publishes a book..." ""Stimmen aus dem Regenwald" ("Voices from the jungle")... which introduces western readers to the life of the Penan." "Holding a lamb called "Gumperli" he drops off a plane... over the UN building in Geneva... to get the chief minister of Sarawak to discuss... the future of the jungle and the people living in it." "Using fake identities, each year he illegally... crosses the border to Sarawak to see his second family... and encourage them to stand up for their rights." "The idea of a reservation in the jungle comes up." "But the government of Sarawak ignores them." "The stronger the protest, the bigger become his public events." "His ride on the Matterhorn cable car at Zermatt... is meant to raise awareness for the importance... of jungle preservation." "But Bruno Manser is running out of time." "He fights a lonely battle." "PENAN:" "I don't quite understand." "What is he doing on these images?" "What is he trying to achieve with this?" "I look at these images but I don't get it." "What is going on in his mind?" "When he went back to his native country... we thought he went on vacation and relax." "These pictures are surprising to me." "Why does he have to climb so high?" "Didn't anyone tell him how dangerous this is?" "JAMES RITCHIE:" "I remember it was the 26th or 27th of March, ... the anniversary of the chief minister." "And I was driving around in front of the Hilton... when I saw this strange man..." " looks like you, with a slightly hooked nose... and Ben Johnson glasses, looking like Ghandi... and I said:" ""Hey, that must be Bruno."" "No one else walks like him." "Because he's got this funny walk." "You know, from the mountains, very short steps, ... wearing a long batik shirt, crew cut, ... very smart looking... and I stopped my car, I got out... and walked towards him... and smiled at him, and he looked at me:" ""James Ritchie" -- "Bruno Manser"." "So I put my hand around him." ""Come, what are you doing here?"" "He says: "Well, I have a special mission."" " "You better tell me, 'cause you are my friend."" " "Well, I will fly around the mosque."" "PENAN:" "We went to Kuching... when he wanted to make his parachute flight." "On his first try he crashed." "He didn't know how to fly yet." "On his second try he crashed again... and the propeller got broken." "They fixed it and he tried again." "This time he managed to fly two rounds over Kuching city." "As he flew over us he descended a bit... and yelled like a crazy monkey." ""Hoo, hoo, hoo" he went." "NARRATOR:" "After he lands Bruno Manser gets arrested... and expelled from the country the same day." "JAMES RITCHIE:" "He was used by the big groups so he was isolated." "They used him as an icon." "Everything Bruno, Bruno, Bruno." "Everybody's hiding behind Bruno." "Trouble?" "Bruno gets into trouble." "All the big guys would run away." "I felt sorry for him, 'cause he's alone, you know." "And I felt guilty... because I was the one who made him notorious." "And he didn't want to be involved in politics." "He just wanted to live with the Penan or write a book... do a dictionary and help them." "But he got dragged into politics." "Everybody..." "England, France, Germany, ..." "Canada... made use of him." "Everybody became famous... because of one simple man from Appenzell?" "!" "NARRATOR: "Back then the tip of a spear was the enemy." "Today it is the mouth and the money"." "So the elders of the Penan say." ""And many are affected by this."" "Bruno Manser's last visits in the jungle of Sarawak... cause him to feel more despair than hope." "This is what his family and friends say." "He tells them about Penan families... who get split up about the question... of fighting or following the woodcutters." "There is an increased number of cases... in which desperation drives the Penan... to give up their land for money... and move into settlements outside the jungle." "MANSER:" "I get aware of the danger... of losing focus on the individual itself." "Just as myself feels attracted by the foreign and unknown... so are the young indigenous interested in things... outside their traditional environment." "Often they see their own cultural roots as obsolete." "My preconceived opinion about the indigenous... who still live at the roots of mankind's existence." "proved to be a mistaken idea." "JAMES RITCHIE:" "I think the last six months he used to call me... at least once a week, you know." "At three o'clock in the afternoon..." "" " I think it's about 8:00 a.m. in Switzerland..." "He said he lost the battle and he told me that maybe... he'd like to just disappear." "Going to the jungle and disappear... around his favorite place, Batu Lawi." "It's like... maybe Batu Lawi is like a shrine for him." "One day he told me, sometime ago... he said he went into a cave in Batu Lawi..." "I don't know where there's a cave there... but he said he went into one small cave... and he fasted there..." "for a week or two weeks." "I knew of him as a very spiritual man, ... a person who believes in the supernatural." "So when he started talking like that..." "I felt a very eerie feeling that this chap could be... saying goodbye in some strange way." "BARIO" "NARRATOR:" "This is where Bruno Manser was seen the last time." "His family says, his departure from Switzerland... was different from all previous departures." "They sensed that Bruno had to return to the jungle... the only place where he felt truly happy." "Although he also talked about having a family together with his Swiss girlfriend Charlotte." "At that time Bruno was 48 years old." "At this place he spent one night before leaving into the jungle." "And that's where he wrote his last letter to his girlfriend Charlotte." "The letter reached her without ever having been stamped." "MANSER WROTE IN FRENCH:" "My little big star!" "I've waited for the evening before showing up." "Tomorrow morning I'll leave very early." "The only thing that worries me... is my backpack which weighs 25 kilos." "When I'm tired from walking and find a nice place..." "I will think of you." "I'll enjoy the scenery... and with a little luck I'll hunt a boar." "The smell of this letter comes from a little animal... which grows up in Oak trees." "It is called "Keleram"... and is considered a delicacy by the indigenous people." "See you soon." "Until next time." "I embrace you tightly." "NARRATOR:" "Bruno takes off early in the morning." "As his family and friends don't hear from him in months... half a year a headline goes around the globe, ... the environmentalist and human rights advocate... fell victim to a complot of the logging industry... or the government of Sarawak." "PENAN:" "I met him here." "Then I helped him to carry his backpack... on the way to Long Semirang." "It was already dark when we arrived." "He said: "We don't have to go further."" "NARI KATO" ""We're going to sleep here" he said." "That night, he asked:" ""Will you also help me next day to carry my backpack?"" "I answered:" ""If you need me, I'll help you"." ""This backpack is really heavy", he said." ""You only have to carry it up to the next mountain", he said." ""...not any furher."" ""On the other side of the mountain, I know the way to Batu Lawi."" ""Then I won't need your help any longer."" "So the next day I accompanied him up there." "NARRATOR:" "Until now there hasn't been a sign of him." "Not a single trace has been found.... neither of Bruno Manser, nor of his belongings." "PENAN (CHANTING):" "I am telling the story of Laki Penan.., who once came to our land..." "Back then everything was still fine." "And he loved our land more than his own." "When we visit the places he used to go to... we're reminded that he disappeared." "The Lost Man, we don't know where to find him." "And so we can't help ourselves but cry." "Tears run down from our eyes." "Our eyes cannot see clearly." "We sit together and remember a man... who came to us with the vision to fight the cobra." "We don't have the eyes to see the vision he saw." "We cried for three days... remembering his love for our people." "We watch as the leaves are falling from the tree." "But what can we do to stop them from falling?" "No one was as good as Laki Penan." "That is our situation." "We treated him as if he was one of us." "As of 2007 the logging companies have destroyed... over 90 percent of the jungle in Sarawak." "The Penan's living space decreased to 10 percent... of the original area they once inhabited." "They are still trying to save the remaining jungle... through court actions and blockades." "The Bruno Manser foundation gives the Penan a voice." "The organization founded by Manser still continue their work."