Sarawak Heritage Preservation and Women Empowerment - Wakkan Melanau: The 3 Generations

Greetings, we are students from Universiti Teknologi Mara, Melaka. We are organizing a project called Wakkan Melanau: The Three Generations. This project is about conserving the heritage of a minority race in Sarawak called Melanau. It's culture is not known commonly among non-Sarawakians. Wakkan means food in their language. With that in mind, this project is about the food culture and heritage of this race. There is a handful of food that many would consider to be unique than the other local races in Malaysia. This project would not just benefit other people to know more about the food culture of the Melanau but also be known by the Melanau themselves so that they know their ancestor’s traditional food as food is the root of heritage.

Whether we realize it or not, women and culture move cohesively to protect their culture. Who else would share about our heritage and culture especially on food other than your own mothers and grandmothers? This happens indirectly by the food we eat made by these lovely women in the family. How else would you recognize classic curry chicken without your mother making it especially among the local Malays and see it as a traditional classic? This project does not only focus on heritage but also to embrace the roles of women in preserving their culture. Wakkan Melanau: The Three Generations project is made to remind the younger generations of the importance and the roles of women in every culture. Without proper record and preservation, this food culture and heritage would go extinct.

Our main goal of this project is to preserve and record the food culture from Melanau. Thus, immortalizing Melanau culture for years to come. We are going to achieve this goal by making an interactive recipe book and a website for this project. This recipe book can interact directly with our website that is filled with recipe videos and Melanau Culture. So you can read the ingredients and instructions on the book while watching the video on your phone. This project will not only let people acknowledge more about the food culture of Melanau but also preserve the unique heritage of Melanau.

So, to make this project a success, we need your help. Every single one of you is important to make sure this project happens. This community and project mean the world to us. But we need help to achieve this goal. We, therefore, humbly ask for you to help us achieve our goal by donating to our project. You can help us make a difference even by a little. With help from people all around, we can maintain and preserve the Melanau food culture and heritage. We do not want Melanau to be forgotten by people so we wish to spread awareness and of the said race so the younger generation can also appreciate them.

Please be our heritage heroes, your generosity is very important for our project. This is part of our effort in preserving this culture and definitely empowering women's roles in culture.