Synopsis of A Sleeping Tiger: Ethnicity, Class, and New Dayak Dreams in Urban Sarawak

A Sleeping Tiger is a rare book-length treatment of urbanization among Dayaks and also offers a fresh perspective on ethnicity, class, and the context in which they function to the benefit of some and the great detriment of others. Although readers may never have heard of Dayaks (the indigenous, largely non-Muslim peoples of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo), they have surely witnessed the impact of ethnicity and class on the world today. Dayaks have hardly been spared this impact. Formerly forest dwellers in the main, Dayaks have been migrating en masse into Sarawak's towns and cities, but despite their better efforts to succeed in the urban environment, they feel demeaned and disadvantaged relative to the other ethnic groups of Malaysia.