The violent massacre of the Malay sultans , local rulers , intellectuals and politicians by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pontianak incidents of 1943 – 1944 in West Borneo ( present-day West Kalimantan province ) created a social opportunity for the Dayak people in the West Kalimantan political and administrative system during the Orde Lama era in the Sukarno regime , as a generation of predominantly Malay administrator in West Borneo was lost during the genocide perpetrated by the Japanese . The Dayak ruling elite were mostly left unscratched due to the fact that they were then mainly located in the hinterland and because the Japanese were not interested , thus giving an advantage for the Dayak leaders to fill the administrative and political position after the Indonesian independence
Pontianak incidents
Pontianak incidents
Dayak people