The principles
Serumpun means of the same root. These are the principles the movement keeps, in the fieldwork, in the Codex, in the kitchen and in everything it publishes.
The food knowledge of Sarawak was kept long before Serumpun began, and it will be kept long after. The movement holds part of it in trust for a while. These ten principles set out the terms of that trust.
1. The knowledge belongs to the communities. The work belongs to the forest, and the forest belongs to the communities who taught us its language. We keep what they share for a while. We do not own it.
2. Consent comes before the record. The free, prior and informed consent of every community whose knowledge enters the Codex is given before the entry is made. It is asked once, at the start, and asked again before an entry is put to a new kind of use. We never assume it, and we never add it afterwards.
3. We listen first and cook later. The communities are the cuisine’s senior teachers. We work only in the voices each community has chosen to share.
4. What is shared is credited. Anyone may cook from a published Codex entry, commercially as well, provided the community it comes from is credited by name. What returns to the communities is that credit, the training of Sarawakian chefs who carry the cooking on, and in time a share where a product is sold.
5. A community may take its knowledge back. Any community may correct or withdraw its entry by writing to the Custodian at connect@chefjameswon.com. A withdrawal is completed within ninety working days.
6. Medicinal knowledge stays private. Medicinal uses shared with us are kept out of the published Codex unless the community chooses otherwise.
7. Every ingredient earns its place. A leaf is on the plate because the dish needs it. Making a plate look Bornean is never reason enough.
8. We state only what the source states. Figures, uses and claims come from the source. What the source does not say is marked to be confirmed. Medicinal knowledge meets the standard of proof our scientific adviser, Professor Gerard Bodeker, sets.
9. Heritage is kept in use. Heritage belongs in a kitchen, a forest and a language still in use, more than in a museum. The movement trains Sarawakian chefs so the cooking goes on being cooked.
10. The custodian is temporary. The role was set up to end. Success is measured by the day the founder is no longer needed.
James Won
Co-Founder and Custodian, Serumpun Sarawak
October 2026