[ariel]

I do not think it is a reworked utility knife. To me it looks like some kind of South Asian shafted weapon, in the family of Indian Bhuj, SEA Mak, Japanese Naginata or even European Couteaux de Breche or Siberian Palma and Batiyya. Longer handle allowed for the use of both hands to add power, and the length of blade might have been intentionally kept short to increase rigidity. In any case, one needed only so much sharp edge for full functionality: the dreaded Spanish Colonial sabers with finger-stalled handles (we used to think they were N. African) had no more than distant third to a half of the blade sharpened. The use of rattan might hint ( weakly but really) of Indonesian of Philippine origin