The beach behind Mt Santubong, Sarawak

By Rahmat Bin Haji Abdul Rahman

It is called Pantai Pasir Pandak, less than an hour's drive from where we stayed at Jalan Sultan Tengah off Jalan Temenggong Haji Gobil 2 in Petrajaya Kuching.

Facing the South China Sea and backed by the verdant slopes of Mount Santubong, Pantai Pasir Pandak, is one of the beaches fondly visited by the public during public holidays and long term school holidays.

What most attracted us during our short visit here were the fishermen villages at Kampung Pasir Pandak and Kampung Bantal and Kampung Santubong offering an interesting insight into kampong life.

Not far away from Pasir Pandak beach are seafood restaurants perched on the stilts.

Before you are lured only by the seafood offered by the restaurants here, you must take care of the "halal" cuisine.

When we were in Sibu hotel, its restaurant had a huge "halal" sign pasted on the entrance door's glass panel. It states that the restaurant and the waiters and waitresses abide by the government of Malaysia's regulations on the "halal" businesses. I asked the waiter "Do you sell liquour, too?." to make sure there is no contradiction with the 'halal' notice. He said 'Yes.' I had no choice but to stay away from the restaurant that does not understand what "halal" means.

Going into further down to the Pasir Pandak Beach, I was shocked to discover the beach was not as beautiful as what I expected in the first place.

Pasir Pandak's beach should not be neglected by the state government. It has some potential to be developed for its people.

I discovered the Pasir Pandak beach has equatorial rainforest growing on the surrounding hills.

However, the kiosk businesses atmosphere was different from the beaches that I had visited on the island of Borneo.

Here, the food sellers with umbrellas sold their goods under the canopy of a big tree.

One of the food sellers said his income selling food at Pasir Pandak Beach was as much as RM200 from the morning to evening during weekends and public holidays.

This activity is not so much encouraging as local authorities prohibit food sellers from carrying businesses at Pasir Pandak Beach.

This place is beautiful during low-tide, I was told. People could walk across to one of the island from Pasir Pandak beach to collect clams.

During nighttime, Pasir Pandak Beach is not a safe place for part time fishermen coming from other parts of Sarawak. Some experienced having their vehicles forced open by thieves in the area.

What had shocked me was the pile of rubbish near to the beach. Whether the rubbish was uncollected or this place was turned into a dumping place, I do not know. The rubbish gave a bad impression to tourists like myself.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin Sunday