Eris Goes To: Travelogue Borneo - Inside A Kelabit Longhouse in Bario, Sarawak

The concept of communal living may be alien to many of us who live in the city. Our apartments are like tiny cages, our gated and guarded homes a substitute for cells.

For some indigenous peoples in Sabah and Sarawak, however, communal living is the only way of life they have ever known. Long houses have afforded its residents protection, safety and convenience since ancient times, and allows a unique bond to form between family, neighbours and friends.

I had the privilege of staying at one of these long houses recently, on a trip to Bario, Sarawak, where the Kelabit people live. We stayed at the Bario Asal Lembaa Long House, the largest longhouse in the area and home to 23 families.

During our visit, it was like a big party, as not only were the people from Volvo Trucks  there for the official launching ceremony of their CSR projects, so were some research students as well as NGO volunteers. The atmosphere was festive, and reminded me of days when I was younger and everyone would congregate back in our hometown during the holiday season (not anymore since the grandparents died. Sigh)

Dating back to 1958, the Bario Asal Lembaa long house is a living piece of history, where generations of families have lived and died. Elevated on wooden stilts, the building is mostly made from wood and has numerous entry and exit points.

The longhouse is divided into three ‘sections’, the first being the tawa – a long covered hallway that stretches from one end to the other. Used for ceremonies, gatherings and official functions, the space is lined with portraits of the families who live here, as well as historical figures and important community leaders within the Kelabit community.

It felt a bit like a family museum, and I was touched to be welcomed into something so precious and intimate.

Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Eris Goes To: Travelogue Borneo - Inside A Kelabit Longhouse in Bario, Sarawak

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Eris Goes To: Travelogue Borneo - The Kelabit Highlands of Bario, Sarawak ( http://instagram.com/erisgoesto )

Here’s a joke I heard from an East Malaysian friend who was taking a cab in KL.

The cabbie asked where he was from, and he answered Sabah, to which the cabbie replied “Oh, bila datang Malaysia?” (When did you come to Malaysia?)

I can understand where Mr Cabbie was coming from. Partly due to ignorance and the ‘I don’t care what happens beyond my little bubble of a place’ attitude, many of us West Malaysians tend to forget that the other half of our country lies just across the ocean.

While I wouldn’t call myself an adventurer, I’ve been to a couple of places overseas, and it’s ironic that I haven’t fully explored my own backyard. Since I visited Sabah in 2016, it was time to tick Sarawak off the list too.

I recently joined a media fam trip by Volvo Malaysia, to see the work they have done in Bario, a small settlement up in the highlands bordering the Indonesian state of Kalimantan.

I had never heard of the place and didn’t know what to expect – only that it was hard to reach and would take 11 hours by 4 WD through muddy logging trails and swollen rivers. Fortunately, we didn’t have to go through that as there are now plane services that run twice daily from Miri Airport, serviced by MAS Wings.

These are not your typical commercial flights. No cabin crew, nor toilets. Instead, you hop on board a tiny Twin Otter that seats a maximum of 14 people.

Owing to the aircraft’s small size, they are very stringent on weight. Both you and your baggage will be weighed before boarding. Bags should not exceed nine kilos.

And we have takeoff! The ride from Miri to Bario took approximately 50 minutes.

This was my second time in a small plane; the first was in a four-seater Cessna. The sound of the engine and propellers was extremely loud and we had to shout to be heard. I couldn’t hear anything from the pilot’s intercom either lol.

There wasn’t much need for conversation though – look at this gorgeous view! Large swathes of plantation were soon replaced by thick, emerald-green jungle, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The view of undulating hills, untouched by man for millions of years, was occasionally interrupted by milky brown rivers, slithering through the landscape like a giant snake. It was a majestic sight that made me feel small and insignificant, and awed.

Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Eris Goes To: Travelogue Borneo - The Kelabit Highlands of Bario, Sarawak

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More cultural activities drawn up for Bario Nukenen Festival

MIRI: ‘Pesta Nukenen Bario’ (Bario Nukenen Festival) to be held on July 28 to 30 will have extra traditional and cultural activities to ensure guests and tourists have an enjoyable experience and come for a repeat event.

There will also be more traditional food of the Kelabit community to cater to the large number of guests and tourists expected.

“In Kelabit culture, food is associated with hospitality and an expression of friendship, demonstrated by the serving of food at any arrival of neighbours or visitors.

“This culinary heritage is at the very heart of the Kelabits, the Highland community, its socio-economic fabric, culture and tradition,” Rurum Kelabit Sarawak president Dato Isaac Lugun told a press conference at Pullman Hotel here yesterday.

The festival, the 11th of its kind, is organised by Rurum Kelabit Sarawak and will be held in Bario, a village located in the centre of the Kelabit Highlands in the northeast of Sarawak.

According to Isaac, the three-day celebration would showcase the cultural and culinary heritage of the Kelabit Highlands in northern Sarawak.

Pesta Nukenen Bario or ‘Festival of Food’ was initiated to preserve the traditional processing methods of indigenous edible plants, and safeguard local plant and animal species.

“It also serves as a platform to draw the close-knit community closer because over the past decade, the festival has evolved into an annual event to celebrate the legacy of the traditions of the Kelabit community, and a unique and distinctive way of life,” Isaac explained.

Such a unique community-hosted event was a pioneering endeavour with no parallel or precedent in the country.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: More cultural activities drawn up for Bario Nukenen Festival

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A dream trip to Bario

THE many exciting stories about Bario have piqued my interest in visiting the famous Highlands of Sarawak, and on April 3, my dream of journeying to the exotic Kelabit heartland came true.

Assigned to cover a working visit to the jewel of the Land of the Hornbills by the Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, I boarded an MASwings Twin Otter from Miri as early as 8.30am.

There are only three daily flights to Bario — by way of Lawas to Miri that offers a unique experience to anyone who has never flown in a plane smaller than a commercial airliner before — no air stewards or hostesses or toilet.

Flying over the rainforest at low altitude presented a panorama of breathtaking landscapes and scenery viewable through the light air-craft’s window. I took out my camera and snapped away, all while waiting in keen anticipation for the Twin Otter to touch down at Bario Airport — at 9.20am — on my first trip to this fable-like village of hospitable people set against a hauntingly picturesque mountainous backdrop.

Nestled in natural greenery, reaching up to 1,000 meters above sea level and tucked away the northeast part of Sarawak close to the international border with Kalimantan, it is no wonder this pristine wind-swept land is known as Bario which literally means ‘The Valley Of The Wind’ in Kelabit language. The average temperature here is 20 Celsius all year round.

The locals rolled out the red carpet to welcome the visitors who included media representatives and Agriculture Ministry officials. There were warm and sincere smiles all round and, of course refreshing drinks to quench our thirst after the menu-less flight.

I also managed to sample the popular local food at the airport — instant noodles and a traditional delicacy known as ‘senapeh’ or Bario glutinous rice.

After pampering ourselves with food and drinks, we hopped onto a  pickup truck (luggage and all) and headed for the Bario mountain salt processing facility at Main Keramut, Kampung Pa’Umor.

As I entered the place, I felt a scorching heat emanating, apparently, from to the steel drums, containing salt water collected from the nearby salt well and used as part of the salt-making process.

It was a fascinating experience for me — my first encounter with the traditional method of making salt. I was given to understand the water in the steel drums takes about five days to completely evaporate and morph into wet salt crystals.

Once formed, the crystals are packed in bamboo tubes and placed over a fire to continue the drying process. The salt will eventually harden into tubes which are then wrapped in palm leaves (tied with strings) before being consumed or sold.

Bario salt has a high content of minerals (natural iron, potassium, and magnesium) and is a much sought after Highlands product. Tubes of Bario salt are available for sale here at RM20 each. You can also get them in the nearby areas, including shops and markets in Miri.

Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: A dream trip to Bario

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Book Review - Pesta Nukenen: Celebrating The Cultural And Culinary Heritage Of The Kelabit Highlands

Pesta Nukenen is a festival that aims to promote, celebrate and preserve the food and culture of the Bario Highlands. Conceived in 2005 and launched the following year, this three-day event showcases the unique foods of the Kelabit people and also introduces visitors to the traditional games, handicrafts, music, songs, dances and stories of this community, in their original and beautiful setting.

This book offers a tantalising glimpse of all that is in store for those planning to attend the annual festival, which will next be held from July 28 to 30.

Kelabit cuisine is at the heart of Pesta Nukenen and would naturally be the main attraction for foodies in search of new and exciting flavours. The most interesting thing about the food of this highland community is the ingredients used.

Apart from the famous Bario rice, and the fruit and vegetables grown by the various longhouse communities of the highlands, a rich variety of jungle flora and fauna, unique to these highlands, are also harvested. This makes for a truly exceptional culinary experience, not just in terms of tastes, but also textures and appearances.

The book features many colour photographs of the food on offer at Pesta Nukenen, and most of the images will appear unfamiliar to most readers because of the ingredients used as well as the cooking and serving methods.

For example, there is rice cooked and served in pitcher plants (several species are found in the Kelabit Highlands), which act as very convenient, biodegradable and edible containers. Rice is also frequently wrapped in isip leaves, as a dessert or a savoury; or cooked in bamboo.

Then there are a variety of wild vegetables, fungus and mushrooms, fried, braised or used in soups; there are river sails sauteed with ginger, garlic and chilli; mouse deer in clear broth; soft-shell turtle consomme; and juicy barbecued sago grubs.

Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Book Review - Pesta Nukenen: Celebrating The Cultural And Culinary Heritage Of The Kelabit Highlands

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Back to Borneo – Kota Kinabalu

We return to Borneo after nearly 20 years.

We last visited this Borneo some 19 years ago to attend a friend’s “naming ceremony” at his wife’s family longhouse in Bario in the Kelabit highlands. A memorable occasion with some 1000 people attending ans something we will never forget.

After the ceremony we headed off to climb Mount Kinabalu. After we reached the peak at 4200 metres above sea level at dawn we were approached film crew who asked if they could film us walking along the ridge. We agreed and thought no more of it.

Several years later As we sat in an airport somewhere in Malaysia we were watching a Malaysia Tourism promotional video. Imagine our surprise when we saw ourselves ourselves on TV!

We plan to explore parts of Borneo we had not seen before as well as revisiting a few places we had briefly skipped through. Arriving in Kota Kinabalu we really didn’t remember much of the city, probably because last time we were staying in a 5 star resort out by the beach, this time we are in somewhere much more basic right in town.

It is a nice place to stay for a few days, easy to get around, great food and safe – or so we thought! We read in the papers a few days later that on the day we arrived the town was “in lock down” due to some gang related shootings. Can’t say we even noticed!

Food

It was nice to get back to some “normal” Malay/Indian/Chinese food after the delicious but, somewhat unusual fare of Korea. Being right by the sea, fish and seafood feature highly on the menus and we take maximum advantage of this!

Fish head curry is a favourite of the locals and is much tastier than the name implies. In the markets, salmon heads are more expensive than fillets. Back home they can’t give them away??? We are staying just yards from the seafront where the night-market, also known the Filipino market sets, up every night.

The variety of fish and seafood on offer is staggering and it really doesn’t get any fresher than this. You choose your fish or seafood and it is prepared by the cooks in any way you can think of (and some you can’t).

We visited several times and tried White Snapper, Red Snapper, Squid, Giant Prawns – barbecued in banana leaves, grilled, steamed, with sambal, soy, ginger, chilli or all of the above. You name it, they can do it.. Some of the best fish and seafood we have encountered anywhere in the world.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Back to Borneo – Kota Kinabalu

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Record Borneo highlanders’ rich cultural heritage and folklores

BARIO: Communities living in the Kelabit and Maligan highlands in Sarawak and Sabah have something to be proud of – a book that documents their rich cultural heritage and folklores.

Entitled ‘Highland Tales in the Heart of Borneo’, the 92-page tome written in English and Bahasa Malaysia is a colourful showcase of the community’s past, present and future intertwined with their surroundings in the picturesque highlands of Ba’ Kelalan, Bario, Long Semadoh in Sarawak and Long Pa’ Sia, Sabah.

The book, launched by the Chief Minister’s wife Puan Sri Jamilah Anu during the Bario Food and Cultural Festival yesterday, is published by the highland’s grassroots and transboundary alliance Forum Masyarakat Adat Dataran Tinggi (Formadat) supported by Sarawak Forest Department, Ministry of Tourism Sarawak, Sarawak Museum Department and WWF-Malaysia.

Formadat Malaysia leader Penghulu George Sigar Sultan said the highlands of Sarawak and Sabah are home to the

Orang Ulu comprising the Kelabit, Lun Bawang and Lundayeh in the northeastern of Heart of Borneo.

“Each has its own distinct dialect and cultural nuances rooted at the core with parallel mythology and oral history. We are the guardians of a rich array of tribal stories and legends,” he said in a press release.

He said the book documented the stories of old and showcased some of the most distinctive sites and stories known to these communities in Sarawak and Sabah.

“This publication will serve as promotional material for ecotourism at natural and cultural sites of the Kelabit and Maligan highlands, a reference for nature guides to use and share with visitors and tourists, and a way to document the history of the Kelabit, Lun Bawang and Lundayeh people in the Heart of Borneo,” he said.

George added that the book meets Formadat’s objectives to raise understanding about the communities in the highlands, maintain cultural traditions, build local capacity and encourage sustainable development in the Heart of Borneo without degrading the quality of social and natural environment.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Record Borneo highlanders’ rich cultural heritage and folklores

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Adventurers take on Heart of Borneo trek

KUCHING: After months of elaborate preparation, the inaugural Heart of Borneo Highlands Eco Challenge kicked off with an enthusiastic group of adventurers.

They will walk in the footsteps of the early settlers of the highlands, who used to travel on foot between Ba Kelalan and Bario through challenging terrain and weather, amidst breathtaking mountainous landscape in the Bornean rainforest.

The eco-challengers, comprising visitors, villagers from the highlands and media practitioners will also walk past historical sites of the people living in the Maligan and Kelabit highlands between Ba Kelalan and Bario. The number of participants was kept small to reduce the impact upon the environment.

This event is organised by Forum Masyarakat Adat Dataran Tinggi (Formadat), a transboundary, grassroots initiative that aims to raise awareness and understanding of the highland communities in the Heart of Borneo (HoB).

It is supported by Ministry of Tourism Sarawak, Sarawak Tourism Board, Forest Department Sarawak, Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Sarawak Museum Department, Curtin University Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Gantuman e-Bario, Tutum Bala e-Ba’ Kelalan, Planet Borneo Tour, Highland Paradise, WWF-Malaysia, Rurum Kelabit Sarawak and Persatuan Lun Bawang Sarawak.

The Heart of Borneo Highlands Eco Challenge, the first of its kind to be held in the highlands, started from Ba Kelalan on July 25 and onwards to Pa’ Rebata, Lepo Bunga, Mount Murud (Church Camp), Long Rebpun and Pa’ Lungan, finally ending in Bario after seven days of trekking.

The ending of this event will coincide with the first day of the 10th Bario Slow Food and Cultural Festival (Pesta Nukenen dan Kebudayaan Kelabit) that will run from July 30 to Aug 1.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Adventurers take on Heart of Borneo trek

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Kelabit highlander’s community to hold three-day Bario Food Festival

MIRI: Some 2,000 people are expected to join in the 10th anniversary celebration of the Bario Food Festival or ‘Pesta Nukenan Bario 2015’ this year.

The annual festival on food and culture of the Kelabit highlander’s community will be held in Bario from July 30 to Aug 1.

The event is organised by Rurum Kelabit Sarawak, with support from Sarawak Tourism Board and Sarawak State Government.

Event committee member Nelson Kebing said this year’s celebration would feature many events and performances.

“In previous years, we recorded a crowd of about 1,000 people. Hopefully, this year we can double the figure through better land access,” he said when contacted yesterday.

“Nukenan celebrates not only the culinary tradition but all that is special and unique about the Kelabit highland and its people.”

“The festival has much to offer, from the wonderful local produce skillfully prepared by local chefs with ingredients not found anywhere else in the world, to taking long walks or trekking tours to the outlying longhouses to experience the warmth and hospitality of the unique longhouses, and of course, to feast on the mouth-watering food,” he explained.

He said for this anniversary, the organising committee expanded the festival to encompass more unique experiences where visitors will get to live and feast in an actual longhouse around the fireplace and get a taste of what life was like in the olden days.

Continue reading at: Kelabit highlander’s community to hold three-day Bario Food Festival

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Spicing up adventure travel in Sarawak

THE inaugural Heart of Borneo Eco Challenge is now open for registration.

It’s time to cross the following items off your bucket list — broaden horizons, leave the comfort of urbanity to explore, trek and hike in Borneo, walk the pilgrimage trail of the Lun Bawangs and the Kelabits, bird watching in the highlands, gain indigenous knowledge of the forests.

The Eco Challenge, typically lasting eight days and seven nights (July 24 to 31) from Ba Kelalan to Bario, will set adventure seekers and nature lovers on a trail, stretching over 100km through various terrains and weather conditions, ranging from 25 degrees Celsius in the day to below 10 degrees Celsius at night.

To keep all belongings dry, a backpack with raincover is highly recommended. For the safety and health of porters, participants are reminded to backpack the maximum 15kg each, and carry a daypack with their basic necessities such as medication, drinking water, mosquito repellent throughout their hike.

Getting to Ba Kelalan from Miri takes just one hour 35 minutes in a MasWings 19-seater Twin Otter. If you have never been in this plane before or have always wanted to be in one, you can cross this off your bucket list as well. The Twin Otter offers a very casual flight experience as the first thing you will notice is the free seating.

In Ba Kelalan, passengers are escorted off the tarmac into the quaint airport to collect their baggage and settle in. Ba Kelalan is a settlement comprising nine villages 910m above sea level. The largest village, and the village where the airport is located, is called Buduk Nur. Most of villagers are Lun Bawangs.

On the second day, hike from Buduk Nur to Pa’ Rebata shelter. Pa’ in Lun Ba-wang means river and the Pa’ Rebata shelter indicates it is next to the Rebata River. The journey takes about seven hours through heath forest, hills and logging tracks.

The start of the trail is fairly easy — through rolling hills and into the forest. As the trail steepens, participants will pass several historical sites – Natad Agong, a spot dedicated to Agong Bangau, the man who holds the record of felling the farthest tree (meranti) from the village for construction in the 80’s. Paths carved by his buffalo hauling a tree are still very much visible and the stump of the tree remains as a marker.

The sole surviving yoke for this purpose belongs to a family in Pa’ Lungan, Bario.

Gurkha landings

Natad Gurkha is a rest area, commemorating Gurkha landings in Ba Kelalan during Operation Claret (1964-66) at the time of Indonesia’s Confrontation (1963-1966).

It is said the actual landing site by the Gurkhas is further up the trail at what used to a helicopter landing area. A signage called Natad Belaban Atas was erected at the existing site. Natad means resting spot in Lun Bawang and Belaban refers to the type of trees once found in the area.

The big tree named after Natad Gurkha is visible from Buduk Nur and Ba Kelalan airport. It is highly significant for the locals who set up barricades against a logging conglomerate in 1992 to protect this particular tree and the remaining trees below as well as their water catchment area.

On the logging tracks, footprints of small mammals are highly visible. A participant from the initial recce team had a brief encounter with a barking deer. Sweat bees along the tracks are common but it is no cause for panic as they are harmless.

Upon reaching the shelter, a refreshing swim and cooling dip awaits at Pa’ Rebata.

On the third day, participants will begin their five-hour ascent on the logging tracks to Lepo Bunga shelter — or the Shelter of Flowers in Lun Bawang after the original one was used for flower and orchid research some 30 years ago.

Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Spicing up adventure travel in Sarawak

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A Journey to the Bario Highlands in Sarawak

Among one of the least visited places in Sarawak, the Bario Highlands are on top of the list of must-visit places on the island of Borneo. Where is this strange place located? What highlands is this? Many may think Sarawak offers countless hectares of rainforest but bordering Kalimantan Indonesia in the north is the unique and intriguing Bario Highlands and this is my story.

I have heard so much about Bario over the years, especially from fellow Sarawakian friends telling me that I should visit this place and finally in late 2014, I was fortunate to make that trip there. Before I go on, you should know that the Bario Highlands is home of the Kelabit people Bario or "Bariew" means "the valley of the wind" in the Kelabit language. The place has pleasant temperatures of 16-25 degree Celsius throughout the year too.

Where is Bario?

The Bario Highlands are elevated to about 1000 meters above sea level and is home to about 6,000 Lun Bawang, Kayan and Kenyah people, all which make up the Kelabit people. Bario shares the highlands with another popular village called Ba'Kelalan and two more smaller villages called Long Lellang and Long Seridan. There are many other smaller villages where in total, there are about 10 villages here. However, it is Bario that is claimed as the capital village here.

People would say that Bario is one of the most beautiful places to visit and for anyone interested, you should know that there are only three flights daily from Lawas and Miri but they are on a 16-seater turboprop MASwings plane which is one unique experience for anyone who has never flown in a small plane. The takeoffs and landings are the ones to look out for while on board, it is only you, the local villagers, pilot and co-pilot in the plane. There are no stewardesses or toilets like how a local commercial jet has to offer.

Flying to Bario

Flying over the vast rainforest at a very low altitude kept me looking out the turboprop plane window as rarely I see things from the air so low. Primary and secondary rainforest stretch for as far as your eye can see with logging roads and winding rivers breaking the green tones of the forest canopy.

One thing to note is that if the weather is bad, flights would most likely be cancelled or if you're on flight, the plane could turn back to the airport. I know this simply because I had a chat with the both pilots as I was sitting right behind them on flight.

The noise of the turboprop plane would silence any loud speaking tourist immediately therefore for once, it was a pleasant one hour flight minus the laughing or gossip. Looking around in the plane saw most of the local and international journalist in their own zone, some excited, some afraid while the local Kelabit passengers were seen snoozing comfortably.

Nearing Bario, I asked the pilots and they pointed the village from the plane cockpit before making a turn in the air to come in for landing. As it was quite a good and clear day, I managed to take a video of the plane landing in Bario. Check it out below as the video says more that me typing in words.

Continue reading (Incl. Pics & Vid) at: A Journey to the Bario Highlands in Sarawak

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Never a dull moment in the Kelabit highlands

THE Kelabits’ first contact with the outside world was a rather rude awakening for them.

It came at a turbulent time when Tom Harrison and his team landed in the Bario Highlands as a covet force to resist the Japanese occupation of Sarawak during the Second World War.

It was equally a cultural shock – and language barrier – for Tom Harrison even after spending time learning about the traditions and customs of the Kelabits and picking up their vocabularies before he made the landing.

Tom Harrison wrote in his book World Within: A Borneo Story:

“The effect of my verbal attempts upon the good man were entirely negative. Indeed, less that that. For instance:

Me: Kita Kelabit?

He: ……

Me: (Tapping his chest and looking winsome) Kelabit-kau Kelabit?

He: Ekor? (meaning you).

Me: (getting over-excited, thumping him and pointing all around) Kelabit? Kelabit? KELABIT?

He: Bah.

We had a lot of that Bah, which I could not grasp was attached to several words – to mean the longhouse in which he lived, the plain on which we stood, the people around.

The BAT team also had a cultural shock – albeit of the occidental variety – while sharing a meal with a Belgian couple who checked into the Ngimat Homestay on the second day of our arrival.

It was a five-dish meal served with rice. Two steamed fish in the menu was brought out in a fish-shaped plate.

The Belgian husband was quick to scoop a whole fish onto his plate – much to amusement of the BAT team.

Perhaps, the man was thinking the fish was the main dish. If so, and it looked pretty much like it, we didn’t really mind his apparent lack of meal-time etiquette as perhaps an infrequent traveller to this part of the world.

In fact, we were more concerned about the Belgian diner getting bogged down by the drudgery of dodging the small sharp bones in the Semah fish he was eating. After all, he could end up picking bones and missing out on what should be a delicious meal.

As he started to eat, his wife realised the fish was meant to be shared and began nagging him in their language but from the body language, we knew she was “teaching” her man a lesson in table manners.

Red as lobster, the man tried to put the fish back onto the plate. We quickly assured him it was completely all right for him to have the whole fish.

Then came the cultural shock! After he was almost done, the man put the near skeletal remains of the whole fish – head, tail and bones – back into the main serving dish!

Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Never a dull moment in the Kelabit highlands

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A Jewel in Rural Borneo

Blue skies stretched out as far as our eyes could see, decorated by clusters of clouds floating around nonchalantly. The extremely bumpy ride at the back of a pickup was giving us sore bottoms but for the nature around us and the refreshingly cool breezes, it was worth it.

It was Labour’s Day afternoon in the gateway to Kelabit Highlands – Bario. Sitting at around 3,500 feet above sea level in Northern Sarawak near Kalimantan, the Kelabit Highlands consist of quite some rural villages, all well-preserved and isolated from modern day civilisation.

The best way to get to Bario is by plane, either from Miri or Marudi. Not on a Boeing, mind you, but a Twin Otter so tiny you can’t stand straight in the plane.

The flight to Bario from Miri proved amazing as the little plane propelled over changing landscape below – from the seaside city to the oil palm plantations to the tropical rainforests and rugged mountains including Mulu National Park.

If you’re sitting on the left side of the plane and the weather is clear, you might catch a lucky glimpse of the Pinnacles. Keep a lookout for Batu Lawi as the plane approaches Bario – a set of twin peaks with cultural myths in the ancient days.

Tourists are picked up by their respective homestay owners from the airport. Homestay is the only accommodation option in this village, normally with full meal provision during your stay. As most of my colleagues in our travel party are Muslims, we settled for the only homestay with halal food – Pak Mus’.

The rooms are much nicer than I thought and we even had the living room to ourselves as no one else was there. We spent the afternoon touring the village on a Proton-converted pickup, walking around a bit in search of viewpoints.

Dinner, like lunch, was served with the infamous Bario rice, fish, curry, plenty of vege and delicious sambal. Sometimes, you never know how hungry you are until you start digging in. That night we turned in to bed early as we needed energy the next day…

…and the next morning I realized seems like I was the only one who slept peacefully XD. Praise God for my super sleeping-ability! After breakfast, we hopped on the pickup again – heypresto! Guide Halim made us benches out of planks and bricks..so touched! A 15 mins drive took us near to Pa’Ukat where it was time to get on our feet and start our trek to Pa’Lungan, a small village roughly 4 hrs away on foot.

Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: A Jewel in Rural Borneo

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MoU on Heart of Borneo signed

KUCHING: The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia, WWF-Indonesia and the Alliance of the Indigenous Peoples of the Highlands of Borneo (Formadat) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to forge a stronger and more formal partnership on community engagement in the Heart of Borneo (HoB).

Sealed last Wednesday, the MoU is part of a new approach to widen coalitions and collaborations with civil society for conservation.

Signing for WWF were WWF-Malaysia executive director and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma and WWF-Indonesia chief executive officer Dr Efransjah; while Formadat was represented by its chief for Malaysia Penghulu Sigar Sultan, chief for Indonesia Lewi Gala Paru and advisor Ricky Ganang.

“We hope this is the first of several partnerships and formal collaborations with local organisations all along the border between Malaysia and Indonesia in the HoB,” said Sharma on behalf of WWF.

Under the MoU, the organisations will collaborate to encourage conservation and sustainable development in the Kelabit and Maligan Highlands (Sarawak) and Krayan (Kalimantan), and help realise a sustainable future in the HoB, said a media statement yesterday.

Initiatives by Formadat, which are supported by WWF include enhancing sustainable agricultural practices, promotion of local products, and trans-border and community-based ecotourism.

They also include helping to establish fair trading networks across the border to provide the local communities with better market access that promotes sustainability.

With WWF’s support, Formadat will continue to work towards the conservation of water sources, riverbanks and community forests, protection of cultural historical sites, and protection of collective intellectual property rights of the indigenous peoples of the highlands.

The focus of the collaboration is in line with the green economy vision of the HoB Initiative, which aims to transform economic practices by valuing natural capital and enhancing benefits for those whose livelihoods depend on natural resources.

Continue reading at: MoU on Heart of Borneo signed

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Metal age existed in Kelabit Highlands

KUCHING: The central highlands of Borneo has the potential to become an archaeological site with its rich and complex past.

Sogang University Seoul Korea, Institute for East Asian Studies (Southeast Asian Archaeology) assistant professor Dr Lindsay Lloyd-Smith who worked as a post-doctoral research associate on the Cultured Rainforest Project (CRP) in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak and coordinated the archaeological fieldwork from 2007 to 2010, said spreading knowledge and information from the archaelogical research can better protect the sites and surrounding landscapes.

“What we discovered from CRP during those three years was that we found very large open-air settlement sites dating to 2,500 to 1,000 years ago with what appeared to be stone walls as well as lots of pottery and metal work.

“As far as I’m aware, this could be the earliest metal age site in the whole of Borneo which would be tremendously exciting to find out what are these stone walls and how did they relate to burial activity within the area,” he told reporters after presenting a Heritage Talk on ‘Early Central Borneo: Investigating the Early Metal Age of the Kelabit Highlands’ at Dewan Tun Razak here yesterday.

According to him, the purpose for the project was to shed light on an unknown past which appeared to be very different from recent traditional Bornean way of life in longhouses.

“One aim of the work is to create cultural understanding, appreciation of the value of these monuments to protect the rich cultural heritage of Sarawak.

“These sites are all across the highlands and it is very important to make people aware of protecting the site,” he said, adding that CRP was currently in the writing-up stage and a summary of the results will be shown in an exhibition in late January 2014 in Miri.

To learn more about this exciting early period of archaeology in the Kelabit Highlands, Dr Lloyd-Smith together with a fellow colleague from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) has since embarked on a three-year Research and Community Archaeology and Heritage Project in July this year.

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Bario Food Festival at the Tribal Stove a huge success

KUCHING: The Bario Food Festival held recently at the Tribal Stove, the only Kelabit restaurant in Kuching was a success.

Hundreds of people donated generously by purchasing coupons in exchange for a traditionally cooked meal.

Long lines formed during lunch and dinner hours and the response to the food was certainly encouraging.

Organised by the Women’s wing of Rurum Kelabit Sarawak, members of the community presented a smorgasbord of delicious organic food from the Kelabit Highlands which included dishes such as ‘busak keluduh’ and ‘ubud tubu buen’ which is ginger flower and wild ginger pith salad and ‘launau’ which is local asparagus grown in the highlands.

For many of the guests, this was a first-time experience in savouring Kelabit cuisine.

Among them were Adeline Ong, from Singapore who came with her husband, Eugene Chin and a host of friends.

“I think the food is just incredible.

“This is my first time savouring food from the Kelabit highlands and I just can’t get over how fresh and organic everything is. The whole environment felt so authentic with traditional music and dancing in the background,” she enthused.

Also enjoying the unique culinary and cultural experience was Sabrina Bujang who came with Jiman, a guest from Kuala Lumpur.

“The event was really fun and unique. I enjoyed the food tremendously and we stayed on for quite a while to enjoy the performances and meeting people from all over. I think we overstayed and we had so much fun that unfortunately my friend missed his flight. He has no regrets though as we all had a great time.”

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World Harvest Festival’s play based on Kelabit folklore

KUCHING: This year’s World Harvest Festival’s play will be ‘The Fish Princess: A Highlander Love Story’ based on a Kelabit folklore to be set at the heart of the Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) from May 3 and 4.

The play will be utilising SCV’s lake, ethnic houses and trees as natural props.

It aims to promote Sarawak as the land of folklores and legends.

In a nutshell, the play will tell the story of a water world princess who is turned into a fish and sent to earth.

The fish princess is then raised by a poor childless couple called Abing Lian and Sigang Aban who resided in a village called Pa’ Labid.

As time goes by, the couple is shocked when the fish they raised turned into a young and beautiful lady whom they named Dayang Abing Lian.

With magical powers bestowed upon her, Dayang was able to turn her poor family into a very wealthy family in the village.

The wealth of Dayang’s family became news and also her beauty.

Conflicts arose when young men fought one another over her.

Dayang became the envy of young women in the village when a handsome noble man named Berapoi fell in love with her.

Eventually, Dayang and Berapoi were married in a grand wedding celebration according to traditions and they lived happily ever after.

The original story is adapted from the story book, ‘Kumpulan Cerita Rakyat Sarawak’, compiled by Jiso Rutan and Abdul Kadir Yunus and published by Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka in 2010.

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Aussie visits Borneo 137 times in five years

SIBU: Australian Bob Pinkerton has visited Borneo 137 times in the past five years, something he deems a personal achievement.

He said he really liked to be in the world’s third largest island.

“It is very interesting to be here. Borneo people are wonderful,” he told reporters when met at Bukit Lima Forest Reserve here on Monday.

But most of all, this historian said he was thankful to Borneoens for looking after his father, the late Lieutenant R J D Pinkerton, a veteran of the Second World War (WWII).

“If not for the Borneo people, I would not be here at all,” he said.

According to Bob, his father was involved in Semut Operations between 1943 and 1945.

Semut Operations, which started in Bario, was undertaken by Z Special Unit, an Allied special force to operate behind Japanese lines in South East Asia. The members comprised Australians, British, Dutch, New Zealanders, Timorese and Indonesians.

In Borneo, the unit conducted surveillance, harassed attacks and sabotages and trained the natives in resistance activities.

Bob said his father was known as Tuan Pink Orang Tinggi among the Kelabit of Bario.

“His mission was to go north to Lawas to track down the Japanese while some of his colleagues came down to Kapit through Sibu by Catalina aircraft.

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Bario forever in our hearts

MIRI: Bario, in the famed Kelabit Highlands, is deeply etched in the hearts of many foreigners whose fathers had served the special allied forces there during the Second World War (WWII).

One who has fond memories of Bario is Australian Judi Wigzell. She recently shared with Society of English Writers Northern Sarawak (Soswe) members here about her father, the late Sergeant FA Wigzell, a New Zealander, attached to the Special Operations Australia ‘Z’ Special Unit.

The Special Unit, which is also known as the Special Operations Executive (SOE), Special Operations Australia (SOA) and the Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD), was an allied special force formed to operate behind Japanese lines in South East Asia during the WWII.

Comprising Australians, British, Dutch, New Zealand, Timorese and Indonesian members, the ‘Z’ Special Unit operated as a specialist reconnaissance and sabotage body. They largely operated in Borneo and in the islands of the former Netherlands East Indies.

“My father was so emotional even after so many years away from the battlegrounds,” said Judi at the Gymkhana Club here.

Judi flew to Bario with three other Australians on March 25, 2013, to hand over memorial tablets of eight Australians and 23 New Zealanders to a school library there.

They went there on March 25 as it was the day these fallen heroes parachuted into the jungles of Bario back then.

Judi was accompanied by 93-year-old Jack Tredrea, the sole survivor from the Australian ‘Z’ Special Unit, Linda Sanderson Burr (daughter of the late QX11361 Sergeant C.L. Sanderson) and Bob Pinkerton (son of the late NX43707 Lieutenant R.J.D. Pinkerton).

Not wanting to miss this rare occasion, Soswe secretary Jennie Soh flew to Bario to witness the handing over of the tablets.

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Homestay in rustic Bario

HOME away from home aptly describes Leminan Lodge, a Sarawak homestay in Bario.

It offers guests the comfort and privacy of home in the midst of the rustic Kelabit highlands.

Perfect for guests who are less adventurous, the Lodge provides them the feel of home – at the same time, adventure at its doorstep. It also gives them the feel of space and privacy as it does not have the ‘commonness’ of a longhouse-styled homestay.

The interior of the Lodge is styled after that of a mountain cabin; the warm hue of the wooden panelling on the wall exudes coziness that provides guests a comforting respite from the nippy highland temperature at night.

During the day when the sun is high and the temperature turns warmer, the huge sliding windows allow the cool highland breeze to waft through creating a prefect environment for a midday snooze.

The three-storey homestay is modelled after the Dutch architecture with an attic converted into a bedroom typical of that of a Swiss loft. The cozy loft is for sale, according to Shep Bala, owner of the homestay, but only upon request.

The first floor consists of a living room, kitchen and dining room while the second floor has bedrooms, a sitting room with a panoramic view of the highlands, a village centre and a wash and bath room.

Two bedrooms have the luxury of a veranda that overlooks to the rustic backdrop of Bario while all the rooms have splendid view of Nature.

Only a stone’s throw from the village centre, the Lodge has the best of both worlds – it’s within minutes from the hustle and bustle of civilisation, at the same time, far enough to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the highlands. It’s less than 10 minutes from the airport.

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