On the mountain top

 

My "youthful" church on the mountain top overlooking the city..we were there praying for the city..HALLELUJAH

MYSTICAL GARDEN IN BARAM

An enchanting and mysterious Eden-like garden hidden in the deep jungle of Borneo near the Dulit Range in upper Tinjar surfaced again recently after long forgotten since it was first mentioned by Charles Hose in his book Fifty Years of Romance and Research in Borneo in 1891.

The recent encounter with this mysterious garden was narrated by one 52-year Merang Kaling to a tour operator John Barah recently.

According to Merang, a former surveyor with two timber companies it was in 1992 when he set out to trek the upper part of the Dulit Range in search of the valuable jungle treasure “ bird nest and garo” with one Tajoh Ginat of Long Aton.

After two days of jungle trekking, the two of them camped by a small stream. The following day, they continued their jungle trekking, climbing a sandstone cliff for the most part of the day.

To their surprise, they discovered something strange in the deep jungle-a garden with tobacco and brinjal. The garden was only a stone throw away from the summit of the Dulit Range, said Merang.

“There were tobacco plants planted in neat rows. The leaves were 5 inches wide and about one foot in length. At the edge of the garden we saw green round brinjal plants. I noticed that some of the tobacco leaves had been freshly plucked by someone but there was no footprints. All the tobacco leaves were perpetual evergreen, not a single one appear to wilt. The garden was very clean with not a single leave drop to the ground. But the mysterious thing about the garden was that there was not a trail leading to it and no sign of human activity. The width of the garden was about 12 feet and the length was about 2 chains,” said Merang.

After spending about half an hour in the garden, the two of them came down to their camp. That night they slept peacefully. Merang realised that he had chanced across the garden his elders had talked about in their folklore regarding the Dulit Range.

After interviewing Merang about his encounter with this mysterious garden, John found a similar experience that Hose had way back in 1891 where he wrote about his experience in his book called Fifty Years of Romance and Research in Borneo, “ Early next day I ventured to climb a greystone cliff which was directly above us, using ladders and cords made of rattan, and was rewarded for my trouble by finding many things of interest. First we came upon a large cave with a long ridge of overhanging rock. The soil underneath this ridge was very dry, but to the surprise of everyone, tobacco was found growing in several places. We picked some of the leaves, which measured for 4 to 5 inches across and about a foot long. This wild tobacco, growing at the entrance of the cave, appeared to be flourishing at an altitude which I estimated to be 4150 feet. The Punans, who collected this wild tobacco, believe that it was originally planted by the spirits.”

According to John, Merang would make another jungle expedition to unravel the mystery behind this garden in two weeks time hoping to bring some conclusive proofs of the existence of the garden to the outside world.

"I hope to make the journey before the end of this year," said Merang.

It was reported that any attempt in the past to bring back this tobacco leave was futile as the leave simply dissolve or melt away once it was brought out of the enchanting environment of the garden.

I suggested that he take pictures of the garden supposedly built and guarded by spirits. ENDS.

Caption: TALE OF A MYSTICAL GARDEN IN BORNEO: John Barah.

KEDAYAN NCR ISSUE

The Kedayan community in Bekenu are happy that their NCR land controversy has finally been resolved.

“We wish to express our gratitude to the Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib for his swift action in resolving the issue,” said Ketua Kampung Narawi Ariffin.

He told this to the Borneo Post after he led a group of his men to clear one of the four ancestral cemeteries in the disputed NCR land.

“It has never been our intention to go against the government in raising the issue lately. From the beginning we have never approached the Opposition to champion our cause,” said Narawi.

“We will continue to give our undivided support to the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government,” he added.

He pointed out the government acted swiftly by sending officers from the Land and Survey department to check the existence of the four cemeteries.

According to 69-year old Manap Samah the Kedayan community came from Brunei Darrusalam about 300 years ago.

He did not know the exact reason for the Kedayans to migrate from Brunei at that time but he said the original place of the Kedayans was at Kampung Uban.

From Kampung Uban, the Kedayans moved out to various places in Sarawak to as far as Kuching, Sibuti, Miri and Limbang.ENDS.

Caption: kedayan1-OUR LAND: Narawi (second from left) and his men pointing out to their land planted with oil palm trees.

Kedayan2- ANCESTRAL RESTING PLACE: Narawi (centre) at Sg Kabut, Kejapil muslim cemetery.

Kedayan3-BUSINESS MINDED: Kedayan women folks selling a variety of fruits and vegetables at Kejapil Tamu.

Kedayan4-THE PROOF: The map that shows the disputed area.

TALK AT CURTIN U

The students of Mass Communication, Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus sat down for an hour or so listening to talk given by veteran journalists representing the Northern Sarawak Journalist Association (NSJA) yesterday.

The event was a joint collaboration between the university and the association.

Also present were the NSJA president Chai Chon Chin,the Head and Senior Lecturer of the Department of Mass Communication Dr. Joseph Jayaprakash Yesudhasan,lecturer Mawi Taip, the secretary George Bennet Francis, Borneo Post senior reporter Lucas Jalong Bato.

Lucas spoke on the Daily Life of A Reporter while George spoke on Criminal Justice Reporting. ENDS.

Caption: REPORTING TIPS: (Seated from left: Joseph, George, Lucas, Mawi and Chai) with the students.

TOUGH INDIGENOUS MEN OF LONG SERIDAN

Tough indigenous men of Long Seridan came together recently to repair a broken bridge that links their longhouse to the outside world by land.

The bridge was cut off by a timber company operating in the area last April on the pretext of preventing thefts in a timber camp near the longhouse.

After months of waiting for the bridge to be repaired by the timber company on humanitarian grounds, the longhouse community leaders called their young men working in the urban centres like Miri, Bintulu and Kuching to come back to repair the bridge.

The reason being at the end of this year before Christmas there is going to be a big Kelabit naming ceremony in the longhouse. Due to this significant traditional event in the culture of the tribal Kelabit clan, there are expected to be a big influx of not only their own people going back to witness the event, but a lot of outsiders especially tourists are expected to make a bee line for Long Seridan.

Although there is a rural air service to the longhouse, the flight frequencies are not expected to be able to ferry all the people who plan to go back for the occasion.

Hence, the urgency of repairing the broken bridge in order to facilitate a smooth flow of traffic back to the longhouse for the traditional event and also for Christmas at home.

According to the team leader Joseph Maran, three 4WD vehicles from Miri with scores of men took part in the gotong-royong to help their community at home.
“We used about 30 pieces of logs to repair the bridge,” said Joseph.

He wished to thank all those who volunteered to take the time off to do a tough job for their community.

“It is this spirit of self-reliant that is commendable among the men of Long Seridan. It taught us that if there's a will, there's a way. Initially, we were discouraged after failing to get any positive response to get the bridge repaired but we decided to do something ourselves” said Joseph.ENDS.

Caption: BUILDING BRIDGES: Tough men of Long Seridan at the bridge. Joseph is the one holding the chain saw.

Jewel Tourism

With the world heritage centre Mulu Caves as the anchor, the huge Baram region can be positioned as a premier tourism destination said Telang Usan assemblyman Lihan Jok.

Baram district in Miri Division is almost the size of the state of Pahang is home to the various indigenous tribal groups of the Land of the Hornbill.

“The asset of the indigenous people in Baram is their colourful and interesting cultures. If we can market the culture of our indigenous people in Baram to the outside world, we can attract tourists who are interested in the cultures and traditions of the indigenous people. I believe our people can take part in this industry and will directly benefit from it. Our people cannot possibly take part in oil palm plantation industry because this industry require big capital and expertise,“ said Lihan Jok.

He said this during the presentation of Mesra Malaysia and Tourism Certificates dinner recently.

The dinner was organised by the women wing of the federation of orang ulu associations FORUM). Present were the organising chairperson Kijan Toynbee, the city council secretary Antonio Kathi Galis, the Telang Usan PBB youth chief councillor Dennis Ngau Jok and several heads of associations.

Lihan firmly believed that tourism is the one industry for Baram that is marketable if all the players in the industry play their role.

This is in line with the call by the Chief Minister to have one industry for one division, said Lihan.

With that in mind, he suggested a brainstorming session among the industry players and stake holders in the very near future.

“We are serious in tapping this potential gold mine for our people. A breakthrough can come when there is a perfect collaboration among all the stake holders and industry players,” said Lihan.

Lihan pointed out that the Baram hinterland can complement Miri as the Resort City, drawing tourists from all around the world who are keen to have a tropical adventure in the deep jungle of Baram.

As the tourists trek through the jungle of Baram, enjoying the scenic and virgin forests, they can also learn about the colourful cultures of the indigenous tribal people along the mighty Baram river.

Baram has a lot to offer in terms of historical values.

There are a number of forts in the interiors, legacy of the colonial era. If these forts can be promoted as tourist destinations with some story-telling about their histories, these forts can be as famous as the Famosa in Malacca.

With tales of barter trade between the traders and the semi-nomadic Penans in days of old, Baram has a lot of nostalgia to offer to the outside world especially tourists from Britain.

With the historic Baram Regatta held once every three years, this event can be promoted in the country's tourism calendar.

This year Baram Regatta is held from 15 to 17 August. The first Baram Regatta, held in 1899 was a peace-making ceremony between the warring tribes in Baram in those days.

The first Baram Regatta early turned into a bloody tribal war between the various tribes that came to Marudi to take part in the boat-race when one of the tribal leader was wounded by a member of an opposing tribe.

However, the wounded tribal leader stood up and pacify his men saying it was an accident, thus averting a tragedy from happening on the momentous occasion.

“With all these colorful history of Baram and the diverse and beautiful cultures of its people, I don't see any reason why tourism cannot be as successful as other industries in Baram. We have a lot of tourist destinations yet to be tapped like the Usun Apau,” said Lihan. ENDS.

Caption: TOURISM JEWEL: Lihan (seated fourth from left) with other guests at the dinner.

ONGKILI IN CURTIN

To underscore its commitment to make the country competitive globally,the Malaysian Government allocated RM4.3 billion under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) for research fund, said the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili.

“I argued vehemently against any cut in research fund due to the current economic situation during the last Cabinet meeting,and my Cabinet colleagues saw the critical need to continue supporting research work. They were saying don't touch the research grants. So a portion of the intended cut in research fund were put back and hopefully we will continue to be able to support research for the sake of the new economy the country is aiming for which is based on science and technology,” said Ongkili.

He said this when addressing researchers in Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus yesterday.

Present also were the deputy chief minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam, the Assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communication Lee Kim Shin and the Dean Associate Professor Joan Gribble.

Ongkili expressed satisfaction with the university for its research effort.

Of the eight Curtin's ongoing externally funded research projects, five were funded by MOSTI.

“From what I saw, those are the kinds of things MOSTI are promoting. Your research is right on track and you are right in the centre of thing,” said Ongkili.

He was particularly attracted to the research by the university on Hardware and Software Design of Body Sensor Network Device, funded by MOSTI.

Another research which was particularly relevant to the country was Development of a Compartmented Fluidized-Bed Gasifier for Syngas Production and Power Generation from Biomass (palm wastes).

“I am personally biased toward biomass. This will be the jewel of research priority. Anyone addressing this part of research effort is sure to get millions of ringgit in research funding from my ministry. Every year 1 million of oil palm trees are being cut down and left to waste. If these wastes can be processed into ethanol, so there is a need to carry out research in this area,” said Ongkili.

“I encourage you to move on with your research effort in this university. For the next six months, I will be visiting all the universities who have received research grants from MOSTI, to see the progress of their research,” he added. ENDS with photo.

Caption: 08-8ongkili7: RESEARCH CUTTING EDGE: Ongkili (seated third from left) with the researchers and staff of Curtin. Lee is to his left.