Scattered Seeds

Gabby modeling the T-Shirt

In a bid to raise money to subsidize future treks, the CIMP Trekking Club is printing T-shirts. The first design “I’m addicted… Take me high up the mountains” comes in two variations—Grey and Purple (Magenta) for the front design—with a total production run of only 250 pieces. The shirts will hit the shelves beginning May 20, 2008.

Each shirt is priced of at RM30.00. Overseas shipping charges will be extra.

Sizes vary:
Regular-T Sizes: S, M, L and XL
Ladies-T Sizes: XS, S, M, L and XL

Shirts are moving quite quickly. There are now limited quantities of sizes M and L.

The following is the press statement by Donny Dhwie, the Punan National Association Secretary:

Tuesday, 06 May 2008

PRESS STATEMENT
Punan oldest longhouse destroyed by fire

Punan Bah, Punan largest and oldest longhouse in Sarawak was destroyed by ragging fire yesterday. The longhouse which is a about 80 KM from Kapit, is consist of 4 blocks of longhouses next to each other. Each block has more than 12 unit/rooms. The longhouse total population is approximately 800 – 1000 people. The tragedy have made more than 300 of them without home.

Traditionally the Punan, at Bah area were farmers, but in recent years, many have migrated to urban areas such as Sibu, Bintulu, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur to escape rural poverty.

The fire started at around noon last Monday from one of the unit took less than 30 minutes to raze down three blocks of the four unit longhouses. The remaining longhouse which is about 60 meter away from the three longhouse were safe.

Also destroyed were four keliriengs or “burial poles”. The four “Keliriengs” believed to be at more than 200 years old each, were among the oldest “keliriengs” found in the whole of Sarawak. Kelirieng a uniquely Punan custom was built as a “burial place” for Punan aristocrats and leaders.

Punan National Association estimated more than half a million worth of personal properties were loss in the fire. The longhouse which were gradually rebuilt in favor of slightly modern structure made of belian and cement completed in 2000. The old longhouse were entirely made of solid wooden structure mostly “belian”.

It is time that the government consider helping the Punan communities by setting up up “rural firefigther (BOMBA) in our longhouses to prevent similar accident from recurring. At present none of Punan longhouses have any fire prevention measure in place.

Earlier this year another Punan longhouse – Punan Biau, about 20 minutes away from Punan Bah was also razed by fire. They have seen sheltering with relatives, while slowly rebuilding their longhouse. We hope relevant authorities would do something to help us.

How you can help?

You can help the fire victims by donating clothes, foodstuff, toys for kids, household appliances, stoves, and logitics. Punan National Association in collaboration with relevant authorities are working closely to coordinate relieve efforts.

* 013-8230 155 Mr Donny Dhwie – Kuching.
* 019-8550 910 Mr Calvin Jemarang – Bintulu
* 019 8183 367 Mr Paren Balan – Sibu
* 013 2235 114 Mr Daniel Batin – Miri
* 019 897 9447 Mr Johnny Adin – Kota Kinabalu
* 013 308 6748 / 013 571 3207 Mr Lida /Jalil – Kuala Lumpur

• source: Punan Community Website Blog

Punan Bah Longhouse on fire – Video (sourced from punan.info on May 13, 2008)

Punan Bah Longhouse Razed In Fire
by punan_info

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Related Links:
• Punan Community Website
• “Ancient Totems Ruined”
• “Longhouses Razed in fire.”

What is it that makes one return to a place again and again?

That’s a question that I am often asked. And for different places there are different reasons. Of all the mountains that I’ve reached the summit more than once, there’s always something that attracts me, something that warrants a return. It could be because I have fallen in love with the place—Gunung Irau and it’s fantasy-like mossy landscape immediately comes to mind. On the other extreme, I journey up Gunung Nuang just to remind myself why I hate it. Sometimes it’s simply to experience the place at different times of the day. I’ve been to Gunung Datuk so many times, but there’s still something that’s elusive. Of the 24 hours in a day, I’ve yet to be at the summit of Gunung Datuk from between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. To watch the sun set beyond the Straits of Malacca from the summit is what I want to do before the year is out.

Sometimes I go on a journey to a same place because of the company of people or even if it’s just one person—a return to Gunung Kinabalu within a year of my first summit is one such case.

At other times, it’s the challenge and varying degrees of difficulties the mountains pose that make me go back again and again. Bukit Kutu is one such place. I have a pretty bad record with this mountain—I’ve only had a 50% chance of successfully reaching the summit. This mountain seems to play games with me. Many a times I decide to return to the place is because I find it embarrassing to tell people that I got lost at Bukit Kutu. It’s been over a year since I lost the trail after walking for an hour and lost in my bid to reach the summit. So I will go again. I have to—I can’t let the mountain have the better me.

But I’ve other reasons to return to Bukit Kutu now.

One of the attractions of the mountain is that there used to be bungalows at the summit, which were destroyed during World War II. The remains and ruins of the bungalows that once stood over a hundred years ago still exist. Just to see the lonesome fireplace and to drink from one of the existing wells makes hiking to the top a worthwhile experience. Having said that, I admit I’ve yet to explored all the ruins. Somehow I’ve never thought of venturing amongst the tall grass that has grown over the building sites. I’ve always been contented of reaching the summit.

But when I was spending the night in a bungalow provided by Orang Asli at Pos Atap, Goh spoke of the Bukit Kutu bungalows. I realized then that I should have explored all those places to truly know the place.

And so it is that I’ll be heading up Bukit Kutu again with the intention of placing footprints in the bungalows (or what’s left of them) sometime this year. But before I make that trip, I’ve been looking for materials from over a hundred years ago—back to the time when the bungalows were built by Lambert Bowen (apparently so, but I’ll need to confirm this).

The one that caught my interest is the “Photograph collection of the British Association of Malaysia and Singapore” that is held at the Cambridge University Library. In the collection of photographs presumably taken by Ernest Barton Maundrell (1880-1916) are about 10 photographs related to Bukit Kutu. One photograph is labeled: “New bungalow, Bukit Kutu. Showing Lambert Bowen (1870-), an engineer in Perak and Selangor and R. Desborough (no information), standing in the doorway of a small bungalow.”

To see that picture will be a wonderful journey through time. To see that picture will give evidence of the completed building. To see that picture will give me the pleasure of knowing more about Malaysia. I’ve written to the library, and am awaiting their response. I hope some good will come of it. and I have received a reply. The good news is that I can actually get a copy of the image now that the copyright has lapsed. The bad news is that it’ll make a large hole in my pockets. Well, I can get lesser quality images, but in this time of age the digital image in high resolution would be the best choice. Each digital image from the Cambridge University Library cost £24.00 per image. That’s way too much! Actually, I would get the images if I was earning my wage in Pounds. But the fact is I do not. As much as I’d like to get the image as soon as possible, the conversion rate between Ringgit and Pound is too high to warrant a purchase of even one print. Well, I know where I can get the image now, and I hope I can see that image one day.

An interesting clipping about ladies from The Story of Kuala Lumpur 1857-1939 by J. M. Gullick.

Other references to Bukit Kutu exist, and tracking them down is not easy. But thanks to Google Books, I got to read a few clippings and excerpts from various books. Now it’s time to track down books such as The Story of Kuala Lumpur 1857-1939 by J. M. Gullick and The Selangor Journal.

Pages 187 and 188 of The Selangor Journal Vol. 5. Click of images to get larger-sized images.

Pages 189 and 190 of The Selangor Journal Vol. 5. Click of images to get larger-sized images.

Sifting through antiquarian books and finding such stuff keeps me going because of my interest in history and the land. Reading such stuff makes me appreciate the places I go to even more. And I also like the fact that the search for more information can never really end as long as someone continues to write about them. I would love to learn more. I would love to have others search for more, too. And I would love it when one hundred or more years down the line, what I write become leading points for other seekers who return often.

Pitcher Plants (January 2008—May 2008)

Gunung Irau (May 2008— )

Changing headers is easier than I thought. I should do it more often.