Bidayuh Villages

Posted by Kutieng on October 08, 2002 at 18:34:13:

Of late new threads seems to be very difficult to come by, sensitive issues aside! Hence this write-up:

Bidayuh Villages:

Most of our villages are now accessable by road. At times, especially during Gawai, visitors come in droves lured by the prospect of having free food and booze under the "ngabang" spirit. Though most visitors are themselves natives and other locals, we do get to see foreigners jutting out of the crowd as well. I hate to imagine what these visitors' impression are of a place each one of us calls home.

Debolotment-wise these villages appear to be contendedly at a standstill. The same shrub that we saw last year would probably be still there this year, except that this time around it could be more bushy than before. The same goes with that pile of timber underneath those houses, or the occasional sight of belian fencing (or what remains of it) jutting out of the ground around some houses. Houses's exterior appear to be left to nature and its elements to nurture, the drains lined with shrubs, the pitiful-looking zinc shack at the back of some houses will perhaps remind us of similar shacks erected by Prahokland tribal girls (SYTs) as a place for collecting and counting memory-sticks! (Gatal punya perempuan says Alexandra!)

The "onslaught" of the road has put each of our kampong in a very akward situation indeed, but while riverine towns suffering the same fate are able to adapt by moving to a newer location, our villages could be said to slide further back into akwardness by the sight of new houses erected in between already-tight spaces in and around our village. Though some villagers who are better-off financially move to newer plots, the same scenario appears to be moving in together with them too. What a sad sight, especially when those who are moving away are the uneducated ones who should at least show examples to the older folks.
We have all seen how "tight" spaces are at our housing estates in town. But alas tighter still it is in our kampongs! If in town we can afford only one car in our porch, another car or two could be parked by the roadside leaving still enough space for other cars to pass through. The same cannot be said of our kampongs as you and I have known all too well how difficult it is to even look for an open space to relax outside the house.

This is indeed very stressful don't you think so? When we think of kampong, we should have in mind big lush open spaces where the we can unwind and relax our minds by enjoying the serene and peaceful nature. If we can only afford a single storey intermediate lot in town, back in the kampong is the place to "reward" ourselves with a generous detached lot (doesn't have to be concrete and generously finished with all the modern materials!!!). We can have shady rambutan trees to hang our Amazonland or Prahokland hammocks from.

Kampongs, particularly those along main roads should at least spruce up by planting flowers, keeping the weeds trimmed, storing their timbers hidden away underneath their houses and tidying up their "limbangs" (compounds). These roads are used by tourists and people out-of-town and we don't want them to see how disorganised and care-free we are.

Yes, the unsightly appearance of most of our kampong (mine included!) should be taken up very seriously, if not by our kampong administrators, by our inputs. It's about time to start thinking of ways to make our place a little better and cosier not only to live in but also to give a better "impression" on our visitors, now that fewer and fewer of our folks "disappear from the village at dawn and re-appearing only at twilight to roost!"

Improvements doesn't always necessarily means money! A routinely organised "gotong royong" to trim flowers and weeds and to tidy up the surroundings is better than not doing anything at all. Flowers can be planted all around the the house to conceal the ugly-looking belian "tiangs". Kampong By-Laws could be drawn up to prohibit indiscrimate throwing of rubbish especially into the rivers! Experts from Drainage And Irrigation Department can be called upon to draw up our drainage system or the River Boards guys could be called up to see how we could improve the health of our terminally-ill rivers and streams.

I believe that the only way to teach the old folks new tricks is to show examples and results. We all know how difficult it is to change even for you and I who are supposed to be open-minded and edequately equipped with the various knowledge.

Open for discussion!!