Sarawak Archives • Page 39 of 39 • KajoMag

A visit to Fort Hose, Marudi, Sarawak

Published on July 24, 2017

Travel

A visit to Marudi, a quiet riverine town in northern Sarawak, would be incomplete without a visit to Fort Hose.

Located about 100km upriver from Kuala Baram, Marudi used to be the administrative centre of this area before Miri was founded.

Today it is the largest town in Baram district.

Fort Hose 1 — Fort Hose, now known as Baram Regional Museum.

It all started in 1883 when the then-Sultan of Brunei, Sultan Abdul Momin ceded the Baram region to Charles Brooke, the second White Rajah.

The Baram region became the fourth division of Sarawak with Mamerto George Gueritz installed as its first Resident.

Whenever the Brooke administration attained an area to govern, the first thing it would do is build a fort.

Fort Hose 2 — A detailed wooden carving decorating one of the wooden poles of Fort Hose’s gateway.

Fort Hose 3 — The archway leading to the fort.

Fort Hose 4 — Mannequins showing how it might look like to visit the resident at his office at Fort Hose during the Brooke administration.

Construction on the fort began in 1889 and were completed in 1901. The fort was named after Charles Hose, who was appointed as Resident of the Fourth Division in 1891.

The fort was built with durable belian hardwood on top of a hill overlooking the Baram river.

Two large cannons positioned at the front of the fort would protect the building against invaders.

Fort Hose was also used as an administration office and Resident’s house.

In 1899, the building became the site of a historical peacemaking ceremony that would end bloody ages-old wars among all the tribes in the Baram region.

Since then, various authorities have used Fort Hose over the years: the District Office, the Welfare Department, Immigration Department, Land and Survey Department and Information Department.

When the Japanese invaded Sarawak during World War II, they reportedly used it as a Kempeitai or Military Police Corps’ headquarters.

It was last used as a Community Development office of Penan Handicraft Exhibition centre.

On 24 Aug 1994, around midnight, Fort Hose was razed to the ground almost 100 years after it was built.

In 1995, the communities in and around the Baram area contributed Belian poles towards the fort’s reconstruction. It was then rebuilt according to its original dimensions and design.

It was officially renamed Baram Regional Museum on 25 May 1997 and declared open by former Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu Numpang.

Fort Hose 6 — Some of the traditional music instruments used by the Orang Ulu communities on display inside the museum.

Fort Hose — A tribal mask usually used during an Orang Ulu ceremony.

Baram Regional Museum

At the museum, visitors can find a collection of photographs taken by Hose himself.

Most are portraits of the Orang Ulu taken in the early 20th century as well as aspects of their daily lives like salt processing.

Local textiles, beaded items, wood carvings and ceremonial items such as wooden masks used by the Orang Ulu communities of the region are also on display.

It also houses a 30-foot-long sape which made it to the Malaysian Guinness Book of Records for the being the biggest of its kind. Built in 2008, the lute-like musical instrument was made by sape makers Anyie Wan, Hillary Tawan Achai and Noel Along Anyie.

Although it is relatively smaller than other museums here in Sarawak, it offers a comprehensive guide to the history of Baram and its people.

It may be the only museum in Malaysia focusing mainly on the culture and history of Orang Ulu communities which include the Kayan, Kenyah, Penan and Kelabit.

Visitors can also take a walk in the park surrounding the fort as it offers an excellent view of the Baram River.

The museum is open Tuesdays to Fridays (9am-4.45pm), Saturdays and Sundays (10am-4pm). Admission is free.

Fort Hose 9 — There is a hanging bridge located right behind the fort.

Fort Hose 10 — Take a walk at the park near the fort.

Five bands you need to listen to after Rainforest World Music Festival 2017

Published on July 22, 2017

Entertainment

Missed the 20th edition of the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF)? It’s okay because KajoMag has got you covered.

Here are the five bands you need to listen to even when the music and dancing has stopped in the Sarawak rainforest.

O Tahiti E (Tahiti)

I would not only recommend this band for you to listen to – it is a group you have to watch.

Founded in 1986, O Tahiti E is one of the oldest dancing groups in French Polynesia. When the women dance, their rapid hip-circles and powerful hip slides are mesmerising to watch. The men are equally captivating as they move their legs to beats faster than the naked eyes and ears can follow.

This group made the crowd scream “I am moving to Tahiti!” during their performance on the second night of RWMF 2017 from Aug 14-16.

Watch their video below and you might be screaming the same thing as you stare at your screen.

Okra Playground (Finland)

What made Okra Playground stand out during the RWMF was the harmonisation of its three vocalists – Päivi Hirvonen, Maija Kauhanen and Essi Muikku.

Their voices immediately catch your attention from the first note. Added to the melodious tunes of this band are the sounds of the kantele, a Finnish plucked string instrument, and jouhikko, a stringed bowed lyre.

As you close your eyes and listen to their songs, you can almost feel the freezing winters of Finland.

Watch their video here.

Achanak (UK/India)

It is fun, upbeat and makes you move your shoulders to the beat of Bhangra music.

Achanak is a multi-award winning, six-piece band based in the UK but still holds true to the band members’ Punjab roots.

The result of this east meets west concoction is a nice blend of traditional Indian percussion and Western rhythms.

The band also sings in traditional Indian vocal style, transporting listeners to the sets of Bollywood movies.

Watch their video here.

Calan (Wales)

Grab your clogs and step dance along to the traditional Welsh tunes of Calan.

It is easy to tell this five member band is proud of their Welsh background, as they sing Welsh folk songs and play traditional instruments such as the fiddle, pibgorn (an early Welsh musical instrument similar to the clarinet) and harp.

One member who really stands out is Bethan Rhiannon. She easily draws the audience attention in with her vocals, clog dancing and accordion playing.

Bethan Rhiannon from the Welsh band Calan.

Listening to Calan will make you jig, step and hop to the vibrant sound of the Wales. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Watch their video here.

Hanggai (China)

If you think that playing the morin khuur is not cool, Hanggai from China will prove you wrong.

And if you have no idea what that is, allow me to enlighten you: also known as the horsehead fiddle, the morin khuur is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument.

What makes this instrument buck the trend of other traditional musical instruments is how it surprisingly fits in perfectly with the punk rock genre.

This Mongolian folk music band from Beijing successfully combines Mongolian throat singing (khoomei) with rock music, making their songs almost like nothing you have heard before.

Watch their video here.

About Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF)

The Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) is an annual three-day music festival celebrating world music. It’s been held in Sarawak Cultural Village, Kuching, Malaysia every year since the music festival’s debut in 1997.

It has daytime workshops, a crafts bazaar, food stalls, and main-stage evening concerts.

If you were there during RWMF 2017, let us know in the comment box which band was your favourite!

Feeding the Penan community in Long Urun, Belaga

Published on July 3, 2017

Lifestyle

It’s 8 am and the rented four-wheel drive is already packed with food, cooking utensils and anthropometric measuring equipment.

These tools – weighing scales, height measures – will help nutritionist Nicholas Alvin George and his team of nurses later on in the day when they visit the Penan communities in Long Urun.

For now, having a heavy breakfast is a must since they will have no time to lunch later in the afternoon.

Ironically, they are going to a place where they will be cooking but the food is not for them.

Nicholas and his team are part of Community Feeding Programme under the Malaysian Government Transformation Programme, GTP 2.0.

It is a plan to improve the nutritional status of Orang Asli children aged 6 months to below 6 years of age in rural Perak, Pahang, Kelantan and the Penan community in Sarawak.

The programme became one of the Ministerial Key Performance Indicators (MKPI) for Ministry of Health in 2013.

“They don’t have the same conveniences we have,” Nicholas said of the remote Penan communities they will be visiting. “We have food to cook at home but they depend on nature and their environment.”

The Penans are known as a nomadic indigenous people in Sarawak but over time most of them have settled in longhouses. They still prefer hunting and gathering jungle produce as means of survival.

“It is easy to say that these ‘nomads’ can survive since they live in the forest,” said Nicholas. But these days the forests they are living have become ‘sawit’ or oil palm forests.

“One of the elders told me, ‘We never had problems like this before. When I was young we had more than enough (to eat).'”

The journey to the Belaga interior

A road map shows the distance between Sungai Asap Clinic to Long Urun. — A road map showing the distance between Sungai Asap Clinic to Long Urun.

The journey from Sungai Asap Clinic, where Nicholas and his team are attached to is one to two hours away from Long Urun, Belaga.

“The length of the journey depends on the weather. If it is raining, the road will be slippery so we need to take our time.”

The road to Long Urun is bumpy and untarred as it is a logging road. Nicholas described the journey like getting a ride on a massage chair except the ‘massage session’ resulted in muscle ache.

The Community Feeding Programme in Long Urun currently covers six longhouses – Rumah Ating, Rumah Adih, Rumah Besi, Rumah Dang, Rumah Labang and Rumah Pait.

St. Anthony De Padua Catholic Church near Rumah Ating. — St Anthony De Padua Catholic Church near Rumah Ating.

There are 83 children registered with this programme. This number includes those who are malnourished and those who are of normal weight.

This is to ensure the children with normal weight are still being monitored and do not fall into the malnourished category.

They also have Penan volunteers helping in the programme, preparing food for the children from Mondays to Fridays around 7 to 8am.

A volunteer helps preparing the food for the children. — A volunteer helping to prepare food for the children.

Instilling healthy eating among the Penan communities

Nicholas and his team usually visit the centre every month for five days.

“During the visit, we send one month’s food ration stored in a room which has been agreed upon by the longhouse chief to be used for this programme.

“We will measure the registered children’s anthropometry with a measuring mat for babies, a stadiometer (to measure height) and weighing scale. This is important for us to see the nutritional status of the child and the effectiveness of this programme.”

They then plot the children’s growth rate against the World Health Organisation growth chart for infants 0 – 5 years old and children 5 to 10 years old.

The team also has to check for head lice and cut their fingernails if necessary as well as check for any visible signs of health issues.

Once they’ve completed the health checks, they cook for them.

Nicholas cooks for the Penan children. — Nicholas cooking for the Penan children.

Nicholas said they designed the menu to provide them with the right amount of calories and nutrients. Some of the menu items they introduced are porridge with eggs and green vegetables, ‘linut’ (a kind of sago paste) with fried eggs and fern.

“For them, it is luxury food. Usually the food I prepare for them are high-calorie and high-protein food but most importantly a balanced diet.”

According to Nicholas, there is a small-scale sundry shop in the area which could take them 20 minutes to reach by foot, but essential foods like eggs, meat, fish and chicken won’t be available all the time as it is a small family business.

“Being a nutritionist, it won’t be enough just to provide them with the right food to eat,” he said as educating and raising awareness of healthy eating are the most important parts of their job.

He also observed that the remnants of their hunter-gatherer lifestyle means that they don’t eat a balanced diet and that they tend to skip meals.

The children line up for food. — The children lining up for food.

Healthy eating in a challenging environment

Nicholas found communication easy with the Penans as they understand and converse well in Malay.

But getting them to practice healthy eating is difficult in the interior when they live a low-income, subsistence lifestyle.

“For them eating is simply just eating—nothing more than that and as long as they eat,” he said.

Without the programme, the villagers may typically eat ‘linut’ or tapioca leaves.

“They will usually hunt for animals but its not like going to a grocery shop where you just pick up what you want and that’s it. It may take them awhile to hunt – the fastest would be a day but it may take days and up to a week,” Nicholas explained.

He added that once they’ve returned with the spoils of their hunt which could include wild boar, they divide it up among themselves and eat it that same day as they have no refrigerators.

Hygiene is another concern for Nicholas and his team as the children can be spotted playing with mud or dirt on their hands. Plus, it is normal for them to see the children running around without slippers, another concern as it can lead to worm infection, one of the causes of malnourishment in children.

Nicholas noted that educating the parents is not a ‘one-time thing’.

“We can’t tell them everything at a time. It has to be gradual and done repeatedly,” he said. “This may take time but it is necessary for them to understand.”