An Escapade to Kota Kinabalu
On the 2nd of
April 2016, my parents and I were up with the lark to catch the morning flight
to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Our
aircraft, an old-fashioned Boeing B737-800, had no multimedia screen and no
in-flight magazine. So we spent most of the time reading and taking power naps.
Eventually, we touched down at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. We then
took a cab from the airport to our hotel, The Magellan Sutera Resort. We had a little
bit of spare time before the check-in time at 2pm. So, we took another cab ride
to the nearby Imago Mall, where we had a sumptuous lunch. We did a quick bout
of grocery shopping at the supermarket before spending the rest of the day
chilling out in the hotel room. The highlight of the day came in the evening,
when we had dinner with my Year 1 teacher, Ms. Helen in a highly rated
restaurant called Little Italy. The food was extremely delectable and we had a
very satisfying feast.
The next morning after a
hearty breakfast, we were picked up by a minivan from the Mari Mari Cultural
Village. The journey took slightly more than half an hour because the village
is located deep in the countryside away from the city. Upon arriving at the
cultural village, we were greeted by our amiable tour guide. According to him, there
are 32 tribal civilisations in Sabah but the cultural village only features the
five major ethnic tribes. They are Kadazan (a.k.a. Dusun), Rungus, Lundayeh,
Bajau, and the feared head-hunting Murut. Our tour kicked off with crossing a very rickety rope bridge that was swaying over a brook criss-crossed with boulders. Then, we headed to the Dusun longhouse. The guide showed us a hollow pit called tangkob and asked us to guess what its purpose is. Nearly everybody in the group said it was a well, but I gave the correct answer when I said it was a storage for their main crop - rice. When I entered their abode, I discovered another secret of the Dusun - making rice wine. The procedure is rather simple: firstly, they soak rice in water and leave it overnight. Then, they add yeast to the rice, pour it into a tiny container, and grind the mixture until it was no more than a paste.
After that, they add flavouring to counteract any flat taste. If they wanted it bitter, they would add tobacco. Everyone, except me and a few other boys who were on the tour, sampled the rice wine. An American, named Calvin, loved the beverage so much he requested for a second serving. The guide told us that females would sleep on the top deck while males would sleep at the bottom. This was a precaution to prevent attacks from enemies who might try to abduct the girls, who were less defensive than the boys. After exiting the longhouse, we had the opportunity to taste some bamboo cooking delights by the Dusun. It was unexpectedly delicious and it gave me a totally new impression about Sabahan cuisine.
Our next stop was the
Rungus longhouse. Before entry, we got to sip some freshly-harvested honey by
the Rungus. The most annoying thing was that black bees were hovering around
and I was trying to swat them away. The honey, though, was utterly
delectable. It seems like nature won over processed again, after all! Jokes
aside, we entered into the longhouse. Unlike the Dusun longhouse, it was
constructed on lower ground, and their staircase had only one tiny step. Once
inside the longhouse, we were given a demonstration of fire-starting by two
young Rungus men. It wasn’t rocket science at all - it only took the aid of 2
twigs and lots of friction. When the twigs were rigorously rubbed against
each other, the friction converts into heat energy and eventually, there
would be so much energy that the twigs would go ablaze. It is a Rungus custom
that a woman could not be married until she knew how to start a fire, as fire
was an important aspect of life for many tribes.
After the Rungus came
the next tribe - the Lundayeh. When I read the brochure about this village, I
only heard a sordid, grim history about the Lundayeh being excessive burak (rice wine) consumers causing
them to suffer many diseases leading to their population declining
dramatically from a flourishing 20,000 to a mere 3,000. Little did I know
that, when I actually went to explore their habitat, it gave me a new
impression of them. The Lundayeh’s name actually means “upriver people” in
Malay. In fact, our guide said they actually resided near the riverbanks. One
female Lundayeh and one male Lundayeh gave us a demonstration of rope and
vest making. I can’t remember the instructions, but the American man tried on
the garments and they fitted him like a glove. When we entered the longhouse of the upriver people, the first thing that greeted my eyes was a platter of food and a fire burning. Our guide revealed the most bewildering secret of the Lundayeh, they had a traditional ‘air-conditioner’. All of us were dumbfounded. Tribes weren’t supposed to have any modern features hanging about in their abodes! Our guide explained that if anybody in the house needed a breather from the tropical weather, they would open up the roof so that a cooling breeze could stream in. Lifting up the heavy roof was rather cumbersome, so it served as a good workout as well. Like the Murut, the Lundayeh were also head-hunters but they weren’t as ferocious. After exiting the house, I was awestruck. Behind a wooden bench was a crocodile silhouette made out of grass! The Lundayeh people actually used the crocodile as a symbol of ferocity and it was a sign that they were invincible and defensive. It was necessary for them to trim their grass into the shape of a crocodile. If they didn’t, rivalling attackers would think they were puny and defeat them hollow.
After the Lundayeh were
the Bajau. Prior to entry, we were treated to a flaky dessert called kuih
jala and some pandan juice served in tiny cones, which were prepared
by two Bajau women. I didn’t try the pandan juice but I tasted the kuih
jala and it was delicious! It looked like thin sugary strands tied
together like a spider’s web to make a delectable Bajau delight. After
enjoying ourselves, we entered into the longhouse. Upon entering, I saw a
capacious room which was almost empty. Then, we moved into a lively and
multi-coloured room where a majestic platform garlanded with assorted
coloured carpets stood in a corner. The decorations were meant for weddings.
Bajau’s wedding was very unique, the newlyweds were prohibited from kissing,
hugging or touching. How strange!The last tribe was the savage headhunters of Sabah - the Murut. On entry to the grounds of the Murut, one tribal man shrieked out loudly. Seeing him made me break out in goose bumps and cold sweat. What would they do to me when I entered? Thankfully, I only got touched lightly on my palm with a hair ruffle before being allowed entry onto the Murut’s soil. Phew! We got to try our hand at using a blowpipe with an arrow to shoot at a coconut shell before entry. Nearly all the men made it, but one lady picked up the blowpipe and surprisingly hit the coconut! What a sharpshooter! On entering the residence of the Murut, we found out one of their traditional pastimes. It was bouncing on a rattan trampoline that was constructed inside their house. At the top was a colourful figure that the men would try to hit by bouncing as high as possible to touch it. It beats me how they could do it without suffering muscular pains, but these men were fit as a fiddle.
Before lunch, we were treated to a cultural show. Drums, gongs and chimes tinkled, banged and bonged at the start. Then, a troupe of Lundayeh women began to do a slightly sedate dance before a group of Murut men, armed with long, sharp spears, began to recreate a traditional dance with bold movements. Finally, two pairs of Lundayeh women laid sticks of bamboo on the stage. The Murut chief began dancing between each bamboo at an awesome speed. After the performance, audience were invited to join the bamboo dance, but at a much slower speed. Throughout the show, we were served lime juice from a tiny stall inside the amphitheatre. I have learnt so much about the culture and lifestyle of how these indigenous people of Sabah.
The following day, we
headed off to Jesselton Point. My parents and I were going to embark on the
10.30 boat ride to Gaya Island. Since we had arrived well before departure
time, we headed to an air-conditioned room that is for those sailing to
Gayana Eco Resort. We were ushered down a metal ramp to our boat, Gayana
2. The boat simply chugged down at medium speed down the sea. A
veritable experience for me since it was my first time on a boat on sea.
Eventually, we docked at Gaya Island. We alighted from the boat and headed
towards the Marine Ecology Research Centre (MERC). On the way, I stopped at
intervals to take pictures of the crystal clear water with little fishes. At one point I even saw monkeys frolicking and leaping nimbly on the netting! We passed by some chalets and a small swimming pool before arriving at MERC. A young lady named Vanessa greeted us and ushered us to the auditorium to watch two videos on marine conservation.
Then, we went to another hall where Vanessa told us about the process of coral bleaching and many other things about the ocean. Seven of the world’s eight species of Giant Clams are bred in MERC.
They are the tiny Boring
Clam, the Smooth Giant Clam, the China or Porcelain Clam, the Elongated Clam,
the Horse Hoof Clam or Strawberry Clam and the Scaly or Fluted Clam. According
to Vanessa, the giant clams were under constant threat because of their limited
defence skills. I learnt that the Boring Clam wasn’t called ‘boring’ because it
was uninteresting and as dull as ditchwater, but because it could bore, which
meant to drill holes.
After that was the Coral
Tank. Vanessa told us that coral could be divided into two groups - hard corals
and soft corals. The hard corals have shells made out of tough calcium
carbonate and they have polyp tentacles in multiples of 6 while soft coral
shells made out of a flexible protein called gorgonin and have polyp tentacles
in the multiples of eight, hence giving them the name ‘octocorals’. Next we
were briefed on the bleaching of corals. The corals have a symbiotic
relationship with a type of algae called zooxanthellae. Zooxanthellae colours
the coral and makes them attractive. When the global warming effect causes the
zooxanthellae to seep out, the coral loses its colour and turns white. Any reef
or ocean with coral is susceptible to such a phenomenon - even the Great
Barrier Reef is succumbing to this effect.
On the third morning, we headed to the airport and left Kota Kinabalu with a heavy heart. To some extent, I was glad to fly home because of the worsening haze in Kota Kinabalu. Some schools were closed for two days.
Written by:
Koh Chee Yuan
