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 One of the Semelai women cooking up a dish for the kenduri This is my first ever rice harvest feast (kenduri) experience. Good friend Pak Abu told me about an invitation by a Semelai we mutually know to attend his kenduri to celebrate the good harvest of his hill rice. Besides good makan, we also had the good fortune of seeing and learning new things this time around. Continue reading Rice harvest feast with the Semelais; Part I Here is a video I have compiled on the wood packs hand made used by the Bidayuhs in Semban near Kuching. This pack consists of common materials, wood, rattan, nails, cordage and sometimes tree bark as straps. What’s more amazing is that the locals carry loads of up to 30kgs at times up the hill to the village. One guy we saw was walking up to the village with two crates (each with 24 cans) of can drinks PLUS some other house essentials. Amazing! I wished I had more time to stay in Semban and see the entire process of how the Bidayuh’s plant and process their hill rice. Rice, being the staple for generations has been planted and processed entirely at the village. With the introduction of machinery, work on rice processing has gotten a bit easier.  A coil of copper ring belonging to Sagen’s late grandmother- pic by Meun I didn’t know that Bidayuh women wore copper rings on their arms and legs as a sign or beauty and status until I saw it for myself in Semban. Our guide Danny did mention it but I never thought much of the rings back then. Now that I have seen them myself, I have to agree that they are most beautiful and in its own way very majestic. The sad thing is that there are only 7 of the women left who are still wearing the rings. Continue reading Bidayuh women in Semban still wearing copper rings! ; Part IX  Wake up at 5am to hike up a steep hill just to see the sun rise is not my usual cup The 5am hike to see watch the sun rise is a must says Danny Voon, our guide to Semban. Having arrived the previous day, we were still recovering from the sore body but the lure of watching the sun pierce through the distance horizon above the clouds gave us enough motivation to do it and it was all worth the effort. Continue reading Sunrise and morning walk around Semban village; Part VII  Never felt more at home in a stranger’s house The hospitality of the Bidayuhs in Semban is overwhelming. They shared with us the bountiful produce of their land, made sure we saw & experience all the things we wanted to and even had the doors of their home open for us to spend the nights. We totally enjoyed our visit to their village. It was also our first encounter with the Bidayuh’s traditional bamboo smoke pipe, Tepui and fermented pork called Kersam (or Kersem)  ‘No nails’ step ladder into the villager’s hut We were ready to head back when some of the Kenip villagers asked us to join them for lunch. This ‘detour’ gave me a firsthand experience with the Semai’s hill rice, blow pipe and traditional fire starter.  One of the Semai’s hut at Kampung Kenip We were on our way to visit the Kenip waterfalls and according to our guide Rahim, our cars will only get us as far as Kampung Kenip. From Rahim’s house, we made a brief stop at a primary school on the way to pack lunch. I was happy to be joining the trip, Jan on the other hand very eager to hunt down the other more elusive Kenip waterfall. Continue reading Kampung Kenip in Pahang; a remote Semai village (Part II)  Simply beautiful I decided to join Jan on a trip to an Orang Asal (a.k.a Orang Asli) Semai village in Pos Betau in Pahang. Jan obviously was in search of another elusive waterfall in Malaysia while I was more than happy to be part of the recee trip. This will be my first real visit to a Semai village and I was also hoping to find some new sites that I can use for work. As it turns out, this trip had so much more to offer than just waterfalls and village life. Continue reading A visit to Orang Asal Semai village, Pos Betau Pahang (Part I)  Traditional ciggies? Besides the traditional fire piston, Tok Ali was also kind enough to tell us more about his blow pipe, aquarium and herb garden. With his charm and willingness to share his knowledge, we felt that the 2 hours spent with him is nowhere enough to learn more. Continue reading Tok Ali’s blow pipe, aquarium and herb garden; Final Part |
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