continued...
Day 4
Mel and I skipped breakfast as it was getting more and more difficult getting up in the morning. After checking out of the hotel, we left for our stay at the long house. We first stopped at Rumah Siba, which was a beautiful long house. It had a long row of ceiling fans and lights and the wood/papan was so shining!! After "resting" there for awhile, we proceeded to Rumah Rajang (a.k.a my long house) which was really really far away, in the remotest place I've ever been to. We had to drive through a lot of plantations on a gravel pathway!! It was such a bumpy ride.
When we finally reached the long house, what I got was not what I expected. First, it was not even fit to be called a long house as there were only two "houses" as it was still in the process of being built. Second, there were not as many people as I thought there'd be. I was very disappointed. Despite not having any water supply nor electricity, the long house was equipped with fans, lights and even a TV!! That was something!! I did not even think of taking pictures at that time.
Dinner that night was wildboar meat (as usual), mouse deer meat (yummy!!), chicken cooked in bamboo (another yummy dish) and also palm oil shoots. Although all the dishes were salty, it was nevertheless delicious and I was actually pleasantly surprised!! :-)
Mel and I did not bathe that night as we couldn't bring ourselves to bathe in the open "bathroom" (though I had sarungs). The "tuai rumah" and everyone else kept asking us to take our baths but we politely declined and thanked God for wet wipes!! And so, because we refused to bathe, we spent the night feeling hot, sweaty and donating blood to the Sarawakian mosquitoes. In short, we suffered!!
Day 5
The sun was up at 6.30pm and once again, Mel and I did not take our baths!! We just brushed our teeth and washed our faces. That too was done with mineral water!!! Talk about being Paris Hilton-y!!
I was supposed to continue staying at that long house for the next 3 nights; but thanks to Michael (and the internal conflict that was happening) I was "hijacked" from my group. Michael did not want me to be the only girl in my group (my "mak angkat" had joined another group) and so he decided that I should join his gang who comprised Melissa (yay!), Niko, Nyumbang and himself. Despite the miscommunications and dirty internal politics that happened, my new group bonded well. We joked, laughed and gossiped all through our journey from Batu Niah to Bintulu Town. It didn't help when Michael and the guys found out that I am the daughter of an Alleycats' member (I didn't tell them; my other colleague, Chandrika told them!!). They started singing 'Keranakau' and continued singing at intervals during our journey!! (I digress: some of the participants actually call me Shah Rukh Khan because my name reminds them of him. Crazy!!)
Despite staying at the long house for only one day, it was enough for me to realise that the long house community was living in poverty and that, that is the only life they know. Whenever TNB cuts the electricity for maintenance or when PBA stops the water supply for repairs, I'm one of the first to complain and whine. And yet, the community at the long house live without water supply and electricity. I felt bad whining about not being able to bathe and that it was hot during the night. I was so glad that I was going back to the hotel, to comfort; and yet at the back of my mind, I knew that the community was back there, living in that dilapidated condition. Sighs! I thanked God for the opportunity given to me to witness first hand what hardship is all about. What I witnessed in India, I've also witnessed here.
...to be continued
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