Sabah does not have many natural lakes. The 20-Acre Impian Lake (Tasik Impian) in Kunak is a very special one because it was a volcano crater about 20,000 to 30,000 years ago.
Even though the volcano had long extinguished, the underground thermal activity is still carried on. There is a hot spring just behind the mountain.
Impian means “Dream” in Malaysia language. It is indeed a beautiful lake. The lake view is just not so “Sabah”. Most lakes I saw around Sabah are small, murky and covered with green algae (due to pollution).
Impian Lake also plays a part in shaping the human history of Sabah. If I heard the guide correctly, this lake was used to be a river, but later its exit point was blocked and it became a lake. The water stopped flowing to a very important archeological site of Sabah, i.e. Tingkayu, one of the most advanced civilizations during that time. The Tingkayu Lake dried up, so the people was forced to move to Madai.
Impian Lake is inside the Mostyn Oil Palm Plantation, a private land under Sime Darby. The company turns this area into a golf course and builds a resthouse (Lake View Resthouse) for the members. They do a great job to maintain the area.
The yellow floating plant is Salvinia molesta from South America. It looks pretty but it’s an invasive water weed that spells disaster to the lake ecology, because it can deplete the oxygen of the lake water, threatening the fishes and aqua-animals in the water. They are trying to remove it.
Thanks to Sime Darby for keeping this lake and didn’t destroy it for development.
You would see a big crocodile skull inside the Lake View Resthouse. It is facing the Impian Lake, where it was belong to. The older generation still remember that in 1966, a white man jogged around Impian Lake and saw a white crocodile. He took out his rifle and shot it. After the white crocodile died, it rained so heavily that this area was flooded for 2 days. The people of Borneo believe that white crocodile is the avatar of the supernatural force and they should not harm the white crocodile (or they will be punished by natural disaster).
The 3-year-8-month Japanese occupation in Borneo was a nightmare for our people. Many have heard the terrible things that they had done, but there is so little documentation about the bloody history. However, whatever you did and wherever you went, you would leave traces behind. That’s why I visited a few ex Japanese war attractions in Kunak (a town near to Lahad Datu of Sabah east coast).
The first stop is an ex Japanese administration office built in 1942 (during World War II) and located inside Mostyn oil palm plantation which belongs to Sime Darby.
Actually this small house was built by British, if I am not mistaken.
You might wish to find gold inside but it is empty, FYI.
The view from the rear. That’s it. Nobody knows much about it.
Just a stone throw from the administration office is an ex site of a Japanese temple. Sadly, only two wooden poles, which were the gate of the temple, stand until today.
Front view of the “temple”. Every year there is a bus load of Japaneses comes to this site. They pray here then proceed to the Japanese war tunnel. They seem to know something about the history.
See the hill at the right? During WWII Japanese occupation, if anyone did anything wrong, the Japanese would hang them on top of that hill for everyone to see, to serve as a warning. Of course the gallows is no longer there as nobody needs it.
After touring around the ex Japanese administration office and temple, we went to the ex Japanese war tunnel (about 12KM from Kunak town), which is more than an hour drive away. We are still inside the area of Sime Darby oil palm plantation.
The entrance of the war tunnel. It is fenced to prevent people fall into this big hole.
Nobody knew about this war tunnel until part of the tunnel collapsed and revealed an opening to the tunnel. An Iban worker saw the tunnel in 1970s when he cleared the forest there.
See the dark cave at the bottom? It’s the opening to the tunnel. The staircase was the structure built later for visitors to enter the tunnel.
Another view of the entrance to the tunnel.
Chua, one of the guides, stood there to show you the scale of the cave.
Another angle of the entrance.
The brave ladies entering the tunnel. I was told that someone used that tunnel as black magic site. So do not enter if you have “weak spirit / aura”.
The tunnel is totally dark. Bring a torchlight before you go inside. Smoking is not allowed in the tunnel coz we are not sure if there is any flammable gas inside.
After getting in from the small opening, we were impressed by the size of the tunnel. It’s so spacious. I saw a few bats flying around and the air is very humid, with a bit of smell of guano. I’m not sure if this is a man-made cave. Kunak was a active volcano site in the past, so it could be a natural lava tube. Most caves in Sabah are limestone caves created by prolong erosion. Huge and long lava cave is very rare in Sabah.
The floor is wet, muddy, slippery and full of rocks and rubble, so watch your step. There is a group of Japanese comes to this tunnel every year. At least one of them was a student studied in Kunak during WWII. They even have the map of this tunnel but they decline to disclose more information. Before Japan invaded Borneo, Japan sent many citizens to work in plantation and business sectors in east coast of Sabah. These Japanese in Sabah may have “special mission”, so there is no surprise they worked with the army. But this is only a guess by the historians. This tunnel leaves more question marks as there is no documentation.
You may ask, “why don’t you just explore and do the mapping yourselves?” So far there is nobody fully explores the tunnel, because the air is very thin deep inside and all failed to do a full survey. We already felt a bit of breathing difficulty even a short distance away from the entrance. We only went in for about 50 feet. From what I read, the tunnel has 5 junctions which led to different exits. One links to a beach, one links to Madai forest 8 KM away, and one links to a private house (the family seals the exit). Some even said one of them links to Sulawesi sea. If you are interested in caving and history, we welcome you to survey the war tunnel. There might be some interesting discovery such as hidden gold treasure? The Japanese might use it as secret passage and arsenal.
Most felt uncomfortable and went out. The guides and me decided to explore a bit more deeper for photography. Due to the irregular and slippery surface, it was a bit hard to walk. In the photo is Vincent, one of the guides. The tunnel is so high and wide that a car can drive through. Part of the tunnel allows 10-wheel truck to pass through.
Vincent did the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia (Malaysia holiday ad) pose. Actually there is nothing on top, except the dripping water.
Scribble left in the tunnel. Written in 1974?
Doesn’t the war tunnel look like the throat of a huge monster? At their back is the entrance. Hopefully this attraction will bring more tourists to Kunak. Since this war tunnel is inside private land of Sime Darby, it is not open for walk-in visitors. If you are interested in visiting or looking for tour info, please check out www.darvelbay.com.my.
Though a large part of Sabah is covered by forest, very few have seen the beauty of virgin Borneo rainforest. Most forest that we see around our cities and countryside is degraded jungle or secondary forest. Compared to regenerated forest, undisturbed virgin forest is characterised by taller trees, with denser, richer and more biodiversified of flora and fauna.
If you want me to name the jungle that is best representing Borneo tropical rainforest, I will say Danum Valley. With a size of 438 square KM, this 130-million-year old forest is older than Amazon rainforest (60 million years) and the habitat of Borneo’s rarest and most precious plant and wildlife.
Mostly lowland dipterocarp and riverine forest, Danum Valley is one of the richest conservation areas in the world with over 200 species of tree per hectare. You could find huge commercial timbers such as Kapur,Keruing, Seraya and Belian everywhere. To lumbering companies, these trees look like standing gold bars. To scientists, this forest is the least explored treasure, which holds the secrets that can change our future. But sadly, to most Sabahans, these are just wood that ought to be cut to give way to development.
I was in Danum Valley last month but stayed for less than 24 hours. Danum Valley is 97KM at west of Lahad Datu. After travelling over 2 hours over a gravel road, I reached Borneo Rainforest Lodge, the accommodation in Danum Valley, about 8pm. I left at 1:30pm in the following day, so I only tried night drive at night, 2.6-KM jungle trekking in next morning and canopy walk in next afternoon.
After every tourists got to the back of a jeep, we started our night drive around 8:30pm. The jeep moved slowly on the road, with a “spotter” who held a spotlight and scanned the surrounding forest for reflection of the animal eyes. Once an animal was spotted, the car stopped and the friendly guide would explain what we saw. That night we saw only flying squirrel (the tail), firefly, mouse deer, bearded pig and Sambar Deer, not much. Due to the bright full moon, most animals were hiding deep inside the jungle to avoid predators. Another group who did night walking inside the forest saw many interesting things though, e.g. huge stick insect, colourful frog, civet cats and leopard cat.
The next morning we started our jungle trekking at 6am in the morning. I was already there at 5:40am and I saw a big orangutan fed on the fruit tree in front of Borneo Rainforest Lodge (BRL). According to the BRL staff, its name is “King” and it always comes here during fruiting season. There is also another orangutan family also comes here quite often. Seeing orangutan in the wild is such a wonderful experience. King didn’t seem to bother about the presence of people and carried on his feeding from branch to branch.
There are over 50KM of jungle trails for visitors to appreciate the pristine rainforest in Danum Valley. One of the most recommended trails is the 2.6-KM View Point trail, the one that I was trying. Be observant and you will spot many types of orchids, lichens, lianas, fungus and mushroom along the trail. The morning of Danum Valley is always misty and cooling as if it has a macro-climate of its own. It’s a leisure walk coz of the cooling fresh air (but can be tiring to those who are lack of physical exercise). You also can hear lot of loud gibbon calls.
Ancient Kadazandusun Burial Site. After 40 minutes of walking, we took the junction that led us to an ancient burial site at a cliff. We were asked to be keep quiet and be respectful. The guide showed us a 200-year ancient coffin, who was made of strong Belian wood (Diamond Wood) and belongs to a chief. There is also a blowpipe inside the coffin. These coffins belong to Dusun Supan who lived around this area in the past (now they had moved to lowland at Kinabatangan). Later we went to a platform high above the ground, to see a small coffin of a child. Besides the coffin is a pile of old human bones and skeleton. Then we returned to the View Point trail and continued the trekking.
View Point. After 16 minutes, we reached the View Point which has two wooden platforms to get a breathtaking bird eye view of rainforest and Borneo Rainforest Lodge. You won’t understand how happy I was to see an ocean of pristine rainforest. After seeing so many oil palm “forest” everywhere in Sabah, I had doubt if big forest really existed in Sabah. As a matter of fact, most Sabah wildlife attraction areas such as Kinabatangan are the “Concentration camp” of wildlife because the animals are pushed to small patches of forest fragmented by oil palm plantation.
However, Danum Valley is naturally an animal kingdom and 124 mammals, 72 reptiles, 56 amphibians and 37 fishes live happily under one big mass of forest. Whichever rarest and endangered Borneo wildlife you can name, you find them all here in Danum Valley. For example, large mammals such as Sumatran Rhino, Sun Bear, Benteng and Pygmy Elephants, primates such as Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey, Leaf Monkey, Tarsier, Slow Loris and Macaque, highly secretive cats such as the Sunda Clouded Leopard, Bay Cat and Leopard Cat. The elusive Bay Cat, which is a sub-species endemic in Borneo, was only spotted in Mulu (Sarawak) and Danum Valley.
Our lodge looked so small under our feet. Couldn’t believe we walked that far. Too bad it was nearly 8am so sunrise view was not available. I took out my packed breakfast, with ham sandwich & fruit, and enjoyed a great break time with nice view.
Waterfalls & Pool. Later we dropped by the Fairy Waterfall (27 Meters high) and Serpent Waterfall next to the trail. Too bad it was dry season, the water volume was so small that the waterfalls didn’t look big and impressive. Though it was drought season, little sunlight contacts the forest ground so it is always wet. The last stop is a Jacuzzi Pool where you can swim and enjoy “fish massage”. The small fishes will nibble your feet and remove the death skin. It is a bit painful but doesn’t hurt. Lastly, we were back to the lodge about 11:30am. The jungle trekking took us about 5 hours, as we stopped briefly in every interesting site.
Before the trip, we were warned that there were many big tiger leeches in Danum Valley, but we saw only two small brown leeches. If you are bitten by a tiger leech, you will be qualified to get a “Blood Donation” certificate from Borneo Rainforest Lodge. Of course this is for fun only, you still need to pay RM5 (about USD$1.50) to buy it. Since there was no leech biting me, I caught a leech and let it sucked my blood. Later I was told that it was a brown leech (not tiger leech), but I was still qualified to get the certificate. Well, I did it for fun but the 1-hour bleeding annoyed me.
I went back to my room, take a shower and packed my bag for check-out at 1:30pm. On the way out, we dropped by the Canopy Walk. For bird-watching, you will really appreciate the 300-Metre-long and 27-Metre-high canopy walkway built by Borneo Rainforest Lodge and it won the Best Nature Attraction award in Sabah Tourism Awards 2009. In year 2008, a bird guide Richard Webster discovered a new bird species (Spectacled flowerpecker) on this canopy. Who knows you might discover a beautiful new bird that can be named after your beloved wife (mother-in-law if it is an ugly and noisy bird). If you look carefully, you will see many bee hives on Menggaris tree, the favourite nesting tree of wild honey bees due to its height.
In Danum Valley, you can see or hear flock of big hornbills flying over your head almost every hour. This is one of the few places in Malaysia where we can find 8 species of hornbills. Do you know there are more than 290 bird species in Danum Valley? That is almost half the bird species of whole Borneo! Some birdwatchers pay thousands to come to see only one bird in Danum Valley, the Bornean Bristlehead (only found in Borneo). Other rare birds include Great Argus, Bulwar’s Pheasant, Giant Pitta, Bornean flycatcher, Bornean Ground-cuckoo and many more.
BTW, I saw a leopard cat and some long-tailed macaques on the road. The staffs say you might see elephants if you are lucky. I also saw the helicopter of Martha Stewart heading to Danum Valley. I don’t know why the whole world is so crazy about her. Anyway, too bad I didn’t see her. From her blog, she is so happy to see “King”, the orangutan. She is quite crazy about our Borneo wild man I guess. No wonder West Malaysians want to “steal” our orangutan. So the federal government is interested in rehabilitating our orangutan? A middle finger to you! You only want the tourist $$$. But I’ll be more than happy to send illegal immigrants to KL, as we have nearly million of them here. I can guarantee that they are also wild men.
It is no surprise that Sabah government is planning to nominate Danum Valley as a world heritage site. Actually Sabah has only about 92,400 hectares of virgin forest, less than 5% of all forest area in Sabah. If we clear them, they will never be the same again; the millions-year old ecosystem will be lost, no matter how hard we try to recover them later. Rather than cutting down the trees for their wood and paper, we should keep the forest as nursery ground for our priceless wildlife, world-class research hub for tropical rainforest, sustainable income source for tourism and high quality conservation area to combat global warming. And no coal plant near to Danum Valley, please. The Sabah Chief Minister always says conservation is important to protect the eco-treasures of Sabah, but he is the one who approves the logging at Danum Valley and Maliau Basin. What a joke!
Many know Sir Hugh Low was the first European who conquered Mt. Kinabalu in 1851, but most don’t know Lilian Gibbs was the first European woman who reached the summit of Mt. Kinabalu on February 24th, 1910. Lilian Suzette Gibbs was born in London, England on September 10, 1870. She led a botanical field expedition to Mt. Kinabalu and identified over 15 new plant species. Below is the trail she took. Even today, this trail is not considered as a “tourist-friendly” route. Later she was awarded the Huxley Gold Medal and Prize by the Royal College of Science for her research contributions.
After 100 years, a group of five ladies, from The Sabah Soceity, decided to re-trace the original route taken by Lilian Gibbs. They spent a night on the homestay hostel next to a church (Chapel St. Ireneus) in Kg. Kiau Nuluh (starting point of the climb), Kota Belud, on 20 Feb 2010. In the next morning (21 Feb 2010), they would attend a ritual ceremony before the climb. As a member of The Sabah Society, I was also there to support them and to witness the historical moment.
For those who read my previous blog, you would know that I joined the Miki Survival Camp last year, so this was my second time came to Kg. Kiau Nuluh (Kiau Nuluh Village). I arrived Kiau Nuluh at 3:40pm on 20 Feb 2010, it was still early so I took a walk around the village.
Though a bit shy, the people here are very friendly and always smile to you. Most of them talk to one another in native language (Dusun). In fact, this is the typical look of “real” Sabah village. Since some politicians started to give citizenship to foreigners about 30 years ago, the mushrooming villages in Tawau and Lahad Datu are full of foreigners. They talk and behave differently (some even have very “geli” look).
Hey, it’s Gurak (the dog I met in Miki camp). She looked slimmer and still ran around with the kids around plantation. Miki said she miscarried, so she was a bit weaker. Poor Gurak…
Very soon it turned dark, the climbers had a fellowship dinner with the Kg. Kiau Nuluh villagers and members. There were two short blackout. According to the locals, the drought caused the nearby river to dry up thereby affecting the power supply from hydro electricity.
We tried some local traditional dishes. Got my sour bambangan fruit. I tried some tuhau too, but I still don’t like the smell. The yam rice was wrapped in big kinta leaf and tasted good. This is how farmers pack their rice and bring it to the field. It will last for many hours without turning bad.
Click Here to see more photos >>
After the dinner, the lady climbers were presenting an info sheet, which would be inserted into a glass bottle and hide in Low’s Peak, like what Lilian Gibbs did 100 years ago. Photo Above: from the left, Rina Jamieson, Catherine Chu, Vicky Ng (expedition leader), Jane Chong and Tengku Puteri Soraya Tengku Zainal Adlin.
The all-lady expedition team consists of 5 climbers, namely, Vicky Ng (leader), Tengku Puteri Soraya Tengku Zainal Adlin , Catherine Chu, Jane Chong and Rina Jamieson, one Sabah Parks guide (Rossiti Maineh) and 3 porters (Ritah Moguring, Lotuim Lumadan and Nuriah Lunsin). All of them signed on the info sheet that was inserted into a small glass bottle later.
Click Here to see more photos >>
Since they are all lady, they decided to use a bottle from kitchen. This is a preserved beancurd bottle made in ShenZhen China.
Click Here to see more photos >>
Sealing of bottle done. Now it is hidden in Low’s Peak. Next time you climb the Mt. Kinabalu, you can do a “treasure hunt”. The bottle hidden by Lilian Gibbs is still not found. So now you know there are two “secret” bottles hidden in Low’s Peak.
Click the picture above if you want to see what is written on the info sheet. It contains the trail map and info of the expedition, name list and signatures of the lady team members.
Click Here to see more photos >>
It is bed time.. The little hostel could not accommodate too many people, so I had to sleep outside the room. As a frequent traveller, such arrangement is not a problem to me. Only that I was attacked by mosquitoes, and waked up by the people who walked past me to go to the toilet outside the hostel. I didn’t sleep really well.
Click Here to see more photos >>
21st Feb 2010: we were greeted by a nice view of Mt. Kinabalu in the next morning. The sky was clear and the weather seemed good.
Click Here to see more photos >>
7:20AM: after a breakfast, the climbers were busy packing their backpacks. Each of them carried over 10Kg of weight. The 3 porters carried nearly 20Kg of supplies. These porters are tough ladies, and they were always in top 10 runner list of Mt. Kinabalu climbathon.
Click Here to see more photos >>
Look at the photos of other Mt. Kinabalu porters above if you still have doubt. On the way to the summit of Mt. Kinabalu, you will see many of these porters overtake you and walk faster than you, though they carry very heavy stuffs. The climbers also regularly trained themselves for a long period of time in Tun Fuad Stephens Park. They ran a few laps up and down the hill of Tun Fuad, with 5Kg of weight. If you ask me to join the expedition, it would be a suicide mission for weak people like me.
7:50AM: after the group photos, the climbers departed for the climb, but there was one last thing they needed to do before the ascent. A bobolian (high priest) would perform a ritual ceremony for the climbers. Now everyone walked to the ritual site, which was done inside the forest next to Kg. Kiau Nuluh.
Click Here to see more photos >>
Finally we arrived the site of the ritual ceremony. The old man, who dressed in black, was the bobolian. He was already there with the offering ready.
Click Here to see more photos >>
The bobolian would appease the mountain god of Mt. Kinabalu and pray for a safe journey for the climbers. The offering included 7 betel nuts, 7 eggs, 7 rolls of tobacco, etc, and there were six white chicken. Ok, everyone would tell you there were 7 chicken. But I counted carefully twice and found only 6 chicken. Probably 7 is a special number in Kadazandusun, so everyone presumed there were 7 chicken without actually verifying the number.
Click Here to see more photos >>
When the group settled down, the bobolian started to pray for the climbers. The prayer took more than 10 minutes. I can’t understand the native language. Later a climber said the bobolian was requesting for protection from the spirit and would go after them if any harm was done to the climbers. Something like that lah. This sort of blessing ritual is common in Sabah. Before any big expedition and sport events that would be done in wilderness, bobolians would be invited to perform a ritual.
Then six chicken were slaughtered to complete the blessing ceremony. The assistant of bobolian did the first 5 kills and Vicky Ng, as the expedition leader, did the last one. The bloody photos are inside the album. Do not look if you don’t think you will be comfortable with the scenes. Blood spit everywhere and even got on my lens and pant.
Click Here to see more photos >>
One by one, six white chicken were slaughtered. Each chicken didn’t seem to aware of what was happening to their peers, until it’s their turn. The ladies also didn’t dare to watch and turned their heads away. After they returned from the expedition, they said all of them heard cackling sound in the bush behind them during that time. Whether it was the spirit, nobody can tell. Well, may be some will say they need to “see” the spirits to believe that spirits exist. Well, you can’t see oxygen then why you believe you inhale oxygen?
Time to say goodbye after the ceremony. The climbers, guide and porters departed for the climb at 9:30am (20 Feb 2010). They successfully reached the summit of Mount Kinabalu at 14:20 on 24 Feb 2010, and came back safely. Congratulations to the ladies, you memang Boleh (can)!
6th June 2009, I was standing in Double Six Monument, the exact spot where a Nomad aircraft crashed 33 years ago. On 6th June 1976, this plane was on the way from Labuan to KK International Airport. For uncertain reason, the plane plunged into coastline of Sembulan and killed all 11 passengers onboard.
Those who perished were Chief Minister of Sabah at that time, Tun Fuad Stephens, ministers like Datuk Peter Mojuntin (Local Government and Housing), Datuk Salleh Sulong (Finance), Datuk Chong Thain Vun (Communication and Works), Datuk Darius Binion (Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary), Datuk Wahid Andu, Dr Syed Hussein Wafa, assigned bodyguard Corp. Mohd Said, Ishak Atan (Tengku Razaleigh’s personal secretary), pilot Captain Ghani Nathan and Fuad’s eldest son, Johari.
Memorial service is carried out in this monument annually on 6-6. Though I was not a grow-up in 1976, that can’t stop me from wandering why this happened. Besides the list of victims and date of crash, there is so little background information behind this tragedy.
However, the elder generation, who had experienced the shock of losing their beloved leaders, still cannot forget the pain until today. Half of the cabinet died.
None of them believe that the crash was an accident. During that time (you can call it a coincidence) there was disagreement and tension between Sabah and the federal governments about the oil royalty and Sabah’s rights. Tun Fuad Stephens wanted to fight for 25% of the oil royalty, a huge difference with the 5% we get today.
What convinced Sabahans more that it was a political murder is – a politician, who was supposed to take the same flight, didn’t go onboard. After he gained power later, the government was so generous to accept the rip-off 5% oil royalty deal.
Anyway, that is just guessing without any proof. I just describe what they thought at that time. Whether it was an accident or conspiracy, this will remain the biggest mystery in Sabah history. The memory is fading out. Only a few politicians and victim’s families come for yearly remembrance now.
Well, I was just there to remember these past elites who were so bold, in contrast to our boneless-chicken YBs who have become the gut-less Yes-Men to anything that against Sabahan interests. It is not difficult to understand why some federal ministers have become so arrogant and indifferent when dealing with us. Just see some cases like the prohibited use of word “Allah”, cabotage policy, hospital and coal plant.
According to newspaper (Nov 2009), “The Golden Son of the Kadazans”, a biography on former State Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Peter J. Mojuntin who died in the “Double 6” tragedy of June 1996, is among books still banned today. …According to the Home Ministry, the book written by Bernard Sta Maria, was banned on June 22, 1978 because it contained elements that could threaten peace and order…
You can watch this video for more in-depth documentary
Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo
Late, late, late… yes, I am late by a month to blog about the Sabah Fest 2009 (was held in May 2-3). Anyway, I am glad to be online again coz right after Sabah Fest, I was sick for 2 weeks. Even now, it really drains my energy to choose and touch-up 120 photos for this blog.
Sabah Fest received great response this year and the seats were almost full (in 2008 most bloggers said it was boring). There were so many bloggers came to photograph the event too. The next few days on the Net, I found about 30 blog about Sabah Fest. The show was extended one more night (May 4) for the Prime Minister. Many politicians are already singing and dancing with his 1Malaysia concept. Well, if this gimmick is not about equality, it is rubbish then. When you ask our tourists comment about Sabah, for sure they will say they are impressed by the friendliness of Sabahans, and how they live together in peace. So it is a good idea Najib came to Sabah to learn how different races live in harmony.
“Mystical Sabah” is the theme for Sabah Fest 2009, an annual cultural show that put our vibrant and diversified traditional heritage on stage. The best thing is – there is no stupid protocol such as listening to uninspiring tissue-paper-length speech of the ministers. There were a few new creative elements, and I like the opening. You could some rare display of rituals and ceremonies. Before most population of Sabah was converted to Christians and Muslims, black and white magic prevailed in the land below the wind. People relied on priestesses for medicinal service, cleansing and blessing, and these priestesses can travel in spiritual world. Even today, this is not the thing that you can laugh at.
The most impressive costume display is probably the brass neck and leg rings wore by Rungus women as a symbol of beauty. I’ve heard about this “antique” but first time seeing it. They can be the last generation wearing these. Of course the young is no longer wearing these heavy stuffs.
Dusun Lotud also had some nice exhibition of their rituals tools and medium. The Suluk Sandakan dancers, who performed on stage, told me that they learn the dance coz of interest, not for making a living. How nice we still have young people who are proud of their culture and pass on the heritage.
Last year I missed the Sabah Fest in Sabah Museum, of course I didn’t miss it this time. The Mystical Sabah still carried on and I got an up-close look of the cleansing rituals. Though those were demo, they were so real and creepy. For example, the Rungus redeemption ceremony to cure the sick by slaughtering a chicken. They cut off the chicken head and burn its body on the fire. Without head, the chicken still struggled in the fire. For the weak-hearted, this bloody scene can make them very sick.
However, many arrogant modern people sneered when talking about the spiritual world. They say they will never believe this unless they see this with their eyes. Being skeptical about unproven facts are good, but overly count on science will blind us too. The spiritual power could be an energy that yet to be undiscovered. In science, anything that can’t be quantified by math formula is wrong, and you can’t use a 3D ruler to measure a 4th dimension world.
Last week (April 9) I bought the stamps of Malaysia World Heritage sites coz Mount Kinabalu was one of them. I got the first day cover, miniature sheet and post card (all shown below). Actually I had stopped collecting stamps since e-mail replaced postal mails. Though the e-mail is delivered in lightning speed, the mail inherits the coldness of technology and is lack of personal touch. Collecting stamps sounds like an out of fashion interest, so I was surprised there were stamp collectors already waited there before the post office opened. Without doubt, no young faces.
Collecting stamps was used to be my hobby during the old school day. I was so crazy that I went to a stamp stall in Gaya Street at 7am every week, coz the seller had very good collection of stamps. It was like a treasure hunting and until today I still can’t find the similar hobby that offers the same thrill. The old North Borneo stamps are my favourite, may be their old-style wood like pattern, in contrast to the colourful watercolor stamps today. Few years ago, I even went to eBay to bid for stamps. Well, probably I just wanted to get a feel of my old day happiness.
Stamp is like mini document that tells story about the past and present of a country. We need to know how to take care of the stamps. For example, we are supposed to move the stamps with tweeter instead of finger, because the sweat and oil on our skin will oxidize the stamps and make them turn yellow.
Though I seldom shop for stamps, I would be happy if anyone gives me some old Sabah stamps. The rare red cross and Japanese occupation stamps interest me the most, but they cost over thousand per set now.
The purpose of world heritage site is to protect and conserve the locations with history and scientific values. However, from what I read on the news, Malaysians see it as a $$$ business for tourism instead. Very fast the friendly contractors and developers will propose to build resorts and stuffs there.
Above are old North Borneo stamps about Mt. Kinabalu, the angle very different from today version right? I guess the pictures were based on the view from Beaufort. The modern stamps of Mt Kinabalu are usually the view from Kundasang and the top, which is not so accessible during British colony time. One of them is over 100 years old. The newer set is also about 50 years old. Hmmm… their designers are very lazy too, keep on reusing the same picture.
Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo
Not Canon camera ah. Sabahans know it is a Kadazan Dusun custom to pay dowry with buffalo.
What if you offer a bronze cannon instead? Yes, you can, but in 13th century. I find this interesting “bride price” in the museum inside Sabah Trade Centre.
Just read the label if you don’t believe me. Probably bronze was a precious metal in the past, so you could use it like money.
But I am curious how they used it. Place it in front of the house as a display of wealth? Or melt it to make sword or other stuffs?
Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo
