Into The Lost World of Sarawak

I was elated when my name was short-listed to accompany Dato Dr. Shafei Oyub for his pre-retirement pan Malaysia tour to Kapit and Belaga. It was always my dream to go deep into the heart of Borneo, the place where even most of the Sarawakian never been.

The only way to Kapit and Belaga is by express boat through the liquid highway of the mighty Rajang river. The elongated twin horse engines express boat measured approximately 15 meters long offered 3 different categories of sit ; the first, second and third class. A fully air-conditioned cabin with a large screen TV at the front provides a comfortable and relaxing journey. There are several trips going upstream, the last trip is at 12.30pm.

We started our journey from the Sibu wharf by taking the afternoon express boat towards Kapit. The plan was to spend a night in Kapit and proceed to Belaga the next day. From Kapit another group of MOH delegate would join us to Belaga.

It takes 3 - 4 hours from Sibu to Kapit and another 5 - 6 hours from Kapit to Belaga depends on how frequent the express boat stop to disembark people of the long house to their home which scattered along the river.

Along the way I could have a glimpse of the long house; both the traditional and the modern version. In contrast with the traditional wooden or bamboo made long house the modern one is almost similar to the terrace houses in town.Occasionally we encountered the tugboats hauling massive log rafts from the interior to the downstream timber mill. The murky yellow ‘teh-tarik’ like, muddy water of the mighty Rajang reflects the heavy logging activity in the upstream.

At the distance I caught sight of the log-loading station at one side of the riverbank. I couldn’t help but felt upset to see the bulldozers and huge lumber trucks moved back and forth over the large clearing, arranging the giant logs. The barren ground was soaked with sump oil to keep down the dust and raw, red earth logging roads radiated into the denuded hillsides.

Three hours later we reached the Kapit town. As the defeaning roar of the engine ceased away it nestled in adjacent and parallel with half a dozen similar boats. We have to walk cautiously on the edge of the adjacent boat before able to step on the concrete building of the wharf.

Kapit is the homeland of Iban. It is the largest division in Sarawak . It consists of three districts; Kapit, Song and Belaga. Kapit town itself is the division’s administrative centre. Most of the lands are covered by dense primary forests. The mighty Rejang River and it tributaries; Batang Baleh , Batang Katibas and Batang Balui cut through the division and remain the only means of transportation for the people traveling into the heart of Sarawak. Due to the mountainous topography and under populated area the Malaysian Airlines had stopped the aircraft service to Kapit long time ago.

There are two versions of story telling how Kapit got its name. The first version claimed that the word ‘Kapit’ was the evolution of ‘Kepit’ which means the bamboo longhouse. When people were going to the longhouse they would said; “kami ngagai rumah panjai kepit” which means we are going to kepit longhouse. The second version claimed that the word ‘kapit’ is actually comes from the English word “keep it” during the Brooke’s era.

Iban are the largest ethnic group in Kapit followed by the Orang Ulu, Chinese and Malay. The Orang Ulu refers to a number of smaller ethnic group that settle upriver mainly from Nanga Merit area up to Belaga. They are further divided into small subethnic; Kayan, Kenyah, Punan, Sekapan, Kejaman, Lahanan and Tanjong. (Please note that Punan and Penan are two different ethnics.)

That evening I have a separate agenda at the Kapit Health Clinic while Dato Shafei and the rest of the team went straight to the Sri Balleh government rest house on the top of the hill overlooking the Kapit town where we spent the night.

After dinner we have a chit-chat. We were talking about the famous yet the most dangerous Pelagus Rapid that we were going to pass through on our way to Belaga the next morning. Traveling upstream depends very much on the rain and water level. If there is too much rain, the logs and branch debris make river travel unsafe. Too little rain and the low water level exposing long stretches of dangerous rapids. Even when the river conditions were ideal, accidents could happen as a result of a moment’s inattention. The former Kapit Divisional Health Officer, Dr Rais Abdullah (Krishnan) was telling us that he only trust one boat driver from Belaga if he was to make a trip there. That is because not everybody has enough skill to cruise through the rapids. The boat driver must have a precise knowledge of every single submerged rock of the rapid. Any single mistake may result in catastrophe.

Almost every year the rapid claims human soul. Early this year a school teacher from the interior school died after been accidentally thrown away by the wobbly boat into the rapids while he was enjoying the view on the roof of the express boat.

That morning after the dawn prayer I took a walk around the rest house. The extensive spectacular panorama of the greeny mountains and the slow moving river filled my heart with melancholy. I realized that I have strong feeling towards the river, the mountains, the forest and the surrounding people.

While waiting for the express boat to Belaga I paid a visit to the Sylvia Port. It was an administrative centre during the Brooke’s era which has been converted into a museum.

A few hours later the only express boat to Belaga arrived from Sibu. Unfortunately (or rather fortunate) the inner cabin was full with passengers and only few of them alighted to end their journey in Kapit. As a result most of us have to take a sit on the roof-top.

Piled on the roof of the express boat were all sorts of necessary commodities of the remote longhouse people ranging from cooking gas cylinder, furniture, door and window part (for newly built long houses) and electrical gadget such as TV and refrigerator.

I secured a place in between those stuffs near to the roaring engine to give me enough handle to grip should the boat swayed. The overwhelmed excitement overcomes my sense of fear as the express boat speeding upstream. I anticipated the ‘Lost World’ of Arthur Conan Doyle and forgot the dangerous man-swallowing rapids.

Sitting on the roof was actually a perfect place to enjoy the beautiful panorama of the rainforest. The blue sky on the top combined with the murky yellow river at the bottom and the greeny mountains on both sides gave you an almost surreal landscape. I was hypnotized by those wonderful views and forgot the burning skin of my forehead due to the scorching midday heat.

A few hours later we reached the most dangerous spot. As we were approaching the Pelagus rapids I could see a warning signboard on the riverside alerting the boat passengers to put on their safety jacket. Amazingly I could not find a single safety jacket available for the passengers inside the boat let alone for the extra passengers on the roof-top.

The slow moving water suddenly became a terrifying tumultuous turbulence. As the express boat lurched and rolled it way through the boiling rapids I strengthened my grab on the handle while my mouth keeps repeating the Noah prayer. I could felt my adrenaline flows freely as the river and my entire system was fully charged for fight or flight should any bad things happened. But thanks God we managed to cruise through the treacherous rapids safely. The initial terrifying feeling later became an exhilarating experience.


WATCH PELAGUS RAPIDS IN ACTION

We reached Belaga six hours later. The Belaga folks welcomed us with the traditional Kenyah dance. Belaga is such a small town. It has only few rows of shop houses, budget inns, a health clinic and a post office in one small area. Belaga grew up in the early 1900s when a few Chinese traders set up shops and started trading with the upriver people, supplying essentials such as kerosene, salt and cooking utensils.

We were then brought to the Belaga Health Clinic (known as Uma Perah in Kayan; Uma= rumah, perah = sakit) where a brief presentation regarding the health care system in Kapit was given by the Kapit Divisional Health Officer. Later on we went to see the site for the new health clinic where the construction is yet to start early next year.

During dinner there was a big welcome party. Dressed in their traditional costume a group of Kayan ladies performed their traditional dance followed by a solo dance of ‘ngajat’ in synchronize with the background traditional music. Later on, in his speech Dato Shafei thanked the Belaga people for their warm hospitality and reassured them that the new clinic will becomes a reality soon. The party continued with a karaoke session (a compulsory session for the Sarawakian during any party) and it end up an hour before midnight with a traditional dance of ‘Li-ling’ where everybody walked rhythmically in a circle.

At dawn I was awakened by the chorus of azan from the nearby mosque. After having a light breakfast we caught an early express boat back to Sibu. A brief visit to this remote area of Sarawak was indeed a rewarding experience. It is almost like traveling back through the time machine into the Lost World.

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