Last week I went to Long Malim, a Penan Settlement. Our purpose was to do follow up and to teach the Penan children basic language and maths. Along the way, we passed by ...
... Long Peran. The people of Long Peran worship ...
... their ancestors. To them, there is no other god other than their own god.
The next Penan settlement is ...
...
Long Singu. Long Singu is a Christian Community. You will notice that at every of these settlements, there is a big compound which is used as a helipad. The flying doctor came in once a month! So, please don't get sick in between! Otherwise the nearest clinic is 70KM away and will require 3-4 hours of travelling through logging tracks.
After travelling for 8 hours, covering 224KM, we finally reached Long Malim Penan settlement.
Surrounded by cloud shrouded mountains, Long Malim is a beautiful place! According to my Garmin satellite navigator (GPS), it is just 520meters above sea level. At the highest point, the road is about 800+ meters above sea level.
But alas, the once crystal clear river is now a permanent yellow river! The fishes are gone and the simple livelihood of the Penan is gone forever. Now, they learned how to plant ...
... padi.
The Penan settlement seems to be temporarily as they will require to move again due to
Murum Hydroelectric dam construction. Read more
here.
Now, we talk about fairness by the government and the way they treated the indigenous people here. I don't know who build their "long houses" . They used recycled zinc roof which is ...
... full of holes. During the day, the sun will ...
... will shine right through and you will see bright light spots on the floor. During rain, the water will get right through those holes.
In the name of development, I am sure that they were probably worse off then before. Their kitchen is still ...
... as primitive as ever.
True that they have gas tank but can they afford to operate it? I was told that they are very expensive. So, the same kitchen has both LPG fired stoves and the traditional wood fired cooking place.
Back in the sixties, Milo was a luxury and for a big cup, we could only use half a tablespoon of milo with equal amount of sugar. The drink was a faint brownish colour just like what this boy was drinking!
If you get sick in this place, my Garmin told me that the nearest clinic is more than 70KM away! So, the best way is to pray and ask Jesus the Healer to perform miracle as the next flying doctor will not come in for up to a month time. Praise God that most people are Christian and there are countless miracles there. I can only conclude that their faith is strong! Do pray for them and always remember the super poor community at Malim, a place above the cloud! Also pray for their children as most of them don't go to school!
Over there, the Penan speak Malay and Iban in addition to their own language!
3 comments:
With BN ruling for about 50 years ,this is the so-called bringing improvement to the indigenous people.Can you imagine a state with the richest natural resources can have this type of living condition for her citizens which is far far behind development?With two whited headed monsters,this nation is to be haunted with more and more financial indebtedness.
I'd like to point out that ancestors are not gods rather they are simply just that - ancestors. To pay respect to ancestors isn't the same as worshipping a god, although there will always be people who actually do that ('worshipping' their ancestors asking for money and luck, stuff like that).
Our ancestors sacrifice for our being, just like we will sacrifice for our next generation. Without them we won't be here.
Matthew: You are right. The two white heads must give way to younger people and not their own children!
Anonymous: You are absolutely right.
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