SONG: Fresh off the express boat from Kapit, the BAT team was immediately whisked away in a squeaky van driven by a petite lady. However, she is no underground mafia figure but Sister Justina, a Catholic nun with kind eyes.
FINE MEAL: The Borneo Post Adventure Team enjoying lunch with Sr Justina (left) and Sr Siena (second left) at St Herbert’s church in Song.
The BAT team was fortunate enough to be invited to have lunch with her and Sister Siena – a fellow nun and also the elder sister of our senior reporter Peter Sibon – at St Herbert’s church where they reside.
Lunch was a delicious affair prepared by Sr Siena, consisting of fluffy white rice, hearty vegetable soup and deep fried freshly caught sultan fish topped off with an addictive home-made spicy cili padi and kicap sauce specially created by Sr Justina.
Kanowit-born Sr Justina and Kuching-born Sr Siena took their vows to become nuns 35 and 31 years ago respectively. Currently, the former teaches at the Catholic pre-school next door to the church, while the latter is involved in church and community work.
During lunch, we could not help but notice a large array of plastic bottles and a number of huge plastic containers filled with water placed around the kitchen. We were told that residents do this because water supply here can be rather unpredictable in terms of supply and quality.
The community here is growing. However, despite its name, many residents have little to sing about.
Prolonged delays in building much needed infrastructure including the Song-Kanowit and Song-Kapit roads mean that development has largely bypassed this busy community of mostly Ibans and Chinese people.
The chairman of Song Chinese Chamber of Commerce Toh Heng San told the BAT team that current water and electricity facilities are unable to cope with the growing population, resulting in frequent power outages and water disruptions.
The town’s only power supply is an old generator which is prone to breaking down, resulting in thousands of ringgit worth of damages to electric and electrical goods every time it happens.
As a song should have a good ending, the people would definitely expect something better from the government. However, due the imminent state elections, the people are seemingly running out of patience. Their immediate hope is for the government to fulfill its previous promises to connect Song with both Kanowit and Kapit.