An economic disaster! — File photo
IT is said that there are many ways of skinning a cat. It sounds cruel and the animal lovers, taking it literally, will not forgive anyone mistreating their pets in such a way.
In talking about something as sensitive as a proposal for change to a way of life, some people choose to be diplomatic in order to be nice; others consider sending a subtle message by beating about the bush to avoid controversy.
There may be an elephant in the room but nobody wants to mention its existence; doing so would be politically incorrect.
Yet, there are people who prefer not to call a spade a spade in order to be kind. It’d be better to sweep the problem under the carpet.
I prefer to be truthful to myself first and, after much soul searching, speak my mind without fear or favour.
Do forgive me, if I suggest to the government to ban the construction of new longhouses and in their place to encourage the construction of single houses in a properly planned settlement, by providing housing loans, if necessary?
Fires too frequent
For a long time now I have been talking and writing about longhouse fires and advocating construction of single houses instead, as an alternative, simply to avoid or reduce the risk of fire to those homes. For being frank, direct and not mincing words, I have drawn fire from many quarters, mainly from my own community. At first the heat was hard to bear, but after awhile one begins to find ways with which to handle the sparks by learning the lesson from the fire crackers. Crackers don’t last; at the end of the explosions, they stop. Light some more crackers, more noise, then silence.
According to the Fire and Rescue Department, from 2011 to 2013, there were 62 fires and 1,061 doors destroyed. This month alone there have been 11 fires.
A reporter good at arithmetic updated the statistics for me: an average of four houses (long ones) burning in a week since 2011, and 1,297 families made homeless! I refused to believe his figures.
Last week’s infernos destroying four longhouses – at Engkalat in Sibu, at Nanga Telik in Saratok, at Raih in Serian, and at Long Mangan in Belaga – are one too many within days of each other. They have inflicted so much misery to so many dwellers of the houses, now smouldering in the ambers. The inhabitants had over the years accumulated assets only to lose them to the flames in a matter of minutes, in front of their very eyes. At Long Mangan, a precious human life was irretrievably lost.
I’m thus prompted to flog the dead horse again, hoping to rekindle interest and concern in those people who are keen to find a panacea with which to propitiate the dangerous monster that has refused to go away and who may strike again any time without warning.
Better ideas needed
While I may have an idea of a solution, there must be others out there who may have better ideas than I do. So let them have their say as well. Let us argue until we are blue in the face; we may disagree without being disagreeable. What’s more important is a solution or solutions to the frequent occurrences of the longhouse fires.
Then let me let loose the pigeons amongst the cats or the cats among the pigeons and see what happens.
In advocating the end of the longhouse as a physical structure, I must qualify. As the first step to take, there must be a campaign of awareness among the target groups: the potential builders of new longhouses.
In this exercise, the community leaders, politicians and members of the NGOs should all be brought on board to assure the target groups that there is life after longhouse living – a better life, perhaps, certainly more secure than it is now. Ample publicity must be given to the campaign and here lies the importance of bringing the mass media and the government information outfit as well.
A common message to deliver is simply fire prevention and better housing. When a longhouse burns down, all items of possession – the gun, the birth certificate, the identity card, the furniture, the fridge, the mattress, sometimes the cash, which was kept under the pillow, and the precious car or a motorcycle kept under the house – go up in flames for ever.
In an emergency situation like this, everybody is for themselves, trying to salvage what he or she owns and has no time to help others.
However, if one single house in a properly laid out village burns, the other members of the community can lend a helping hand. There is someone to call the Bomba; others to help with salvaging possessions and to console the victims. At any rate, one house is lost and one miserable family is left with their clothes on their backs. Compare the situation to where many families have lost all their belongings. It’s an economic disaster for a community! What if there is a loss of precious human life. Of course, even a whole village or a bazaar does get burnt down from time to time. Fire has no respect for race or culture.
During the campaign, put emphasis on the fire risk to the physical structure of the building; a lot of the existing longhouses are old. During hot weather they are tinder dry and thus become fire prone. Give to the audience an assurance that culture and customs will not die out in the new house. The good values and norms and mores exist in the minds anyway. The kinship ties will be kept intact; the traditional role of the headman as custodian of the adat will remain. All intact except the length of the house.
Government’s role
To slowly help end the practice of living in a longhouse, the government should introduce a policy of discouragement by not providing housing loans for the construction of any new longhouse and by freezing the loans that have not been approved or given out. Instead, give loans to people who build single houses in a properly planned village, if they need financial help.
Encourage people to start building new single or detached houses in a suitable spot chosen for reasons of health, security, accessibility to roads or clean rivers and amenities such as dispensaries or schools or bazaars.
The job of the local council in each district is to ensure that the new settlement is provided with basic amenities for short- and long-term needs including provision for an expanding population of the district.
A survey of opinion necessary
Changing the mindset of people used to living under one roof is most difficult, but try we must, step by step. In this persuasion exercise, a prior consent freely given must be obtained from the target groups before the plan is carried out. You may find sceptics of your plan but do not be discouraged. Those who wish to build single houses, give them all the necessary backing in terms of loans and other assistance. Those of them who are unsure of the new life without a longhouse may be left alone for the time being. These are people who adopt a stance of wait and see or of seeing is believing. They will eventually scramble on board if the project proves workable and shows signs of success.
What to do with the existing houses?
There are many well-built longhouses along the major road network in the state. Let them stay. Look after them day and night. Buy fire extinguishers or get your YB to buy them for you. At the same time, think of alternative housing when thinking about moving to a new site in future.
Generally, the dwellers themselves know how to look after their own property. Who would want to lose property anyway?
While the government should supply the longhouses with an adequate number of fire extinguishers, it should also provide funds for their maintenance, replacements and training of the people there in the proper use of the extinguishers.
In addition, the radio can be used to advise longhouse dwellers to keep matches safely away from children, the housewife to extinguish kitchen fires before retiring for the night, not to leave the simmering pot on the kerosene stove, and so on.
Of course, fires still occur from time to time in all places such as in old bazaars and kampungs and factories – it’s a question of frequency. The longhouse fires are one too many.
Are these not preventable?
Houses already under construction
These may be houses built with government loans or privately funded. Proceed with their construction until completion. Equip them with the latest fire prevention measures and train the dwellers on the proper use of the fire extinguishers, if available. Get the standard size of extinguisher. Those that I saw in the ruins of a longhouse in Katibas a few years ago were tiny and ineffective against a conflagration; these would be suitable for use only for a car fire. Insure the house against fire, if there is a company willing enough to underwrite the risk.
Let the debate on the pros and cons of the longhouse domicile continue. The long and the short of my motion is that there must be no new longhouses, only detached or single houses.
Those in favour will say aye; those against, think again.
Comments can reach the writer via [email protected].