Panoramic view of the main Debak Bazaar in Betong Division.
Lau Kong Chang
Tuai – Lau Kong Mui’s father in-law
Lau Kong Mui
DEBAK: Debak was a bustling town when there were many economic activities like timber extraction in its hinterlands in the 70s and 80s.
Debak is also a sub-district under Betong Division.
But now these activities have long gone and the town located some 10 km from the main trunk road from Kuching to northern Sarawak is definitely a destination less visited.
Joo Hua eatery’s proprietor, 44-year-old Lau Hong Mui, said in those days Debak bazaar was a stopover for timber workers from Sibu and nearby villages to buy groceries and have their meals.
“That was when the town was thriving and was the period of economic boom for local Chinese business community especially the eateries and other businesses,” he told BATVI yesterday.
“On top of that during those periods many natives came to town to sell ‘engkabang’ fruits which were a very highly priced jungle commodity used for cosmetics,” he added.
Lau said the bazaar later experienced the rubber and cocoa boom.
“But now we hardly see people and by midday the town is quiet and by evening the shops close for the day.
“There are good and bad things about the new road linking towns and cities and for us in this small town, it has done some damage as our business have been affected. People just bypass us and now we rely on small travellers and the locals who live in Debak,” he lamented.
His brother, 42-year-old Lau Kong Chang, said the town looked more modern now because the row of old wooden shops was gutted by fire in 1984.
“We used to have long rows of wooden shops up to 60 feet in length or more unlike now. But this era is just memories but life must move on,” he added.
According to him, those still trading in the town are the older Chinese generation because the younger generations prefer to make a living somewhere else.
But unlike the neighbouring town of Spaoh, Debak is still well patronised, the younger Lau revealed.
He said Debak now has 70 new shop lots after the fire and they would continue their eatery business no matter what rather than operate a grocery shop which they did before it was gutted by fire.
BATVI also spoke to a 63-year-old man from Kampung Ulu Dit whom they met at the eatery.
The very shy villager who just wanted to be called Tuai (old man) is the father in-law of Lau Hong Mui and helps in the eatery when needed.
Asked about the livelihood of the Iban community in the area, he said cash crops like pepper have brought some impact on the life of the villagers due to its present high price.
Tuai said the government had done a lot for his village and spent considerable sum of money to boost the livelihood of the villagers and the people are enjoying the fruit of socio-economic development.
“The Barisan Nasional government is good and they have helped me with subsidy to start my pepper garden of 200 vines,” he told BATVI.
“I applied in 2015 for my subsidy and planted my pepper vines early 2016. I just got news my subsidy for the support poles and nursery has been approved and the total amount is RM1,600,” he enthused.