SURVIVING: The old shophouses facing Sg Balingian
DESERTED: Part of the unoccupied shoplots in the newer part of Balingian town. Some of the upper stories have been converted into swiftlet houses.
STILL GOOD: Shopkeeper Chan Kai Hoan shows the money tin he has used in his coffee shop for the past 30 years. The tin is used to keep change for his customers and operates on a counterweight pulley system fixed to the ceiling that pulls the tin up out of the way when not in use. The counterweight can be seen at the left side of the tin.
RIVER SCENE: (right) A woman takes a boat home from the jetty at the old part of Balingian town. On the left is a boat used for sand dredging.
ABANDONED: The skeleton of a car stripped of its parts sits in front of unoccupied shoplots in the newer part of Balingian town. Some of the upper stories have been converted into swiftlet houses.
CHARRED: The burnt down government rest house at Balingian.
DOG DAY AFTERNOON: A canine snoozes in front of a shophouse at Balingian.
WHEN the BAT III team reached Balingian yesterday morning, we were greeted with rows of shuttered shophouses surrounded by long grass, with less than a handful opened for business.
Thus, our first impression of this small town that lies about 60Km from Mukah was that it was in dire straits. It did not help that the government establishments we passed by were in various states of being faded away, including the charred remains of a government house.
But as we drove further into the nearby village towards the older part of the town, we saw well built and maintained village houses – many painted in bright, cheerful colours – and other signs of a healthy community, including a relatively high number of cars and primary schools.
When we reached the riverfront, we saw that almost all the wooden shophouses were occupied, and more than half opened for business, contrary to the dismal situation at the newer shophouses we encountered earlier.
We were told by locals later that Balingian was facing a dichotomy of sorts – while growth has largely come to a standstill, the town is not exactly on its deathbed yet.
Balingian used to be a vibrant commercial hub at the centre of the area’s timber, paper and rubber industries.
But as the supply of timber dried up, so did employment, thus prompting many to leave for better opportunities elsewhere.
Balingian fell further behind when the road to Mukah was opened.
The rise of Mukah as an administrative and commercial centre accelerated the decline of the town as government offices and agencies shifted to Mukah.
Today, this town has a population of 2,000 people and about four primary schools. Many of their young people have moved out to work, especially to Mukah, which is only about one hour’s drive away.
The lack of a secondary school has not helped matters much, and has in fact given rise to a number of serious socio-economic problems in the community.
A few of the older generation locals we spoke with seemed largely resigned to the fact that Balingian does not appeal to youngsters.
“This is a place for people like me to retire,” said shopkeeper Chan Kai Hoan, 55, half-in-jest.
In the 60s and 70s, Balingian was famous for its large and sweet freshwater prawns, said Chan.
“One could buy several kilogrammes of good, quality prawns for only 50 sen then,” he said when met at his coffee shop yesterday morning, adding there were all kinds of prawns sold then, including the huge udang galah.
Prawns were not the only things that thrived in Sg Balingian, which runs just in front of the wooden shophouses.
Crocodiles too. At one time, sightings of this ferocious reptile were so common that people just accepted them as a normal part of daily life.
But throughout the 30 years or so that he has lived in Balingian, Chan has not heard of crocodiles attacking people here. He opined it is because the locals here respect them and leave them alone, and in return, the crocodiles leave the humans alone.
Nowadays, crocodile sightings are rare. Unfortunately, the prawns are less common too.
One possible reason could be because the river’s water quality is not as good as it used to be, which in turn could be because of the increase in human activity along the river, including the large scale commercial cultivation of oil palm.
However, Penghulu Shahdan Sahari hopes that with support from the authorities, Balingian’s prawns can once again help to attract visitors and investment to the town.
Among others, he suggested that the waterfront area be beautified so that it could attract people to visit and savour local delicacies and try their hands at fishing for prawns.
Here is to hope that Balingian will be around for future generations to discover and appreciate.