An old photo of Kallang and Zainuddin at the Tanjong Lobang School balcony.
TWO best friends who lost touch for almost half a century found each other recently. One made an exceptionally long journey to meet the other at Pa Ukat in Bario.
In the late 1960s, Tanjong Lobang School, isolated on a cliff and about an hour’s walking distance from the main Miri bazaar, was a hub of learning with students coming from all ethnic backgrounds statewide.
It was an International School by present-day standards, funded by the Colombo Plan and New Zealand government with 80 per cent staff from Commonwealth countries.
From Northern Sarawak came the Muruts (now Lun Bawang), Bisaya and Kedayan, while from the Highlands came the Kelabits, Kayans, and Kenyahs. Then there were the Melanaus from Central Sarawak and the Bidayuhs from Kuching.
The majority were the Ibans — from Kanowit, Julau, Saratok, Simanggang, Simunjan, Limbang, Marudi, Miri and Sibu with a few from the small ethnic groups of Kanowits, Kejamans, and Kiputs.
Many of the Chinese students at Tanjong Lobang came from families who could not afford the fees in town schools.
It was about half a century ago that Zainuddin Latip befriended Kallang Akup at Tanjong Lobang where they were studying. They forged a strong friendship, sharing meals at the refectory, and at times, accompanying each other to night prep class.
They played football in the evening and were happy young teenagers who only wanted to do well in their studies. Girlfriends were far from their minds.
After two years, the bosom pals took different life paths.
Zainudin worked in Peninsular Malaysia for a few years. He tried teaching but it wasn’t his cup of tea. He then served with the government until he retired.
Zainudin worked mainly in Kuching while Kallang went to the Rajang Teachers’ College. Back then, there were no handphones. Even landlines were rare. After a while, they lost touch.
Legacies left by Kallang’s father and grandfather.
Locating best friend
In 2018, Zainudin, already retired, made a special effort to locate his ‘sahabat karib’ whom he suspected had returned to his highland village.
Zainuddin joined the Tanjong Lobang Alumni and started getting news of old class and school mates but none of his long lost friend. It was after Kallang himself had joined the alumni that their abang-adik friendship was rekindled with a happy reunion at Pa Ukat, Bario, in the Kelabit Highlands. Two best friends sought each other out and were reunited at last — after nearly 50 years.
As the village could not be contacted by mobile phone, Zainudin decided to make a trip — his first to Bario to see Kallang.
“I was very excited, like a small kid,” he said, adding that he took a bus from Kuching and flew by Twin Otter to Bario.
On arrival, Zainuddin was met by Kallang and his wife, Elizabeth Chan, who prepared a halal kitchen at home to welcome him.
He said meeting another schoolmate and senior Pemancha Freddie Abun at the airport was a bonus. It was a very warm reunion.
Kitchenware
Kallang and Chan were heads of their schools before they retired.
With many of their Muslim and non-Muslim friends coming to visit, they have two sets of kitchenware — halal and non-halal.
Chan prepares rice wrapped in leaves. She uses the Ti tree leaves (or Iron Wood tree) and fresh milk, which gives a delectable aroma to her kelupis.
Like the women in the community, she can make nuba laya, using daun long and Kelabit soft rice.
She told thesundaypost, “I make a lot of salads, using fresh vegetables I get from a nearby farm. I have shown the villagers how to make salads and now most families enjoy the dish. It’s good we can get fresh vegetables here.
“Here, we don’t eat a lot of meat unless friends have caught some game-like kijang or deer. Normally, we keep the meat in the freezer for friends who drop by. It is a good treat,” she chuckled before adding, “Sometimes, we also smoke the meat.”
Kallang and Zainuddin enjoy the view from Kallang’s Pa Ukat home balcony.
Tough childhood
Kallang was born in Pa Ukat and had a tough childhood. When he started schooling, he had to walk for hours to attend class. Going to secondary school in Marudi was also challenging in those days because of the long travelling distance and the absence of proper transport.
Kallang was educated in Tanjong Lobang School in the 60s, the first among his people to study in Miri. He was a temporary teacher before deciding on a teaching career to promote education among his people.
As a Rajang Teacher-Training College graduate, he was posted to teach in different parts of Sarawak. Two years later, he married Chan and they taught mainly in Sarikei. At one time he served in Julau.
After retirement, they had thought of making their home in Sarikei where they had spent the best years of their lives and where their children had grown up. But duty called and they decided to move back to Pa Ukat.
There was no electricity in the village until very recently. And presently, the villagers still depend on rainwater and gravity feed water. But the couple decided to return because they want to give back to the community in whatever way the can.
The buffalo is used to pull the farmer’s belongings.
Farming life
“We’re farmers. We walk to our farm every morning — about 20 minutes — part of the path is cement while most of it is still soft earth. But we enjoy the exercise and gardening,” said Chan.
Kallang Akup or Lawa Paren (his name is changed when a new generation is added in Kelabit culture), enjoys working at the farm, planting crops such as cinnamon, pineapples, and passion fruit.
He also prepares smoked meat in the farmhouse. Pa Ukat’s cool air is just right for preserving pork belly.
Chan puts the dehydrator she bought to good use. She dries bamboo shoots from their farm with it. The bamboo groves were planted by Kallang’s father and grandfather.
She makes organic pineapple jam along with the other women in the longhouse and her own bread after the SEB-installed solar power about two years ago. She shares her home-baked bread with her visitors.
Yang shares a moment with Sina Rang.
The couple are happy to be living in Pa Ukat. Being self-sufficient, they have little need to go to Bario bazaar. Besides, a trip will cost each of them RM30 return.
They will only call a Bario ‘taxi’ when Kallang needs to go to Kuala Lumpur for checkups once in three months.
The handicraft shop in Pa Ukat is an oft-visited tourist spot.
Owner Margina is married to Shim, who is from Peninsular Malaysia. She also runs a workshop to teach the womenfolk knitting, crocheting, basketry, and mat-making, and promotes pineapple jam and local products made by the villagers.
She has also taken part in several roadshows outside Bario. Many tourists buy her baskets and mats as souvenirs.
Zainudin, Chan, and Kallang enjoy a day out at a Bario kopitiam.
Arrival of solar power
The arrival of solar power has been a blessing. Now, the longhouses and individual homes in Pa Ukat can have electrical appliances such as dehydrators, washing machines, freezers, and ovens, making life in the village much easier.
Most importantly, many like Kallang have their own mini rice milling machines. Now, they can mill rice as and when needed.
The milled rice is fresh with no preservatives added. But being organic, the grains cannot last long after milling because they can get spoilt by weevils. Rice milling with solar power is done 24/7.
Their monthly bill is only RM5 although there is still no electricity connection like the rest of Bario.
Chan serves a meal in her split-level longhouse kitchen.
First time in Bario
Julie Yang from Miri found the scenic beauty of Bario mesmerising. She was taken on a tour by Kallang, Elizabeth, and driver Mary around several villages of Bario, including the salt mine of Pa Umor, and loved every minute of it.
A keen photographer since young, Yang enjoyed her two-day walkabout in the picturesque highland town. She wasn’t at all surprised when she saw a buffalo walking towards her along the road to the Kallang’s farm.
She also found the food very tasty although she preferred the vegetable to the meat dishes.
“See I finished two bungkus (bundles) of nuba laya,” she said.
The fresh air, blue sky, and nice weather of Pa Ukat and the warm hospitality of Kallang and Chan have drawn friends back to the village again and again.
Captions
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Pemancha Freddie Abun, Zainuddin, Freddie’s wife, and Kallang at Bario Airport.
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Margina’s exquisite beadwork on display in her studio and workshop.
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