Living a near-impossible dream

Lamin Dana Cultural Lodge represents businesswoman’s dedication to the preservation and development of Melanau culture

“IT took 20 years to shape it,” Diana Rose muses over the making of Lamin Dana Cultural Lodge as a homestay, living museum and social enterprise.

The first of its kind in Tellian, a coastal village in Mukah District, the project was her brainchild – a dream too big or rather, impossible, back then; now, it is the icon of rural tourism for Sarawak’s central region.

As Diana tells it, Tellian was ‘a rural village caught in the doldrums of the 1900s’.

With only a trail path to Mukah town and everything connected by riverine transits, the hamlet centred on sago and fishing, and was thriving in its ancient culture, tradition, rituals, and festivities.

As a child growing up in Tellian, Diana revelled in the simplicity of life. She soaked in the tales told by the older village folks and the beauty of the intricacies of life there. Even at a young age, she was already familiar with her Melanau cultural heritage and Tellian itself.

Her interest in her rich cultural background never wavered, and she was dismayed when many of its practises and creative representations began to fade. She was tasked with restoring Tellian to its former splendour, and she took the risk of realising her dream for Tellian.

Passion, unwavering effort

The Lamin Dana Cultural Lodge is a manifestation of her passion, made possible by her unwavering efforts, her battling spirit, and ‘the daredevil in me’, as she puts it. It expresses one woman’s hopes, hardships and victories in the name of her culture’s love.

Launched in 1999, Lamin Dana today boasts of a thriving centre for the promotion of Melanau traditional music, dance, food and craft, a momentous achievement not only for the founder, but for Mukah as well, and Kampung Tellian in particular – almost the entire village is involved in the activities.

The lodge has become one of the main attractions of Sarawak’s central region. Suffice to say, it has brought such an impact on the community that if you take away Lamin Dana, the whole village would be affected.

Diana’s notion of a homestay, living museum and social enterprise all wrapped into one in a peaceful rural town, which seemed preposterous at first, is now a reality and a Tellian’s pride.

Diana had the concept while working as a journalist for The Star, an English daily newspaper based in Peninsular Malaysia.

“It was during my stint as a journalist that I saw how important it was to preserve our rich cultural heritage and how displaced a community would be if they lost it. I saw it among the Orang Asli and the displaced people affected by the Bakun Dam,” she recalls.

Preserving Melanau culture

She also saw how the Melanau community were on the brink of losing their cultural heritage as they were prone to depart from their cultural practices, either branding them as outmoded or heretical. So began her foray into unknown territory: the founding of Lamin Dana, a cultural homestay and social enterprise dedicated to the preservation and development of Melanau culture.

“In everything I do, I will take a calculated risk,” she maintains.

With her high expectations for the project, Lamin Dana looked impossible, but that was not her first calculated risk.

The first was when she left Mukah just after she finished her Form 6 to work as a reporter with The Borneo Post in Kuching.

“It was also my first ‘rebellion’ against my mother who wanted me to have the commonly expected life of a girl – to be a teacher, find a good man and get married,” she chuckles.

“I didn’t know what I wanted in life then, but I definitely didn’t want to be what others expected me to be,” she affirms.

Not conforming to everything that her mother wanted for her, Diana decided to go her own way – to further her education in Peninsular Malaysia.

Whilst working as a reporter, she managed to ‘invest’ in a motorbike, saved some money from her salary and got a place in Institute Teknologi Mara (now Universiti Teknologi Mara) in Shah Alam to pursue a degree in mass communications, majoring in journalism.

She sold her motorbike at its original price – thanks to the buyer, a colleague of hers who was supportive of her academic pursuit. With the little savings that she had, the ‘profit’ from her bike and without her mother’s knowledge, she left for the federal capital.

Pursued degree in journalism

She called her mother via telephone only after she had arrived at the campus. Although they had opposing views on how to go about with life, her mother gave her wholehearted support. As a student, she worked as a runner for her lecturer to support herself. She felt that she had gone beyond the ‘commonly expected life of a girl’ as she followed her dreams. She also proved to her mother that she was capable of doing what she believed was good for her.

By the time she graduated, her mother had changed her mindset for the better. As a mother, Rose Laga (Diana’s mother) learned that she could only help her daughter in her search for a vocation, give whatever support she could and not impose the old traditional beliefs on her.

As for Diana, it had been a risk worth taking when she left Mukah with little money to work in Kuching en route to college where she earned a degree in mass communications.

“Since I was little, I learned to sink and swim,” she says.

The making of Lamin Dana was a testimony to that.

“It took me two years to visualise the project and build my courage to execute it. To realise a dream, one has to dream with eyes wide awake.

“Charting into an unknown territory is indeed scary, but it’s worth a try. We never know what we can achieve till we put our hand to the plough.
“I don’t want to live with a big ‘IF’,” she says.

Mum unfailing in support

She put her hand to the plough. She began by sharing the idea with many people in Tellian, brainstormed with some Melanau leaders, explaining to them her vision in earnest. To many, it was an impossible dream; to some a crazy idea; some even thought she was mad. But it was a good dream as it was aimed at preserving and conserving the Melanau heritage by instilling in the community a sense of belonging and the pride of being a Melanau.

A few gave their support. To mention them one by one: her mother topped the list, followed by her late uncle Vincent Pidan and some family members – Mary Abaiah Nasroon, Fabian Kijang Pusoon, Nancy Sait and Edmund Slaman Tuna.

These were the pioneer owners of Lamin Dana – those who plucked up their courage to take the risk with her.

With the help of the people in Tellian together with some Melanau leaders, works on Lamin Dana began.

Diana watched with bated breath the making of her dream. Sometimes, she felt plunged into the abyss of the unknown.

“However, my passion in bringing back the appreciation for Melanau culture in my community and the daredevil in me overrode the fear,” she recalls.

Sixty-two men from three villages came together in the spirit of ‘gotong royong’ (work party) to erect the main structures of Lamin Dana’s main building, which was designed according to the architecture of the traditional Melanau tall house.

It took seven months to complete the building of the dreamed Lamin Dana.
The traditional opening ceremony on Sept 12, 1999 was performed by Tan Sri Dr Muhammad Leo Toyad Abdullah, the member of Parliament for Mukah and also the federal Deputy Minister of Education back then.

It was a promising start when in that same year, the lodge received its first batch of guests – an unexpected group of 100 people.

“We were not even ready yet. We didn’t even have beds and the guests didn’t mind to sleep on the floor,” Diana recalls the time they first started.

Her journey with Lamin Dana was never a straight path, as in her own words: “To pioneer a project of this nature without help from any major institutions or banks was an uphill battle. No government agencies would help as the concept of tourism was different then.

“It was like rowing upstream against a very strong current.”

When she took the calculated risk, she missed out one critical point of the calculation – the operational cost incurred in sustaining the project.

“My action was indeed reckless, but on a positive side, it gave me the opportunity to face head-on the learning curve of business survival physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and financially, of course,” she remarks.

The greatest achievement for Diana, therefore, was when she was able to survive every storm and grow with her business. Today, she can proudly say: “When you hit rock bottom, the only way out is UP.”

In all this, her mother had been her pillar of strength.

“Although Mom never understood why I wanted to do such a ‘crazy project’, she always stood by me nonetheless,” she prides.

When her mother passed on in 2006, Diana felt lost but as she drew strength from God, she was able to rise and press on with her Lamin Dana project.

A year later, when she set up her own family, she found that she had all the reasons to move forward in what she had resolved to do. It was also the year Lamin Dana received recognition from the Sarawak government, when it was bestowed the ‘Sarawak Tourism Hornbill Appreciation Award (Private Sector)’.

Launched by Chief Minister

The Lamin Dana Cultural Lodge is a success story. Through the project, Diana had been presented the ‘DIGI Amazing Award’ for the ‘Knowledge Keeper of Sarawak’ category, which gave her the opportunity to promote further Melanau dance, music and crafts among the youths in the surrounding villages.

The lodge has, over the years, been playing host to a number of both national and international production houses and television stations that would use it as a backdrop or point of focus for their documentary productions.

It has also been a location for a Malaysian movie.

What took 20 years to shape had obviously shaped the woman behind the dream.

The advocate for Melanau cultural heritage-turned-businesswoman has also embarked on another project in collaboration with the Malaysia Handicraft Development Cooperation – the creation of a new batik community in Mukah through which the ‘Batik Linut’, a batik textile using sago flour as its main ingredient, has been introduced.

In her welcoming speech during the official launch of the textile by the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Diana concluded with a personal quote: “In life, you always start with simplicity.

“From this small step, we can create bigger things. Through simplicity, we can unite. Through unity, we can create peace and harmony.”

Living her dream and holding true to her words, Diana, who has also been recognised as a Mukah Youth Icon by the Mukah Youth Art Club, once said: “I wear many hats – writing is my passion, community development is my responsibility, and living life to the fullest is my personal mantra.”

As a writer, she has received a number of awards, including the ‘Outstanding Journalist Award’, ‘Malaysian Journalism Award’, ‘ICI-CCM Environmental Journalism Award’, ‘Outstanding Journalism Award’ and ‘AZAM Best Writer Award’ — just to name a few.

Born of a dream, driven and sustained by passion and determination, Diana’s accomplishment speaks volumes about the pioneering spirit and grit of yet another Sarawakian woman who had a humble beginning. After overcoming countless challenges and persevering unwaveringly, she has finally realised the reality that she had set out to achieve, much to the delight of her family and friends.

The dream had never left her during her years as a university student and then, as a journalist. It has risen in size, rigour, and even dominance. It was as if she was responding to a calling when she eventually took the brave steps and completed her voyage successfully. What took 20 years to shape the reality of her dream has also shaped the woman behind the dream.