This house is said to be the oldest in Kampong Iran, with the architectural style and aesthetic very similar to those of many grand vintage Malay houses still standing in Kuching and Johor.
IT was a warm morning when our group arrived at Kampong Iran in the Suai River Valley, which was quite a relief after having spent about one and half hours on driving along the Miri-Bintulu Coastal Road.
The sight of the houses there reminded me of the story about how the village got its unique name, and no, it was not after the Middle East country.
Many, many years ago a group of Muslim Vaie went on an expedition to seek fertile land for farming and new settlement.
They paddled their boats up from Suai rivermouth and upon reaching a bend, one of them saw, from afar, some ‘kampong’ (village) houses on the riverbank.
He then told his companions: “Hairan, ada rumah sini (It’s baffling that there are houses here).”
Upon reaching that very site, however, not a single man-made structure, let alone a house, could be seen.
Nevertheless, the group decided to settle there, believing that whatever vision there was, it foretold their future.
Moreover, the name ‘Iran’ stuck, deriving from the Vaie’s pronunciation of the Malay word ‘hairan’ (baffled).
It is not exactly known when Kampong Iran was founded, as no historical evidence on the actual date of settlement has ever come into light. Most likely, it was established in the early 1900s.
Connected to Miri via the Bintulu-Miri Coastal Road, the village is about a 40-minute drive from Sepupok in Niah.
It has a good primary school, founded in January 1957 as stated on skkampungiran.blogspot.com.
Moreover, the villagers also enjoy a host of modern amenities like water and electricity supply, a beautiful modern surau, as well as a spacious community hall.
Research work
Upon our arrival, we saw a group of women having their meals at a section of the ‘pengkalan’ (jetty), which was made to resemble a ‘ruai’ (common area of a longhouse).
This ‘rustic lounge’ seemed to function as a place for the parents to rest before fetching their children from SK Kampong Iran.
Awe (facing camera, third left) and the other women having early lunch at the ‘pengkalan’.
We, fellow writer Chen Lu Ting and I, were with Sherman Bourne who was doing research work on the history of the Iban migration to the Suai River Valley.
Sherman is a local historian and photographer who has spent most of his adult life working as an assistant medical officer in the Sarawak government.
After retirement at then-mandatory age of 55, he was engaged by an oil company as its international consultant and medical trainer.
His current interest bloomed after his ‘second retirement’, when he came back to Sarawak in 2017.
A local Suai man, Elias Aun, and another friend were supposed to join us for the trip, but they were unable to make it due to certain family affairs.
However, Elias did provide invaluable information that helped us tremendously.
Chen and I had volunteered to come along in case Sherman needed translators in interviewing the Chinese folks in Sepupok, Batu Niah and Kampong Iran.
Speaking of interview, Sherman got to it straight away with two local respondents whom he had arranged for a meeting prior to our arrival.
Chen and I, on the other hand, stayed with the women at the ‘pengkalan’. They offered us food, which comprised rice, ‘ikan ketutu’ (Marble Sleeper, a local freshwater fish) cooked with yellow ginger, and sambal with cucumber slices.
It was a simple, yet delectable, spread but we politely declined as we were still full from breakfast. We did, however, nibble some biscuits that they served.
The womenfolk were led by Awe Areh, the wife of Tuai Rumah (Longhouse Chieftain) Johnny Tindin.
She invited us to her longhouse, about a 20-minute boat ride from Kampong Iran, on the other side of Suai River.
Awe told us that waiting for the school-children at the jetty had somewhat grown into becoming a sub-culture by itself.
“We come in the morning and stay here until the school-day ends.
“We bring along packed lunches and while waiting for our children, we do crafts work like basketry and needlework.
“We’re chatting away the time as our hands are busy making the crafts.”
Awe, 30, said this had been going on for a long time, involving especially those with children who had just started primary school.
“We are happy to stay here for half the day. Going back and forth between the longhouse and the school can really hurt our household budget, with petrol being very expensive now.
“Besides, we need to stay near our Primary 1 children who have just started school.
“Maybe after a few weeks, we would not stay here for the whole half-day; by then, we might only delegate one or two parents to help pick them up.
“Still, with nothing much to do at home, we would still come here to wait for our young children.”
Two women from the group are from Sabah.
Helen John, in her early 20s, brought along her little son that day and had just given him a bath in the river a few minutes before we arrived.
Her eldest son is in Primary 1 at SK Kampong Iran.
Helen’s father, an Iban, married her Sabahan mother and the couple raised their children in Beaufort, Sabah.
Helen later relocated to Suai following her husband, an oil palm estate personnel who hails from Rumah Johnny.
Photo shows the newly erected landmark SK Kampung Iran. — Photo via Facebook / @SK KAMPUNG IRAN YBB4403
The other Sabahan, Arneh Polintis, was born in Ranau. She met her Saratok-born Iban husband in Kota Kinabalu where they were both working.
Her husband is now working at a Sarawak Oil Palm Bhd’s estate near Kampong Iran.
“This is really a good place for us. My husband has a good job and the people here are very kind and friendly.
“I don’t feel homesick at all,” said Arneh.
An aerial photo taken over SK Kampong Iran. — Photo via Facebook / @SK KAMPUNG IRAN YBB4403
One of the mothers at the jetty chimed in, talking about prawn-fishing being ‘a popular sport’ in Suai River, with many fishermen coming to rent boats to do this activity.
As if on cue, we caught a sight of a fisherwoman dropping her ‘bubu’ (fish traps made from rattan) not far from the riverbank. She then paddled her boat towards the jetty.
The mother, who talked about the prawn-fishing earlier, said the fisherwoman and her husband were well-known prawn-catchers in the area.
A fisherwoman paddles her boat along Suai River, checking her traps for prawns.
A chat with a teacher
We later met up with Christina Kumo, who had taught in SK Kampong Iran from June 1998 to May 2001.
She said when she first came to the village, the primary school could not accommodate all the teachers, so she decided to build one for her own.
“I used my own money to build a little house for myself and my small children – with the permission from the ‘guru besar’ (headmaster), of course.
“It was too tiresome to drive from and to Miri every day, and the travelling took too much of my valuable time with family.”
Christina said the old school used to be hit by floods during the rainy season, inundating the compound and ‘making it look like a big swimming pool’.
“Today, the new school is sited on higher ground, with the structure all concrete and look very modern.”
Again, the subject of prawns came up during our conversation.
“During the planting season from February to April, Suai River would be full of huge prawns.
“The teachers, the pupils and the ‘kampong’ folks would be catching prawns right after the co-curricular activities.
“To me, it was experiential learning and I had a good time supervising all these activities after school hours.”
Christina said during her early days of teaching at the primary school, the road to Kampong Iran was really bad.
“Before I built the small house, I had to get up at 4am, get all my children ready and drive to school when it was still dark.
“After school, it would be more than two hours on the road and we’d end up back home past 7pm.
“So I decided to build my own house in Kampong Iran. After I retired, that little house was turned into a tool shed.
“Today, the primary school is fully equipped, complete with electricity and treated water supply, as well as security guards.
“Teachers nowadays can commute easily, even from Miri, thanks to the good roads.”
Former SK Kampong Iran teacher, Christina, is now enjoying her retirement.
Oldest house in village
During our walk around Kampong Iran, Chen and I were surprised to find a very grand house, said to be the oldest in the village.
Sited by the main road and facing the ‘jelatong’ (pontoon) in Suai River, many believe that it is at least 100 years old and the architecture seems to match that very era.
The roof consists of shingles made from ‘belian’, the local ironwood. So are the walls, the pillars, the staircase and the panelling – all from ‘belian’.
It does not seem that there is any restoration being done on the house, although structurally, it is still sturdy.
Its majestic style and aesthetic are similar to those of the grand vintage Malay houses still standing in Kuching and Johor. Many have been wondering about who the architect was.
Elias, himself a pupil of SK Kampong Iran back in the 1960s, said he had once stayed at that grand ‘belian’ house, where the then-caretaker was a man whom he called ‘Aki’ (grandfather).
“I was about seven years old at the time. I’m not so sure if the house had ever served as a surau,” said Elias, now 70.
‘There used to be a Chinese bazaar’
We met another former pupil of the primary school, Jepit Achoi, from Rumah Mamut.
Now 75 years old, he said he attended SK Kampong Iran from Primary 1 to Primary 4, before being transferred to SK Suai.
Later, he went to the prestigious Tanjong Lobang School after having passed his Primary 6 examination.
“When I was growing up, Kampong Iran was like a trading centre; there were Chinese shops, and many ‘bandung’ (trading boats) berthing at the jetty.
“The villagers grew rubber, pepper, padi and many fruit trees.”
Jepit spoke about ‘a Chinese bazaar’, referring to five shops operated by Chinese traders near Kampong Iran.
“Today, only two (shops) remain standing. There’s one named Tai Guan, which is still remembered fondly by many people who are now in their 70s.”
Jepit said Kampong Iran had always been the gateway to the Niah side of the northern region of Sarawak, even back when the modern road network was non-existent.
“There’s a good path from Kampong Iran leading to Sepupok.
“Back in the days when the folks from Rumah Goyang, on the Suai side, had to travel to Miri, they would have to stop at Kampong Iran, and it’s a longboat trip to and from their longhouse.
“It was the only route at that time.”
Dennis Tan, a businessman from Miri who is now living in Kuching, said Suai River was where he used to go fishing and prawn-catching during his younger days.
“I remember the robust Chip Chong Sawmill at Suai River. Logs would be loaded onto the bigger ships at Suai rivermouth.
“The motorised vessels would make their way upriver and down Suai River – they were MV Moyloon plying the Miri-Niah route, MV Sin Su Chuan on Miri-Sibuti route, and MV Hoe Ping on Miri-Sibu route.
“These vessels were transporting local commodities like corn, ‘jelutong’ (local lightweight timber), rubber, pepper and rice to Miri, and they would be berthed at the Chop Kiat Siang Wharf.
“They continued operating up till the 1980, when road connectivity became the preferred option,” he said.
Jepit still remembers the Chinese bazaar near Kampong Iran, which was thriving during his younger years.
Just like the MVs and the ‘bandungs’, the Chinese bazaar has completely disappeared.
Many of the younger generation, if asked, would not even know that their village once had such a bazaar.
Nevertheless, Kampong Iran is still a beautiful place, with prawn-catching and the handicrafts made by the local womenfolk showing good tourism potential worthy of promotion and further development.
Moreover, the improved road connectivity and the modern amenities have enhanced its existing status as being a rural gateway to Niah Valley.
This said, the visitors today are very much assured that they would not be left ‘baffled’ like the pioneer settlers of Kampong Iran did when they first reached that bend in Suai River long ago.