Going Places: Kampung Banting Lingga

Not Many people know about this small place,situated at the river of Klauh,off-shot from the main river of Batang Strap,Lingga.Banting consist of 5-7 Dayak Balau/Ibanic longhouses with a small town,consist of 3-4 doors shophouses.Mostly the Iban here live as farmer and some become fisherman.Many do not know that the Banting Ibans were among the modern/advance Ibanic group who live in Sarawak.

During the colonial time,the Brooke brought up some Banting Iban after finish their St.Paul Primary school here to Siol Kandis in Kuching to work as Policeman and Ranger.The Iban here were among the earliest to convert Christianity and the second oldest Anglican Church was built on the top of Banting Hill.

According to the local Banting people,This land was settled by the "Urang Laut" and a mosque was built near the step of the Banting Hill meanwhile,the Balau/Ibanic Dayak lived in Lingga.The British switched the "Urang Laut" to live in Lingga(till today) to avoid other Ibanic Headhunting Party while the Dayak Balau/Ibanic moved upriver to Banting till today.The Banting Iban were very loyal to the Brooke government and always participate with Brooke to chase away the other aggreasive Dayak Skrang and Dayak Saribas from Headhunting/Piracy.

Banting are welknown for its nature,especially the aggressive wild Crocodile(the Salty)Attack on human occur in Banting by crocodiles.Beside Crocodiles,people can see some wild birds,like the Kingfisher,Eagle,Hawk,Hornbills and also Silver Leaf monkey and "Urang Belanda"(The big nose monkey) especially in the evening,they all feast on the top of the trees.

Bukit Banting(known by the Iban) AKA Gunong Lesong(Known by Urang Laut) are the talles mountain,situated behind Banting Village.The shape of the mountain looks like the Lesong(Paddy Pounding Instrument).Some of the weekend Hikers and Boys scout do hiking at this mountain while enjoying the nature and virgin forest along the way(except Palm Oil).

Beside that,one of the best place to see Benak(Tidal Bore) will be from the house beranda along the river while enjoying a cup of coffee.(Uda ngirup,Pulayy).This special God Nature Creation can reach up to 4-5 meter height and the loud sound of the waves can be heard about 2-3 km from the village of Banting.

Banting is NOT accessable by road and one have to travel by Boat from Lingga or Pantu Town.It takes about 1-3 hours by long boat,see the high/low tide.(watchout for the Crocodiles santai-santai near the TEBING and the monkeys on the top of the mangrove trees).Ironically,the government cannot build a gravel road to Banting till today busy building lots of lots of Dam; eventhough during election time,with sweet chewing gum promising of road to be build from the main Highway of Serian-Simanggang road,near Melugu-Klauh. But rumors heard where the Lingga people protest the road being built,scared the Lingga business will go bankrap if the Banting people choose the other way.So another sweet chewing gum promising road proposal were made,where Banting will be link to Lingga by road...but.....till today....NOL<--kata urang Indo.

It is funny to know that Banting used to be a modern place to live with better facilities in the olden days by the Brooke Government,like the Church,school,town....compare to the other village nearby of Ngkaranji,Lingga,Pantu,Sebuyo,....Maybe it's because of the politic gimmick.....'SARAWAK IS VERYYY BIGG TO DEVELOP,PLEASE BE PATIENT!!(or better become a patient from crocodile attack).

So Bantingnese,what are you waiting for????Ok dech,Simukeir STory just finish and my cup of tea also "abies"......"Uda Ngiruop,Bugau tox Pulay",Nisik urangk meli kain sarung aq...hehehe

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Enduring Lesson From Legend

Being tired of Malaysian damm Politics. Its just the best time to shift and move to thehistory of the Sarawak.  Its just enduring lesson from legend.

I’m sure most Sarawakian would know Gunung Santubong and have heard stories about it from one source or the other.  As I was driving with my friend Fred who is Iban from nearby Longhouse, to Sarawak Cultureal Village, she excitedly pointed out Gunung Santubong from afad and asked my opinion on what it looked like.  Without waiting for my answer, he continues that it looked like a pregnant women lying on her back.  Indeed i t look like pregnant women lying on her back and ever since that day, I’m intrigued by the legend of Puteri Santubong after being teased by Fred, who refused to tell me what the legend is all about.

Apparently, i just read that history of Puteri Santubong from one of the history book when I was a child.  Back to my home, I researched the legend and found quite a lot of informative websites dedicated to the legend. Brief info about Gunung Santubung, it is located 35km north of the Kuching and is approximately 2,658 above sea level. 

 My collegue Margaret who is local Bidayuh told me that the name “Santubong” originated from an Iban word “Si antu ubong” or the “spirit  boat”.  The spirit boat is actually a coffin shaped like a boat carved from a single wooden log to represent a vessel use by the spirit of the dead to travel o other world and when Gunung Santubung is mentioned, inevitably Gunug Sejinjang would surface too.

Determined not to toy by Fred the next meeting we met, i took the chance more to learn about the legend from Margaret and also from websites.  There is also folk song related to the lagend that i found interesting, sang in local Sarawak Malay, the Lyric is something like this,  “Puteri Santubong Puteri Sejinjang, menjaga Gunung negeri Sarawak”(Hope I can sing in with proper voice and strong Vibrato :)

There are few version of the legend and the one that Margaret emphasized as the original history is Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sejinjang were daughters of the King of heaven and were the most beautiful princesses in the world and they descended from their heavenly places to take care of the mountains in Sarawak and people who lived there.  On earth the work just as normal people did, as Puteri Santubong work as weaver while Puteri Sejinjang work as Paddy thumper.  They were best friend and they did things together. 

One day, a handsome price from Afar came to Sarawak.  His name was Putera Jaya and the price, after meeting Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sejinjang, fell in love with the former.  This not goes well with Puteri Sejinjang as she also fell in love with the prince.  At first there was no conflict between both Puteri but eventually the things changed when Puteri Santubong fell in love with the prince.  She spent most her days with the prince while ignoring Puteri Sejinjang.

It’s not just Puteri Santubong neglect Puteri Sejinjang, she was also careless in carrying out her job as the warden of the mountains and its people including her job as a weaver.  This did not bode well with Puteri Sejinjang as not only had she lost her best friend but also had shoulder extra responsibilities guarding the mountain and its people. Now both princesses no longer talked to each other and the only time the two princesses did was when they hurled and accusation at each other.  The people suffered from this and natural disasters came one after the other.

Puteri Seinjang finally decided that enough was enough and went to see Puteri Santubong.  When they meet all hell broke loose an the people suffer a great thunderstorm that lasted for days.  Puteri Sejinjang slapped Puteri Santubong’s face so hard that dislocated Puteri Santubong jaw and this can be seen when one looks at Gunung Santubung, the manifestation of the great slap by Puteri Sejinjang.  Not wanting to be outdone, Puteri Santubong took a sharp pole and threw it towards Puteri Sejinjang and it hit her head that shattered into pieces.  That is why when one passes Gunung Sanubong, one can see a group of small islands beside it, the remnants of Puteri Sejinjang.  The Group of small islands are called Pilo Kerak (Isle of Monkey).

Deep remorse flooded Puteri Santubong after killing her best friend and Putera Jaya, upon learning about the killing, deserted Puteri Santubong and went back to her own country.  The people rejected Puteri Santubong and in great despair, she went to Puteri Sejinjang’s body and cried for many days. As day passed, Puteri Santubong was on the brink of death and she called to the heavens for her father and not to avail.

During the final moment, she was cursed to become mountain Gunung Santubong, as a lesson for all. Such is the sad and tragic legend of Puteri Santubong that I Learned.  Indeed one need to treasure one’s loved ones without neglecting other.

Good Day everyone..Pleasure