A Road too Far

A memorable journey

By AV Latinggam

Kampung Sonsogon Magandai Kota Marudu

Kampung Sonsogon Magandai is sited 30 kilometres away from Kota Marudu Township. It is a remote village that is made more remote by the road condition to that place. It not too far considering kilometres, but the road situation makes it feel like one is travelling so far and long into the village. Beauty in nature surrounding it may be a plus for visitors,  but for the people there the road condition is their grief and their grievance.

For those who are driving and their passengers, they will be rolled, rattled and trundled through rough terrain. The road is really bad, its screams ‘bad’.

On a recent journey there on an assignment, a group of people and I were stuck in mud seven times and had to be dug up and pulled by an accompanying truck; raced through 15 very deep muddy patch of road, slide down muddy road and  zigzagged crazily up and down the muddy path. As if that’s not enough we crossed a river! We travelled five hours to reach the village and another four out.

No wonder the villagers are grumbling.

Village headman Majan Sampun, 69, says he and his fellow villagers have longed for a good road for a long time.

Beauty in the forest

He recalls a better road there when timber was still in abundance. It was never sealed but at least the road was accessible, they could walk out to town or maybe get a lift from lorries or four wheel drive driving back and forth the village.

“And then the road was left unattended for years. The log bridge over the river broke and then we cannot walk across anymore. We waded through the river on a shallow part. If we had lifts from four wheel drives, we may be able to cross over in comfort.”

“After that we will walk until we get too tired and then we will rest. We usually make it to town in two days if we walked. If we are lucky we can get lifts and get there in a day.”

He shares that he did not mind walking if he really had to, but not everyone wanted to do that.

“The sick cannot make it to town, the vehicle bumping and trundling will make them worse. We have brought a few sick villagers on the road, some died on the way. We had to turn back half way to town,” he shares.

According to him, the village does receive flying doctor service  every month, but at times they would not be able to do so, especially when it’s windy and rainy.

Stuck in the mud!

We've only just begun!

“Sick people can’t pick a fair-weather day to be ill. If bad weather continues for a week, he would either be too sick to care about getting well by then or he would be dead,” he shares.

“We need a clinic here, with at least a nurse in attendance. There may be only 81 houses here with 312 people, but we are also entitled to basic health facilities. I hope the relevant authorities can build us a clinic, and accord us a nurse to attend to us.  There are mothers who need medical facilities to give birth, children sick and the elderly too,” the father of five children shares.

On the economy, he says they are all sustenance farmers. They plant yam and tapioca for food, while some have paddy fields.  Others plant vegetables for their own consumption.

“It would be good if we can market some of our goods in Kota Marudu, so we can earn some money. We need money for our children’s schooling and for our salt and other type of food that we cannot grow on our own.”

A Friendly Hand...Pull!!

The River Crossing

“If we have a good road, we can market our wares. As it is now, if we carried our produce on our back for 30 kilometres and with a very bad road, at that, it will not be worth our while. By the time we reach town, our vegetable will have been mushed and the price we acquire from our yams and tapioca will not even be able to cover our fare back, if someone is good enough to ferry us back to the village.”

According to him, there are also rubber tappers among them who need access to buyers to sell their ware.

“Therefore I stress once again, please do something about our road. I hope that the relevant authorities will hear our plea. Don’t allow our suffering to continue for the next five years.”

Basil Imal, 41, echoed Majan saying that he is very sad about the lack of clinic and communications in the village.

He shares that they needed more than just periodic visits by flying doctors and government representatives.

“We need a good road, we need electricity, we need communications facilities like telephone and other media. We are so left behind in development. I hope the relevant authorities will listen to us and hear our plea,” he shares.

The authority should look into this problem.

Home is Where the Heart Is

The Mountains and Valleys

By AV Latinggam

A conversation with HEL made me think of Home and what it means. Wiki says "A home is a place of residence or refuge" and it is quite right. For me personally Home is where we go to and will not be turned away. Home is where the heart is. No matter which country we are in, we are under the same blue sky and standing on the same Earth. Thus where we are is home, as long as we want it to be.

In Sabah, we have places to stay that will always feel like home for many, due to its beautiful valleys and rivers and mountains with the blue sky overhead. 

A Lake in Balung Tawau

HEL in the Forest of Sepilok Sandakan

Mount Kinabalu seen from Pekan Nabalu Tamparuli

A Valley in Sonsogon Magandai Kota Marudu

The Road to the Village Kota Marudu

The River at Mahua Tambunan

Manila: an Ocean Visit

My all Time Favorite
By AV Latinggam

The Manila Ocean Park is an oceanarium owned by China Oceanis Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of China Oceanis Inc., a Singaporean-registered firm. It is located behind the Quirino Grandstand at Rizal Park. It opened on March 1, 2008. It boasts floor space of  8,000 square metres and features a 25-metre underwater acrylic tunnel. This is its official introduction. It’s a beautiful place to visit. My favourite may well be the Dancing Fairy…actually a lot of Jellyfish in tanks, with lights.  When they move around, they look like graceful ballerinas. I still think I should have bought that stuffed seal there. I watched a seal perform earlier…performing seals, hmmm, cute. During our stay there I think this is one of the nicest place to be besides the Greenbelt Shopping centre and the Asia Mall. These places are places to shop and feast the eye, but the Ocean park is a place for the heart. To me at least, the freedom of the sea seen without having to don a snorkel or scuba

Briefly in Manila: Pictorial 2

The Sunday Market

By AV Latinggam

The Legazpi Sunday Market at  Salcedo Street, Legazpi Village Makati
is an interesting place to go if you want to sample all sorts of food. The array of food available is mind boggling to say the least. There are meat of all sorts, cooked in various ways. And fish too. There are also a fair variety of drinks too. They can be worth sampling actually.
Handicrafts stall are available, but since we too have Filipino made handicrafts here in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, I did not make any purchases. HEL had a great time browsing but the heat was not too kind, so we left after a while. A place worth visiting though, if only for the food.

Briefly in Manila: Pictorial

When in Manila...
By AV Latinggam

Manila, The Philippines is a place where everything is familiar.  A week stay there recently was enjoyed, which hopefully will result in other visits. HEL had a wonderful time there with a few laughs, especially during a visit to the Greenbelt Shopping centre. I enjoyed it for the shopping!

Meandering in Manila.

Walking towards The Greenbelt

Beautiful deco

Where Dreams are Fulfilled

Flowers: a Pictorial

Flowers by AV Latinggam

A Park in Sabah

A Visit to the Park
By AV Latinggam
The Lagud Seberang Agricultural Park is within 500 acres of the 1,500 acres of the Research Station, administered by the Agriculture Department Sabah. This Park consists of the Agriculture Research Station; seed Production Centre for Cash Crop, Farmers Training Centre and Taman Pertanian Sabah itself. One of the main attractions of the park is its huge collection of native Orchids of Borneo rescued from the forests, especially those that could have perished in logged areas. There are about 300 wild orchids with the most fascinating being the Elephant Ears and lady’s Slipper orchids. There is also the Hybrid Orchid Garden, sited within four acres of land and boasts 400 species of Orchid. The colourful hybrids are a sight to behold but are they merely for show as they don’t sell cuttings unless it is during the Flower Fest. Within the Park, there are also many other plants including food plants used by the people in the past. The next must-visit site is the Evolution Garden, where it shows the changes in the heritable traits of a population (flora and fauna) over successive generations. The continuous frequencies of genes over time may result in the evolution of the certain species or development of new species from existing ones. The display of the formation of the earth; from dusts to moss to grasses and trees to dinosaurs are shown within this garden and interested individual may see the interesting transition from one type of vegetation to another.

Within this garden are the huge water lilies which are featured in brochures and photos of this park. They are as big as trays and have been known to grow bigger than that. There are other gardens available nearby for photo opportunities as well as a showcase of how typical gardens in homes look like. Those in a quandary about landscapes and gardens can go and look at these examples. The gardens are actually planned spaces, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The gardens incorporate both natural and man-made materials. Other interesting sights include the various fruit trees that are available within the vicinity. During the fruit seasons, guests and visitors usually walk through that area as they can eat as much fruit as they want. For those who want to stay overnight the park offer limited lodging and food upon request. Tenom is located about four hours’ drive by road from Kota Kinabalu city. Buses and hired taxis are available at the bus terminal near KK’s Merdeka Field.

A Festival Of Flowers

Flower Festival in Tenom

By AV Latinggam

The Lagud Seberang Agricultural Park in Tenom celebrated floras on August 24 and 25. The Flower Festival celebrates Sabah's rich floral heritage where various types of flowers was showcased, while offering interesting programmes and activities for visitors and guests. This included a display booth- market around the area that offered customers interesting items for sale. The flower festival, which has been celebrated for the last ten years, also invited those who love these blooms and enjoy flower arrangement. Participants this year comprised of students and individuals. The Terrarium competition proved interesting as not many were familiar with this from of creativity. A terrarium is actually a container designed to hold small plants and animals in controlled conditions.

The ‘Flower Fashion’ for children, where they dressed accordingly to represent the event, was also a roaring success with parents and families cheering for their little ones. Besides that, cultural dancers entertained visitors with their exotic presentations.

At the Bougainvillea Garden

A Flower Arrangement and a Lundayeh Dancer

February in Sabah

February
By AV Latinggam

February is almost over. It seems not so long ago that we were going all nostalgic about the year end. Singing Auld Lang Syne to the old year and saying 'Say hey Hello' to January.

Cakes for Valentine's Day at Sabah Oriental Hotel KK Sabah

February, lets see what happened then, besides Chinese New Year. Well there was Valentines Day. There are some interesting stories as who Valentine was, and it just does not seem to tally with the Day of Love so to say. In one story he was a canonised priest who died for his belief in a Leper Colony, and according to Wikipedia..."he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II, known as Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome. Helping Christians at this time was considered a crime. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner – until Valentinus tried to convert the Emperor – whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stones; when that failed to kill him, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate." 

So there you go.
In Sabah however not everybody give that a thought, all they do was celebrate it together with their loved ones. Its like everybody got a Valentine wish or card from their children, parents, friends, boyfriends, spouse. They went out for family reunions. They reaffirmed their love and affection to one another. If Cupid was real, he would be one glum angel perched somewhere. On Feb 14, here in this little city North of Borneo Island, hotels. restaurants and eateries, homes and coffee shops were filled with well wishers, sms flew back and forth: hallmark wept and florists sighed.  
Hah, I suppose not really, but it was a far cry from old days when flowers and cards were sent to each other and one another by revelers.

Chinese New Year

CNY Celebrations ala Sabah
By AV Latinggam

Chinese New Year celebrations in North Borneo may be a little odd to some, but to us here its very much part of the culture. This is because the Chinese have been here in this part of the world for a long time and we have celebrated this event with them for as long.
We, the Dusunic-Murutic tribe here are also believed to be descended from China, notably from Alishan Taiwan. We have almost the same costume, and cultural norms. http://www.dmtip.gov.tw
Anyway, even if we don't actually come from that neck of the woods, we do enjoy the occasion like anybody else. As I write I can hear the cymbals in the distance.
HEL who happened to celebrate the occasion in Sydney (Yes, Australia...) says it  rained during the first day of CNY there...his parade got rained on so to say.
But here, the sparklers were everywhere, the Lions danced, the unicorn pranced and the Dragon soared! This year starting from February 10, 2013 is the year of the Snake and will end on January 30, 2014.Meanwhile,  the Lantern festival will end the Chinese New Year season. Cities with Chinese celebrants will usually have spectacular lantern displays. Favourite food during Chap Goh Meh or the 15 days after the first day of CNY, are sticky rice dumplings with sweet or savory fillings.

A Snowy Lion eating Mandarin Oranges

The Dragon soars at the Sabah Oriental Hotel

A golden lion contemplating at the altar 

New Year 2013: thoughts

Happy New Year
By AV Latinggam

Happy New Year 2013. The old year 2012 has ended and a new year is about to start.  This is the time to contemplate achievements this year and in the previous years. Contemplation will usually point on the goals set and achieved from the past.  Achievements of any proportions are usually crowned with determination to achieve further.
The transition, is quite noisy where I am, the fireworks started as early as 8pm, way before midnight. They set off car alarms too; irritating but it synchronise with the bangs, so who is to say they are bad.
The festivity is apparent in both firecrackers and car alarms.
All over the world tonight or their nights will be letting off steam, letting  down their hair so to speak, and dance to tunes of celebrations; toasting the coming year. 
I remember as a young adolescent when I celebrated with friends, at the beach no less: at the strike of midnight we jumped into the crashing waves. It is quite interesting that we do this, maybe because its a throwback of my people (tribe) who believed that at every new year one should wash or bath in a flowing stream to wash away the bad luck of the previous years. Its a transition from the old to the new.

At this stage of my life, however, its more of reminiscing silently or otherwise about the previous years, achievements and experiences. It was an interesting and fulfilling year personally. Success on some level and failures in some.

Sunsets will always Return...Blast from the Past

Overall though, I am happy to be healthy and well. Lets hope it stay that way. Some friends during this New Year are not so lucky; a friend is in ICU taking care of a sick daughter fighting for her life. Someone else is going through an emotional upheaval.
On a wider angle, New Year could not be good for the civilians in Syria and other war-torn zones; the family of the woman who died after gang-raped in India. It will be just a passing of time for them.
The New Year indeed will bring a lot of changes and ideas in most people, especially with their resolutions. I believe however that resolutions or an aspiration of self-betterment in every way is an everyday affair.
So Happy New Year from the Land below the Wind....I wonder why we say Happy New Year and not Merry New Year...