“The greatest fun and joy is that of working with feeling of enthusiasm, commitment and the satisfaction of good performance and achievement.”

Malaysia…the Beginning

The year 1961 was the beginning of the formation of Malaysia. On 27th May 1961, at a Press Club luncheon in Singapore, the Prime Minister of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman proposed a plan to merge Malaya, Singapore and the three Borneo territories of Sarawak, Brunei and British North Borneo into a federation to be called Malaya Raya, later called Malaysia.

As this was only its beginning, there was not much activities relating to the formation of Malaysia. The District Office was an office of almost all government offices, except the police and military, and a few other departments. It covered judicial, telecommunication, postal service, National Registration, Immigration, Land, Forestry, Marriage & Divorce, Adoption, Development and Planning, Arms & Ammunition, to name the main ones.

It was really a jumble of activities. As SAOs we had to take up the job of various departments on a rotation basis. There were two Senior Native Officers (SNOs) and three SAOs including myself. One had to be ‘Jack of all trades but master of none’.

Turbulent Years

BELAGA…at Sihan Longhouse in 1988. Friendliness and adaptability to the local culture and lifestyle is a must for better services for the people

The period from the year 1962 to 1963 was a very hectic time for me as well as for many other SAOs, especially in the outstation districts. There were many activities held leading to the formation of Malaysia which was declared on 16th September, 1963. Everything was done fast for the Malaysian Federation to be realized.

In early 1962, I was busy for many weeks traveling to most of the Bidayuh villages in Serian District accompanying the Resident Mr. William Nais to explain to the people ‘The concept of Malaysia’.

I had translated the English version of the booklet to Bukar-Sadong dialect to help us explained the concept more clearly. Anyone can imagine that this campaign was quite a difficult task, especially when there was a lot of opposition to the idea.

On the Ground

One morning at the ulu part of Batang Sadong tributary, Sg. Kuhas near Tebedu Bazaar, as we just departed Tebedu down river along a swift-flowing flood water which outflow the river banks, our wooden longboat which was old went out of control and smashed into pieces against a tree.

All five of us including the driver were swept to different parts of the river. Most of our personal belongings were swept away by the strong flooding river current and lost forever; the outboard engine included.

The journey in those days were mostly on foot and sometimes by longboat, but was challenging as well as interesting and satisfying because we met the people in the kampungs and longhouses or in Chinese gardens and were in close touch with them during our frequent traveling.

The people were friendly and hospitable beyond belief. A visit by a D.O and even SNOs was quite an event in many Bidayuh and Iban longhouses and kampungs. In some areas the firing of cannons and short-guns was the order of the traditional welcoming ceremony.

This was followed by a ‘miring’ in the case of Iban longhouses and a full scale gawai in Bidayuh kampungs accompanied by a lot of tuak drinking after all official matters were cleared at night. It was quite an experience to see the British army including its famous Gurkha troop plus the Malaysian soldiers almost everywhere in Serian in 1963 and 1964.

SARIKEI… with the late Head of State, Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce and Andrew Salip Ridu in 1978

A Dream Come True

When I was a young boy in my Kampung Singai, Bau, I used to look at a magazine which my eldest brothers had a few copies. It was called “Illustrated London News”. It had lots of beautiful clear pictures.

I was particularly fascinated by the pictures of ‘orang putih’, and the beautiful cities in England. I dreamt that one day I must go to those places and see how the people actually live and how the places actually look like.

Dreams turned to reality when in September 1964, I was so fortunate to be selected to go to the United Kingdom to undertake a one-year course in Public & Social Administration. I felt this was a real dream come true. I was really looking forward to this opportunity and to make the best of it. Not only would I see England, but I must also have a glance at some parts of Europe.

Six month before the course concluded in September 1965, I prepared a traveling programme to make stopovers on my return journey back to Sarawak. And this, I did. I stayed a few days each in Paris, Rome, Geneva, Athens, Cyprus, Lebanon, Tel Aviv and Jordan. Another dream came true.

Confrontation and C.C.O

Back in Sarawak, I was posted to Kuching District Office for a brief period of about six months before being posted back to Serian. Confrontation by Indonesian and the communist terrorist activities of the C.C.O (Communist Clandestine Organisation) presented a lot of problems.

There again the Government Servants had to be as close to the people as possible. To win their hearts and minds many Civic Action Groups (CAG) activities were organized to cover as many villages as possible. Or else the communist terrorists would win then.

A CAG group consisted of representatives from some government departments such as the Information Service, Agriculture, Medical, Police and Army. It was led by either a District Officer or an SAO.

I still remember the Chief Minister, Datuk Abdul Rahman Yacob, a few times in his public rally speeches, said something like ‘the thousands of arms and ammunition that the internal enemy had would not crack a shot if the human hearts could turn against the idea’. So we must win the hearts and mind of the people so that peace could be realised.

Government for development

CLEARING THE DRAINS… at Nonok (now Asajaya) in 1971. This is the alternative route to Tambirat during bad weather and rough seas

In the 1960s and 1970s, the situation in the Bidayuh kampungs and Iban longhouses were deplorable compared to what it is today. The White Rajah did almost nothing for development. The rural people were almost all totally illiterate and ignorant.

In Singai, Bau, a mountain village where I was born in 1939 and lived my early boyhood days, was in a deplorable sanitary state. But the people being ignorant was contented with the living condition. Such condition was everywhere throughout the country. (Sarawak was a country by itself then).
The first primary school in our kampung was

Challenging…Engkilili and Nonok

Of the many stations I was posted to Engkilili and Nonok (now Asajaya). offered great challenges. Traveling to Nonok was mostly by longboat down Sarawak River, then crossing the sea before entering Sg. Nonok. When the sea was rough I had to walk to Sambir, which took a few hours, and from there took a boat to Kuching. The years I was there, from 1969 to 1972, as SAO in-charge was particularly challenging because of the threat of the C.C.O.

From Nonok to Sebandi, there was an old canal which the people had constructed in past years to make travel a bit easier when the sea was rough during the monsoon. I brought the kampung folks to improve the canal by clearing and did more digging. The people were most obliging.

Together we all enjoyed the work in the muddy and salty canal water. With so many people enjoying the fun of working together, it usually took only one day to clear that few miles of narrow canal. The people enjoyed fun-filled labour and later on enjoyed safer, more convenient traveling to Sambir by boat instead of the long hours journey on foot. Such gotong royong also provided interaction amongst the races in Nonok. It was racial harmony and cooperation at its best.

My two and a half years tour of duty in Nonok was not only a challenge, but it was also perilous. During my first year, there was no electricity. Pressure kerosene lamp was the order of the day. In the beginning of the second year the electricity was available from 7:00 pm to 12:00 midnight only.

FLOOD…the greatest floods in 1962 forced many to travel by boat. In Serian, Patrick (Third from front) travel by boat

Resettling the Kampungs

I served as District Officer in Bau from 1982 to 1984. Most of the kampungs were motorable only by rugged vehicle such as Land Cruiser and Jeep and not so by car yet. Tringus was the furthest Bidayuh kampung in the District to reach in those years. After a rough 8 km Land Cruiser ride to Kg. Krokong, the journey on foot to Pangkalan Tebang took about 3 hours.

It was preferable to spend the night at a Chinese shop there before proceeding the much longer and tougher journey the following morning. The Chinese man, Ah Pin and his charming wife were always very generous and entertaining. It was always fun to put up in his shop house, drinking beer, playing Jinrami and enjoyed our own cooking in his kitchen and then went to bed late.

The following day’s journey to Tringus Dorod took about four hours walk crossing the same meandering stream seven times alternately climbing steep and slippery hills.

My first impression of the people in Tringus three kampungs was that they were very poor and obviously mostly very much under nourished. I just wondered how they would survive in such remote place for too long with no other access to the town. The soil was so poor that padi harvest on the hill slopes was always not enough for each family to consume annually.

I asked them if they would agree to move away to a place near to Bau should there be land available for them. They answered in the affirmative. When I returned to my office I started to look for an area of NCR land. I found the land in the area called Labak Rotan near Pangkalan Tebang.

Policy

A couple of months later, I made another trip to Tringus Sudoh. I was accompanied by officers from Education, Agriculture, Information, Medical and Welfare departments, so that they could talk to the people what they could possibly do should they be resettled to a better place.

The policy of the Government was that service will go to them and not always necessarily that the people go for the service. For example, it was the policy of the Education Department to bring school to then when they moved and not for them to go back to the old school. The same with agriculture and health.

Despite the very tough journey on foot I made 5 visits to the area during my two years’ tour in Bau in order to try to make a success of the resettlement. Of course, the whole process would not be completed that fast. But I feel most satisfied that after I left, my successor and those in the Departments continued the task.

The whole population had eventually been resettled at Labak Rotan later on. Now they have much better life in a bigger group and are enjoying the Government facilities including the basic infrastructure such as road, electricity, water supply, proper toilets, school and agriculture. They should no longer be undernourished. The project was successful because the officers in all Departments felt committed to it, and so was the people’s determination.

Experiences in various stations

The last third of my 34 years service was spent in the furthest north end of Sarawak, Limbang, later to Sibu, followed by Kapit and ending in Sarikei. But my service had not yet ended because it was extended for another 5 years up to 30th June 2000 after the compulsory retirement age of 55 years old.

Limbang

My service in Limbang afforded me an opportunity to work with people of different ethnic groups - Kadazan and the Kelabit, Murut and Penan of Long Napir for the first time. When my plane was about to land at Ba’ kelalan during my first visit there, I felt greatly surprised to see the beautifully cultivated padi in quite large areas in the valleys.

At the same time another sight that amazed me was as to how at such a distance did the people managed to transport the metal roofing for their beautiful and well-laid longhouses. The weather was fantastic. I spent the night at Penghulu Langub’s house. Early in the morning I heard the sound of music. I was wondering what it was. The penghulu later told me the music came form the church. The people there are very religious and many of them go to church every morning.

The large kampung was so well organized, well trimmed and clean. It looked as if this isolated village has its own local council.

Life was simply peaceful and beautiful, like the sky so blue and the weather cool, night and day.

Sibu

From Limbang, I was posted to Sibu as Divisional Development Officer. Here is another community - the enterprising and industrious Foochows. Their thirst for money and wealth is such that it is not that easy to manage people and places. My one terrifying experience was as Returning Officer in one of the constituencies outside Sibu town. During the polling time, the crowd was so unruly that even the police and Border Scouts could not manage stampede.

I had to rush to the polling station concerned and exercised a great deal of initiatives and common sense. Otherwise there would have been a great chaos and perhaps even violence.

Kapit

My tour of 3¾ years as the Resident in Kapit afforded me the opportunity to know more ethnic groups not found in such diversity in other divisions of Sarawak.

Despite the challenging traveling schedules of going through winding rivers, dangerous rapids and shallow water in the upper reaches of the rivers, I always made sure that whenever I was posted to a new station, I traveled to the furthest longhouses along each river before I could sit back in the office.

I had to reach the longhouses in the upper most part of Sg. Balleh, Sg. Katibas and rivers in Ulu Belaga in Kapit Division. I went through Bakun rapid eight times including the return trips and through the treacherous Pelagus rapid once a month. In Belaga, I always had interesting time meeting the different ethnic group such as Kayan, Kenyah, Kejaman, Lebanan, Ukit, Bekatan, Penan and others.

Except for the Penan who were semi-nomadic, the rest of those upriver people are the usual longhouse Dayaks. The Penan do not have proper farming system. Some plant padi in small plots of about ¼ of an acre or less. They do not do any maintenance, such as weeding. The small huts or crude longhouses are bare of any furniture or cooking utensil. When they caught any animal, especially wild boar, they cooked it in a large wok or roasted it and all the people in the longhouses eat up with wild sago or rice communally till the whole thing is consumed.

My last station before retirement was Sarikei. I traveled extensively to Melanau areas in Matu, Daro, Belawai and Bruit, and to Iban longhouses in Sarikei, Bintangor, Julau, and Pakan districts.

Re-appointment

As if I had to make a review of the whole state, I was re-appointed into service after retirement as a magistrate in the Resident’s Native Court Sarawak for five years from 2nd may 1995 to 30th June 2000 when I had the opportunity to sit in the courts in all the Divisions.

Having enjoyed working closely with all the ethnic groups in Sarawak, I feel that I have developed deep feeling of oneness and togetherness with them all. It is important that when one works or visit an ethnic group different from one’s own, one has to be very adaptable to all the different ways of life of the group.

Make no prejudicial differences against anyone or any group, be it in religious, customs, tradition, socio-economic or political in order to enjoy a sincere close and harmonious relationship in our multi-religious, multi-culture and multi-racial country.

A Word of Advice

Unlike in business and many other professions where there are opportunities and avenues of getting wealthy and affluent, as civil servants we receive a fixed monthly income. However, life should not be a drudge. As the government is the biggest employer in the country, opportunities are abound of meeting many new fellow workers, and the posting to various stations, be it rural, urban or a remote corner of the state, one should always take up the challenge and enjoy to the full, the fun of seeing different places, people and environment.

The greatest fun and joy is that of working with feeling of enthusiasm, commitment and the satisfaction of good performance and achievement. Boredom is only a state of mind, not physical.

As I decided to make the Civil Service as my profession, I had to think of planning for retirement a few years after joining the service and not a few years before retirement in order to be able to enjoy life in whatever decent way possible.

Patrick Rigep Nuek is the author of a book “A DAYAK BIDAYUH COMMUNITY, festivals, ceremonies and rituals”