A trip up the Belait River provides the only opportunity in of seeing Dusun and Punan communities at close quarters. Both tribes exist in close harmony at Kampong Sukang some two and a half hours'¬ ride by perahu (longboat) from Kampong Sungai Mau on the Labi road. About 200 people live in this small hamlet spread among 10 family homes, one eight-door Punan longhouse and the Dusun equivalent of a longhouse (rumah besar) or alai gayo in the Dusun tonque.
Villagers, many of whom commute weekly or monthly to jobs in Kuala Belait and other coastal towns, are also provided with a police post, clinic, primary school and balai raya (community hall). It is a mature community with the first school dating back from 1955.
The rumah besar, which was built more than 30 years ago, is a substantial two-storey structure that sprawls up a hill and is reached from the riverside jetty along a 200-metre long wooden elevated walkway which bridges a swamp area populated by buffaloes. It is home to 10 families and 86 people. The entrance to the penghulu's (chief's) home behind the rumah besar is flanked by two weathered cannons which date back to the reign of Sultan Hashim Jalilul (1885-1906), the 25th Sultan of Brunei. In past days, cannons were often given as part of a bride's dowry.
Inside the communal living area are old gongs, a guling tangan (like a massive xylophone) and drums covered in deer hide. On the walls are examples of Dusun and Iban craftsmanship - siraung (hats), shields and baskets.
A feature of the rumah besar, seen in many other longhouses, are vents in the roof that allow ventilation, and are also a light source during day when the generators are switched off.
The Dusun are keen fishermen and grow padi as well as a range of vegetables and fruit. They hunt mousedeer, barking deer and other small mammals using head-mounted carbide lamps. These have handmade copper reflectors that send out a concentrated beam of light transfixing the prey and allowing the hunter time to spear it. Across the river, the Punan hunters use various methods. Their weapon is the blowpipe - keliput in Punan, or sumpit in Malay - which is used with darts dipped in the poison (sayum) exracted from nyagang trees found several hours' trek from the longhouse close to the Ingai hot springs.
Compared to the Dusun, the Punan are poor. their longhouse, which accomodates 55 people, is sparse and roughly-built but the welcome is warm and generous. Traditionally, Punan are nomads - hunters and fishermen, who moved on regularly, building temporary shelters as they roamed the jungle in search of food. This group decided to settle in Sukang in the late 1970s with financial help from the Government to build a longhouse. Today the Punan cultivate crops such as padi, in contrast to their nomadic days when their staple diet was sago (ambulong).
Many Punan now have government jobs and some are employed to maintain paths to distant longhouses in other parts of Mukim Sukang, which has five other longhouses - all Iban - and a total population of about 600.
Further upriver, the last longhouse is at Kampong Melilas. It can take between one hour and three hours to go by boat depending on the level of water on the narrowing Belait River.
The 14-door longhouse is Iban and displays an incongruous mixture of traditional and modern kitsch. It is bizarre to find sliding, smoked glass windows, ornate furniture, fitted kitchens and tiled walls in such a remote area but that is what the longhouse has - all carefully shipped by boat during the rainy season when the river is high. In the communal area, traditional age-varnished rattan mats lie beside modern linoleum, which has taken over as acheaper, instant alternative. Though these rattan mats are no longer made, there is still a thriving cottage industry in weaving cloth and making baskets.
A 400- metre elevated walkway leads to the hill-top longhouse which has been there since 1975 and is now home to 100 people. Nearby there is a primary school for 14 children, and a clinic. In common with the other ulu communities, many find work in the coastal towns and return home infrequently. The women are the workforce of the farms, planting padi as well as fruit and vegetables. A government scheme has helped the farmers export their rice and other commodities to Sungai Mau where they are sold. According to elders, the community arrived in the area in 1938 after migrating slowly north from Simanggang in Sarawak, via Marudi.
Kampong Melilas is the last longhouse on the Belait River but there are other attractions further upriver - the Ingai hot springs and several waterfalls. The boat ride from Kampong Melilas can take anything from two hours to six depending on the height of the river, which will also determine how far the river is navigable. The water level rises after the rain, and a boat can be reached within 20 minutes' walk of the hot
springs, but at other times, the boat has to be abandoned earlier, and visitors continue the journey with a two-hour hike.
The river narrows after Kampong Melilas and the vegetation crowds the boat with spectacular cascades of bright flowers punctuating the lush green that blankets both banks.
Surprisingly, there are signposts to the hot springs along a well-trodden path where the only obstacles are fallen tree trunks and small rivers, which have to be forded. There are more signposts at the springs which are two upwellings in the ground which have been enclosed in rectangular wooden frames measuring about a metre across.
A path leads on to a waterfall, about half an hour's walk away. This is more of a limestone cascade about 20 metres long with a drop of about 10 metres. Ibans at Kampong Melilas say there are four waterfalls in the area. A guide is essential to get beyond Kampong Melilas to the hot springs and one can be found in any of the longhouses along the Belait river.
© Brunei Shell Group of Companies
Original text researched and written by Nick wood . Text updated in 1996 by Haji Hussin bin Ahmad, re-researched and updated in 2000 by Hans Dols |
Belait