Bintulu Council Negeri Monument Neglected

Yesterday I picked up and interesting news item in the Borneo Post while having my morning tea at the corner coffee shop in front of the Bintulu express wharf.

From tomorrow onwards I will not be able to have my morning tea again in public for at least a month due to the fasting month of RAMADAN.

I will not like to dwell on the importance of maintaining public buildings and properties as indicated in the news cutting. More importantly today I took a drive to town to see the real situation.

To my surprise, a plate normally attached to the memorial stone went a missing as the picture shows.

Anyway, in the true spirit of this blog i.e. looking forward into the future of Bintulu, Pak Lah just said a few days ago (11/9/07) at a global conference in Singapore that " the focus for the next 50 years is on sectors that leverage on the two states natural resources, biodiversity and tourism assets" when referring to Sabah and Sarawak.

Tourism Angle

From this angle it is more appropriate if the authorities concerned preserve certain portions of the old airport land in its re-development master plan to include areas for a museum site to cover Bintulu's history especially its rich marine history and resources.. As a matter of thought, I am thinking that a replica of the Bintulu fort can be built at the proposed site. A history museum, a marine museum, a petro-chemical museum enclosed within a park-like setting will be a more cool place for tourists to see than the present trend of building two storey shophouses in unimaginative rows.

# Bintulu's First Horticultural Consultant

Arthur George Alphonso

Fondly called as 'George' , Mr. Arthur George Alphonso's appointment as 'horticultural consultant' to BDA was most timely.

George was a Kew -trained horticulturalist and most avid plant collector with special interest in propagating new and exotic orchids.

He was Senior Curator under Burkhill ( Humphery Morrison Burkhill was the Director of Singapore Botanic Gardens from 1957-69) and took post of chief administrator of the Gardens after Burkhill left.

George through his tenure ( 1970 - 1976) carried on the Holttum tradition of furthering the Gardens reputation as a world famous garden for the collection of orchids species, hybrids and advice on hybridization.( Ref: Bonnie Tinsley (1983)Singapore Green.Times Book International, Singapore)

George's deep understanding of horticulture and early experience in the greening of Singapore were successfully transferred to Bintulu which started its greening programme as early as 1980. George's contribution on the landscaping of Bintulu covered these varied projects which were all funded by the BDA.:

1) Bintulu and Kidurong roadside tree planting and roundabouts.

2) Bintulu Golf Course ( 1 st Nine Hole)

3) Bintulu Wildlife Park ( later re-named Taman Tumbina)

4) Tanjung Batu Coastal Reserve Park

5) Children's Playground at MLNG and BDA Housing Areas

6) Sungei Terus Park Landscaping

7) Bintulu Divisional Mosque Landscaping( later re-named Masjid Assyakirrin)

8) Speaker at various courses organised by BDA for landscaping participants throughout Sarawak Brunei and Sabah

9) Setting up of BDA Plants Nursery at Sungei Plan,Kidurong.

Despite his mature age and problems with eyes sight especially in early 1990's, he was extremely dedicated and committed as a professional and a true friend.

His services continued even after he left Singapore to migrate to Australia. Around 1993, due to a frail old age, his visits to Sarawak and Bintulu which he was always keen and looking forward to became less frequent. We continued to met in later years as friends because by then I had left the BDA to join the private sector as a landscaping contractor.

Bintulu's new Generation Confused.

Part I - Love at First Sight turns first cut the deepest.

Why is it that after 44 years of achieving Independence in the state of Malaysia , that Sabahans as well as Bintuluians are confused on the date of celebrating their Independence?

Based on two newspaper cuttings ( as shown above), I did a bit of research on the confusion. Herein I reveal my analysis. I will blog today on the first part.

On 13/7/07, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said.."studies should be carried out on the names of roads, villages, rivers and others so that the people know about their history."Based on my fact finding mission, it was revealed to me in no uncertain terms that Malaysia was indeed born on 16/9/63.

The Borneo Post column (Saturday with Paul Sir, dated 25/8/07) pointed out that..."many Sarawakians and Sabahans are insisting that it is actually the 50th year of independence for Malayans but 44th year of nationhood for them. Yes, one can easily get distracted bythe issue at hand whenever we are faced with disagreement and debate. But surely history cannot be altered. The best way is to allow the two states across the South China Sea to continue with the Merdeka Day celebrations six years behind, as they have always done so."

On a more nationalistic note , Parti Keadilan Rakyat(PKR) Vice President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said: " In the case of Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak we achieved our respective independence peacefully through hardearned negotiations by our forefathers. This does not mean that dates are unimprtant. The Barisan National leaders thus should be sincere and portray the correct history instead of celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Malaysia's independence on 1957".

Dr Jeffrey when interviewed further said:"But Sabah( along with Sarawak) wanted to ensure there are sufficient safeguards to protect our autonomous rights with the new federation lest we(Sabah) be downgraded as one of the states in Malaysia instead of an equal partner in the Federal Government consisting of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak as assured by Tunku Abdul Rahman. Hence the Twenty Points, the Inter-Government Report and eventually the Malysia Agreement. Consequently Malaysia nly became a reality on Septmber 16th,1963. This is the actual birth of Malaysia. So Malaysia is 44 years old.

My comments:

1)Yes it is true as a fact of history that when we achieved independence it was from the British colonialist like our West Malaysian counterparts experienced in 1957.

2) It is also a historical fact( agreed in school textbooks and opposition political leaders in Malaysia) that 16/9/63 was the birth date of Malaysia incorporating Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore out of mutual willingness, something we can call as self-imposed independence instead of fighting our way out to achieve independence from the British colonialists.

3) Therefore based on this concrete evidence and contextual analysis, there is no valid reason whatsoever for the government of the day not to celebrate 16/9//63 as Merdeka Day.

Why has this confusion went unnoticed or kept under the carpet by the government of the day?
And what effects does it have on nation building especially in giving content and meaning to independence.?

The first question is relatively easy to answer. The confusion persisted because politicians do not read history books well enough. They are just naughty students of history who do not mind failing their history test. But for most of us Bintuluians, Sabahans ad Sarawakians, who really want to contribute to our nation, we always ask the correct question i.e. What can you contribute to your country.? Rather than what the country owes you, which sad to say is largely the perceptions of confused, doubtful , non-objective and plain mischievious politicians.

Finally, I am forever inclined to believe that if we see history as the story of man's motivation changing through time( instead of dates, dates and dates) we will notice that by 16/9/63 the motivations of Sabahans and Sarawakians at that critical juncture was to be part of a new nation called Malaysia, as equal partners( just like DrJeffrey recalled) and we should put meaning and content into nation building. This is where all Malaysians can contribute . We should never be asked again on the sacral date. It is plain fact and and act of faith that people in Sabah and Sarawak put into the formation of Malaysia. Without their faith in the sacral date, no Malaysian nation would have been formed.

Thus in the final analysis, we should celebrate Malaysia Day and not Merdeka day.

Be serious for once if we want Malaysia to stay intact and put meaning into building Malaysia as a new nation. Leave 1957 as history and let us build our new Malaysia together. ( Pak Lah would have said, " Marilah kita bina Malaysia bersama-sama..)

My blogging for September

I feel that I really need to makeup for my "poor performance" in August. Thus my planning for September is to produce 4 "First Facts", 1 "Strange but True" item and to finish the blogging on Bintulu Aviation.
In the meantime or rather simultaneously, I will continue blogging in the other blog sites viz, BEING MY, my LANDSCAPING STORY and A MALAYSIAN SIDEWALK.

Borneo Airways it was, Borneo Kites tis' now!

What's next after the Borneo Kites Festival? A Kite Museum for Bintulu........

Lutong Airport

Bintulu Airstrip circa 1955

A Brief History of Bintulu Aviation (Part 1 )

The "flying machines" that first appeared in the Borneon skies in the 1900's were really UFO's to the rural folks of Sarawak. Back then these "flying machines" did not arrive on land. Instead they floated at the mouth of the Bintulu River. They early aircrafts were called sea-planes. In the 1920's there were a regular sight in Bintulu. These sea-planes were used by the Sarawak Shell to do aerial photographic survey. Later the Brooke's government used them to undertake aerial surveys and reconnaisance flights to facilitate land development and for sending mail. In 1934, C.W. Bailey, who was the Works and Building Inspector with the Royal Air Force began supervising the construction of the Bintulu airstrip, but it was not completed because of the Japanese occupation of Sarawak. Sadly it was reported that in 1958, Bailey was killed in Singapore due to an air crash. The Japanese made full use of the airstrip for military purposes throughout their occupation days. It was only when they left Sarawak that the British began reconstructing the totally ruined airport due much to Allied bombings .

After the war was over, the Sarawak government re-continued with the construction of the airport which saw on 26 August,1955 the first landing of a civil aircraft named "Rapide" , a twin rotor aircraft with wings made of canvas.

A Twin Pioneer 16-seater plane later replaced the "Rapide". This type of plane was extensively used by the Borneo Airways Limited when they operated regular flights to Kuching, Miri, Sibu and Bintulu. Only after 1963, when the runaway was widened that an all weather airport was achieved bringing in bigger capacity planes like the Fokker Friendship. These planes were used by Malaysia Singapore Airlines because of rising demand in air travel throughout Sarawak and North Borneo ( later called "Sabah").

Forty years ago, i.e. on 9-1-67, I flew for the first time in my life from Bintulu to Miri in order to continue my secondary school education. That flight was most memorable coz I got to keep my first ever plane ticket from MSA. And for the record, with me on the same plane was En. Mohidin Ishak ( now Haji ) and holding post of General Manager BDA presently.

We landed on 9-1-67 at Lutong airport by courtesy of Sarawak Shell , of course.

My Earliest Bintulu Dairy - 1965

My Dairy Cover (1965)

The good habit I picked up at Bintulu Secondary School in 1965 was writing down the important things that happened to me in my little dairy book, faded and antique looking .
In today's sophisticated term we call it 'journal log' but in our childhood days it was just a little book that we held dearly for safekeeping and to be adressed only to ourselves.
Modern technology have changed all that. We are now able to upload our dairy or journal to the outside world. This is interesting because the focus is on 'others' or the outside world. But the motivation is even greater. It is the need to contribute your share of experiences to the bigger society, urgent and internationally.
It could be your friends' network, then merging into regional network and in a click, the whole wide world (www!)
Isn't all these the greatest motivational change impinging on our lives today ?

A Page of My Earliest Dairy of Bintulu - 1965

What you contribute early is knowledge even though you are unconcious of it at the moment of writing. Though you may be a primary school student, a beginner in life, by writing you contribute to the individual histories on the themes or topics that fascinate you, be it social, educational, literary, cultural, political, economical, intellectual, etc,. These individual histories when compiled become family histories, then local histories, and so on and so forth until it grows into national, regional and global histories.
If our lives are not meant for others,we may end up living unspent lives.
Our lives will not matter to the world. Is that what we want of life?

History and Independence

Been quite sometime now since I last blog. The reason has been that my blog faced spamming. However ,that probem have been fixed by the system administrator. Thus today I would like to log on some thoughts that disturbed my mind for quite sometime. Probably writing them down would released me of them.

This month and coming months ahead Malaysians will be stormed by slogans like independence or " Merdeka" etc. What do this mean to today's generation? I wonder.

And what has history got to do with "Independence"?

We must not think history as past because history is continuity. What is recorded as history is mainstream trend. Be it political, social, economic and other spheres of life. When expanded history is a nation's conciousness. It is through national conciousness that we exert our identity into the future. History is not past per se but how we enter fully into the future mainstream of world or you may call it in today's ubiquitious term global history. History should be how we want to project our society into the future or millenium's civilisation as if our nation matters. Our people and identity being significant.

It is like having to step back in order to jump forward. In this regards, history is dynamic, transformational for individuals's as well as the society.
Through living history, our young generation will want to find ways how their lives matters. This is critical because history is the story of man's motivation changing through time.

If during the colonial era, we were considered a burden, primitive and to be expolited and just everything downgrading because we were perceived to be insignificant. Today's generation would want change in ways of looking at themselves. Will they march in progress together with the rest of the world or the general mankind?

To be great people or just a marginal race? Are we contributing to the common fortunes of mankind? The sort of great stories that we tell our children before they sleep at night?
Reflecting on this in the Malaysian context, I cannot help but feel the helpless situation we are in today.

For example have we filled and really define the meaning of independence when the rift between Sarawak, Sabah and Semenanjung seems never to be narrowed? National integrity is still ages away. Language and history has not galvanised the Malaysian race to the optimum. Bahasa Malaysia is spoken in schools, but when individuals meet they hardly speak in the true Malaysian language ( ie Malay or Bahasa Malaysia) ....most speak pigeon Malay even after years of primary and university education.

While the world continues to progress towards commonality, we in Malaysia are besieged by parochial interests , separate dialects, different medium of primary and secondary education, separate state allegience enforced by extreme regional inequalities and the South China Sea.

The historian in us, must therefore have the courage to carve out fundamental changes.

This is what historians refer to when they say, if there is any law to life, it is that things change.

We must not fear change.

Rather we must percieve change as opportunity, as progress.

Finally I do not want my Malaysia to relapse into the nostalgic backwaters of colonial history.

If we do not fill the content of our indpendence it is just as if we are not stepping back , ready to jump into the future.

The historian in us must be able to inculcate optimism in our lives, and not being totally nostalgic about it.