Malaysia Day -16 September,2017 in Bintulu.

Tree Planting at Bintulu Sentral - 16 Sept'17

Painting the mural

Today is a special day for Bintuluians as we celebrate Malaysia Day in a unique way.  I joined the local community, government servants and students in a tree planting program at an open or green space within the Bintulu Sentral, a new shopping location just opened for business about two years ago.  The event was spearheaded by Bintulu Development Authority which provided the plants and place.  I planted a Hibiscus mutabilis species.

Me planting the Hibiscus mutabilis species

Participants happily planting

After the planting ceremony, I joined the crowd in a mural painting activity.  The exposed rock surfaced formed by an outcrop near the traffic lights junction close-by was chosen as the mural site.  Two types of mural painting were carried out.  One set of murals were painted along a short concrete wall about 320 meters long that surrounded the base of the outcrop.  Here I tried my hand at painting a tiny section of the mural design which was already laid using a template on the wall surface.  On the outcrop two ‘graffiti artists’ were busy doing the mural painting using spray cans and standing on scaffolding pipes laid perpendicular to the sloping rock surface, thereby comes the name of today’s project – Mural the Rock.

Painting a small section in the long mural, about 320 meters long when completed.

"Mural the Rock" project

Aerobic dancing on the sidelines

GM BDA - Rodziah Hj Morshidi

On the sidelines, an aerobic dance was organised for the public and students of all ages and denominations to participate.  Food and  plenty of drinking water were freely served to the participating public.   

At a tent location, music was broadcasted and a basking team was in action.  During one of the ‘basking time’ I joined the GM of BDA, Puan Rodziah Hj. Morshidi in delivering two Bee Gees number – To Love Somebody and Words, with me on the guitar.

Singing with GM BDA, Rodziah Hj. Morshidi.

 Today’s celebration has more meaning to me than the normal tea parties that are usually held in conjunction with Malaysia Day celebration.  It has been a unique event with a difference, memorable and truly unique.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak!

  ( This is the fourth of a series of articles as my writing contribution on what Malaysia Day means to me as a Sarawakian 2017)                                

The rustic "Ru" trees

Being the tallest trees at the Tanjung Batu Beach area, the Casuarina trees look majestic, strong and rustic.

I have always admire the Casuarina trees ( Casuarina equisetifolia ) that line the beaches of Bintulu. They grow wild and fast. Having a long life span, they prefer the full sun and well-drained sandy soil especially along Bintulu's coasts. In the picture at left ( inset) the casuarina trees were not planted. They just grew naturally through the dispersal of seeds on a tiny space of the seawall. The casuarina trees are known here as 'Ru" and are said to originate from Southeast Asia through the Pacific Islands. They tolerate high winds and therefore are natural windbreaks. In landscaping they are also used as screen, background and hedge planting ( if pruned). Its timber is good for firewood.

Sometime in 1990, I went to the Universiti Pertanian Malaysia campus at Serdang. There I saw a row of shady ru trees due to heavy pruning ( see colour photo above). In many public gardens or parks in Sarawak the ru trees are sometimes shaped into square-like boxes or conical shapes. They are thus rendered into artificial ornamental forms all in the name of topiary.

A winding footpath with informal planting of ru trees on both sides at Pantai Temasya, Bintulu today.

Left alone the ru trees can reach a height of about 40 meters. On a recent visit to Pantai Temasya or Temasya Beach near Tanjung Batu , I was impressed by the tall presence of the ru trees along the newly expanded footpath. They cast a little shade and looking above I could see many birds chirping away. In Bintulu it is common knowledge that these ru trees are natural habitat for the cicadas.

My fascination of the ru trees was caught in a watercolour painting I did in the 1970's. The painting above showed natural grouping of ru trees at the present Pantai Temasya beach area. Bintulu beaches are beautiful for its ru trees and are in harmony with the sandy coastline and strong winds. It is for this reason that in Bintulu the casuarina tree is called in Malay 'Ru Laut' ( English = Sea ru) to differentiate it from another species viz Casuarina sumatrana which is locally called 'Ru Bukit' (English = Hill ru) . I wrote about a bird and a casuarina tree in a poem entitled 'Windswept lawn' where I imagined myself a bird looking down from an old casuarina tree. The poem reads :

Like a bird one day

I was out in the open air

been there by the casuarina branch
that I perched to watch and sing

at the garden steps below

It was a tiny lawn

recently mowed

the cuttings were dry

shrivelled and brown

The patio was quiet

a little breeze blew

moved the scattered leaves

the silent chimes too

The mood was rustic

this warm return hollow

where I while away

my moment in time

and take flight when the day is done

Said I :

Here's indeed a place to rest

to seek a peaceful mind

that will remember and recall

this windswept lawn

the patio and the trees

I wished to be my own

MOOD, 29 June'08.

January flowering trees of Bintulu ( Part 1) - Golden Penda

Flowering Golden Penda trees along a small road near Kampung Assyakirrin, Bintulu. The bright pinkish red flowers next to it are the flowers of the Crepe flower ( Lagerstroemia indica)

This year the month of December has been memorable in that my occasional visits to the 'Tamu' or jungle produce market and night markets in Bintulu are not met with the rich display of seasonal fruits. No, sadly enough there aren't any smell of the ever popular durians, langsat, rambutans, dabai, cempedak or ong lumok and many other local end of year fruits. As is normal the fruit season will continue till January or even February. But will there be any fruit stalls selling seasonal fruits in the night markets this month is a big guessing and waiting game for many lovers of local fruits throughout Sarawak. If it did not happen in December, will January bring in the cheers? The very wet weather it is thought by many experienced farmers to have caused poor flowering which resulted in extremely poor harvest of local durians and other seasonal fruits. Be as it may, I feel delighted today as I drive along many small roads here to see the exuberant golden flowers of the Golden Penda trees ( Xanthostemon chrysantus). At the inset is a close-up of the flowers. The long stamens appear like fireworks in the night sky. The Golden Penda comes from the Family - Myrtaceae or the Myrtle family of which the common edible ones are the guava ( Psidium guajava) and the Malay apple ( Syzygium malaccense) . While the guava and the Malay apple originates from Malaysia and Indonesia, the Golden Penda's origins are said to be from Australia. Golden Pendas are grown in Bintulu mainly for its ornamental value being a small compact tree with abundant masses of golden yellow flowers.

Ten years ago the Golden Penda was never seen in Bintulu. Thus it must have been introduced to Bintulu between 5-6 years ago. But whatever its origin and its late popularity, the Golden Penda has begun to show its true colours this January.

Grand old trees of Bintulu town

An ad placed in the Bintulu Centenary souvenir programme book showing the pagoda within the public park in 1961.

CU of the pagoda shed with the Yellow flame tree in the far background


The Yellow Flame tree

A visit to Bintulu will make a newcomer surprised at the greenery here. The 23 kilometer ride from the new airport to Bintulu town is filled with trees and forests on both sides of the highway. Once in town any visitor will doubtless notice the tree- lined roads that are everywhere. However there are only two trees that are of historical importance in this fast changing town. The first is the Yellow Flame tree and next is the Mango tree.

I am one of those fortunate guys in town who literally grew with these two grand old trees of Bintulu town. In the 1950's right on till the 1960's I was a small boy in this tiny fishing village that grew into a tiny town in the 1970's. Despite the expansion of the Bintulu town and ultimately the destruction of the old townscapes, only two trees in town stood the test of time. The Yellow flame tree ( Peltophorum pterocarpum) as shown at the inset was where the Bintulu kids gather to play the swing and see-saws. I cherish those moments spent at the public park where the tree was planted. In an advertisement placed at the Bintulu Centenary souvenir programme in 1961 is seen a picture of the park with the popular rest area in the shape of a pagoda used as an ad. The Yellow flame tree is vaguely seen at the background of the pagoda. The most memorable thing I could remember of the pagoda shed was the mosaic tiles on its floor which represented a novelty in architectural finishing back then. The public park is today re-modelled into the only town fountain space and working.

While in Bintulu visitors should try and take a picture next to this yellow flame tree . It is the best living relic of Bintulu remnant of the 1950's and 1960's.

The Mango tree

In another blog I have written a fair bit about this particular mango tree ( Mangifera indica) and can be read here .
Today I could see that the tree is bearing tiny fruits ( see inset) . Well I'm glad the tree is very much alive and kicking. I do feel delighted too with the fact that despite a hive of construction activities around the area currently especially the project involving the installation of sewerage main lines along the old airport runway no machines have come close to it thus far. I dread the day when the local authority will permit the contractor to bulldoze the tree into historical oblivion. I literally grew with this tree as to the best of my knowledge the mango tree was there when we lived at the government quarters a few yards away from it in the very early 1960's. This tree speaks volume of changes in the Bintulu town landscape. There are no government quarters now around the tree and many other facilities that was around this government quarters area are gone like the old football field, the narrow road from town to Tanjung Batu, the town dispensary, prison and police barracks. These remains mere memories of days gone by. But not so the mango tree. It is still there!

It is my fervent hope that the local authority will spare every effort to retain these two grand old trees of Bintulu as heritage trees for posterity and tourism. We may not have old wooden shophouses in Bintulu town any more but we do have two grand old trees.

Long shot view of the Mango tree as seen today.

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