Images of Bintulu Today

I attended a Malay wedding function today held at my close relative's place. The bride is my cousin's daughter. In the picture above her uncle Haji Alwi is seen performing the " Tepung Tawar" ceremony as a way of blessing the newly-wed couple.

This signboard has been erected quite recently and the name speaks it all. "Pantai" is beach in Malay. "Temasya" connotes fun-time, recreational activity and a gathering of happy people. And all this happens at Bintulu's closest public beach from the town center which is near Tanjung Batu area.

The 'Pantai Temasya' or Temasya beach at low tide.

In the far distant background is the thriving Bintulu Port area which is roughly 20 kilometers away from Tanjung Batu. The beach is very conveniently located as it is only about 3 kilometers from Bintulu town. It is ideal for many beach activities like picnicking, photography, jogging, social gatherings, outing with children to play at the children's playground there and many more relaxing activities. There is more than ample car parking spaces and the place is provided with eating and drinking stalls, toilets and shower rooms to cater for local as well as out-of -town visitors. Overall cleanliness and maintenance of the park is satisfactory and entrance to the place is free.

Images of Bintulu Today

A row of fishing boats are seen berthed at the wharf adjacent the Bintulu Waterfront in the late afternoon sun. These boats do deep-water fishing off the coasts of Bintulu.

An interesting addition to the planting list of landscape plants at the Bintulu Waterfront is the Plumeria rubra bearing yellow flowers. The plumeria or frangipani ( "Bunga Kemboja" in Malay) can sport other colours like pink, red, white or combinations of these colours besides the bright yellow ones. Flowers of the frangipani are very fragrant.

The White Costus is a free-flowering shrub that grows well in the jungles of Bintulu as well as in home gardens. Loves the full sun or partial sun. Close-up of the terminal head of the inflorescence reveals a small army of tiny black ants devouring the nectar . The Costus speciosus ( White Costus) belongs to the Ginger family ( Zingiberaceae).

For more images and stories of Bintulu go here

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for " Down the memory lane" pictures of Bintulu , click here.

I have crossed the river !

Professor H.L. Siow ( Dean, School of Graduate Studies) with potential Masters and Doctorate students during a workshop at AEU learning centre in Kuching.

It has been about two months since I submitted my last assignment under the Asia e- university online distant learning programme. With that, the course work for the Doctorate in Business Administration programme officially ended in October. I have just crossed the river. But more challenges are ahead. I am among the first batch of doctorate students with the AEU in this particular learning mode. A bit of qualification is called for here. Even though it is an online course, we do attend face-to-face tutorials, seminars and workshops. With the results of the last subject just out ( Research Methodology 2) I'm glad that I have completed the coursework of 10 subjects with good standing. For the next two years, my time will be organised in preparing the research proposal, undertaking data collection ( surveys, interviews, questionaires, etc.,) data analysis and writing the dissertation. Finally, towards the end of 2012, I'll have to submit the dissertation for examination, oral presentation ( viva voce) and hopefully to graduate by 2013. Soon after completing the course work which was organised by the School of Management, I'm now registered with the School of Graduate Studies for the purpose of doing my thesis. The Dean of School of Graduate studies is Professor H.L. Siow ( see picture inset). In the picture Prof. Siow introduced a speaker at the online colloquium broadcasted from Kuala Lumpur which I got to watch on my computer in Bintulu recently.

Mama Daisy - has been with us since 2003. Sometimes she demands attention and all learning must come to a standstill. She is a great therapist.

When I decided to join the doctoral programme last year I knew that it would entail a lot of travelling to Kuching where the Sarawak's learning center is situated. My preference was to travel by road from Bintulu , a journey that would normally take 10 hours. In view of the fact that travelling would be part of the package I decided to create a blog that would makes sense of the long journeys especially when I can't bear the idea of leaving the cats in Bintulu over many weeks. The idea was to have their travels documented and be recognised as the most travelled cats in Malaysia.

Both of them are now having a full two months rest in Bintulu. Come January next year they would be on the road again. I am therefore looking forward to more travel and meeting people in 2011. In passing, I could well remember the lyrics of a song my Peace Corps teacher taught me in the 1960's and I'm happy to write down the lyrics below for rememberance of Mr. Alfred Johnson, a black Peace Corps volunteer from US who built up a world of confidence in my fragile frame when I was too young to know.

" When you walk through the storm

Hold your head up high

And don't be afraid of the dark

At the end of the storm

Is a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind

Walk on through the rain

Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, Walk on

With hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone

You'll never walk alone"

(Original wordings written by Rogers and Hammerstein)

I have a dream. It is to have a doctorate after my name.

Challenge my dracaena !

Vegetation island no.1 at Kambatik Botanic Garden, Bintulu.

I have a find. It was there a few years ago but I did not what to show it off because I was still trying to find more information on it. Yes, I have checked many books and googled for any similar image but to no avail. I therefore decided to finally post it in this blog today before the year is gone and just have a go with it. Well, can never tell this could be a find of the century!!

The plant that I found intriguing is a dracaena species which I can't find any name for many years now ( see inset). The leaves are spirally arranged and formed a distinct collar around the stem. It is a single- stemmed treelet which grows as an understorey plant in my vegetation island no.1 at my eco-farm in Bintulu. Dracaenas are classified under the Agave family ( Agavaceae) and I'm sure I'm correct in placing this find under the dracaena genera.

The dracaena treelets

Note the environment that manages to preserve the dracaena. The thick vegetative matter, humus, plenty of shade from canopy trees, and tropical humid climate all does their magic to sustain the dracaena until I stumbled upon it. The lateral or horizontal leaves arranged in multiple tier formation resemble very much like an umbrella or parasol and a multi-tiered one at that. This formation has strong ornamental effect. The plant specimen here shows that the plant can grow into a treelet. I have not noticed any flowers yet.

Fish eye view - note the semi-woody erect stem

I consider the presence of this rare dracaena as a gift of the land to me. It is therefore a very unique botanical specimen in my kambatik botanic garden thus far. All this attest to the wisdom of preserving the vegetation islands around the eco-farm when I opened up the jungles before for the cultivation of oil palm trees.

For want of a better name I would therefore propose to call this plant ' Dracaena kambatik ' in honour of the kambatik eco-farm and the kambatik botanic garden where it was found. If any soul out there in cyber space can show me another image of the above plant and referenced its name, I am prepared to retract this posting and the proposed name. Well, guys surprise me.

Images of Bintulu Today

This tiny snake caught me unaware as it fell of a branch and dropped right in front of my foot . It happened when I was walking below the tree branches at my garden in Bintulu.

For more classic images of Bintulu please go here

Part of a five kilometer stretch of the newly completed Bintulu waterfront that runs along the river as well as the sea coast. This record length makes it the longest waterfront in Sarawak. A unique feature of the waterfront is the use of 'Belian' timber ( Eusideroxylon zwageri ) flooring boards and railings. Easily the most versatile, long-lasting, anti-rot and hardest timber species of Sarawak, the belian does it all. Roofing singles, construction beams, decorative doors, joists, walls, fences, lamp posts, pepper vines posts, jetties, board walks, warrior shields, garden furniture, handicraft items etc., can be made from this very popular tropical hard wood.

See my other posts on the multiple uses of belian here .

A sunset ride home for this fishing trawler as it passes the mouth of Kemena River notorious for its sand bars. Almost all catches from fishing trips off Bintulu coasts land on jetties along the Kemena River. Bintulu's coastal location makes it a perfect place for fresh fishes and other deep-water catches . Bintulu is for fresh fishes!

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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