Once there was a course

Combo pix showing the Bintulu Golf Course (2nd nine - Hole 10 - 18)
Picture shows the course in various stages of completion.  The 2nd nine course faces the South China Sea

BDA worker mowing the green at Hole 14 - 1988

1988 was a most trying year for me.  I was steeped into the landscaping of the greens, tee boxes, fairways, slopes, bunkers and general landscaping of the Bintulu golf course.  It was my first experience in doing the landscaping and maintenance of a golf course.  There were many visits made to Singapore and various  courses in Malaysia to understand the practical details of landscaping and maintaining  a golf course.  There were staff to be employed and specifications for procurement of  equipments and course maintenance to be written down in technical details for contractual documentation.  The course was to start with the 2nd nine or back nine, i.e. holes 10 -18 and to be opened for play in 1989.  I have shared many stories about the early beginnings of the course as in here and more here.  There were tons of pleasure and joy in doing the job even though it was most taxing in terms of new learning, time schedule and organisational capability.  On reflection I was  indeed blessed with a very supportive team of bosses and subordinates in carrying my responsibilities.  Memories are made of them.  Not many people however knew that we also built a  golf green for our  boss house in Kidurong Residential area in 1986 (see bottom picture).  It was  the only house in Bintulu to have a proper practice green.  At the end of the day I found that doing the course was one of the best adventures of my life.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak!!

   (Note:  On the 16th of September, Sarawak will celebrate its independence being a party to the formation of Malaysia.  As part of remembering history I'll create some posts on what  it means to be a Malaysian as I have experienced it.  Check out the rest of the postings by following this link here.)

The picture above shows the golf club building.  In the background is Hole 10 tee box or start of play and at middle  of picture is the Hole 18 fairway and green, the last putting green for the 9-hole golf course.
Picture taken in 1989.

Hole 18 fairway - jungle clearing and burning in progress
Date : 31 March,1986

Hole 18 fairway - turfing works completed to fairways, slopes and green
Date : 4 February 1987.

BDA staff housing at the Kidurong Residential area showing our GM's house with the practice green (at center of picture)

Empty glass,empty talk?

In Kuching still and enjoying the distant sunset over my garden. This morning I decided to create a blog to journalise my re-opening of interest in philosophy. I've been interested in philosophy since my student days at the University of Pulau Pinang in 1972. Over the many years of working and waking life, I've not consistently turn back to its pages. From now onwards I think I would like to jot down some insights I had before and presently about philosophy. Today is the re-start of this continuing adventure in my life. I find that in this age of the Internet I can now easily find information about the subject which were not available during the university days of the library and books. Where do I begin?

Scarcity in economy is an important quality in Chinese brush painting. With the minimum of strokes you must be able to achieve the essence of the subject. Have I achieved the above in one minute attempt?

In my mind which I carry everywhere I go especially the software called knowledge. As one quote which automatically comes to mind defines :-

"Knowledge is of two kinds; you know the subject yourself or you know where to get information upon it".

Meaning in the first instance you are an 'expert' and in the second instance you are a 'life-long learner'. The new blog entitled " Philosophy - a Sarawak Edition" will be written from a life-long learning perspective. Thus anybody at any age anywhere can join in the fun. Comments are welcome.

Now having drawn the glass on the table what do you see? I gathered this quotation ages ago and somewhere pops out of my brain cells just now:~

A philosopher is a person who looks at an empty glass with a smile.

...oops like a Taoist would say, when you look at an empty vessel what is useful is the void from which water pours to satisfy your thirst. Knowledge will be nothing if it is not useful.

So now carry on smiling. Hopefully you can find some enjoyment as I do in yearning to learn about philosophy.

Gem of a book

It is a small book,thin and handy. Measuring 12 x 21 cm, staple bounded and printed by Syarikat Yakin Offset Printing Press in Kuching, at a very minimal cost. That book was to inaugurate my first solo art exhibition in 1981 held at the Sarawak Museum ( see inset) . In the book are 7 pages of sketches in pen and ink of the catalogue of paintings that were exhibited during the 3-days art show. I think that the sketches are a real marvel of the book. For many reasons, but principally as indication of the poverty and passion of my days in Kuching in the early eighties. The exorbitant rates for photographic illustration of the paintings absolutely broke my hope for a professional look to the book but somehow I felt images of the paintings on show must be incorporated in the book for guide and posterity. Despite the many late nights before the publication when I heartily drew the sketches the results were well worth it. My shallow pocket was saved the day. However, I am tempted to consider the book a gem because of the inclusion of the painting catalogue rendered in sketches. The exhibition has been one of the memorable adventures in my life. Below are examples:

The book was entitled "Pameran Lukisan dan Puisi MOOD" and can be accessed at the US Library of Congress , National Library of Australia Collection and Yale University Library by just typing the book title in google search . I know not many people will have the chance to grab the book, but thanks to the Internet, I have reproduced the poems and show some of the real paintings depicted by the sketches in another blog called 'my e-poetry book'. The e-book continues my love of English poetry to this day as the online book accommodates newer poems up till 2010.
Indeed the Internet does change the way people communicate. When once dollars and passion were critical in producing a book , it's now just clicks. Today it can be done literally free and you're packaged as editor, printer, publisher, author, photographer, designer ,bookshop and marketer all in one. The Internet has empowered me to grow as a child of the universe and leaving links in cyber space.

The above is the last illustration in the book as a respect to the Sarawak Museum which consented to having me organise the art exhibition in its premise. The art show was a real success but more importantly I now find the sketches a gem of the book.

The Bintulu Golf Course - early beginnings

The view above was taken in 1988 when the course was partly open for play. In the background is seen clearing works for the first nine hole which is basically an inland route.

There is only one public golf course in Bintulu and is called the 'Bintulu Golf Course'. It exudes many scenic and attractive natural features that makes it a truly challenging and memorable course built to competition standards. It combines a links course ( back nine/second nine) and an inland course (front nine/first nine). I am in the mood to reminisce on my role in the development of the course in today's post.

I was one of those lucky guys in town to have practical experience in developing this modern and international standard course. However a caveat is in place. The course was the result of a dedicated team of officers who saw the challenge of a lifetime to build a course for a booming Bintulu township of the eighties. Financially the course was sponsored by the BDA ( Bintulu Development Authority) a local statutory agency tasked with the planning, development and maintenance of Bintulu as a new industrial city for Sarawak. When on board the team in 1986, I was responsible for the turfing of the second nine course, landscaping and daily course maintenance. As was considered feasible at that time, it was decided to construct the second nine first due to its easier working terrain and fantastic views of the South China Sea. Thus an area of about 75 acres was selectively cleared, bulldozed and reserved for fairways, tees and greens etc., to follow a detailed plan developed by one of the JOVC ( Japanese Overseas Volunteers Corporation) volunteers attached to BDA by the name of Fumiaki Izumida. I could well remember how we preserved whatever stands of the " Tongkat Ali " for posterity during the jungle clearing operations.

Before - intensive earthworks to Hole 12, with plenty of original vegetation preserved.

After - the turfing of fairways, slopes and greens done to Hole 12, with the South China Sea in the far background ( circa early 1988).

The Hole 18 green planted with Tiff Dwarf grass. Note the fairways in the far background are not yet planted .

I was totally in charge of the landscaping of the course which meant tree planting, turfing and its maintenance. For the greens I had to go to Sentosa Island Golf and Country Club in Singapore to bring in a half-kilo of Tifton Dwarf ( Tiff Dwarf) stolons ( scientific name : Cynodon dactylon and commonly known as Bermuda hybrid grass) which we propagated at our Sg. Plan Nursery and became the primal source of all the greens in the 9-hole course. For fairways and slopes the grass species used was Axonopus compressus or commonly referred to as 'Cow Grass' which was available locally in Bintulu and collected initially from Kampung Jepak village roads.

Bird's Eye View of the Clubhouse under construction with the Hole 18 Green fully turved in the background.

For a start I was responsible to develop specifications for the cutting of the turves and many other daily maintenance works ( hollow tining, fertilisation, weeds and pests control, top dressing etc.,) . However after about 6 months later, the job was contracted out and the practice of contracting out the maintenance of the course continued for many years later.

For the three full years of 1986-1988, my time was intensively engaged in one of the most memorable moments in my life as I had to learn fast on various subjects relating to golf course design and maintenance. All the tough work remains one of the adventurous chapters of my life. The course was officially opened for play in 1989 and having given some meaningful service to the Club, I was bestowed a " Life Member " of the Bintulu Golf Club. Now, 20 years later it surprises me why nobody or any other parties aren't scratching their heads to build another golf course for Bintulu.

Flamingoes flight to Borneo

Greater Flamingoes ( Phoenicophocus ruber)

Have you ever imagined a flock of flamingoes from Tanzania landing on a remote wildlife park in Borneo? It was one of the happiest moments in my life when I saw them droppin' by next to my office at the Bintulu wildlife park in 1991. ( Inset: Me and Flamingo having a moment of play). After months of careful planning and preparations and with the experienced services of an importer/exporter of wildlife from Kuala Lumpur, we were able to complete one very satisfying challenge of a life time - to introduce the first ever flock of Greater Flamingoes ( Phoenicophocus ruber) to Bintulu. To my knowledge no other persons or parks on this huge island of Borneo ever kept such birds before. As part of my very diversified list of duties while working with the Bintulu Deveopment Authority (BDA) in the 1980's - 1990's, Iwas made in charge of the setting up of a wildlife park for the growing township of Bintulu.

Above: George and my wife with the flamingoes at the background in Singapore Zoological Garden.

The idea of bringing flamingoes to Bintulu grew out of a visit to the Singapore Zoological Gardens with Arthur George Alphonso, where I saw these big, elegant and sturdy birds in captive care there. Thirteen pairs of the birds landed in Bintulu on 9th July, 1991, from which only 23 birds were accepted as in fine condition for payment purposes. Each pair cost RM 5,500 back then. Trust me, to fly these birds from Tanzania in Africa many pit stops were made. The formula one route taken were Tanzania - Dubai - Kuala Lumpur - Kuching - Bintulu. Remember that they fly with proper"passports" in the form of health certificates, certificates of origin, export/import permits and permits from the veterinary department and the national parks and wildlife departments. It was a taxing excercise but much worth the effort.

A moat and viewing platform to watch the flamingoes at Bintulu Wildlife Park.

Looking back, I say bringing in the flamingoes from Tanzania to Bintulu has been one very memorable chapter etched in my life of adventures.