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.

A child of the universe

A Child of the Universe

As a child of the universe
she prizes the happiness of youth
an adult knowing herself
human rights she wrestles hard
in battles of darkness and fear
poverty, injustice, isolation, sickness
and grateful for the living
the greatness to become
of a mind matter-of-factly, no more
of a mind with matters-of-the -spirit, behold
a mind with matters-of-love, joy to her
to live as a child should be
in the nourishing knowledge
of tiny footprints she leaves behind
marvels in the landscape
rising castles of harmony
of wealth more than money
a greener earth
a prosperous world, may be

MOOD
Kuching, 21.10.10

P.S. Ina, you will recall in future that this poem is dedicated to you.

What the Father of Sarawak Ibans - "Apai" Jugah said?

Is Malaysia like sugar cane?

It was on the 16th of September, a few weeks ago that the whole of Malaysia recognised for the first time in its history, the formation of Malaysia with a public holiday- after a lapse of 47 years!. Remembering the formation of Malaysia, Datuk James Wong writing in the local daily ( Borneo Post dated 19 Sept'10) mentioned what Jugah said about Malaysia. Jugah a contemporary of Datuk James, cautioned in the Iban language - " Anang Malaysia sebaka tebu, manis di pon, tawar di ujung" which roughly translated means Malaysia should not be like the sugar cane stem, sweet at the head and getting less and less sweet, tasteless and dry towards the end.


Jugah is unmistakenably one of the greatest Ibans in living memory. The picture at the inset shows Jugah at one of the sessions in the Malaysian Parliament sporting his iconic hairstyle. Did the Beatles imitate his hairstyle? Just wondering.


Affectionately called " Apai" which in Iban means 'father', Jugah (1900-1981) was very proud to be an Iban and he did so prominently when in 1959 he wore a traditional head gear and without wearing any shirt to welcome His Highness Prince Philip at the Council Negeri chamber in Kuching. He even spoke in Iban to welcome Prince Philip. He was a man of war as well as a man of peace. It was with Jugah's weight that Tunku Abdul Rahman and the British Crown managed to enrol Iban support for the formation of Malaysia, since the Malays' voice and other minority Muslims were already represented by Tunku himself. It was left to Jugah to persuade his fellow country men who were either too politically illiterate, undecided and some anti-British to accept the notion of Malaysia. Jugah was posthousmously conferred the title "Tun". For later generations of Malaysians he should be remembered as one of the people who affixed their signatures on the agreement ending the Indonesian confrontation with Malaysia.


Presently the Ibans are found throughout the length and breadth of Sarawak but they predominate in the river basins of Rajang, Saribas and Batang Lupar which roughly occupy the central region of Sarawak especially in the undeveloped interior areas.

Above : Datuk James Wong and below is a poem by him about politicians.

A Special Breed

Politics has sometimes been called an occupation of Fools
As the whole aspiration is to be an accepted public fool!
There is very little honour or glory in it
Indeed, when all is said and done, damn little merit
A thousand good one does go with the wind
For one little mistake made or imagined
By a demanding and fickle Public
To whom, politicians must approbation seek.

What then keep politicians to the grinding mill?

Perhaps, a perverse pleasure and the thrill?
Or limelight and the pampering to a conceited ego
That hears drumbeats and sees salutes wherever they go?
Though this figment of imagination exists only in the mind
But 'tis enough grist for politicians of every hue and kind
To go happily marching on to glory or perdition?
Seeking political Valhalla and Vindication?

Or is it because of one's innate goodness and sincerity

To serve one's fellow citizens and community?
Feeling that if one does not help to kick the ball
The world would stop and not spin at all?!
Or is it because of selfishness and greed
To use politics as a speedy steed
In achieving greatness, honour and fame
Adding lustre to a common name?

Tired politcians have often spoke of "retiring"

But in practice is there such an unlikely thing?
Of politicians voluntarily withdrawing from the arena
Of politics and all that they hold dear?
Indeed, even those who "retired" have been known to voice
"I am ready to serve, if there is no other choice
Of suitable candidates to fit the BILL
Discount me not; I am here still"!


( Credits: James Wong Kim Min (1981) A Special Breed, Summer Times Publishing, Singapore.)

42 Years Ago - a poem

Forty two years ago, when I was at the fragile age of 17 I was studying English literature at the Tanjong Lobang School in Miri. As part of the English syllabus we were taught Shakespearean plays ( Macbeth) and our teachers enrolled us in many of the school dramas that were staged at the school and the local community's hall on a yearly basis. Thus I took to participate in at least three full-length English plays namely "The Government Inspector", " The Pillars of the Community" and "Charley's Aunt". I too wrote a number of poems in English and got them published at our school's magazine called the " Kenyalang School Magazine". Today I would like to recall one poem that I wrote in the magazine called " Intanawara's Look". In the poem I tried to explain something that is spiritually difficult for me to understand then ( in highlighted letters below). The poem was set in a place called Intanawara with two lovers in a location best described now as 'environmental -friendly'. Here's what a fragile, little me wrote:-

Intanawara's Look

Silver line was the road to wind
A shine of gold too by the sun
So merged the trees to green screen
As the brightest engagement was to begin
Before it a sufferer must have all he had
For the mist had it all barred
Since moment crept untold and not say
Streaks of day fought to appear
Then the mist to sparkling gems
And the leaves to a merry hymn
For the day was a heaven's ray
A diamond that to a crystalline plate lay

This place was not a whole paradise
More multitudinous the true paradise a glimpse
Filled with underlying forget- me- not
The fragrance to smell was all the lot
There to meet Sitinati and Saheed
Accustomed with the part of life they played
They knew not still of their futures more
As words cans't be now that of tomorrow
Saheed stood on Intanawara's grassy moor
Whilst Sitinati knelt among flowers glow
Facing each other their stares froze
A wink, they knew the feel and a sigh

The darkened day came nearer to night
From the diamond that to a crystalline plate lay
To yellowish and reddish ochre
For some slept and some awoke and stayed
As time now they departed to pave
It was whether he could do her a save
Or whether he could get her hand
For people are of certain and depend
So the night came weary by
And the answer, the truth was here to lie.

17.3.68

Promo:
A little bit of promo here. The above poem is included in my poetry book published in 1981 in Kuching called "Pameran Lukisan dan Puisi Mood". Copy of the book is kept at the Library of Congress in America and the National Library of Australia.

Ok, Poem's Ready!

I started to pen this poem a few weeks ago in Bintulu. By today I finally conceived it in its entirety. And like the good cook I must say " Ok, poem's ready!!"
Upon reading it to Inul (inset) and reworking the lines and nuances, I got the best response from her, " AARRRGGGHHH.....it's the most boring poem I've heard *?#1%//".
Anyway, here's the poem below :

Adventure in life

I

I've often wondered

what wonder is

of falling faith

in a disheartened soul

I've not been a Shakespearean man

to be or not to be

choice may be one too many

spoilt kids of yester years

time is residing short in mortal me

and life continues to dare

my eagerness to know

have hastened to soar

this quest of maturing life

II

We're born to love

hope our burning desire

changing motivations through time

with unfaltering mind

must we move our being

in concert with nature

dancing its spirit

in awakening intelligence

to embrace dear life

that the veil of existence

tricks one to disbelieve

III

I'm much at peace

with a new-found me

much distanced before by design

but left alone

the nativity of living happiness

is a leap of faith I clung to

the everest of life

IV

I treasure this mountain of faith

sipping its fountain of glorious giving

thirsed by a life-long adventure

the search of majesty

the meaning of life

and truth it rewards

the skies sometimes smiled on me

after my lapses and setbacks

once clouded by weak faith

and fallen petals of disharmony

I pick to gather

the richness of humanity

and prolific prosperity

to share as a child of the universe.

MOOD

28 April 2010.

Kuching.