First Day of Ramadan in Kuching

Hundreds of people from all walks of life , creed and faith join their Muslim friends in devouring the rich choices of food available on sale. A scene like this is common everywhere throughout Sarawak towns and villages during the month of Ramadan.

Today ( 11th of August ) is the first day of Ramadan. I am on the annual regimented schedule of fasting. My record for the month of Ramadan has been good since 1992 when I consistently set myself to fast for the mandatory 30 days period ( though in certain years my record could be less than 30 days due to various reasons). A five mile drive from where I'm staying in Kuching is the Mile 7 'Ramadan Bazaar' ( see inset) where tents were set up for food vendors from whom I bought some goodies for breaking of fast this evening. In Sarawak and elsewhere in the world, the month of Ramadan is for devout Muslims considered a holy month. From sunrise to sunset they abstain from enjoying their normal meals and drinks. They promise themselves to do more good deeds and observe all the obligatory practices of the Islamic faith. It is believed that every good deed will be rewarded with from ten to seven hundred the like of it, except fasting which God will recompense by his own will. For has it not be said that God finds the odour of the mouth of the fasting person sweeter than the fragrance of musk.


To many Muslim, Ramadan is a period of intensive refraining from food, drink and sexual pleasures from morning to the sunset prayers. It is believed that by constricting the avenues and networks that Satan manifest best their evil ways in our bodies we keep Satan agrounded ( out of job for a while?) in their endless attempts to lure human beings on the wayward and misguided paths through anger and appetite. Thus the fasting month affords every Muslim a golden opportunity to save themselves from wrecking their bodily organs from sins and acts of disobedience: the eyes from looking at caprice and appetite, the ear from listening to nonsense, obscenity and idle talk, the hand, foot and other members of the body from acts made unlawful and forbidden. Yet the most fortunate among them would be those who can examine their thoughts and preventing their innermost consciousness from paying attention to anything other than God.
" He guides whomsoever He wills to a straight path".
What is the gain from all these? Lest we forget God can only be contained in our hearts. Imagine the Force, The Eternal, The Majesty , The Real embracing one's heart.
By practicing one of the five tenets of Islam i.e. the observation of fasting during the month of Ramadan, the Muslim man or woman underscores the spirit of Islam and will hopefully find the elusive peace he or she has long searched for.

We are Kucing, going to Kuching

Inul (front) and Daisy changing places and seats during the journey.

On the 5th of August, Inul and Mama Daisy teamed with us on their 22nd trip back Kuching. Kuching is 600 km away and would normally take us 10 hours to reach from Bintulu using the singular Pan -Borneo Highway. On this trip Inul appeared to be 'acculturised' i.e. taking the journey well by sleeping most of the time. As for Mama Daisy ( inset) the long journeys have always been her opportunity to indulge in her marathon beauty sleep.

At around 8.45 am we left the farm and after one and a half hours of travel we made a pit stop at Selangau to cool down the engines and tyres. Typical of pit stop places in Sarawak are roadside cafetarias that offer a range of snack and cooked foods for travellers who come and go throughout the day and night by the busloads or individual cars. The most common table offering is the hard-boiled eggs and ketchup .

Hard- boiled eggs and ketchup reminded me of travel along Sarawak roads and rivers. At many pit stops these seem to be a familiar offering, indeed a welcome snack. I ordered thick black and iced coffee to keep me alert while driving, though I normally take chewing gum that could help with excercising the facial muscles and therefore making one less sleepy and boring while at the wheels.
Three hours from Bintulu is Sibu. Here we took a longer time to rest as we decided to have our lunch break for about an hour or so. The dolphin scultpure caught our attention and story about the dolphin and Sibu is narrated on the plaque below. In the background, the tall building and annex is the multi-storey car park and central market complex. A few yards away from the sculpture was where we had our lunch and a meal cost only RM 4.00, which was reasonable.

While the dolphin is the mascot of Sibu, our family of cats (in Malay 'Kucing' = Cat ) is the mascot of Kuching City.

Motorcycles or motorbikes parking area like these are uncommon in Bintulu. This parking place is next to the Sibu Central Market which to my mind is the biggest open market area in Sarawak.

Having arrived in Sibu is a signal that we've just covered a third of the journey to Kuching. Inul ( see inset) is taking the wisdom from Mama Daisy. Just enjoy the long journey by sleeping! Daisy would normally wake up to take some food and drinks just like we do at the many pit stops . On this journey the pit stops were at Sibu, Betong and Serian which are roughly a three hours journey in between them.

Inul enjoys her beauty sleep at 90 km at hour.

Finally we arrived Kuching at around 7.30 pm. Daisy has a sixth probably a seventh sense. On such long journeys she knew well in advance whenever we are about to reach Kuching by jumping to the dashboard as if she instinctively knew ( I guess ) that Kuching is a few miles away.

Note: On this 22nd trip back to Kuching City, our cats have added to their record a cumulative distance of 25,800 km traveling on the Pan- Borneo Highway. Catch more of their record breaking journey by following the link here and even earlier version here.

Images of Bintulu Today

Fishing boats berthing at the newly completed Bintulu Waterfront

The common open country and pioneering shrub called " Senduduk" are found everywhere along roadsides, open spaces and residential areas around Bintulu.

Offshore boats servicing the oil and gas platforms off the Bintulu coast are parked at the Bintulu waterfront wharf.