Kapit hive of activities during festive seasons

KAPIT: The interior town of Kapit literally comes alive twice annually, during Gawai Dayak and weeks before the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

On these occasions, the town would be filled mostly with locals returning for family unions and also for the reopening of the new school term, where parents accompanied their children to school.

Businessmen love these occasions, with some firms reporting a 10 fold spike in their monthly revenue! It is very common to see furniture and electrical appliances stores, telecommunication outlets, textile shops, barber shops, and eateries jammed packed with patrons.

Since the middle of December last year till now, the hotel occupancy rate in Kapit hovered at more than 90 per cent. There are a total of 400 rooms here, and except for a handful of 2-star hotels, the rest are budget class.

When the school holidays started in the middle of November last year, the express boats also enjoyed brisk business. Kapit is, in a way, ‘an island’ because it is only accessible by express boats from Sibu, Belaga or Putai in Baleh.

A trip to Kapit from Sibu takes about three hours, passing through Kanowit, Nanga Dap, Nanga Ngemah and Song.

As for Belaga to Kapit, travelling time depends on the water level, but in general it’s about five hours journey.

From the interior Putai to Kapit, one can expect to remain in the express boats for three hours.

The food and drink vendors too are smiling all the way to the bank. They know that many longhouse folks, especially those who work in the timber industry, would normally take yearend leave and would think nothing of gulping down can after can of beer. To cater to this group of clients, the vendors would normally extend their operating hours. Wet market Gelanggang Terasang, along Jalan Penghulu Gerinang, is also the spot where a huge crowd of shoppers would convene.

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The Borneo Story: The Rainforest

The sixth in the series of The Borneo Story by Tom Harrisson and Hugh Gibb in the late 1950s courtesy of The Doozer.

This episode documented the daily life of Dayak tribes living in the region. Insects, marine and plant life, and animals, including the endangered rhinoceros and orangutans in the rainforest are shown closeup.

The Borney Story: 'The Rainforest' from The Doozer on Vimeo.

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The Borneo Story: The Dyaks

This is the fifth in the series of The Borneo Story by Tom Harrisson and Hugh Gibb in the late 1950s courtesy of The Doozer.

In this episode, The culture and lifestyle of the Iban Sea Dayaks living on the Skrang River are documented. Also documented includes religious practices, agriculture, cooking methods, textiles, and headhunting.

The Borneo Story: 'The Dyaks' from The Doozer on Vimeo.

The other earlier series are as follows:

1st: Borneo from the Beginning

2nd: Birds Nest Soup

3rd: Cavemen of Today

4th: Peoples of the Tinjar River

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The Borneo Story: Borneo from the Beginning

The Borneo Story is a much applauded but hard-to-find nine-part TV series documentary on Borneo first broadcast on the BBC in 1957. The documentary was produced by British film-makers and anthropologists, Tom Harrisson (1911–1976) and Hugh Gibb (1915-1990).

The documentary was filmed in a variety of locations throughout Borneo (mostly in Sarawak). Thanks to The Doozer, who had converted VHS tapes of the Borneo Story into digital format, we can now watch interesting footages of the days gone by on various tribal groups such as the Dayaks, and their ways of life as well as the rainforest, caves, rivers and swamps.

The first in the series (view below) is called 'Borneo from the Beginning' which is about the excavation of Niah caves where archaeologists dig for signs of prehistoric man in the caves.

The Borneo Story: 'Borneo from the Beginning' from The Doozer on Vimeo.

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A Battle Is Under Way For The Forests Of Borneo

A spry 80-year-old cruises through the thick vegetation of western Borneo, or western Kalimantan, as it's known to Indonesians. Dressed in faded pinstripe slacks and a polo shirt, Layan Lujum carries a large knife in his hand. The chief of the island's Sekendal village is making his morning rounds.



Layan is a member of an indigenous ethnic group called the Dayaks, who once had a reputation as fierce headhunters. As on most mornings, his first job on a recent day is to tend to his rubber trees.



He uses a blade to cut a few grooves in each tree, allowing its white latex sap to trickle into a cup. Then he plucks a handful of fern leaves and snaps off the tops of a dozen or so bamboo shoots and puts them in a bucket. In a few minutes, he has enough for lunch. He goes to the river to wash and chop the shoots.



Environmentalists say Layan's lifestyle is a form of "indigenous knowledge" that has allowed the Dayaks to both use and protect Borneo's forests. But those same forests are now a staging ground for a complicated clash. It involves economic growth, land rights and environmental concerns, development and traditional cultures, as well as a broader fight in Indonesia against entrenched corruption.



'This Is Our Sacred Grove'



Back near Sekendal, Layan explains how the Dayaks in his community view ownership of the surrounding land.



"These stands of bamboo don't belong to anyone in particular. Anyone can take some," he says. "The rubber trees belong to me. The bamboo here is very abundant. If you go upstream, there's even more."



This is not virgin forest, Layan says. It's owned by the community, and it's been cleared and replanted with useful flora such as cocoa and rambutan trees. There is one stand of virgin forest left in the area, but it's used for something very different.



"This is our padagi, or sacred grove," Layan says in a hushed voice. "It's been here since the time of our ancestors, and we come here to pray."



Birdsongs resonate through the forest canopy towering overhead. Down below, moss grows on an altar for making sacrifices. The spirits of the Dayak ancestors inhabit this hallowed glade, Layan says, and it is forbidden to take any plants or animals out of it.



"We come here to ask for help in times of trouble, for example in times of war, and then we are victorious," he says. "We ask for bountiful rice harvests. We ask for the sick to heal. We make offerings to the spirits, even though we can't see them."



Conservation Efforts Under Way



Indonesia remains Asia's most-forested nation, but it has suffered serious deforestation in recent decades, contributing to Indonesia's status as the third-largest emitter of carbon after the U.S. and China.



And perhaps there is no starker example than Borneo — roughly three-quarters of which belongs to Indonesia, the rest to Malaysia and Brunei.



Conservationists are urging Indonesia's government to respect the Dayak's rights to their traditional lands and to affirm their stewardship of the forests based on their animist religion. But in much of Borneo, it appears too late.



Where forests once stood, towns now hum with traffic and commerce. According to Indonesian government statistics, 60 percent of Borneo's rainforests have been cut down. Only 8 percent of its virgin forests remain, mostly in national parks. Western Borneo is the most denuded.



Efforts to combat deforestation are under way. In May, the Indonesian government announced a two-year moratorium on cutting down virgin forests. As well, a U.N.-backed scheme will see developed countries paying Indonesia to protect its rainforests.



Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: A Battle Is Under Way For The Forests Of Borneo

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National-level Gawai Dayak open house on July 11 to be held in a 21-door Iban longhouse

PAKAN: The national-level Gawai Dayak open house to be held at Rumah Wilson Begat Bakir in Ulu Paku, Betong on July 11 will be graced by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin would arrive by helicopter at the longhouse at 11am, revealed Deputy Minister of Information, Communication and Culture, Datuk Joseph Salang.

“He will be accorded a traditional welcome on his arrival,” he told reporters after visiting victims of a fire that razed Rumah Usar in Rantau Betebang in Wak here yesterday.

Twenty families were left homeless after fire destroyed Rumah Usar at 9am on June 19. There were no casualties.

Salang said more than 3,000 people were expected at the event to be held at the traditional 21-door Iban longhouse (Rh Wilson Begat Bakir) which is more than 85 years old.

It is also the longhouse of Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas.

Salang said canopies equipped with close circuit televisions (CCTV) cameras would be set up in the compound of the longhouse for guests.

“The guests will be entertained to cultural performances and served Dayak delicacies,” he said.

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Gawai Dayak celebration - Festivity in rural areas

KUCHING: With the absence of state-level Gawai open house on June 1, this state capital had been unusually quiet on the first day of the Gawai Dayak celebration.

It has been several years now since the state’s Dayak leaders pooled their resources to hold the open house normally attended by the Head of State Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng, Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, state and federal ministers, foreign and local dignitaries and members of the public from all walks of life.

The majority of the state’s Dayak leaders left the city to celebrate the harvest festival in their respective hometowns or constituencies in rural areas.

Only a handful, such as Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk James Dawos Mamit, are celebrating in the city.

Last year, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu and Social Development and Urbanisation Minister Datuk Seri William Mawan held open houses in their respective homes in the city on the first and second day of Gawai.

Continue reading at: Gawai Dayak celebration - Festivity in rural areas
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Dayak community welcomes Gawai

KUCHING: It is that time of year again, when Sarawak’s rich diversity of culture is showcased at its best.

Traditionally, the Dayak community welcomes the Gawai celebrations to give thanks to the gods for another successful harvest of the paddy, while praying for another good season up ahead.

Celebrated in the State on June 1 each year, Gawai Dayak is both a religious and social occasion.

Gawai Dayak simply means a ritual or festival celebrated by the native ethnic groups of the Iban and Bidayuh people of Sarawak and neighbouring Kalimantan of Indonesia.

Even though many of the younger generation have migrated to the city and are not involved in paddy planting anymore, Gawai Dayak remains an integral part of the Dayak traditions and customs.

Evolving with time and social changes, Gawai now symbolises a time to give back, to reunite with family members, friends, the community and above all, to strengthen the understanding and appreciation of the traditions, cultures and the roots of oneself.

Although the colourful cultural extravaganza and fiesta of the Gawai Dayak runs through June until its ‘Ngiling Tikai’ (closing ceremony), it is the rituals, prayers and celebration to welcome Gawai that would be considered its highlights.

For the Iban community, be it in the longhouse or the urban housing communities, celebration starts on the eve, on May 31 itself.

During the evening, a ceremony among the Ibans, a ceremony called Muai Antu Rua (to cast away the spirit of greed) is conducted to ward off the spirit of bad luck .

Around 6pm (twilight), an offering ceremony called ‘miring’ would take place.

The longhouse chief or the most respected senior figure in the community would conduct the miring ritual by thanking the gods for the good harvest, asking for guidance, blessings and long life as he waves a cockerel over the offerings.

The cockerel would then be sacrificed and a little blood is used together with the offerings. Before the ceremony, ‘gendang rayah’ (ritual music) would be performed.

Once the offering ceremony has been carried out, dinner would then be served at the ‘ruai’.

Just before midnight, a procession along the ‘ruai’ for seven times called ‘Ngalu Petara’ (welcoming the spirit gods) would be performed.

It is usually during such procession that a beauty pageant to choose the festival’s queen and king (Kumang and Keling Gawai) would be held.

However, in this modern time, with the growing interest of the Kumang Gawai festival, the pageants would be held days or weeks earlier leading to Gawai Dayak.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Dayak community welcomes Gawai
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Gawai Dayak Best Celebrated At The Longhouse

KANOWIT (Sarawak) -- The longhouse is the place to be when the Dayak community in Sarawak ushers in the annual Gawai Dayak harvest festival at midnight tonight.

Most of the 5,000 longhouses and villages across the state will reverberate with rejoicing as the community of Iban, Bidayuh and others, making up 40 per cent of the state's 2.4 million population, begin the celebrations.

The community will usher in the festival with a toast of the "Ai Pengayu" or longevity drink, which is usually the "tuak" made of fermented glutinous rice.

This will be preceded by Christian prayers by some and the traditional "miring" and "bebiau" ritual offering by others, seeking God's blessings for a better harvest, health and fortune for the coming year.

The toast is a highlight of the Gawai, said longhouse chief Mathew Sembilan anak Asap, 63, from Nanga Tada here.

"In all longhouses, each family will contribute their "tuak" and an assortment of tidbits for the gathering at the "ruai" or public gallery of the longhouse.

"Of course, before the feast begins, the chiefs or their deputies or elected representatives will make the traditional speeches, offering well wishes," he said.

After the "Ai Pengayu" toast, the feasting and revelry will go on until dawn. Fire crackers and fireworks will be let off as the people feast on chicken, fish and pork and curries as well as the "kuih lapis"(Sarawak's famous layer cake) and the traditional "kuih chuan" and "sarang semut" biscuits.

"To enjoy the festival at its best, the longhouse is the place to be. This is the reason why folks from far away will make a beeline for their homes in the last week of May each year," said Mathew, a former RTM Iban journalist.

Continue reading at: Gawai Dayak Best Celebrated At The Longhouse

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Kaamatan, Gawai Dayak Festivals Worthy Of World Attention

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Kaamatan and Gawai Dayak festivals celebrated by ethnic communities in Sabah and Sarawak this week serve as an opportunity for Malaysians to showcase the country's cultural and ethnic diversity to the world.

The Prime Minister expressed hope that Malaysians living in Borneo would share their rich culture with other people with pride, including with fellow Malaysians from the peninsula.

Najib said peninsular Malaysians should take the opportunity to learn more about the country's cultural heritage.

"We shouldn't forsake our age-old traditions that bind us as one race, as we strive to transform Malaysia into a developed nation of high income.

"It all starts with our homeland, the need for us to appreciate our rich cultural heritage," Najib wrote in a posting on his www.1malaysia.com.my blogsite Monday.

Continue reading at: Kaamatan, Gawai Dayak Festivals Worthy Of World Attention

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Sarawak Art Museum holds Gawai exhibition

KUCHING: The Sarawak Art Museum is holding the Gawai Exhibition 2011 to promote and educate visitors on the rich culture of the Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu communities.

Themed ‘Gawai Customs and Traditions’, the exhibition will run until the end of June.

“Our main objective of this exhibition is to introduce the customs and traditions found during the Gawai celebration. Throughout the exhibition, we will also try to get ‘live’ cultural performances to celebrate Gawai until its closing ‘Ngulung Tikai’ celebration,” said Sarawak Museum acting director Dr Charles Leh when officiating at the opening on Tuesday.

“These exhibits would focus on promoting the true meaning of the Gawai Dayak celebration to locals and foreign visitors alike.”

He was representing Sarawak Museum department director Ipoi Datan.

Through the years, he said, the Sarawak Museum had worked hard to document the different Gawai of the state’s various ethnic groups.

“As custodian of our rich culture, protected under the Sarawak Heritage Ordinance 1993, we are tasked with keeping our oral tradition and material culture intact, not only in the storage of the museum but also in practice.

“We are organising many topical exhibitions from this year onwards to showcase our rich heritage.

Continue reading at: Sarawak Art Museum holds Gawai exhibition
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Kadazandusun and Dayak Chambers to organise Kaamatan-Gawai celebrations

PENAMPANG: The Kadazandusun Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sabah (KCCI) and the Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sarawak (DCCI) will jointly organise the fifth Pesta Kaamatan/Gawai Dayak celebrations on June 24 and June 25.

KCCI’s publicity committee chairman, Pius Jaua told press members during a press conference held at the KCCI headquarters near here yesterday that the event will take place in the State capital.

Among the activities which have been lined up for the event will include a golf tournament to be held on June 24 at the Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club and members of both chambers vie for the Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok challenge trophy.

On June 25, there will be a business matching hi-tea where members will be briefed by the officers of th Federal Ministry of Finance on the ‘Teraju’ scheme.

There will be a signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between KCCI and DCCI and also between companies in the oil and gas, construction and tourism industries.

Jaua added that the president of KCCI, Alli Matajam and DCCI president, Tan Sri Leo Moggie will be attending the event.

Also in attendance will be several government and local dignitaries from Sabah and Sarawak.

“The purpose of organising this event is to come together in merry making, cultural exchanges and business networking and also to put into practice the call by the government for greater national unity and integration.

Continue reading at: Kadazandusun and Dayak Chambers to organise Kaamatan-Gawai celebrations
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Less sweet tuak for Gawai Dayak this year

SIBU: Tuak, the traditional Iban rice wine, which is a must serve for Gawai celebration, might taste a little different this year due to the increase in the price of one of its main ingredients – sugar.

A homemaker Nancy Mit Jerangku, who has already started making the tuak about two weeks ago, said her tuak tastes less sweet this year because she had to reduce the amount of sugar.

“It tastes less sweet but it’s ok. In previous years, I will use up to 4 kilogrammes of sugar to fill a 15 litre container but this year, I only use 3kg,” she said when tasting the freshly brew rice wine at her rented house in Huo Ping Road here. The main ingredients for making tuak, she said are glutinous rice, yeast and sugar which she learned from her mother and friends.

The 29-year-old will be bringing the tuak back to her longhouse in Nanga Lasi, Julau as she is planning to return home for the Gawak Dayak this year as her husband who is currently working in South Africa will not be back for the festival.

“My husband will miss the Gawai celebration for the second time this year because he will only be returning home at the end of the year,” she said. Husband Jeffery Malang works as a grader driver at a timber camp in South Africa.

Continue reading at: Less sweet tuak for Gawai Dayak this year
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2011 Iban Kumang Gawai Harvest Festival Queen

MIRI: Twenty-one-year-old Velentine Hellyiza Stephen from Ulu Sebauh, Bintulu was adjudged ‘2011 Kumang Gawai’ of Miri City.

Velentine outshone five other contestants in the Iban category of the Kumang Gawai (Dayak Harvest Festival Queen) contest at the ‘2011 Miri Divisional Gawai Dayak Celebration’ at Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club here on Monday night.

The first runner-up was 22-year-old Elizabeth Gia Amui of Kanowit, while Shandra Petrus Juline, 25, from Nanga Geremai, Kanowit was the second runner-up.

In the Bidayuh category, the Gawai Kumang title went to 23-year-old Jennifer Ubung Nawan of Kampung Skiat, Bau.

She beat five others, including 20-year-old Venezia of Kampung Benuk, Padawan and 18-year-old Marie Paye Steve of Kampung Tanjong Poting, Singai who were second and third place winners respectively.

18-year-old Stephanie Singa from Trusan, Lawas was adjudged ‘Gawai Keligit’ in the Orang Ulu category, defeating five others.

Jessica Bulan Stephen, 20, of Long San, Baram took the second place and 19-year-old Karen Disa from Long Selawan, Ulu Baram came up third.

The three ‘Kumangs’ each brought home RM1,000 in cash plus a sash, a trophy, a certificate of participation, a hamper by Maggi and bouquet.

As for the first runners-up in each category, everyone received RM800 and the second runners-up RM600 each, plus a trophy, sash, hamper and bouquet.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: 2011 Iban Kumang Gawai Harvest Festival Queen
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Dayak Film Industry Wants Tourism-related Initiatives

KUCHING -- The Dayak film industry wants the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) to introduce initiatives to create a friendly environment for film producers to assist the state's domestic tourism industry.

Film producer Museh Amba said the initiatives could include the setting up of a film commission as a marketing organisation to promote localities to the movie and television industries by publicising filming locations, crew members and services of the local areas.

"As film-makers, what we ask is just a simple recognition for our efforts", said Museh, who is BFG Media and Entertainment Production Sdn Bhd managing director.

Museh, who is currently working on his first feature film, "Dunya Gangster" at various locations in Bintulu and Miri, said Malaysian film productions normally focused on 80 percent outdoor shooting locations such as roadsides, beaches, resorts and other attractive tourist spots.

"Basically, it will help promote the places for the shooting to movie audiences," he said, adding that he was optimistic the company's effort to promote the two northern gateways would gain recognition from the local authorities such as the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) and Miri Municipal Council (MMC).

He was confident that Dunya Gangster, which he said was unique, would receive overwhelming response from movie audiences, particularly from the Dayak community throughout the state as it was the first Dayak-Iban action feature film.

Continue reading at: Dayak Film Industry Wants Tourism-related Initiatives
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Pre-Gawai celebration in Miri as part of MayFest 2011 activities

MIRI: The 7th Malam Gawai Dayak 2011 Miri celebration will be held in conjunction with this year’s Miri MayFest 2011.

The annual celebration on May 14 will be held early evening around 6pm at Rh Vincent Sujang, Lusut Jaya 5 Off Taman Tunku.

The event organiser was headed by Miri Iban community leaders Pemanca Wilson Siang Lim and Penghulu Randi Elon.

Federal Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui is the ‘Tuai Pengabang’ (guest-of-honour).

He has been the guest-of-honour for the past Gawai celebration in Miri where Sibuti MP Ahmad Lai Bujang and Lambir incumbent Datuk Aidan Wing are expected to attend the ceremony.

The Gawai celebration venue is normally rotated among the Iban longhouses and settlements in Miri sub-urban.

Various programmes will be inserted during the celebration such as the revival of tortoise race after a two-year lapse, including Tuak-tasting, blowpipe competition and Keling-Kumang contest.

The evening will kick off with a ‘miring’ ceremony, followed by dinner and traditional performance such as ‘Nyarau Ranyai’.

Continue reading at: Pre-Gawai celebration in Miri as part of MayFest 2011 activities
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The last of Sarawak's White Rajahs

The extraordinary story of the Victorian adventurer who subjugated a vast swathe of Borneo

Few things frightened the Dayak warriors of Borneo, who were infamous for the gruesome custom of head-hunting. But on a December day in 1912, a series of thunderous booms reverberated across the island’s misty swamps and sent them racing towards the shelter of their huts.

Many feared they were about to endure the wrath of the gods or at least a severe storm. But it was in fact a man-made cacophony, a 21-gun salute to announce the birth of a male heir to the throne of Sarawak, the small jungle kingdom on Borneo’s western coast.

The baby whose arrival was so celebrated that day was not, as might have been expected, one of the Dayaks, Malays or Chinese who made up Sarawak’s population of half a million.

Indeed, Anthony Brooke could hardly have been more British. Born thousands of miles away in England, he would later be educated at Eton and Oxford. Yet as far as the people of Sarawak were concerned, he was royalty.

Since 1841, his father’s family had taken it upon themselves to rule this remote region as their private empire. The White Rajahs, as they became known, had the power of life and death over their subjects, not to mention their own constabulary, flag and postage stamps.

Anthony, too, would go on to govern Sarawak. In fact, this bizarre and extraordinary dynasty — known as much for its eccentricity as for its benevolent rule — only came to an end this month when he died at the age of 98.

The family had come to power thanks to Anthony’s great-great-uncle James Brooke — a man so swashbucklingly adventurous that Errol Flynn once proposed to play him in a film about his life.

Born in Benares in 1803, he was the son of an English judge who worked for the East India Company.

As a young man he joined the Bengal Army, waging war against Burma as the British Empire sought to expand, but his dreams of glory ended abruptly when in 1825 he was shot in the most intimate part of the male anatomy.

During an understandably long convalescence, aided in true Empire fashion by daily cold baths, he began reading books about the Far East.

This later inspired him to lead the crew of a vast 142-ton sailing ship on a voyage to challenge Dutch control of southern Borneo.

His arrival in Sarawak in 1839 was timely. The region was controlled by the Sultan of neighbouring Brunei who was then facing a rag-tag uprising by local Malays.

He offered Brooke sovereignty over Sarawak if he could lead the Sultan’s army to victory against the rebels and the Englishman with a taste for lunatic danger quickly obliged.

As the newly-appointed Rajah, Brooke took charge of what amounted to 3,000 square miles of swamp, jungle and river, much of it populated by the Dayaks.

They marked important events in their lives by taking the heads of other people in the community. If a Dayak husband failed to present a human skull to his wife after the birth of a child then it was feared that the newborn would meet with illness or even death.

Likewise, no young Dayak warrior ever went courting without first donning an animal mask and skins and ambushing a fellow Dayak, often a woman or child from his own community.

He then made his intended a present of his victim’s skull.

Such acts were outlawed under the many new laws which James Brooke introduced to civilise Sarawak.

Continue reading at: The last of Sarawak's White Rajahs
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More offerings at Borneo Cultural Festival

SIBU: The 10th edition of the Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF) will be held for 10 days from July 15.

Its working committee chairman Daniel Ngieng, who is also Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) deputy chairman, said the main components of this year’s BCF consisted of a cultural section as well as a trade and exhibition section.

The cultural section consists of the Chinese, Malay-Melanau and Dayak stages, handicraft and food stalls; and the trade and exhibition section consists of booths for commercial products and services.

Ngieng said the BCF, which is organised by SMC, had become an iconic community-based event in Sibu to promote tourism, the people’s rich cultural heritage and local products.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: More offerings at Borneo Cultural Festival
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Borneo Convention Centre Kuching - For that unique dining experience

IT’S high drama to dine at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching’s restaurant.

Called Raintree, it is housed at the end of the building that faces Sungai Sarawak. Its ceiling is at least three storeys high. On the left, past the entrance, is a stainless steel wine cellar. Lit from the back, it looks like nothing but a good time to be had.

There’s no real focal point inside the restaurant. The modern design is typically sleek and understated, but a badminton-court-sized red and black Dayak mural on the ceiling comes close. Supporting the mural is a series of giant timber-wrapped pillars.

Judging by looks, the Raintree is a stunner. But what about the food?

The menu is a mix of east-meets-west. It suggests steaks and wild fern, local tapioca puddings with cream, eggplant lasagna and grilled empurau fish.

For the month of November, head chef Virginia Kedit is offering her cultural background.

She has created a special, one-off menu featuring organic chicken, cod fish and lobster cooked in bamboo.

She’s taking Dayak traditional food into the modern age.

The food, served in towers of bamboo stems and poured piping hot into bowls at the table, is 21st-century refinement based on centuries-old longhouse favourites.

Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Borneo Convention Centre Kuching - For that unique dining experience
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