Sri Aman Jottings

The First 7 Days


Its been almost a week I served Sri Aman and things are beginning to pick up. Apart from the regular official functions that appear in my list of calender duties one major event coming up next month of 2 August will be the Youth Gathering 2008 (Perhimpunan Belia 2008)that will feature a lot of exciting events for those in Sri Aman and those in the vicinity.

YB Tuan Haji Hamden chaired the Youth Gathering 2008 at the Sri Aman Resident Office to coordinate the event which will be held on 2 August 2008

Thats on the official front - now back to my experience of finding a rented house. I found one new unit which was offered for rent in Desa Indah which is about 7 km from the town. Though I was again reminded that its quite a distant from my office by the kind people of Sri Aman I told them again that its okay (10 minutes from the office is far?). Then again, the house owner, Mr. Alek Anging, was quite reluctant when he heard that some Deputy Resident wanted to rent his house. After meeting him personally and convincing him that I was not fussy about getting a single storey house and my position does not require me to stay in something larger. I would have been happy to stay in one of the shoplots (above one of the Karaoke & Pubs jf possible) ~ after all I would be a 'bachelor boy' here, if not for my wife's protest who reminded me that the family would be visiting once a while. When she mentioned 'family' I knew it meant a whole battalion so I decided this lot in Desa Indah will be my home.


My home in Desa Indah: the front porch fits just nicely for my reliable mean machine


The design of the house parking lot requires you to have something shorter than a Sedan Car. Get something longer than that and you will have to leave your gate open when you park your vehicle


Fitting the house with the simple furnitures - I got this plastic cupboard which costs RM23. Its quite a bargain (you may think) until you try to load your clothes in it. The 'iron' rods or whatever metal its made of tend to bend if something heavy is loaded. The hanging rod bends to just 5 kg of load

The Family & House Warming

The family did come and the house was abuzz with activity as the house blessing ceremony led by my ever knowledgeable grandma who supervised the 'miring' ceremony.



Family from Sibu, Song and Kuching drops by for the house warming


Grandma introducing the Song tuak to our Sri Aman relatives while Ucle Edwin performs the blessing with the chicken while Unlce Richard and Uncle Solomon assists him


The piring for the house blessing ~ I have to say that our Sri Amanian relatives and guests invited to the miring ceremony have forgotten how to perform this as they say its been a while since they practiced the miring ~ hmmm...something for me to ponder on.


After the miring the party started with all the dishes being prepared for our guests


Amongst the guests included Mr. Alex Anging, the house owner, who brought his family also


The men's corner has its own menu of things to talk about


The kids corner - they had their own version of house warming with thier Playstation


The ladies corner ~ equally interesting topics were discussed including the latest gossips


The cook's Corner ~ the compound was large enough for the cooks to exhibit their cooking skills


The drinks corner ~ something new to get to used in Sri Aman. The potent ijok drink which knocked me out after two glasses. Here Apai Rubis offers Mr. Engkabang, the Sri Aman Information Officer (being an Iban Song himself) a glass of Ijok made in Lubok Antu


Singha Corner - so I guess this 'Lion' beer, is the alternative to my favourite Tiger Beer in Sri Aman? So far it tastes okay.

One of the challenges I do have to bear is the occassional lack of water supply in the Desa Indah area when the pressue is low in the evenings. In addition to that, the Desa Indah does not have any connection to the Worldwide Web. A visit to TM Point with a view to register a phone line was also disappointing when thier personnel at the counter informed me that Telekom does not have any plans in the near future to provide the fixed line service or Streamyx to the Desa Indah area. I am rather surprised as this housing area is densely populated and it sure defeats the purpose of having the one family one computer campaign. One can argue that the campaign does not necessary mean one family one computer connected to the Internet. Anyway my argument would be that the people living in this part would be classified as 'information and knowledge' poor - its a technical form of poverty in a way. Gosh - here I am a Cyberwarrior without a Cyberspace to surf. Its like a surfer and his surfboard without a wave to ride. Even 3G or 3Gx has not reach Sri Aman. This sucks big time.

Comments

Pemancha said…
Hello Kaban,

New place for you my pren, Sri Aman. I used to live there for 7 years.

Singha oredi, never taste that before, jugam yes. wah got so many beer nowadays named after animal, bear singha tiger ...

appoooo ijok maioh amat menua nya, semak Los Angeles. anang entu ngirup maioh utai nya, jampat ka gout kaban ...

damn it ... now thirsty oredi, u lah ..

ciao :)

posting from Burger King, Kelana Jaya. PJ - Sat, 19, 08.
gkvaener said…
Congrats on your new posting,

Wah, housewarming with ai ijok,
udah lama nadai neguk ai ijok,
enjoyed my first taste during a trip to LA in 1998, straight from the tree...

Send my regards to Zaidi...
udinb said…
Wat!!!! No broadband connection? Kesian....
Sabar jak brader!! No pain no gain...heh heh ;)
headsteadi said…
no internet? i won't be able to survive for long. try look for VSAT solution.
mr daddi said…
I think Toyota RUSH will fit nicely to your parking space.....it will also be able to RUSH to Kuching whenever needed by the Boards (Water Board, Electricity Board, and whichever Board you are a member)

peace be with you..
cyrildason said…
man.. what can i say...

it looks tough.. and your alone.. sure will be bored. dahla no internet..
Kay Wotton said…
You are doing a wonderful job of collecting the ambiance of your life and times. Good luck in your new home.