KARAOKE CHAMPION

17 December 2010

Our department held its annual FAMILY DAY gathering last weekend at One Hotel Santubong Kuching resort about 30 km north of Kuching city recently on the 11th-12th Dec 2010, inclusive of a one-night stay at the tropical beach resort. As usual the programmes included games and sports competitions for kids and adults alike, including tug-of-war and beach volleyball.

The highlight of the departmental festivities must surely have been the annual singing contest, in this year's edition, the search was on to find the BINTANG JMG 2010  (Star of JMG 2010), which was held at the Kenyalang Ballroom in conjunction with the dinner function. To cut it short, it was I who emerged as the Champion singer for the night, rendering the Malay song "Biarlah Bulan Bicara Sendiri" (translation: "Let the Moon Speak to Itself"), impressing the 3 "outside" judges and the hundreds of audience in attendance.

In fact, I was actually the defending champion, having won the inaugural competition (BINTANG JMG 2009) during the previous year's Family Day 2009 activity staged at the Santubong Kuching Resort Lounge, that time rendering the malay song "Ratu Ku" (translation: "My Queen"), that time, judged by 5 judges. I have actually participated in many other singing competitions including at Kuala Lumpur, and usually finishing among the top 3 winners. In fact I had placed 2nd at the Sri Aman Fiesta Karaoke (singing a Malay classic number, "Tanjung Puteri") in April 2009 that year (Sri Aman is a town about 3 hours' drive from Kuching city). However, success can make other people envious. So I was not surprised when the following week, during the monthly departmental meeting, when the Family Day 2010 photos were shown to all, there were many, many photos of the  activities such as the beach volleyball or tug-of-war (which was attended by  some people)  but not even ONE single photo of the Karaoke competition (which was attended by ALL)!....

The above shows a panoramic view of the Damai Puri Resort and Spa, which is about a kilometer or so away from where we held our function, the One Hotel  Santubong Kuching Resort (below):

The selection of the One Hotel Santubong Kuching Resort as the venue for our departmental  Family Day celebrations was indeed a correct one as it has all the amenities for a fun and  relaxing weekend for the staff and family members. In fact the BERNAS company was having their Family Day gathering there as well, although theirs was for 3 days (10-12 December), a day more than ours. Perhaps we shall continue the tradition at the same venue next year.

 Which is fine with me, as the Santubong Peninsula was the focus of my work earlier this year, and I have just finished my technical report "The Geological Terrain Mapping of the South West Santubong Peninsula" and handed in 5 copies of the report (with 5 maps and a CD each) to our Librarian who will proceed to hand them over to our Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur soon...

Kanowit of Borneo

August 8, 2010

I've just returned from a small town called KANOWIT,  whose origins started in the early 19th century as a fishing settlement at the confluence of the rivers of Kanowit, and the Batang Rajang River, the longest river at 563 km in Borneo, and even in the whole of its country, of Malaysia. Kanowit the town is named after an ancient tribe of people of the Melanau natives, whose language and people have since been assimilated into the major race, the Iban of Sarawak.
      As the town is sited just beside a scenic river, it is a fine place to spend an idyllic weekend to just escape the hustle-and-bustle of city life and just to stroll along its quaint little town, soaking up the smells and sights of this place which seems to come out of a page of the 1960's....such is the aura of this unpretentious fishing town in the tropics, with too few buildings and a handful of inhabitants,  that if you walk around the town, you tend to feel that this town is your own little town...

   There are only three rows of shophouses in the town centre along the waterfront, and most of the shops are either old-style coffee shops or sundry shops...no fancy boutiques here, nor any Kentucky or McDonalds outlets. No laundry shop, no cinema, nor even a cybercafe. Yet this town is a complete administrative town, where the District Office, Public Library, Muzeum (an 1851 structure called Emma's Fort , which has a Mermaid statue beside it), town park, Market place, Handicraft centre and Waterfront area with its 3-row of shops are all within walking distance (5 minutes each) of each other!

          To reach Kanowit one can take an hour's express boat ride from Sibu town (Sarawak's third main town) or take the hour-long bus ride from either Sibu or Sarikei. There are two hotels along the waterfront, the Kanowit Hotel and the Harbour View Inn, and only one bank (RHB) in town, so travellers are advised to bring along cash beforehand. A visit to the local muzeum (Emma's Fort) settles all the history and information one needs about what this town was in the colonial times, and what to do while staying here. I took a walk to the local bazaar (Pasar Tani) one day where they were selling skinned foxes ("Musang" in the  Malay dialect), the ubiquitous wriggling Sago Worms (Rhinoceros Beetle larvae), and some palm-sized frogs, besides the usual fish, chicken and an assortment of vegetables and jungle ferns, among others.