Dam project regroups Bimban tribe by Rintos Mail

NYADIK Dulah could not believe they are together again after decades apart.

The 70-year-old grandmother is happy the villagers from Kampung Semban Teleg and Kampung Rejoi have regrouped.

Folks from the two villages are of the same tribe but have lived apart when the earlier settlers split up and created another resettlement about 40 years ago.

After so many years of separation, the Bimban tribe has come together again – thanks to the Bengoh Dam project.

This tribe now lives together at one modern resettlement – the Bengoh Resettlement Scheme (BRS).

According to Nyadik, the Bimban first settled at a place called Kepek Keyong and Bung (hilltop) Lajang about 200 years ago before splitting into two in 1974.

“We are called Bimban and our ancestors were farmers, mainly practising shifting cultivation.

“Although a small community, we have been living together in peace and harmony,” said Nyadik from Kampung Semban.

Kampung Semban village head Bujus Kian said the split among the villagers in Kampung Semban occurred because of a school.

He said some of the villagers wanted to have the school built farther down the village nearer the mainstream development.

The school was named SK Rejoi.

Head of ritual ceremony Kian Tuah, 82, performing one of the traditional rituals at the celebration.

“The people in Kampung Rejoi are actually from Kampung Semban and the pupils at SK Rejoi comprise children from Kampung Rejoi and Kampung Semban,” he explained.

To get to Kampung Rejoi, the people in Kampung Semban have to walk about an hour. Now, villagers from the two kampungs have resettled in BRS where their houses are only minutes apart.

The BRS is about 43km from Kuching and connected to the city by tar-sealed road.

The project covers an area of about 1,000 acres – 300 acres for residential area comprising 204 houses and four community halls (one hall each for every village), and 700 acres of land for agriculture.

The residential area is the new home for residents from four villages, including Kampung Pain Bojong and Kampung Taba Sait.

Last weekend at a joint Gawai closing celebration, I had a chance to mingle with the BRS villagers and learn about their roots.

The Bengoh Dam project had sort of reunited two different tribes from the Bidayuh community.

If the people from Kampung Semban Teleg and Kampung Rejoi are the off-shoots of the Bimban tribe, communities from Kampung Pain Bojong and Kampung Taba Sait are originally the Bidayuh community from the Tibia tribe.

Nueng Maron from Kampung Pain Bojong narrated that the ancestors of the people from two villages first settled at a place called Bung Jogong.

The 72-year-old said the villagers split into two when land for shifting cultivation had become less at Bung Jogong.

As a result, some of the villagers migrated downstream to sustain their agriculture activities and eventually named their new resettlement as Kampung Taba Sait.

“Kampung Taba Sait has already existed when I was born and the people there are of the same tribe with us,” he noted.

He pointed out that the BRS project had not only regrouped his tribe but also unified the two different tribes as close neighbours. “Although each kampung maintains its own name, we are all the community of BRS.”

Nueng said the successful joint Gawai closing celebration was an indication of the community’s unity, friendship and readiness to working together.

Among the highlights was the culture performance by the Ladies of Ring from Kampung Semban.

The performance featured a unique traditional dance and the sounds of gongs. It reminded me of my first and the last visit to old Kampung Semban Teleg in 2007.

Wearing their traditional garbs and adorning themselves with necklaces made of wild plants and beads, the five Ladies of the Ring performed the Rejang Gawai (festive dance).

To the beats of traditional gongs and drums in the community hall, the women danced gracefully, stretching their arms as a show of gratefulness for a bountiful padi harvest.

Kampung Semban Teleg village head Bujus Kian (third right) joins the Ladies of Ring and participants from the four BRS villages for the ‘poco-poco’ dance.

The party might have been organised in a modern setting but the traditional celebration remains as one of the core aspects of culture, woven tightly into the overall cultural identity of the community.

This is another common trend of society in that when the new community move to a new place, they will bring with them their cultural identity.

Other than that, they were also exploring the traditions of a new community and joining the celebration of new neighbours. Some of these experiences may provide memories to last a lifetime.

“Joining our new community in this mixed traditional-modern celebration is a new experience for most of us.

“I will always remember this joint celebration within our new home because this is the beginning of our future unity,” said Nyukan Ganjai, a 68-year-old villager.

Inaccessible by any mode of transport, the four villages never had a grand joint celebration like what they had at the BRS.

To get to the old villages will take a few hours on foot from Kampung Bengoh.

Nueng’s younger brother, Nyirim, said he did not see much difference in the traditional cultures of the Bimban and Tibia tribes although they were far apart.

“Only our dialects may be a bit different but from what I see, there are a lot of similarities in our cultures and traditions.

“Most important is we have regrouped as one community of the BRS.”

The 63-year-old farmer said since they had been grouped in the same resettlement, both tribes would have to adapt to each other’s cultures and the new environment.

He believed delving deep into each others’ culture was a good way to adapt to their new home although maintaining their own cultural traditions was just as important.

“Celebrating our traditions helps keep us grounded in our own culture while adapting to a new one.

“This is especially important when going through some of the phases of culture shock that affect many of us in the first few months after moving into our new homes.”

Baha Batel from Kampung Semban said celebrating one of their traditional festivals together had brightened up the community’s mood for weeks, being engrossed in preparations for the event as well as experiencing the excitement of the day itself.

“Celebrating a special day together like this can also help us connect with our new neighbours who can add to our mutual support group.

“When we hosted this joint celebration, we invited our new neighbours and their families who had just spent an exhausting couple of months going through the trials of getting settled into a new home, environment and lifestyle as well as facing new challenges,” he said.

Nyadik said she was grateful for the chance to relax, meet her lost relatives, new friends and exchange previous and new life experiences at the BRS.

“I’m very happy we are coming together again and having new neighbours and friends from Kampung Bojong and Kampung Sait here.

“This is something I have never thought of before.”

Michael Sinar Nikan from Kampung Taba Sait said celebrating their traditions together was perhaps most important if parents had young kids growing up in another culture and if the parents had spent most of their married life in the urban.

“Personally, I’m looking forward to more joint traditional celebrations like this.

“It can help keep our kids firmly rooted in their own cultures and those of others, at the same time, offering learning experiences that might not be possible otherwise.

“Traditional celebration such as this in a big resettlement is also an excellent opportunity for inter-cultural exchange and understanding among the four different villages.”

Sinar, a retired teacher, believed both kids and adults alike could learn about each other’s cultures through the joint celebration.

He said celebrating together while living in the same area would give everyone some memorable experience.

The immediate and future challenge for the BRS community is to blend the many faces into one community. And it will be a part of the commitment of the BRS task force committee to continue preserving and sharing the story of the community’s historical past while adapting to modern ways of living.

They are still many unsettled issues that need to be resolved such as compensation and additional agriculture lots for the affected families – and staying united will make them strong and be heard. The villagers started moving to the BRS in November last year.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/07/13/dam-project-regroups-bimban-tribe/#ixzz37K7kxrPD

Redeems 2014, Kpg Apar, Meriah

Redeems 2014 di Kpg Apar Bau dihadiri oleh YAB Ketua Menteri Sarawak

Dan juga Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia

Dayung Sikora tampil ke pentas

TYT Tun Taib Mahmud juga turut hadir

The Canopy Walk, Mulu.

MULU, (Miri) - THE Mulu National Park's 480-metre Canopy Skywalk, is the world's longest tree-based canopy walk.

It adds another features to the world heritage site, which also plays home to the world's biggest caves and network systems. 

The Canopy Skywalk, suspended 20-metres above the forest floor, was built by local communities with advice from experts on design and structure. 

It winds among the lush treetops with a tranquil river running below and the soaring heights of nearby limestone cliffs above. 

The Skywalk follows a circular route suspended between 15 trees with a separate exit tower. There are also platforms at each of the 15 trees for visitors to stop and admire the lush surroundings. 

It is one of the newly completed world standard visitor facilities at the National Park. 

Among other facilities at the park are 10-kilometre non-slip plank-walks, radio communication systems, interpretive signage, extensively renovated facilities at Camp 5, new public toilets and treatment works, renovated facilities for future on-site research. 

The tour begins along the Rainforest Discovery Walk to Deer Cave and turns at the Paku River onto a new plank-walk that winds its way along the forest floor to the base of an access tower. The Skywalk gives giving visitors a spectacular panoramic view of the flora and fauna that inhibit on the world's oldest rainforests. 

The area is often visited by Macaque monkeys and Hornbills. It is also home to a wide array of animals such as flying lizards, squirrels, amazing insects and a range of rainforest birds. 

The guided tour is supported by a range of informative signage describing the rainforest and canopy environments. 

The 1.5km journey in the sky to the Skywalk tower takes approximately 30 minutes with another hour to complete walking along the canopy. 

Depending on tour times visitors can then wither return to the park's headquarters or continue on their way to Deer Cave. 

With Mulu being just a quick plane flight away from Miri airport, it is certainly worth checking out.

Deer Cave, Mulu

Deer Cave is located near Miri,Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo and is a show cave attraction of Gunung Mulu National Park. It was surveyed in 1961 by G.E. Wilford, of the Malaysian Geological Survey, who predicted that Mulu would yield many more caves in the future (Wilford, 1964). 

The cave, which is also known as Gua Payau or Gua Rusa by the local Penan and Berawan people, is said to have received its name because of the deer that come to the cave to lick salt-bearing rocks (Tsen, 1993) and shelter themselves.

The cave was surveyed for the first time in the year 1978, producing measurements of 174 m wide and 122 m high in one section that passed through the mountain for a distance of one kilometer. Subsequently a next survey increased the acknowledged passage length to 4.1 kilometers and connected Lang Cave, another show cave within the park, to the Deer Cave System. This survey made in 2009 by the Hoffman Institute of Western Kentucky University revealed the maximum cross sectional area to be in the large southern passage. This was documented at 169 m wide with a ceiling height of 125 m. The northern passage registered the greatest ceiling height at 148m with a cross sectional width of 142 m. The main entrance of Deer Cave was measured at 146 m.^[1]

Borneo World Music Expo good exposure for local musicians

KUCHING: Local musicians have gone on to perform in the international scene through their participation at last year’s Borneo World Music Expo (BWME).

Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said the traditional Bidayuh music ensemble Madeeh and Kenyah sape artiste Matthew Ngau Jau and his group Lan Ee Tuyang had gone on to perform in Europe after being invited by international programmers from the inaugural expo last year.

“Madeeh was signed up to be represented in Europe by Jean-Herve Vidal of Zaman Productions in France while Matthew was taken on by Birgit Ellinghaus from Germany.

“This is the way forward for local musicians as they are being exposed to the international scene and in the process can improve their music so that it can be accepted by the community at large. In the process too they are introducing their indigenous culture to the world,” he told a press conference prior to the launch of BWME at Hilton Kuching on Monday.

Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Datuk Rashid Khan, BWME director Gerald Seligman and permanent secretary to the Ministry of Tourism Datu Ik Pahon Joyik were also present at the press conference.

Abang Johari said that BWME was a platform for people to appreciate one’s culture and also a platform for the creation of global understanding.

“We hope that this sort of exposure will bring forth greater understanding amongst the musicians,” he said.

Rashid meanwhile said that BWME had been envisioned to become an Asia premier world music exposition within the next five years.

“It is specifically designed to expose Asian and ethnic musicians to the international market and to help professionalise the music sector to meet the expectations and standards of the international market as they converge on here prior to the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF).”

Having organised RWMF as a leisure event for the past 17 years, Rashid said STB was now ready to move up the value chain and BWME was expected to grow the meeting and exhibition market segments related to music.

“While RWMF is about entertainment, BWME is about the trade, networking, information dissemination and business behind the entertainment industry. The expo seeks to be the market place where professionals come to present their services or to hire.

“We are doing a multiple pronged strategy to conserve music and create business and at the same time, there is a tourism angle that encourages tourists to come to the state,” he said.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/06/18/borneo-world-music-expo-good-exposure-for-local-musicians/#ixzz355uQEvmd

Inter-marriage could be loophole in NCR Land Code

By Peter Sibon

Sarawak must ensure the proposed Native Customary Rights (NCR) Land Code Amendment law is all inclusive to prevent abuse through inter-marriage between natives and non-natives.

Land Development Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing cautioned that such a law could be subjected to abuse if marriage procedures between natives and non-natives were not monitored properly.

“Non-natives can be joint beneficiaries of NCR land by the passing of this Bill. This will open up a host of legal problems. Thus, we have to tighten up natives’ marriage laws and procedures at the same time in order to prevent abuse as the implementation of the law is not ‘just a walk in the park’,” Masing told The Borneo Post yesterday.

He said NCR lands’ lack of value was exposed by the High Court ruling on Bisi Jenggot vs Sarawak Government.

“The Dayak community, after the ruling, realised the need to amend native laws and the state Land Code. This will enhance the economic value of NCR land and would enable the native landowners to participate in the 21st century economics.”

He was commenting on Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem’s response to an audience during his (Adenan) interview with RTM last Friday night.

Adenan had said once the Bill is passed by the State Legislative Assembly, Bumiputeras would be able to sell their non-titled NCR lands to other Bumiputeras. The Bill is expected to be tabled in the next Assembly sitting in November.

The initiative, said Adenan, would add value to NCR land as presently the sale of such land is limited to amongst the people of the same longhouse or village only, thus, lowering its market value.

Masing said the proposal by Adenan recognised these needs and supports the necessity to amend the Land Code and then advised the natives to update their native laws to match today’s economic modus operandi.

“The natives and the Bumiputeras of Sarawak will always be grateful to the chief minister for his farsightedness and consideration in making it possible for NCR land to be economically viable as commodity of sale once the tabling of NCR land is accepted. This will be an enduring legacy of Adenan’s administration.”

Meanwhile, social activist and former PBB deputy Information chief Dato Peter Minos said if land could not be bought and sold, it was of no economic value and would thus bring no benefit to the owners.

He stressed if any law forbid any land to be bought or sold, that law is archaic and not in sync with modern economic life.

“So it goes without saying that Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem’s intention to amend that part of the Land Code that forbids dealing of native customary right (NCR) land is both timely and most welcomed. It makes economic sense that NCR can be dealt with at least among the natives in order that such land not only has value but can be developed in some ways by the natives who have the funds.”

Minos argued that commercial development of native-Bumiputera land in certain parts of Kuching city had been made possible because their owners were smart and wise in getting their land commercially traded among the Bumiputeras.

“If not, such land remains idle or not used at all and the owners innocently living in deprivation. We do not want that, not now.”

Minos pointed out that the NCR Land Code was crafted by the British, to ‘protect’ natives from losing their land to the economically advanced non-native groups and hence the non-dealing in NCR land.

“But time has changed and such protection is outdated. NCR land should be able to be bought and sold at least among the natives.

“If I have my way I may go a bit further … NCR land very near or in the vicinity of towns and cities should be changed to mixed zone on request of the owners. This will give true market or economic value to such land.”

Minos also cited the fact that there was some NCR land located next to mixed zone land or near the towns and cities with value far below mixed zone land price.

“This is one issue that owners and the native communities can think about. May be time is needed to think about this matter but the sooner it is done the better. As the saying goes, time waits for no man and so (too) progress and development.”

10 Sarawak BN reps join Teras

KUCHING: Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) president Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom and Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) former assistant secretary-general Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh have quit their respective parties to join newly-formed Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (TERAS).

Joining them are Baram Member of Parliament, Anyie Ngau and eight SPDP assemblymen, among them Datuk Sylvester Entri Muran, Datuk Peter Nansian Ngusie, Rosey Yunus and Paulus Palu Gumbang.

Three assemblymen from SUPP followed Soon Koh's move. They are Dr Jerip Susil, Ranum Mina and Johnicol Rayong.

An opposition assemblyman, George Lagong of the Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) also joined in TERAS.

In a hastily-called press conference here today, Mawan, who is also a senior minister in the State Cabinet and Member of Parliament for Saratok, said he quit because he had been "elbowed out" from SPDP.

Mawan, who had been the SPDP president since its formation in November 2002, said several leaders in the party were against the recent reinstatement of the membership of Entri, Nansian, Rosey and Paulus.

"The reason I brought them back was to strengthen the party with the common desire to serve and consolidate Barisan Nasional," he said.

He said his decision to quit should not be likened to a captain abandoning his ship but more to being a victim of mutiny.

"(As a captain) I have been thrown overboard," he said.

He said several other senior members of SPDP, including Mas Gading Member of Parliament, Anthony Nogeh, were expected to follow suit.

Mawan said they would apply to become a Barisan Nasional (BN) component party and believed Sarawak Chief Minister and State BN chairman, Tan Sri Adenan Satem, would have a formula to accept them even if there was resistance from SPDP or SUPP.

Meanwhile, Soon Koh, who had been at loggerheads with SUPP president Tan Sri Peter Chin, said he decided to quit SUPP after finding out that there was nothing forthcoming from the peace plan for the party proposed by the BN top leadership.

"Because of the breakdown in the peace plan, we don't want to keep quarrelling and are tired of the squabblings, we have to go," he said.

Adenan, meanwhile, told reporters that he would comment on the matter after listening to the views of all those involved.

"I will let them have their say first and I will give my comments at an appropriate time," he said.

Read more at:http://english.astroawani.com/news/show/sarawak-mawan-soon-koh-quit-party-to-join-teras-35898?cp

Puyuh Liar di Ladang Sawit

ssp. powelli

Berbeza dengan puyuh sebenar terutamanya burung betina polyandrous.^[3] Burung betina lebih terang antara keduanya, memulakan memikat dan membina sarang di atas tanah. Ia berlawan dengan burung betina lain bagi mengawal burung jantan, mengeluarrkan bunyi menderam drr-r-r-r-r sebagai cabaran kepada lawannya dan bagi mengumumkan dirinya pada burung jantan. Telur yang dihasilkan diram oleh burung jantan yang turut menjaga anaknya, yang mampu berlari sebaik sahaja menetas.

Burung betina seterusnya mendapatkan pasangan baru, dan kemungkinannya yang lain, dan seterusnya, kelihatannya hanya satu pada sesuatu masa.

• Musim: biasanya sepanjang tahun, berbeza mengikut kawasan.
• Sarang - lompang yang dilapis rumput dalam hutan tebal atau tanaman, sering tersembunyi oleh rumput sekeliling. Telur - 3 atau 4, kelabu putih banyak tompokan perang kemerahan atau ungu gelap.
• 
  

Bung Bratak Heritage Centre to become pride of Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuhs

BAU: Construction works on the Bung Bratak Heritage Centre on the hill top of Bung Bratak (Mount Bratak) here will start this year.

Bung Bratak Heritage Association (BBHA) chairman Datuk Peter Minos said the Tourism and Culture Ministry had given the association an RM8mil grant to build the centre, which will showcase the history and culture of the Bidayuh community.

The Public Works Department (JKR) is in charge of the construction, which is expected to be completed in 2016.

“The Bung Bratak Heritage Association, the guardian of Bung Bratak, is grateful to the Government for its support, especially the Tourism and Culture Ministry,” said Minos to Bernama.

He said the centre would honour Bung Bratak as the original and ancestral home of the Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuhs, who are from the 33 villages in Bau and Lundu districts.

Reflecting Bidayuh arts, culture and traditions, the centre will consist of two longhouses, one for accommodation for up to 100 persons and another for a seminar hall, mini museum, office and function rooms.

There will also be a big ‘baruk’, a Bidayuh cultural round house, a canteen and two restrooms while the two waterfalls at Bung Bratak will be facelifted for the benefit of tourists and visitors.

“The Bung Bratak Heritage Centre will be a big hit among visitors and tourists, local and foreign, because of its hilltop scenery, jungle tracks, waterfalls, spring water, primary jungles as well as flora and fauna around it,” said Minos.

He pointed out that each year on Bung Bratak Day, which falls on May 1, thousands trekked up the 1,000-foot hill for historical and cultural reasons, particularly for the Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuhs, as their ancestors were there over 750 years ago.

“The history of Bung Bratak was mentioned by both the Dutch and British in the 19th and early 20th centuries’ writers.

“As such, the centre will be a great pride for the Bidayuhs, especially for the Jagoi-Bratak group, as a historical and heritage place as well as a tourist destination of a very unique kind in Borneo,” he added. — Bernama

Hotel Seri Malaysia Lawas

Hotel Seri Malaysia Lawas Sarawak is located at small frontier town in the northeastern corner of Sarawak state in Malaysia Borneo. The town is located in a strip of Sarawak territory sandwiched between the Temburong district of Brunei and Malaysia's Sabah state. It is cut off from the rest of Sarawak and is more easily accessed from Sabah.

Lawas is also the starting point for the logging road to Ba’Kelalan in the Sarawak. One of the most popular tourist attractions in Lawas is Tamu Lawas (Lawas Produce Market), which is held every Saturday. Local products such as vegetables, fruits and sea products are sold by locals in this market which is frequented by locals and people from the neighbouring Temburong district of Brunei. 

Lawas is fabulous place to enjoy the art of eating and drinking. Other interesting places in Lawas are Punang Beach, Sungai Bangat Beach, Pa' Lelau in Merarap, Mount Murud, Kampung air Terjun (along Jalan Trusan) and Sri Tanjung Resort in Kuala Lawas. 

Kuala Lawas, Punang and Awat Awat are famous with its Kampung Air. It is similar to Kampung Ayer in Brunei but smaller. The main road of transportation is perahu (boat) to cross the river.The hotel also has multi-functional rooms ideal for conferences, meeting and other events

Sarawak Forestry has sole right to charge entrance fees

A nature trail layout map of Santubong National Park in which entrance fees based on State Laws are imposed, to be used to maintain the trails inside. – Photo courtesy of Sarawak Forestry

KUCHING: Certain quarters have been misleading the public by claiming that entrance fees to Santubong National Park should be paid to them instead of Sarawak Forestry.

In light of this blatant claim, Sarawak Forestry in a press statement reiterated that under the Sarawak Forestry Corporation Ordinance, 1995, the corporation is to “act as an agent of the Government and provide services in administering, assessing, collecting and enforcing payment of royalty, premium, fees and other dues or levies chargeable under, and to perform other functions conferred by the Forests Ordinance, the National Parks and Nature Reserves Ordinance, 1998 and the Wild Life Protection Ordinance, 1998.”

“Sarawak Forestry was established by the Sarawak government in 2003 to handle all matters pertaining to the management of the state’s protected areas, and therefore, on behalf of the state government, we are the legal entity to collect and issue all entrance tickets into Sarawak’s national parks and nature reserves,” stressed Sarawak Forestry chief executive officer and managing director Datu Ali Yusop.

“The waterfall trail, all the way up to the summit, falls well within the boundary of Santubong National Park and the entrance fees imposed, which are based on State Laws, are used to maintain the trails inside.”

Subject to Section 5 and 6 of the National Parks and Nature Reserves Ordinance 1998, any person may enter a national park or nature reserve upon payment of entrance fees and other charges as prescribed in the Second Schedule.

Therefore, visitors are advised to pay and retain the Official Sarawak National Parks’ entrance tickets from the Santubong National Park headquarters to avoid being prosecuted for unauthorised entry.

Any person who fails to comply with the law, will be guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding RM3,000 and in case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding RM500 for each day the offence continues.

“To prevent further misinformation, illegal activities and encroachment of the park boundaries, Sarawak Forestry’s officers will be on duty at the Bukit Puteri Trail during weekends.

“Visitors will also be given an official Santubong National Park’s map of trails upon registration at the park headquarters. We would like to advise all visitors to get their information regarding the park from our officials to avoid any confusion,” Ali added.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/03/25/sarawak-forestry-has-sole-right-to-charge-entrance-fees-to-santubong/#ixzz2wvOYjqIb

Pitcher Plant-unique and interesting

Kuching squat red pitcher uses water to drown prey.

The nepenthe ampullaria (Bau green).

IF you’re caught out in the jungle without a shelter, building one from natural materials around you can help keep you dry and safe, especially when you have spend the night out in the wilderness.

You can use whatever resources Nature provides, but after getting the necessary raw materials – wood or bamboo — you may be left without nails.

Don’t fret. Just look for pitcher plants (nepenthes) and once you’ve found them, your problem is solved. The plants’ lianas or woody veins are the best alternative for nails to build huts or shelters with in the jungle. The lianas can also be used as ropes to bind wood or bamboo, and if kept dry, can last up to a year or longer.

Moreover, the pitchers can double as pots, commonly used to boil rice or tapioca. Normally, flour from these two staples is filled in the pitcher and pinned with a tiny wood, the size of a toothpick. The pitcher is then boiled together with water in the pot for several minutes until the rice or tapioca is cooked.

Carnivorous plant

The pitcher plant has generated a lot of interests among naturalists because of its uniqueness. It’s a species of plant that eats insects.

Also called carnivorous plant, it is found in nutrient-poor soil but still thrives because it obtains nutrition from insects it catches.

Carnivorous plants are predatory flowering plants that kill animals in order to derive nutrition from their victims. They eat things like insects, spiders, crustaceans and other small soil and water-living invertebrates and protozoans, lizards, mice, rats, and other small vertebrates.

A report in sciencedaily.com says pitcher plants rely on insects as a source of nutrients, enabling them to colonise nutrient-poor habitats where other plants struggle to grow.

Prey is captured in specialised pitcher-shaped leaves with slippery surfaces on the upper rim and inner wall, and drowned in the digestive fluid at the bottom.

If an insect tries to walk on the wet surface, its adhesive pads are prevented from making contact, causing it to slip on the water layer.

New research has found that during heavy rain, the lid of nepenthes, especially the gracilis pitcher, acts like a springboard, catapulting insects, seeking shelter on its underside, directly into the fluid-filled pitcher.

Nepenthe rafflesiana (Kuching squat red) pitcher.

Eve’s cup and others

The pitcher plant is also known by many as Eve’s cup, fly-catcher, flytrap, huntsman’s cup, smallpox plant and water-cup, and is found in abundance in Sarawak.

One need not go to the jungle for a first-hand look at the plant as it can be found at Padawan Pitcher Plant & Orchid Garden at the 10th Mile Bazaar.

The Garden showcases lowland pitcher plants from around Borneo and protected plants in Sarawak. It now has about 30 species — from climbers N albomorginata (Kuching spotted) to non-climbers N ampullaria (Bau green).

Padawan Muncipal Council (MPP) agriculture officer Willie Ngelai, who heads the Landscape Division, said their pitcher plants were collected from the jungles in various parts of the state.

He said N albomorginata are found in the lowland and have narrow felted leaves and stems. This species has large quantities of slender pitchers with a

conspicuous chalky-white collar below the peristome. Its colour varies from pale green to deep red, depending on the type. It consumes insects and termites.

According to Willie, the Kuching spotted, which are climbers, usually survive at altitudinal distribution of 0 to 1,000m above sea level.

“Their typical habitat consists of kerangas forest but they are also recorded from the summit vegetation of lowland parks,” he said.

The non-climbing Bau green are found in lowland areas.

This species produces globe or egg-shapped pitchers, reaching 10-15cm in height. The pitchers forming at the ends of short tendrils are no more than 15cm long.

The young plants are wholly covered with long, caduceus, brown or white hairs. Mature plants often have a sparse indumentums of short, brown hairs though they may be completely glabrous.

The colour of their leaves is green — up to 25cm long and 6cm wide. The pitchers range in colouration from light green throughout to completely dark red with many immediate forms recorded.

Willie said this species fed on dead plant parts and largely moved away from carnivory and digested leaf matter that fell to the forest floor.

This plant grows in damp, shady forest from sea level to 1,000m altitude.

“In Borneo, it usually occurs on relatively flat terrain in kerangas forest, peat swamp forest and degraded swamp forest.

“Through the network of lianas, the peculiarly-formed pitchers of this species gleam fourth, often in tight cluster from the base of the plant,” he explained.

A smaller type of local pitcher plant at the MPP nursery.

Only licensed agency

Willie said collecting pitcher plants from the jungle involved extracting the whole rooting system from the ground and transferring it into a pot. The plants were then brought to the nursery for monitoring before being transferred to the Padawan Pitcher Garden.

He added that MPP is the only agency licensed by the State Forest Department to extract and cultivate pitcher plants.

“Nepenthes will never produce pitchers if the leaves or tendrils are plucked because the pitchers appear as a result of leaves modifications.

“That’s why we always remind visitors not to pluck the leaves or tendrils otherwise the plant will never produce a pitcher,” Willie pointed out.

A pitcher plant usually consists of a shallow root system and a creeping or climbing stem, often several metres long, and usually around one centimetre or less in diameter.

From the stem arises leaf-like expanded leaf stalks, similar to certain Citrus species, ending in a tendril, which, in some species, aids in climbing. The end of the tendril forms the pitcher, considered to be the true leaf.

The pitcher starts as a small bud and gradually expands to form a round or tube-shaped trap which contains a fluid secreted by the plant, and may be watery or syrupy, and is used to drown the prey.

The lower part of the trap contains glands which absorb the nutrients released from the decaying prey. Along the upper inside part of the trap is a slick waxy coating which makes the escape of its prey near impossible.

Surrounding the entrance to the trap is a structure called the peristome (lip) which is slippery and often quite colourful, attracting the prey but offering an unsure footing.

Above the peristome is a lid (operculum). In many species, this keeps rain from diluting the fluid within the pitcher. The pitcher may contain nectar glands which attract the prey.

Temporarily closed

The Padawan Pithcer Garden is now temporarily closed for upgrading work. It is expected to re-open early next year.

Willie said the Garden was created for Nature lovers and study purposes.

“It is created on the concept of forest in the urban — a passive zone where visitors can only walk in the park.”

The Garden was opened in 2004 and temporarily closed in 2011 to control the outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease.

Renovation work at the park began in 2013. Between 2004 and 2013, the park registered about 100,000 visitors, including 65,339 paid visitors. The rest were students who entered free of charge.

Tree shrews (tupaia montana) and nocturnal rats in the forests of Borneo are said to have a unique relationship with carnivorous pitcher plants, according to the Journal of Tropical Ecology.

The mammals defecate and the pitchers are happy to receive.

A study published on May 31, 2011, showed a species of giant mountain pitcher plants (nepenthes rajah) supplement their diet with nitrogen from the faeces of tree shrews that forage in daylight and summit rats (rattus baluensis) which are active at night.

When the small mammals lick nectar from the underside of the pitcher’s lid, they stand directly over the jug-shaped pitcher organ.

Scientists have found that bats use living toilets made of carnivorous plants, gracing them with their faecal matter.

Other pitcher plant species

Other species available at the Padawan Pitcher Plant & Orchid Garden are:

N albomarginata, N belli (orange); N bicalcarata (Marudi); N gracilis (Sport); N gracilis (Green); N hirsuta (Kuching spotted); N mirabilis; N chaniana; N sanguine; N ventriciosa (Black Peristome); N hookeriana (Red Persitome); N sibuyanensis; N boschiana; N vetricosa red (climbers); N ampullaria (Bau green); N bicalcarata (Sri Aman); Nmaxima (Borone); N rafflesiana (Sandakan); N rafflessiana (Kuching squat red); N rafflesiana (Johor spotted); N truncata, N veitchii (Bareo); N veitchii (Hose Mountain); N sumatrana (8cm spot); N spectabilis (Sinabung); N spectabilis (Sibuatan); N diatas, N madagascriensis and N veitchii pink.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/03/23/pitcher-plant-unique-and-interesting/#ixzz2wjuABuDG