Back in the Saddle

 Ivy

Oh my goodness late again! It used to be when I was in Ranau, Sunday would be a quiet day to catch up with skyping family and writing my blog and nowadays Sunday seems to be a day of travelling. Last Sunday I travelled to Kuching to another induction and I was taking a much more active role this time and had to deliver 4 sessions which seemed to go fine. They were all great people, again of all ages, talents and job experience, and as a group they got on except one member who has departed already!The majority of us flew back to Sabah on Friday morning all carrying our black British Council computer bags on to the plane. When we landed and started to disembark one of the mentors couldn't find his bag but there was another bag left that was similar. To cut a long story short and many black computer bags later, he eventually traced his bag to the transit lounge to Hong Kong where someone was oblivious to the fact . Thank goodness it was all resolved and the new mentor didn't start his job minus a computer. Why are computer bags black I wonder- there must be a reason!?

Local Rungus houses

   Sadly I left my new house again on Sunday as Rachel and Felix returned from their holiday but it won't be that long until I move in permanently. The landlord decided to put in a shower while I was in Kuching and it is an interesting job lot of four assorted tiles - none of which match or co-ordinate but it does work as a shower. On Saturday evening I went to my lovely local beach and after a swim I ate barbeque clams from the mangroves and negotiated a non tourist price to go riding the next morning. Most of you will not know about my horsey past but in my youth I used to ride a lot and even did competitive eventing. However it has been a long time since I was in the saddle but the idea of a gallop along the beach was too much for me. So I arrived early and got on my beautiful horse called Ivy and off I went with Fadzli, the young man in charge of the stable. It was amazing and we galloped until the end of the beach which was about 8 kms. (This beach is very long - I have still to determine the length)  I felt like I was in an advert splashing along the edge of the sea and my 60 ringitts spent was well worth it as I out riding for over 2 hours. Happily I can say that I still felt very relaxed in the saddle and hadn't lost the skills although I'm feeling my muscles have lost their tone today!! Alice I thought of you and I am going to continue to try and ride most weekends. Unfortunately I couldn't take my camera riding so no photos.

A classroom in a school visited

A kampong by the sea where Mark may live

 At the moment I am in Pitas, which is a small town in an isolated peninsular towards the North of Borneo. I have never been here before so it is a first for Mark, a new mentor, his partner and me. It is a rather forgotten peninsular and is much poorer and less developed than other areas although palm oil plantations are appearing. We went for a drive yesterday trying to find a beach but didn't manage that but came across lots of jungle and several houses still built in the traditional way and many water villages. Anyway today we are off to visit the schools so that will be interesting as always.

Them and Us

 

The invisible audience

 Friday night was the end of the two week Chinese New Year celebrations and the fireworks and crackers were being let off with great abundance not to mention the long dragon parading through the streets of Tuaran. I think I hadn't appreciated how important the end is as well as the beginning and the family try again to eat together and start the new year well making sure that all has been done to ensure prosperity for the coming year. Prosperity doesn't necessarily mean only money but it includes the health and happiness and prosperous crops of the family. I was fortunate to be invited to two Chinese schools this week to share with them in the celebrations of the end of the New Year. The Chinese schools are under a different scheme to the Malay schools in that the buildings are in charge of a committee chosen by the Chinese community but the teachers are paid by the government and their syllabus is different to include the Chinese language. They have a different ambience than the local schools in that everyone looks busy!!

The new school

Balancing lion

  The first school was a huge new school in KK just opened in January. I was proudly shown around by the headmaster and he pointed out the small village on the other side of the tall fence surrounding the school.
 " The illegal immigrants are angry that we have taken their land and we have tight security to protect ourselves." he told me. The attitude of fear and blame on the immigrant population is a common theme throughout the world and one that is strong here. We proceeded to be entertained by the children singing and dancing and then the finale was an amazing lion dance that involved the agility of the two men (under the lion) balancing on steel pillars. The pupils were wildly excited but what struck me was the small band of children that were staring at the show through the fence. Everyone acted as if they were invisible and the sad fact is that many immigrant children, even if they are born in Malaysia, do not have the right to any education.

  The second Chinese school was in a rural area where 95% of the pupils were non-Chinese. The local parents like the idea of their children learning Chinese and the more rigorous syllabus being implemented. A politician was also invited which always means MONEY and surprise surprise he did deliver. The VIP's were then invited on to the stage to mix the Yee Sang, which is a Cantonese tradition of mixing grated vegetables to represent the elements of good fortune for the year. The politician, having done his speech, given his money, been seen by the parents, left and missed the best part of the day with was the pupils performing wonderful dances and songs. Who would be a politician - not me?!!

Moving to Tuaran

Fishing for supper

Apologies for being late this week but I am being far too sociable at the moment which leads me to suspect that in order to be a writer you must lead quite a solitary life. I am still leading a nomadic lifestyle staying with friends and hotels but last night was my first night in the house I am going to live in Tuaran. Unfortunately I am only house-sitting for 2 weeks while Rachel , Felix and Alfred go on holiday but meantime I am enjoying being installed in the house which is enormous compared to my house in Ranau. I will officially be the tenant in mid March when the family leave for Europe so yesterday I cycled into Tuaran which is about 5 minutes away. I haven't lived in a place flat enough for me to cycle before (I don't do hills!) so I have bought Rachel's bike and am intending to cycle as many places as possible - one being the amazing beaches around this area.
   I have been a few times now and have decided my keep-fit regime will include cycle to the beach, have a swim and a run and then cycle back. I'm not intending to do this every day but at least 3 times a week should   have its benefits I hope.

The local beach, Pantai Dalai, as I have said before, is miles long and very quiet apart from a few fishermen, although the other evening I got a surprise as a fairy-tale couple appeared riding a pair of horses with a photographer and a troupe of horse handlers in tow. I presume it was for the wedding album.

  Other than that I have flown over to Sandakan on the east coast and have driven 1750 km since I started the job. I had the first car service today and at this rate the next service will be sooner than planned.

The Year of the Horse and tremors in Ranau

The Pagoda in Tuaran

So the lion dances, red lanterns, fireworks and loud firecrackers announced the beginning of the Year of the Horse.I was in Tuaran staying with friends for the start of the Chinese New Year and apart from the beautiful Chinese Pagoda being lit up there was very little to see because it is like Christmas with us, it is a time of families being reunited and spending time together. There are of course the red envelopes with money and oranges given out to represent prosperity and good luck for the year but most of the celebrations go on behind closed doors amongst the Chinese community. Tuaran, which is a small town situated on the coast at the bottom of Mount Kinabalu, is where I am going to be actually living when my house will be vacant in March. 

Wild horses on the beach

 I was staying with Ayfer and Mathieu and on the public holiday we went on an exploration of the beaches and found 2 deserted beaches which I think were at least 2 or 3 miles long. There are a few rather run-down "resorts" on the beach which have seen better days and we came across a huge millionaire's house which looked abandoned and that was it. There is so much potential for tourism in Sabah but the roads and lack of funding mean that it will be hopefully kept a secret for a little longer. Meantime I continue to lead a nomadic life staying with friends and in backpackers and then this weekend I have returned to Ranau and the Homestay where Emily and I arrived on our first evening in Ranau - nearly three years ago.

Mount Kinabalu looking splendid this morning

   Four months isn't so long since I left Ranau, however it did feel strange returning and my goodness what a lovely welcome I had from Lungkaim and Othman and the staff of the homestay. They really thought they wouldn't see me again and as I wandered around Ranau yesterday afternoon I visited my old haunts - the sarong shop, roti chanai restaurant, the market etc... it felt good to be back. This morning I had lunch with my dear friends and mentees, Sister Caroline and Asmah and it was so great to see them again even though KFC was not my preferred choice. It was then that I learnt that there had been 2 tremors on Saturday evening which I'm afraid I didn't notice. Apparently it was about 4.5 on the richter scale which isn't very large but apparently they haven't had any tremors since 1994 when a relatively large one broke windows and cracked walls. Now I never knew that I had been living in a seismic area before! I have promised I will visit my village school at Kinapulidan tomorrow who seem to one of the few schools open. As with every Chinese New Year the school holidays seem to vary according to the whim of the schools although the official line is only one day. Well I wish everyone a prosperous and lucky New Year and hopefully the fire element in the horse doesn't spark off any more tremors.

Dear friends in KFC !

Fireworks in Kuching

The End of the World?!

It is Sunday already and it seems like weeks ago since I last wrote, not just a week. I have been in Kuching helping, watching and contributing to the induction of 13 new mentors, some of whom I interviewed for the job. It was really interesting to meet everyone in person rather than just imagining what they looked like which is the downfall of telephone interviews. They were a lovely group of people who all seemed to gel and were a wide range of ages, nationalities and work experience and I'm confident will all be fine in their new jobs. We were staying at the Hilton which has the most amazing view over the river and there happened to be a huge conference for Tourism in Asia in Kuching that week with delegates from all over.

The view from my hotel room

 The Prime Minister of Malaysia was there to make the opening speech and of course was staying at the Hilton. I'm afraid I can't tell you that I went in the lift with him as all the lifts were guarded but I did walk over his red carpet by accident and watched and listened to his speech live on a big screen which was interesting as I was amazed at what a plummy English accent he had - UK public school I suspect. At the end of the evening there was an amazing firework display and I felt that I had the best view ever and the final firework just lit up the sky and it felt like the end of the world had come. Thankfully it hadn't and I got back safely to KK for Friday and a visit to a school .

 A busy beach nearby!

    As I am still homeless, a very kind mentor is allowing me to stay in her 3 bedroom flat which is in a huge block with about 8 other identical blocks. We are in D block which sounds charming! Having never lived in such a flat before I'm trying to decide whether I like it or not. The flat is very clean, modern and new with 2 bathrooms, kitchen and living room. There is a swimming pool, gym, badminton court etc... for everyone in the centre and a security guard at the gate. Although the corridors and lifts are rather bleak, it is all clean and there is no graffiti and everyone seems to keep behind their iron gates and doors. I can certainly see the advantages of living in a place like this but I don't think it is for me, long-term anyway and I'll wait until Rachel's house becomes vacant in March. It is Chinese New Year on Friday and the celebrations will continue for two weeks. In Ranau I usually see them practising the lion dance for weeks before but so far nothing except lots of red lanterns and Chinese music played everywhere. Hopefully this week I will see some more.

Block H beside D

Flooding and Schools

A bridge washed away

So what does a Project Manager actually do is the question that I have been trying to find out this week. One thing that I've discovered is, that it is mostly up to me and apart from responding to many more emails, attending  meetings, doing recruitment interviews....., I can plan my day as I want. My first aim is to try and get to know the areas and schools where the mentors are working and with that thought I went off to Tuaran district on Thursday. On Tuesday and Wednesday there was very heavy rainfall and flooding in the area but it was quite a shock for the mentor to find out that one of his schools had been hit by a landslide and two of the classrooms had been washed away. Apparently one of the parents had seen it coming and all the children were evacuated just 10 minutes before it hit. We went to see the school, which is now closed until they can clear it up, and walked through the oozing mud. The flooding had been the worst for over 10 years and I believe the unfortunate Philippines are still having the heavy rain and suffering the consequences.

A landslide by a road

The school hit by a landslide

 On Friday I went off to visit a couple of schools near Kota Kinabalu and much to my surprise in the middle of this city we drove off behind a shopping mall and drove over a very muddy gravel road for a few kilometres and suddenly came over a hill where a huge water village spread out over this hidden inlet. I had no idea that this village even existed and the children of the village go to school on an island opposite. The mentor caught the teachers' school boat to the island for the first time this week and was amazed about the lack of safety on the children's school boat when it arrived. Are there no life jackets for the children he asked. Of course they were all given life jackets but they all disappeared within a few weeks, was the reply! Hopefully I will visit the island school to see for myself but we continued on to visit another little school built fifty metres from a beach.

The water village

 It was so enjoyable to be back at school again and see all the lovely happy faces of the children. The buildings were a mixture of old wooden ones and a few new ones. All of the schools in Sabah have new computer labs built by the government a few years ago and it seems like with very few exceptions, hardly any of them are used due to no electricity, the electricity fusing everything, computers not working, computers missing and so on. This little school had tried once but the whole village had a black out and feared ever to try again! And so even in the big city of Kota Kinabalu, there are small neglected schools that suffer the same problems that other more isolated areas do too.

Happy Faces

Water tanks in city schools

  Tomorrow I fly off again to Kuching where I will be facing 12 new mentors on their induction. I am only leading one session but it does seem a bit surreal when I remember being a new mentor too... hopefully they won't read my blog!

A New Job!

Chinese New Year is approaching

Well although it is less than a week since I wrote my blog it seems like a month ago! Apart from being delayed in Colombo and missing my connection in Kuala Lumpur and arriving late on Sunday evening in KK, the flight was uneventful. I seem to go into"a long flight" state of mind and the hours seem to disappear without seeming too long. Sri Lankan airlines were very good and I would have loved to have had a quick look outside the airport in Colombo  however I did have a lovely view of Sri Lanka when we flew over. The induction started at 9 am on Monday morning and it was good to see lots of familiar faces that  I recognised at breakfast despite the fact that it was the middle of the night in France. The Director of the project Tricia was presenting the induction and as I walked in she took me aside and said  "Congratulations  on your appointment- I will be announcing it later to the other mentors."

Kuching

Congratulations on what, I hear you asking? Well,I have been appointed as a Project Manager and I'm still rather shocked, surprised and dazed by the fact. I had a phonecall on Christmas Eve telling me that I had been short-listed for an interview; on Monday 28th December I had an interview in Tanya's flat in England, which I really thought had not gone well and on the Friday 3rd January, just as I was packing, I received an email telling me that I was successful. Why me I wonder? Andrew said that they were probably desperate ( which filled me with great confidence! ) but they are still interviewing and have turned down quite a few people who applied. So I don't know why. I feel like that it is mistaken identity and somehow the correct person may appear.

My delightful colleagues

 Anyway, as soon as we finished lunch on Tuesday, I flew off to Kuching for a 3 day induction with 2 other new project managers. I felt I had to pinch myself as I walked into the marble pillared lobby and fountain of Merdeka Palace Hotel in Kuching. Is this really happening to me?! This time last week I was quite happy baking brownies in the kitchen while listening to Radio 4 and now I seem to be in a play where I've got the wrong part and don't know the lines. Fortunately the other new Project Managers are a charming couple who feel very much like me and we will certainly be able to give each other support. The induction was rather overwhelming as there seemed to be so many things to remember but I expect we will get used to it all eventually. Andrew tells me he has often been in the wrong play too but eventually you get to learn the part and my wise daughter Naomi also reminded me that I didn't know what I was doing as a mentor either! So here I am, a week since I left France, with a new role, new car, new computer, new phone but I hope I'll stay just the same old me!