Women

The High Priestess of Sabah 

   This week I had a meeting with the new head of the Education Department in Ranau who happens to be a woman. I was waiting in the waiting area watching all the Headmasters and Education officers coming out of a meeting with her - all in their best suits trying to impress this new boss and marvelling at the equality of the sexes in Malaysia. Despite the reservations I have about certain aspects of  Malaysian life there is one thing that really impresses me which is the positive role of women. I was surprised when a friend from UK asked me whether I found it difficult seeing the Muslim women in a subservient role to men and I could honestly say that for the majority of women that I know, they are not in any way subservient - in fact the opposite. I think traditionally it is a matriarchal society with women in charge of the family. Certainly for the Dusun people it is the women who have the spiritual powers and the bobozians ( high priestesses) are the most respected members of the village and in charge of the spiritual well being of the village. Despite Christianity and Islam being introduced and there being fewer bobozians, I think that women have still have held their position of authority in society. Two of my Muslim friends happen to be the strongest, fiestiest women I have ever met. One of them runs a women's group around Ranau and travels all over Asia attending conferences on women's rights, the other one is a headmistress and no one including her husband would dare to disagree with her!! There is of course the Muslim "protocol" of "asking" their husband for permission but the answer nearly always works in their favour! Sometimes it surprises me when a teacher tells me that she must ask her husband permission to learn to play the guitar but in my experience I see no subservient females around Ranau!!

Bobozians chanting

 I read an article saying that the Malaysian Government wanted to increase the number of women in the workforce which at the moment is about 55% to compete with 70% in Thailand. I know that at school the girls do much better academically than the boys ( perhaps because of the way of teaching?) and women do hold important roles in the government, business, banking etc...and there are two women in the new cabinet.There has yet to be a woman prime minister but I think that in general, Malyasia has a very positive outlook in recognising and  promoting  women to responsible, high powered jobs. I would think that many countries in Europe lag behind in their attitude and confidence in women's talents.

As the third week of Ramadhan approaches and the third Ramadhan for me, I feel more used to the rhythm. The family are up early to eat before 4.30 am and by 1 pm everyone is beginning to lag. They usually have a rest or sleep in the afternoon and then everyone starts preparing the food ready for the "berbuka puasa" at 6.30 pm. The evening market in Ranau is buzzing with activity while everyone buys lots of food in readiness for the breaking fast. Not only do they fast during Ramadhan but they are expected to pray more times. Instead of five times a day the minimum expected is 8 times and for the very good people 20 times is the goal. The firecrackers are going off and the delicious biscuits and cakes are beginning to be sold in preparation for Hari Raya. My dear friend Heidi arrives on Thursday evening and I'm hoping to celebrate Hari Raya with her and some friends in Ranau.

The Mill Hill Brothers

As far as I know there are only four "orang putihs" living in the mountain area.There is of course Emily and I who are very much the newcomers and about to celebrate two years in Sabah in 5 days time. Marlis, a German lady in her 70's who came out as a Maths and Science teacher with the Peace Corps in the 1980's and came back to retire here and Brother Ben who I only know by reputation. Brother Ben is Dutch and is a Mill Hill Brother and is the only one left in Sabah now, but I do know that he has been a huge influence and inspiration to many people. He is between 80-90 years old (I expect he knows but no one else does) and still works running the orphanage in Bundu Tuhan, the village that Sister Caroline's family come from which is perched on the side of the mountain close to the National Park of Mount Kinabalu.

Saturday Morning market in Ranau

  Sister Caroline had no idea why they were called the Mill Hill Brothers but she remembers as a very young girl, the Mill Hill Brothers living in their village and building a church which was to become her local school, before they built the Mission School. A little internet search led me to the Mill Hill Missionaries which is an international organisation of Catholic missionaries founded in 1866 and  based in Mill Hill, London until 2006, but continues to this day. The first wave of missionaries arrived on Sabah's shores in the 1880's and I can only try to imagine what it must have been like for them, bearing in mind that roads are very recent and head-hunting was still common practice and Sister Caroline still remembers celebrating the Festival of Skulls and the hut where the skulls were kept in her village! Perseverance and incredible faith kept small numbers of Brothers arriving and then later some Sisters as well and in 1956 a small Christian settlement was formed in Bundu Tuhan which according to Sister Caroline was chosen because of the amazing view and I suspect it's cool climate.. The Brothers and Sisters brought many skills with them and taught carpentry and vegetable gardening as well as teaching the villagers to read and write. They brought with them seeds from Europe and introduced some weird and wonderful fruit and vegetables that are still grown today such as tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, asparagus and even strawberries! The area around Bundu Tuhan is known as the vegetable basket of Malaysia and exports all over Malaysia.

  In 1972 an Islamic Party won the election in Sabah and the Chief Minister who feared that these Christians might influence his power decided to deport all of the "orang putihs". This was a very traumatic time for the Catholics in Sabah and there are many stories that are recounted about the hiding of the priests and brothers, trying to protect them from the authorities. These white men were revered and respected by their parishioners and the thought of losing them was utterly devastating. However after many adventures of hiding in the jungle, they were urged by their Bishop to give themselves up and Sister Caroline and family will never forget the terrible day of mourning when all the the Brothers were put into a truck and thrown into prison and deported. Except Brother Ben who by that time had become a Malaysian citizen so they couldn't arrest him. Sister Caroline remembers the terrible void in the village after they all left  - she said they were chicks without their mother hen - but it was also then that the villagers  had to grow up and take responsibility of their own church and religion. Even though Sister Caroline was still a young girl there is no doubt that the influence of the Mill Hill Brothers changed her life.

  So Brother Ben continues to live in Bundu Tuhan surrounded by people like Sister Caroline's family who adore him. He speaks like a local and eats local food which everyone marvels over and I am hoping that I may have the pleasure of meeting him before I leave. Now there is someone with a story to tell!

Planting Padi Bukit

Sister Caroline and me

The men getting ready!

   One of the dearest teachers I work with is Sister Caroline, who has been a teacher and a Franciscan Sister of the Immaculate Conception, Sabah  for many years. She has worked all over Sabah but returned a few years ago to the mountain area where she originally comes from, to work in the Mission School in Ranau. She comes from a Dusun family of 10 and has many nieces, nephews and 60 grand-nieces and nephews. As well as being a great teacher, she has a wonderful sense of humour, and we get on really well, so when I had the chance of joining her family to plant the hill rice on her sister's land I was really excited.

  We left Ranau early and drove about 40 kms before we turned off onto a gravel road that twisted up the hillside for another few kilometres and finally reached the top of a hill with a spectacular 360 degree views and an amazing view of Mount Kinabalu. We were so lucky to have a perfect day with hardly a cloud in the sky. The rest of the family started to arrive from all over the place and soon we were ready to start work. You probably thought like me that rice was always planted in water but there are many different types of rice and hill rice is planted directly into the ground. The family get togethers called gotong royong (Malay) and mogitatabang (Dusun) happen when there is communal work to be done and involves everyone and all ages.

Me with a funny hat on!

The land had been already cleared by burning, cutting the branches and then weeding. This was the planting day and the men started with their long sticks with sharpened ends to make the hole and the women followed putting about 10 seeds in each one - we were joined by children and other men too. It was all very straightforward except that it was on a very steep hill and was quite difficult to walk, however we spent the morning following the army of men with their sticks and putting our seeds in. I noticed that the women were very good at aiming the seeds into the holes but I think I wasn't too bad and managed to keep going throughout although I'm feeling shattered this evening as I write!

Sister Caroline in her planting clothes

A sarong hat!

 Makan Kampong

Pumpkin and rice

Finally we had finished and it was time for the family " Makanan Kampong" which means literally village meal and that everything comes from the land around the village. As Christians they can drink alcohol, so we started off with fermented coconut juice called tody which was quite strong and rather bitter and then there was tapai , the tapioca wine too. There was wild boar soup, chicken curry, rice cooked with pumpkin in leaves, mushrooms from the rubber trees, bamboo shoots, and a mixture of leaves and petals from the jungle and then fresh pineapple to finish. Quel bonheur to be welcomed by this wonderful family and be a part of their day. They invited me to join them for the harvest in 5 months but sadly I won't be here. It was a day to remember - thank you dear Duli family for your kindness and hospitality in welcoming and making me feel at home.

A Quiet weekend in Ranau

The rambling rector rose at La Ferme des Vallots this week

Yes, I haven't had a quiet weekend in Ranau for a long time and it seems strange to be on my own again after having Lisa's company for over 5 weeks. The day before we left for the Rainforest Festival we recorded 11 tracks at the small, corrugated iron shack known as the  Ranau Music Studio. We hardly practised and our choice of songs was governed by how easy the chords were as  we hadn't played for ages. The technician, if we can call him that, managed to lose half a track, but the "finished" result is ok apart from the very bad guitar playing by me. Lisa has a beautiful voice and sings Shake it Out (Florence and the Machine) as good as Florence, I think. Anyway it is a very special souvenir of our time together in Sabah and if anyone has suggestions for the title of the "album" please let us know. I thought Umbilical Chords but that has been voted as too gross!

In the recording studio!

  The time in Sabah is now drawing closer to the end and my flight is booked for the 30th September and we have the names of shippers to organise the sending of our things back. We are now in the "handover phase" which means basically trying to help the teachers to organise and set up the things they want to continue after the project finishes such as workshops etc....Being a bit of a cynic I suspect the teachers are pretending that they will continue with many things and when the "orang putihs" have gone they will abandon all of those ideas! I could be wrong but it would be interesting to be a fly on the wall.

Saturday market in Ranau

The bundles!

 This weekend I have started clearing and chucking out paper and thinking how can I have accumulated so much in such a short time. I also have got the sewing machine out again after ages and have made a few things. I am intending to sew presents for my teachers and use up some of the material bought although 'm bound to buy more! I did a tour of the Ranau market on Saturday morning and came back with the usual vegetables and fruit plus 2 tops and 2 pairs of Gap trousers from the bundles market to add to my collection. I just can't resist a bargain and all of those clothes cost about 5 euro. I love the camaraderie with the other rummager's and they all think that orang putihs don't do things like that along with some other strange misconceptions such as - we don't eat spicy food - we don't breast feed our babies - we have low moral values etc.... I hope that I have shown some of these clichés to be false! Anyway I am missing my lovely home in Normandie today. Three of the family are at home, the sun is shining, the roses are out, school is finished, Wimbeldon, strawberries, cherries and parties are in the air.......

The Rainforest World Music Festival

Lisa at the Jungle Stage

My computer crashed and I thought it might be dead but fortunately it has been revived and so I can relate to you the amazing weekend I have just spent at the Rainforest World Music Festival near Kuching, Sarawak. It was the 16th  Festival and it is held in the Cultural Village in the most beautiful rainforest  with Mount Santubong as a backdrop and the sea in front. It is the first World Music Festival I've ever been and I sincerely hope that it won't be the last. It was fantastic hearing so much diverse music from all over the world played by such excellent musicians and it was a real opportunity to learn and appreciate the many musical sounds that are created around the world with  some using only voices or percussion to the contrast of many instruments being played.

Our camp-site beach

 We camped in an idyllic camp-site just beside the festival with our own beach and rainforest and arrived in the afternoon in time for the workshops. They were held in three venues and it was so hard to decide which one to attend as they were all interesting. Lisa and I mostly went for the interactive dancing ones so we had a go at Irish, Sarawakian (?), African, Norwegian, Scottish and French. It was all great fun and very tiring especially the Irish. My favourite I think (as they were all great) was the interactive polyphonic singing run by the French group named Chet Nuneta. This is a group consisting of four singers and a percussionist and they sing folk songs from all over the world and they were brilliant in concert on Friday night.

Sarawak's Sape

Korean 

 There were two stages and we just walked between the two and stood near the front. There were so many talented musicians and styles of music being played it is too difficult to say who or which group I enjoyed the most but I think I will always remember the young Aboriginal dance group called Nunukul Yuggera. They are a group of very young Aborigines who have decided to celebrate and maintain their culture and heritage through dance and it was very uplifting to see how passionate they were. The South African - Dizu Plaaties and the Ibuyamba Ensemble, Kila, (Irish) Habadekuk (Danish) Rafly Wa Saja (Indonesian) and many others were all amazing. The only group that I did not like was Kries from Croatia whose lead singer was a pretentious poser and seemed to think he was a rock star! Anyway I managed to keep going with all the young and old at the front of the stage and was exhausted by the time I came back to Ranau, however I would love to do it all again. If ever in Borneo don't miss the Rainforest Music Festival!!

Our tent

Concert