Culinary adventure in the Murum
ON our way to visit some friends in the Murum, Belaga, we travelled in a Hilux pickup on the cargo bed of which stood three Penan hunters, seemingly on top of the world.
The Hilux stopped at a junction rather abruptly. The driver got out and pulled the canvas cover and the three men jumped off.
The driver told my friend, Biring, an estate owner, they were on their way home after shooting a wild boar early in the morning near the Murum Lake.
He offered to sell us some meat at a price we couldn’t say no to. He even carried a weighing scale with him.
We were delighted to have fresh meat for the next three days.
Biring told me this was the beauty of driving in Penan areas, especially early in the morning, because once in a while, if we were lucky, we would meet a hunter willing to sell part of his quarry.
The Penans
Traditionally nomadic, most of the 10,000 to 12,000 Penans in Sarawak now live in settled communities in the Baram and the Limbang and Lawas valleys.
Although many in the last 20 years have found jobs in the logging and oil palm sectors, some are continuing to rely on the forest for their existence, living largely nomadically.
Unlike the other indigenous peoples of Sarawak who grow most of their food, the Penans have been hunter-gatherers until very recently.
A teacher from the Baram in our group who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Our Penan friends in the Murum area are good hunters. They can get wild boars easily, especially during the fruit season. Some wild boars have even been found swimming in the lake.”
According to the teacher, the Penans are also good fishermen and the Murum Lake provides fish for their families – and even their bosses.
The Penan villages in the Murum include Long Metalun, Long Singu, Long Menapa, Long Luar and Long Tangau.
Dietary changes
The teacher is well-versed with the lifestyle of the Penans He has felt for some time now that their diet has been changing due to various factors.
Sago is the Penan’s traditional staple which comes from the core of a small palm tree.
If they find sago palms on their way to hunt, they cut down the palms, process the sago in their traditional way and bring the pulp home.
If they have sago palms growing near their village, they will cut down the palms as and when they need to.
But today, they don’t have to depend on sago alone for sustenance because many of them are earning good salaries.
The Metalun and Tegulang resettlements are two examples of emerging Penan villages, supported by the Sarawak Energy Berhad, which provides family allowances for them to buy rice, tinned food, frozen chicken wings and sausages and even fish from the various company ‘canteens’ and their own village shops, all equipped with freezers.
Some with transport drive to shop in Sungei Asap and even Belaga – places on their radar.
Tapioca
According to Biring, his Penan friends often eat rice or linut (sago porridge) with tapioca roots and tapioca leaves.
Those who have learnt to grow tapioca are now enjoying stirfried tapioca leaves or just eating plain boiled tapioca leaves.
They love MSG a lot, so many visitors go along and enjoy this special dish from the Ulu because it’s really tasty. Many, including the Penans, do not know MSG is made from tapioca flour by the Japanese!
Biring’s wife had brought some preserved tapioca leaves from Miri. She stir-fried the salty vegetables for the evening meal after we arrived. It was good.
Biring said he would pass the method of salting tapioca leaves to the Penan workers, adding that through this kind of sharing, his workers would have more items on their menu.
Wild boar and other meat
Part of the wild boar meat we bought was barbecued that evening with a good pot of wild boar soup on the stove.
Our teacher friend also enjoyed the meal.
A Penan companion, Peter, (name has been changed) commented: “We Penans have been eating wild boars for many generations. It’s a favourite part of our diet.
“I’m glad you were able to buy some along the way. In the past, if my relative killed a wild boar, it was cut up and shared among the families or the village. It was a lot of hard work cleaning and getting the meat ready for cooking.”
He and his friends used to shoot monkeys but the monkeys now don’t seem to hang out in oil palm estates as often as they do in the jungle.
If Peter wants to eat monkey meat, he and his relatives will have to travel further up river.
“Monkey meat is really nice to eat. But monitor lizards are now more easily found because they like to mess with the solid waste of the oil palm estate. They do crawl around a lot looking for food,” he teased.
Occasionally, they kill pythons which slither out to hunt rats in the estates. These huge snakes are found in the deep jungles.
Fish meal
The next day, Peter brought a labang, weighing about one kg, and some small fish for our afternoon meal.
Biring’s wife boiled the labang with serai and pepper, making for a very tasty jungle soup. It was lovely sitting in the patio, sharing a meal with a few workers and friends.
How lucky we were to be able to look at the sky, the green mountains and the SarawakKalimantan border in the east.
Before we returned to Miri, we again had fish and maggi mee mixed with fried wild boar meat.
We were eating like Penan children and Peter was laughing at us because we were so excited about the food and did, indeed, ask for more!
We must remember to bring more instant noodles next time – maybe some kim chi too.
SK Metalun
One of the schools in the Murum is Sk Metalun with about 200 Penan students. The school is fairly new with a well-maintained compound. Electricity comes from generators fuelled by free diesel from Sarawak Energy.
Peter whose child attends the school was full of praise for the teachers and the guru besar.
“They’re really caring. The children have learnt a lot. And recently, they even staged a concert for the parents. I saw girls doing the Orang Ulu dance.
“I liked the prizes awarded to the pupils. They will work harder this year and I hope my child will do well.”
The school ration is enough for the children who have learnt to eat chicken wings.
According to Peter, when they return home, their parents will buy chicken wings to barbecue for them.
The Penans in his kampung do not like rearing chickens because they cannot slaughter and eat their own ‘pets.’
Biring chipped in: “Their hunting culture is still very much a part of their life. Perhaps, it will take time for them to acquire the skills of rearing domestic animals for their own consumption.
“They’ve a very traditional attitude towards their pets but they’re all right with buying frozen chicken wings.
“Twenty years ago, they didn’t like to eat frozen food but now, the young villagers have learnt the culture of Rumah Asap and BBQ – so the next generation will be different.
“Their children will get used to school rations and treats from the non-Penan teachers. So, a new generation with new tastes will emerge.”
Kindergartens
The Metalun primary school is under the Belaga District Education Office. Kemas has also started kindergartens.
According to Unimas PhD scholar, Jeffery Lanjau, from Long San, there are many Penan students now pursuing their Masters degree and PhD.
He believes people are likely to make it with the right encouragement, the opportunity to go to school and the determination to do well in life.
“The correct mindset is very important,” he stressed.
The oil palm estates in the Murum have generator-powered electricity from 6am to 11am and from 1pm to 11pm.
The workers use appliances like rice cookers, electric kettles, stoves, ovens and roasters.
Biring will install a water heater in his home soon as it can get very cold at night. And best of all, this estate in the Murum Highlights has Wi-Fi.
The Indonesian staff crowded around the ‘hotspot’ (outside the main office) to enjoy free Wi-Fi calls to their loved ones at home.
An assistant estate manager from Kanowit said he was happy to see his Indonesian and Penan workers communicating with their loved ones.
“I’m glad we can provide Wi-Fi. We must be connected with the outside world. You can see the Kalimantan border right across there but you can’t see the South China Sea from here.
“We’re in the highlands surrounded by beautiful trees, lakes and rivers. Hopefully, our natural surrounding will be kept in good condition for the future generation.”
Some Penan groups can still be seen moving along the peripheries of the estates (all privately owned), according to the estate staff.
They live in small sheds and own some basic equipment like kettles, kualis (frying pans), torchlights, parangs, a few axes, maybe a gun or two and some dogs. If they have temporary jobs, they will stay put for a few months.
The future
According Biring, although his estate employs Penan workers on a permnant basis and gives them a place to stay, they still prefer to live in their own village.
During weekends, they return home to be with their families.
Most of them own motorbikes which they keep in good condition.
They are hard working and stay on their jobs.
Oil palm estates are going to stay in the Murum and with change brought by socioeconomic development, the future generations of Penans will be enjoying sausages, frozen chicken, maggi mee and even burgers.
Will they lose their hunting skills and hunter’s sixth sense? Only time will tell.