ONI WAT...

Oni wat bilang sidoh otto pikir otto nai ni langkah ke jowin, sibonar eh otto duoh langkah makin ke punuok? Due to my department's budget prep, I wasn't able to post anything this past couple of weeks. A lot of things have happened in that time, for instance:  The SPDP 5 Smackdown! Ferdinand Fumbles Again With Liverpool Ahahaha, so I might write about those things some time soon, but right now; I'd like to focus on something more related to the general well being of Bidayuh and even Dayak equities in Sarawak. If you flip through the newspapers once in a while, you'll notice how much our reps and politicians urges us Dayaks over and over and over again to reap our wealth from the earth. This has been going on for ages, it was like - first they ask us to plant rubber, and then plant cocoa, and then pepper, and then rubber again, and then pepper again, and then oil palm, and then jathropa curcas got a short promotional stint as well, and then paddy and then I think

Do you face any one of these scenarios? I want to prove that my land is located at the place where I claim it to be...but I don't know how! I have a land development project that I want to map out properly but I don't want it to be too costly! I am dealing with an encroachment case but I don't know how to acquire simple and easy GPS survey data. I want to teach my guys to learn GPS surveying and mapping cost effectively. GPS survey and mapping stuff So if any of the above sounds like something that you may be interested in. Do e-mail me since I have decided to try and do a freelance consultation for GPS, mapping and GIS. Elaborate your problem and requirements through e-mail and then we'll see how it goes from there. Note that I emphasize on COST EFFECTIVENESS and reliable results.  One thing one needs to know about GPS surveying is; ACCURACY is a variable that is determined by how deep your pocket is. With a deeper pocket, of course you can buy the grandest h

Oni wat ogi nyaa de sape wat tih bih? This is a scenario where a guy is applying for a loan at a local financial institution. Applicant:        Cik , I’d like to make a personal loan…I’ve filled in all the forms Counter Girl:    Ok, you have prepared all your photocopied documents? Applicant:        Already, cik . Everything is in order. Counter Girl:    Great. Let me go through everything first. Counter Girl browses through the documents while Applicant looks at...her…desk (Hehehe, you thought I was gonna to say something inappropriate were you?). Counter Girl:    Ok, encik ...you intend to loan how much, exactly? Applicant:        Oh? It’s written there right? I want to loan RM 100,000. Counter Girl:    Umm…yes it is written, but erm, encik …after assessing your income and your monthly financial commitments…I don’t think that the amount you are asking for can be approved. Applicant:        What?! How can you say that? Heeeyyyy cik , look carefully there..you know where I w

Oni wat oku doik tapod suwak do bala de muti? Having a nice public holiday everyone? Well, I hope you all are. This morning I was finally able to browse through the Facebook group page for the band  Projek Tri-Gasi . I recommend fellow readers to try and listen to one of their songs in The Bidayuh Daily Issues Facebook group. The song's entitled Pimonu (The Journey) . I've tried to attach the song directly to this post but somehow it wouldn't load. However, you can just click on the aforementioned song title and the it'll redirect you to the that page. Projek Tri-Gasi consists of 7 members (if I'm not mistaken, coz I think I've lost count, hahaha) and they are friends of mine; people whom I have known for a large part of my life, and people who share many similar aspirations as myself. I am proud that they have grouped together and merge their talents and creativity to create musical fusion. They finally decided to do this...thank goodness. When they defined

Oni geh wat ya suan-suan koyuh so otto bih? Hey, if anyone noticed – The Borneo Post made a special pullout commemorating Malaysia Day this year. Note that on the last page of this special pullout is a full page article about The 18 Point Agreement , and if anyone remembered; I blogged about it in July! Whoah! They really took the liberty to write about it, but for me; what was written didn’t provide anything WORTH knowing. In fact, they didn’t even list down the entire 18 Points! So picture this: Not many people know about the 18 Points and you acknowledge that in your article. However, you are not writing all 18 Points in that article but you’re stressing how important it is to know all these points. WTF???!!!   Is there anything more contradictory than that?! All they did was collect a set of opinions from people to see if they know about the agreement, and to know if it is important or not for us Sarawakians. But I bet, even before they asked the people they interviewed abou

Oni wat main bol otto skia jorak ya maju bih? Just now at a coffee shop behind my office, I was having breakfast while reading today’s edition of The Borneo Post, and 3 pages from the back was an article written by Bujang Senang Tuah called Same Old Story For FAS . With due respect, Mr. Bujang Senang Tuah could have made 4 or 5 repetitive editions of that article every year because I almost think that the Sarawak football team & FAS has gone through that same cycle since 4 or 5 years ago. But unlike, Mr. Bujang Senang Tuah , I am seeing that Sarawak has gotten much better, especially with the crop of players they have now. It's true that they were up against seasoned players from the Super League and that we were playing most of the time in a state of cultural shock, but the point is we have MADE IT BACK to the Super League this upcoming season. THAT is their opportunity to become seasoned players; by playing in top flight football. Most of these players are really young a

Oni wat doik tapod bu togan idip miskin? There is a term that I find both appaling and hilarious; and in English, the word is 'hardcore poor'. However, when you read out the Malay word for it, it's called miskin tegar . I don't know if other people see it the way I see it, but I think when you look at the word in the Malay context, it's as if miskin tegar means that you are damned to be poor, all the time . First of all, I must say that almost no one WANTS to be poor, and also, almost no one wants to be poor ALL THEIR LIFE. Most people, want to at least be able to live a moderate life, where you are able to afford food, clothing and shelter for yourself and your family. So to avoid being poor, people do many things such earning money from getting jobs, pursuing higher education to earn better jobs with better income and set up businesses (even small ones). The constant 'reality check' of not wanting to be poor and to be able to earn something for oneself 

Oni wat otto doik kereta opui? I was once interviewed for a government position and it was the one that I didn't get, ahahaha. Coz as of this moment, I don't think I have any speck of interest to work as a government servant anymore. So the interview was in the form of a Structured Interview and it was meant for a **41 level. I was called for the interview about seven months after working at where I am working now. This particular government interview involved 3 session, and it was somewhat like this: Get to know YOU interview (then morning tea break) Get to know WHAT YOU KNOW interview (then lunch) An ESSAY & PRESENTATION session (then afternoon tea break) The total number of tea breaks and the duration of time it took for each tea break was already typical of the government working experience. Hahaha! Here, I'd just like to highlight one particular session, which is the essay and presentation. I was given a series of questions and I was asked to pick which on

Oni wat otto tanah urah de wat tih de sikurah? A friend of mine who once taught in a Sarawak rural primary school told me a story about the the school's Sports Day. It is common that the Parent Teacher's Association (or Persatuan Ibu Bapa & Guru ) play a pivotal role in making such an event a huge success and it comes as no surprise that parents more often than not, would jump at the opportunity to participate in this sort of event. I think the enthusiasm from parents for any sports day, whether rural or urban is about the same. But how they go about it...is a totally different story. Let me stress that what I am about to say does not apply to every rural school, but I wouldn't be wrong in telling you that it happens in most rural schools. I'm assuming it could be a fifty-fifty ratio or more. So what happened was, as the school authorities prepares the venue for the event, parents were also helping them out .But as they helping, they were also helping themselves o

Oni wat manuk-manuk tih obuok tiwas bih?  A band of Angry Birds... Angry Birds is currently the 'IN' thing this year. You go around shops and you see people are selling a lot of Angry Birds t-shirts and merchandise. I doubt most of the people who buy the shirts actually play the game. I personally haven't played the game but when it comes to trends, I'm usually one of the last few people to participate in ot or never participate at all. The last real trend I followed was actually 'grunge'. In fact, that was the only trend I have EVER followed. Hahaha, ala, you guys know la...secondary school, adolescence and teenage angst. I think I had the longest hair in school when I was in Form 5...ahaha, I hope someone from that time and era could support my claim, hahahaha...Kelvin, Ibek..do leave your comments on that one! Hahaha. So if you look at the above, you'll notice a group of Angry Birds right? But to tell you the truth, these don't come close to b

Oni wat doik sedia bonar-bonar sebelum bertindak? On a cool Thursday morning in the first half of 2001 AD, my usually subtle morning office mood was jeopardized by a disturbing phonecall. I looked at the phone's LCD screen and there was was the name of the company's legal executive blinking with the ringtone. If there's one thing I've learned from past experiences, when the legal people are calling, it is never a good thing (yes, it's true...even the audit guys have a lot more cheerful reasons to call you, like asking you when's the next BPL match, or how nostalgic the new Sarawak football jersey is). Even a call from the CEO might bear some good news..who knows, could be a promotion? Or maybe a lunch treat? Or maybe a sacking?! Hahaha. The 'dreaded' phonecall... I picked up the phone and I as I dreaded, it was bad news (bad news means more work for me!). It seems that some locals have taken the initiative to acquire the services of a law firm to s

Oni wat otto obuoh koduk politik? Several years ago I was riding in a car with my uncle. Where I'm from, whichever younger sibling on both your mother's or your father's side is called tuwak (aunt or uncle la). Hahaha, yes, I know it sounds like a familiar local alcoholic brew but in the Bidayuh tongue, I personally notice that it is pronouced in two separate syllable (as in tu-wa' ) and not one straight syllable as how one would pronounce tuak . We should get some linguistics people to sort that sort of stuff out, right? I think that they might already have, and I am probably the one who is just simply unaware of it, hahaha. Don't we already have graduates who are Bachelors in Linguistics? Coz I think UNIMAS offers that programme. But I better leave this topic for some other post later, hahaha. So this uncle of mine, whom we fondly call Wak D at home (yes, pronounce the letter 'D' as in dee ) brought up the issue of rural road construction and how slow t

Oni wat otto Dayak wat itih bih? It's been some time since I posted something but I've been busy thinking, reading, and recollecting my thoughts. So for this post I'd like to share with you all a story of my first hand experience of being at the opposing end of Dayak fury. Hahaha, yes it's true and it really pisses me off. One day, I was on a company task to do some reconnaissance at an area somewhere along the Baram river. So for people who are wondering if there were any crocodiles in the Baram, there's a few but there's a lot more where they came from along it's other tributaries (do Google Earth it). Practically 30 to 40 of them lying together sun-bathing along the riverbanks. What's the plural for crocodiles? Do you call them a pack of crocodiles? Or a group of crocodiles? Well, it doesn't matter coz at the time there was a 'school' of them. Why did I say a 'school' of crocodiles? Imagine all the students in SMK Bau put togethe