ONI WAT...

Oni wat main bol otto idoh skia maju? Hi fellow readers! Today’s blog is essentially a topic that I’ve tried to write so many times, but have actually failed to simply because I felt like I was never worthy of writing it. But then after holding back for so long I realized, I should be writing it because I doubt that there’s anyone who’s really worthy of writing it and that those who do may not even write about unless I write about it first. Kids Football! I have always been a big football fan, although personally, I was never much of a football player. Having said that, I did play a bit football just for the fun of it when I was growing up and I did play between us kampong kids and that time. Grogo Vs. Sibuluh was my common weekly fixture and I’d walk everyday from my house to my kampung’s football pitch just to get a kick on that darn ball. A good friend of mine, Tupuok always told this, “OK bih muu main bol, Soba bih muu main duoh koih lawan kupuok de bokon.”  

Oni wat susah jadi penyokong bih? Sorry fellow readers for not being able to update this blog weekly, but I've pretty tied up with so much official stuff lately. But hopefully I can give some retribution to my fellow readers with additional articles even if it's just a small one from now. This week, the stuff that has actually been going on for the past 3 weeks and that is, the Barclay's Premier League. Finally, I have something to watch on the tele. Not just because the season has started but also coz I've finally subscribed to Astro's Sports Pack. Hahahaha. If not, I'd keep SMSing my sister in Johore about the results of Liverpool's games in the league.  And honestly, for Liverpool; the start of the season hasn't been great. Did I regret subscribing the sports pack now? NOPE! Watching Liverpool play with the crop of players they have now, is well, they're not playing badly, in fact I think they played quite well - compared to the time

Oni wat nyaa de Semenanjung aruok toban pikir de wat tih? Another Thursday, another blog. Hi there fellow readers, I'm writing this blog from a taxi on the way to the LCCT after fours days in KL with my family. After nearly four years, I set foot on mainland soil once again. It never ceases to amaze me how things move so fast around the Klang Valley. Things I noticed that were so different from my last trip to KL: There are more Arabs than locals now in and around Bukit Bintang No more pirated CDs of any kind in Low Yat Plaza Durian never stops fruiting The construction of the new MRT rail The things I'm stating above would not in any way be a shocker to those already living in KL coz I'm only noting the things that I find different form my last visit. But you know what, regardless of all the changes happening there, one thing stays the same and it is the one thing has happened to me almost every time I go there. It is something that I've coined

Oni wat ya kasig si odop to? Hi and good day everyone. I'm a day late for my deadline to submit my weekly material, but it was mostly because I was divided about the things I wanted to talk about. Really, a lot of things do happen on a day to day basis and that’s a lot of input to digest. But I think I’ve found a knock out topic yesterday. I’m about to share with you guys the story of an Iban longhouse that is literally on the brink of annihilation. Somewhere out there in Ulu Niah, a 60 door longhouse has been issued an eviction letter. They have been ordered to move out of their homes before 26 th June 2012 and that was last Tuesday. The longhouse I’m talking about is called Rumah Sigan (previously it was Rumah Umpol) and the reason for their huge predicament is that a local conglomerate called WTK was able to somehow magically change these people’s land from a native communal land into a state land. If there was any kind of magic that I’d like to learn…it is

Oni wat ya nai skia bogo dam? If there was any agenda that's been really hyped about in recent months for Sarawak, it has definitely got to be this particular dam project, which is; The Baram Dam. Now why am I relating my longtime dissent with The Borneo Post newspaper with this particular dam?  Take a look at this article: Committee Wants Baram Dam Scrapped by  Cecilia Sman, reporters@theborneopost.com . Posted on  May 6, 2012, Sunday LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE’S VOICE: (Back row from second left) Peter and Philip joined by others in holding a peaceful demonstration concerning Baram Dam at the venue where a closed door meeting was held for the project. MIRI:  The Baram Protection Action Committee is appealing to both the state and federal governments to scrap the proposed Baram hydroelectric dam project.  Its chairman Philip Jau claimed that the majority of the people from 26 villages affected by the project opposed it.  “Only certain village headmen and comm

Oni wat otto doik kamang sina Dayak to? I found this article and I didn't know if I should feel glad or sad. From one perception, having UNESCO make the initiative to save the Bidayuh language is pretty depressing. It's implying that we ourselves are not really doing a good enough job to save it. On the bright side, with UNESCO identifying that our language needs to be saved, it does show that the Bidayuh language is at a level worth saving and that it is better to start preserving it now before we lose it altogether. I know for sure that the DBNA has started an initiative to create a Bidayuh pre-school. Here, the kids are  provided Bidayuh reading material and teachers who educate children in Bidayuh, with Malay and English a secondary language. So at least, there's tangible efforts being made by our own community. But I think we need to the extra mile on this issue, otherwise..we may be the last generation that even speak the language. Quite frightening when yo

Oni wat otto lobih ningak koyuh de kurang bikait duoh otto? During Gawai, I have to admit that I had great time at home. Even though, strangely; I didn’t really go all out on Gawai visits this year. It was mainly due the lack of transportation (because I usually ‘fly’ back) at home but I nevertheless had a wonderful time. I’m on of those Bidayuh who go off to other places to work and is married to a non-Gawai celebrating wife. So in so many ways, how I celebrate Gawai now seems more towards spending more time at home with my family. To most of my friends, I really apologize for not being able to visit you guys this year. Maybe next year, as long as I can keep tab of whose and whose house to go to and not to forget the possibility of acquiring some mode of transport. The northern hemisphere is experiencing summer which usually means two things: Closure of all European domestic football leagues and Champions League Some sort of summer sporting event goes on So,

Oni wat blog oku tih obuoh togan tian tian tih? Wow, I can't believe that I have left this blog for almost half a year. I wonder if anyone ever wondered where I've been. I haven't been anywhere really, just been in Miri, and then just recently I went back to Bau for the Gawai celebrations. Meet up with a couple of friends but most important of all spent some quality time with my family back home. Truthfully, a lot of things did happen, but I just didn't have that desire to write about them. I did try to write, but every time I face my blog page's post section..I just didn't know what I wanted to write about. Talk about a writer's block. Really, this one was worse, I didn't even felt like I wanted to read...or even look at words. It must be a sort of disorder that happens when you try to squeeze your brain in the search for ideas. Afterwards, when I leave the blog page, I suddenly felt like I had so many things to talk and write about. Things abo

Oni wat nasib tana otto wat tih bih? Once upon a time there was an area in Bau that was alienated by the government as a proposed new regional growth centre. Having established that plan in motion, the rakyat of the area were aware that their priceless NCR land was about to be taken from them. So these vigilant Dayaks unanimously decided, “Hey! We’re gonna fight this! Huuraah!!! Idip Dayak!!!” And so they did, they wrote letters, made petitions, met up with waibi’s and also government officials to stand up for their rights (From here onwards, you are encouraged to listen to Bob Marley’s Stand Up For Your Rights). In the end, their efforts didn’t go to waste. The land status for that particular area…was left frozen and it was kept  frozen for nearly 2 decades until it was unfrozen last year. During the time upon which the land status was in limbo, the Dayaks there planted various crops on that land, cultivating them and some started to build their new homes there. For them, they fe

Oni wat 'perlu' ogik Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia? Sometime before Christmas last year, I was hanging out at the office pantry during lunch hour and the topic of BR1M brought up the following conversation. Take note that ‘BR1M’ has been commonly pronounced as ‘brim’ even though it’s obvious that there’s no letter ‘I’ in the acronym. Evil Colleague: Hey, you guys filled up the BR1M form yet? Naïve Colleague: No…my household income is already more than RM 3,000.00. Evil Colleague: Hey, man it doesn’t matter la, free money ma…just fill in the form. Naïve Colleague: Why? It wouldn’t matter coz I’m not even eligible la. Evil Colleague: Alaa…don’t put your wife punya name in there. Just you and your kids. Naïve Colleague: What? That’s cheating la. Evil Colleague: So what? Look, you got 4 kids right? You take 2 as your tanggungan . Naïve Colleague: Ok… Evil Colleague: Then your wife fills in one more form for her and the other 2. Naïve Colleague: I don’t know man…it’s kind of