| Rokiah Mahmud |
THE Brunei media delegation was recently given a tour of the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, which is located about half an hour from Kuching.
Here, orangutans are nurtured to readapt to jungle life, and visitors will get the chance to observe orangutans coming out of the wilderness for feeding time.
For more than 30 years, the Semenggoh staff have been training orangutans that were either orphaned or rescued from captivity, on how to survive in the wild.
The success of this programme has left the surrounding area with a thriving population of healthy orangutans that are now breeding in the wild, so the rehabilitation programme has been transferred to the Matang Wildlife Centre.
Semenggoh is now used as an orangutan study centre, but it’s still a lifelong home for semi-wild orangutans and their offspring. These orangutans frequently roam the jungle, but often come back to the centre for a free meal, and can be viewed at feeding time. Visitors are also allowed to study and observe the orangutans at a distance.
The media delegation also visited the Annah Rais Bidayuh Longhouse. The Bidayuh people are known for their expertise in craftsmanship with bamboo stems, especially in the construction of their longhouse. Among interesting relics are the Cannon of Peace and several human skulls which are about 100 years old.
The delegation also visited the Sultan Tengah Mausoleum. The first and only Sultan of Sarawak took the name of Sultan Ibrahim Ali Omar Shah upon his accession in 1599. Sultan Tengah passed away at Batu Buaya, and was laid to rest at Santubong in 1641.
In Sarawak, there are hundreds of food outlets in Kuching that offer a range of local delicacies, thanks to its multicultural heritage.
The Sarawakian people take pride in their signature dishes such as Sarawak Laksa, a fragrant spicy soup of vermicelli noodles, prawns and bean sprouts; Kolo Mee, an oily mix of noodles topped with minced chicken or beef; Midin and Paku; two varieties of crispy fried jungle ferns; Manok Pansoh, which is chicken steamed in bamboo longhouse-style; and Umai, the spicy Melanau raw fish salad.
These dishes used to be served only in local homes. Due to increasing demand, many restaurants have sprung up in recent years, focussing on the unique flavours of Sarawakian delicacies.