The power outage along Nibong Tada Road here on Sunday night did not affect the joyous mood at Rumah Mathews Chuat in Nanga Tada Resettlement Scheme where Sibu BASE Jump 2016 participants had their farewell dinner.

In fact, the foreigners from 15 countries enjoyed the activities lined up by their host Tuai Rumah Mathews Chuat and his charges that evening.

On their arrival at the longhouse, the jumpers were given full Iban traditional welcome of ‘betaboh’ (traditional music), ‘tuak’ (rice wine), ‘ngajat’ (traditional dance) and ‘miring’ (offering).

The visitors mingled with the longhouse folks and they were served local delicacies ‘kuih cuan’ (rose shaped biscuit) and ‘kuih sarang semut’ (ant nest biscuit) while waiting for the ‘miring’ ceremony to be completed.

The ‘miring’ was done by political secretaries to the chief minister Maurice Giri and Romeo Christopher Tegong and Sibu Resident Hii Chang Kee.

Earlier in the afternoon, Mathews and his charges decorated their longhouse with ‘pua kumbu’ and set up a ‘ranyai’ (decorative) tree.

To give the foreigners a lasting memory of the authentic taste of Sarawak, the longhouse residents also prepared local dishes like ‘manuk pansuh’ (chicken cooked in bamboo), pounded tapioca leaves cooked in bamboo, longhouse style roasted pork, sautéed shredded bamboo shoots and wild boar meat cooked with wild palm shoot.

Adriana Christopher Tegong who represented Tuai Rumah Mathews in her welcoming speech gave a brief history of Nanga Tada.

She said Nanga Tada has 17 longhouses, with 60 per cent of the population paddy farmers while some had migrated to big towns and cities for better job opportunities.

She also mentioned that during the communist insurgency in the 1970s, the longhouses were scattered along Tada River.

“The government then formed Rajang Area Security Command (Rascom) and under Rascom, the longhouses were regrouped at Nanga Tada to provide better security to longhouse folks,” she said.

On behalf of the jumpers, Malaysia BASE Jump Association president Captain Aziz Ahmad thanked the longhouse residents for their hospitality.

He also told the jumpers that they would not get to experience that kind of hospitality anywhere else in the world.

“That is why we always come back to Sarawak. The hospitality is beyond words,” he said.

Also present were Kanowit district officer Katis Noel Nyabong and Sibu BASE Jump 2016 technical advisor Gary Cunningham.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by Conny Banji

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