The Bario indigenous food festival was in full swing as we landed at the air strip in a small twin engine turbo prop. Small open fronted shops and cafes and unmade muddy roads gave the tiny town of Bario a distinctly wild west feel to it.  Smiling welcoming faces however brightened everything up. Wooden festival stalls with thatch roofs displayed a vast array of jungle foods, some mouth wateringly tempting like roast wild boar, some interesting and tasty, like fern shoots, wild ginger and mushrooms and some a bit off putting like fat puffy grubs.

On finding out we were from Scotland, Gerawat, a local man of about our age, said he was also a highlander, a Kelabit highlander. Not only that, Gerawat said he knew Scottish songs and proceeded to perform the ‘Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen’, word perfect. Once we recovered from our surprise we joined him in singing, ‘I belong to Glasgow’, much to the bewilderment and perhaps mild alarm of the other locals of this remote wee town. It turned out that Gerawat had met Scottish soldiers in the 1960s when they were defending the Sarawak borders against incursions from Indonesia. This period of intense jungle warfare was euphemistically called the ‘Malaysian Indonesian confrontation’, when Indonesia opposed the inclusion of Sarawak into the newly independent Malaysia.  As a school boy Gerawat had helped soldiers carry their equipment from the helicopters landing on what is now the airstrip.

Over a lunch of wild boar, jungle vegetables and Bario rice in the converted longhouse we were staying in we chatted to Alice and Joe, an Australian couple. They were there for the dedication of a memorial to Australian and British commandos who parachuted into the area during the Second World War to organise the local jungle head hunters to fight the Japanese.  Alice’s dad had been a young sergeant in that clandestine force. She told us his fascinating story and showed us black and white photographs taken at that time. Alice and Joe had trekked to remote villages to meet people who still remembered her father with warmth and affection.
 
We were invited, along with Chris and Sarah, a couple from Ireland, to plant cinnamon saplings at the site of the war memorial. In time the memorial will be surrounded by a lovely grove of cinnamon tree to provide shade for the many visitors who come to the area.

The guys from Trek Force spent days and weeks in the jungle working with the locals to find ancient Kelabit burial sites and plotting them using GPS instruments. Alan the Trek force leader told us these sites would then, theoretically, be officially recognised and so protected from the massive logging operations. Young volunteers spent a month or so with Trek Force to get a jungle adventure, living in the jungle, sleeping in hammocks and cooking over wood fires.  We enjoyed chatting to Alan comparing notes on the latest techniques for survival water purification. We left him with a new Swiss made filter we’d bought in Penang. 
 
This agricultural community has developed along the lines of many farming areas around the world. Rich growing land producing excellent, but labour intensive crops supported a large and neighbourly  population. Then good education, increasing employment opportunities elsewhere and modern farming methods have attracted the youth away. So now the remaining families in Bario in the Kelabit highlands of Sarawak are developing higher value added crops, like cinnamon, coffee, pineapples, rambuttan and durians. These can now be taken down a new logging road which has linked the area to the coast.

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Being invited to attend any wedding is intriguing. But when our friend Albert invited us to a traditional Chinese Malaysian family wedding we were excited, but didn’t know quite what to expect.  So we weren’t prepared for the magnificent banquet laid out in the school hall. Huge circular tables floated across the wide hall like gigantic lily pads on a village pond. Around them sat over three hundred family and friends chatting expectantly. The air of friendly excitement drew us in as we were welcomed into this happy family event.
As preparations for his nephew, Eddie’s, wedding gathered pace our friend Albert took us behind the scenes to the cooking area in the school car park. Men in vests, shorts and wellies hooked whole chickens from turbulent hot oil in gigantic woks. Whole fish steamed in tall silver towers twice our height. Rice was handled in industrial quantities in this frenzy of well managed activity.

The meal, all ten courses of it, was exquisite. Every artistic offering was presented hot, delicious and satisfying. It was a masterpiece of culinary accomplishment which we enjoyed immensely. If the banquet was superb the company was fantastic. We joined in toasts to the bride and groom and were included in all the festivities.

The next day we were invited to the tea ceremony. Joining the family for a wedding breakfast we set off in a convoy of cars to the bride’s house. As we approached car horns were sounded to announce our arrival. There, another spread of colourful and delicious goodies was laid out. Our Malaysian friends explained many of the wedding traditions like presenting paper fans and flowers to the ladies and making the groom swallow a whole raw egg without bursting the yoke!  Achieving this ensured a long and harmonious marriage – Eddie was successful.
But where was the blushing Bride? Tze was waiting in her room resplendent in a flowing white wedding gown. The maid of honour suggested that she could be enticed out if Eddie proclaimed his love. This he did, with his family and friends listening carefully, smiling and nodding. But to no avail; as tradition demands. Then  Tze’s friends thought that love songs were in order. Eddie, the best man and his supporters withdrew and after reprising lyrics and a few impromptu rehearsals another attempt was mounted. After much hilarity and laughter, this did the trick. The bride emerged to be escorted by Eddie and their parents to the bride’s family shrine in her house.

Amid swirling incense the bride and groom took their vows. A formal and solemn procession around the religious statues and icons by the immediate family was witnessed by the other guests.

Older members of the family were honoured by the new couple offering them tea. Family members, in order of age, precedent and seniority sat to accept tea during the ceremony.

We thoroughly enjoyed participating in the wedding and made many new friends within the Penang Chinese Malaysian community.

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