KAMPUNG WIFI CONNECTS PEOPLE

Nor Arlicessa Arbi Chew, 27, is no ordinary Kemas teacher. She is a diploma holder from Institut Pendidikan Guru Malaysia in Kuching and is very dedicated to her work.

Even before Kampung Bahagia Jaya in Teku, Sibu was wified, Nor Arlicessa has been lugging her two-year old laptop to her class and already subscribed to broadband service from a telecommunication company.

Her class is equipped with a personal computer set which is now in the hands of a technician following a CPU breakdown.

But what she and her colleagues really want is a projector or a decent television set where they can use as a teaching tool.

"There are so many things to learn from the Net. Apart from showing the kids the wonders of Internet, we can also pick up a thing or two from YouTube and apply the technique in our classes," she says.

On Wednesday, Minister of Information, Communication and Culture, Datuk Dr Rais Yatim presented a 4mbps Internet connection to the village.

The Kampung Wifi project enables nearby villagers to have access to the wireless Internet to improve life quality and narrow the gap between the rural and urban areas.

Nor Arlicessa is Net savvy. She is an ardent Facebook fan to keep abreast with friends and relatives living in other parts of the country.

This morning, she gathers all her students and show them some clips of other pre-schoolers on YouTube.

Hopefully, the rest of the village will be infected with the Wifi fever in no time.

The kids, most of them have no access to computers, let alone Internet, were awed with what they saw.

Pix by Zahari Zakaria

FISHING FOR FOOD, NOT VOTES

Apart from a tourist attraction, Sungai Merah at the outskirt of Sibu is also a source of livelihood for some.

In the mornings and evenings, several anglers will park themselves by the riverside to try their luck.

Their catch may be small fishes but that is enough to provide food on the table. "We normally fry these fishes and they are quite tasty," said one of them, who wanted to be known only as Lobster.

Several kg of the unknown species can last several days.

"We don't sell them, just enough for own consumption," he said showing his catch after less than half an hour.

Sungai Merah is significant to Sibu as the starting point for their bustling economy.

The residents believe a group of Chinese immigrants arrived by the rivermouth in 1901 and started trading there.

It is called Sungai Merah as the river is reddish in colour but there was no bloodshed.

Pix by Zahari Zakaria

PANDAW'S IN TOWN

I chanced upon the floating hotel, Orient Pandaw which berthed at the Sibu jetty while walking about town today.

Check out this website http://www.pandaw.com/ for details of this unique ship which is capable of negotiating shallow and narrow rivers

THE WHOLE WORLD IS IN SIBU

Living in the jungle or the jungle fringe in Sarawak can be exciting, if your abode is equipped with a large satellite dish.After all, the channels available are not restricted to the ones available on Astro.

Just move around the dish and you may even get all the channels on subscription available in the US and Japan.For Joe and James who live in a spatial double-storey house in Kampung Pasai, about 50km from Sibu town, the satellite dish is their only form of entertainment.

"The children can watch Spongebob talking in Indonesian language and we can watch movies from all over the world.

"We got ours cheap. For a few hundred Ringgit, we have this dish which we have to manually tune," said James who is an Iban as he showed us how to adjust the dish.Located by the fence, the dish is placed on a pole."

If we want to watch, say, movies from the US, we have to move the dish facing a certain angle and if the elder ones want to watch Indonesian movies, someone has to readjust the dish.

"James who declined to give his full name said for an additional RM1,000, one could get a dish which can be controlled by a remote control."Just press the remote control from the comfort of your living room, but we are quite contented with this one," said Joe.

However, his only complaint is he could not watch NTV7 and 8TV no matter how the dish is adjusted. "They say the two channels are good, but with bad reception using the ordinary antenna, looks like we will never get to watch," said Joe.

Most of the houses in Sarawak are equipped with such dishes.Even the most dilapidated house would have a dish proudly standing on the roof.

Pix by Zahari Zakaria

JALAN-JALAN CARI MAKAN

Into my fourth day in Sibu and I have yet to taste an authentic Sarawak delicacy. In their effort to please the guests from Semenanjung, coffee houses, restaurants and stalls have apparently switched menu and serve nasi campur for lunch and nasi lemak for breakfast.

They say to go to the outskirt of Sibu and I may just find what what I want there. And that's exactly what we intend to do.

Chief photographer Zahari Zakaria and me are planning to travel further off the familiar roads today.

Last night, we had dinner at a food court near the Malay settlement, coincidentally a regular haunt for Pakatan Rakyat leaders to deliver their speeches.

Mahfuz Omar and Lim Guan Eng were among those who spoke about change. Unfortunately, the diners were either those from Semenanjung or those in a hurry.

The ikan pari bakar was stale and the satay too sweet for our liking.

Zubaidah Abu Bakar and Zahari earlier had dinner at a restaurant in town.

We will continue our quest for the ooomph and will keep you updated!

A DAY WITH THE IBAN

The writer with an Iban, Magdelina at her house

A freshly painted longhouse in Bawang Assam

A DAY WITH THE IBAN

Lamp-posts and cables jutting across the longhouses in Bawang Assan are testimony that the settlement is no longer a forgotten one.

The 10 longhouses are connected by tarred road and cars are parked by the roadside. Some of the houses have posters of BN candidate Robert Lau Hui Yew pasted prominently on the wooden wall.

A group of residents were karaokeing at the common area of James Semilan, the name of the longhouse, as they enjoyed langkau (home-made liquor).

It was a new PA set, double up as a karaoke set and the sound could be heard from the jetty, a few hundred metres away.

A kind resident who took us on a motorcycle ride to the next longhouse said he is currently working as a security guard at a nearby sawmill, where most of the adults are currently working.

SIBU WALKABOUT

Some of the pictures I took as I walked about town yesterday. Expected to see some activities after 11pm, after all, it was "Malam Minggu" (weekend), but the roads were deserted, except for hotel guests mingling outside the hotel.

The top picture is a sculpture of dolphins, said to be the town's mascot. It is facing south-east, for harmony and prosperity.

Next is chicks for sale at one of the shops.

I am planning to visit a longhouse soon. Will keep the readers updated.

SMOOTH NOMINATION PROCESS

It was a nomination process unlike others.

While supporters of major coalitions taking part in other by-election were boisterous and sometimes out of control, those who were at the Sibu Civic Centre this morning were subdued.

Earlier Bernama report said 10,000 were expected to throng the centre, but even the police who were ready for any eventuality, were surprised a relatively small number of supporters from both sides.

Apart from singing and occasionally shouts of slogans, the crowd were more disciplined than those who were at the other by-elections.

Asked why the two opposing sides were quite close to one another, a police officer joked that they had asked a hammer thrower to throw a mineral water across the compound of the Civic Centre and found out it could not reach the side.

"It's quite safe," he quipped.

Looks like the by-election is gonna be plain sailing.

WE ARE HERE

It was a packed flight from KLIA to Sibu. MH2718 left the tarmac at 7.35pm with PKR president Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her entourage and safely arrived at Sibu airport one hour 55 minutes later.
The cabbie who took me to TanahEmas Hotel was a pleasant local Chinese who proclaimed himself as Robert Lau Besar's man.
"They can persuade me to vote the man of their choice, but sorry. Robert Lau orang kerja, bukan macam orang lain," he said.
On Little Robert Lau, a BN candidate, the cabbie declined to comment. "Bagi peluang sama dialah."
Upon arrival, the hotel staff had a worried face. "I really hope you have made prior bookings since we are fully booked until May 16," he said.
Thankfully, NSTP's chief photographer, Zahari Zakaria has made arrangement.
Hitting the sack early to get ready for the nomination process.

GETTING TO KNOW SIBU PART 1

SIBU may not be a familiar place for many people. Thankfully, there are some links to bring us up to speed. The official website for Sibu is here. Wikipedia also has an informative entry on Sibu and its history. Read it here.

Next we have some scenes of Sibu, taken by NST photographers Mohd Radzi Bujang, Nik Hariff, and Ghazali Bujang.

OUR SIBU

Kampung Nangka in Sibu, is facing an erosion that might just wipe out the village one day. But for Nur Atira Azman, 8, life goes on. The bubbly girl, whose house is standing precariously by the riverside keeps a rabbit as a pet. Her pastime? Watching boats pass by Sungai Igan.
Pix by Ghazali Bujang