A Day in Miri

The day before the Chinese New Year, a Saturday, we left Bintulu on a planned overnight outing with the kids for Miri. Mini had made reservations at an Apartment Hotel called The Boulevard in Miri. It is a two hours drive to Miri from Bintulu by a new coastal road recently opened to traffic. The old road to Miri will take us about three hours. By old, I mean it is really old. I was told that they had not resurfaced the road for a long time, maybe from whence the proper road was constructed about twenty years ago. Any potholes created by the ‘heavy giants’ of the roads were mostly covered by patchwork.

We left Bintulu at about 10am and were in Miri at noon. The Boulevard is twenty stories high, one of two tall buildings in Miri. (The one on the right in the picture)
Some other buildings are less than ten stories high while most others are of the three or four storied shop houses and office buildings. The first four stories of The Boulevard is dedicated to shopping with a major shopping mall as its anchor tenant and many other small shopping outlets including a few restaurants, a food-court and fast food outlets. We had late lunch at the food court and browsed around the shopping complex after that. Bought tit bits for the kids and their parents and also their grandparents!! Dedek only wanted “Mentos” candy. Mini bought two bars, each bar contains about a dozen candies and Dedek finished more than half of it at one sitting!! I think he was trying to give a message to mummy that he really likes Mentos so that mummy will buy Mentos more often!! …….Hmmmm, kids have strange ways of communicating to (not with) adults huh?!!

Dinner was at a popular seafood restaurant in town. It was very crowded and the crowd was non Chinese. I spotted only one group of Chinese men having dinner and assume that these men were out of town men unable, for some reason or other, to be home with their loved ones for the Chinese New Year. (It is the tradition that the Chinese have ‘big’ reunion dinners with their families on the eve of Chinese New Year). As it was crowded, ‘and maybe the place is Miri’ (no disrespect intended), dinner took quite sometime to come. We had quite a task to keep baby Haadieya entertained meanwhile, and luckily, when she got tired, she just fell asleep on her daddy’s lap!! How convenient!! When the bill came we were quite surprised to find it somehow ‘inflated??’ Taking advantage of the holiday season perhaps? As the children were tired and sleepy we went back to the apartment immediately afterwards and watched TV, something which I rarely do, and fell asleep somewhere between the start of the movie “The Edge playing Anthony Hopkins and the late news that came on at midnight.

I was not awaken by the late news on TV. I was awakened precisely at midnight by the thunderous banging of fire crackers and fireworks that were continuously booming and lighting the sky of Miri with a myriad of colours and hue. It was all over the town and it lasted for a good two hours. We had a good view from our window in the apartment. I thought there is a ban on firing of firecrackers but………? and I cannot imagine how many hungry mouths can be fed by the money they spent to burn the stuff? Other than the fireworks I also noticed some flares being let off into the sky. The next morning, when I went on my morning walk through the mostly deserted streets of Miri, I saw the fronts of many shops and buildings strewn with the burnt out and shreds of red coloured firecracker wrappings!!

The first day of the Chinese New Year was rather quiet in Miri. Not many cars on the road. We had breakfast at one of the restaurants close to the apartment after which we took a drive to see the city (Miri was given city status only recently). One interesting historical display we visited was the oil museum located on top of a hill, the highest point in all of Miri.
The first ‘on-land’ oil drilling rig which is now dubbed ‘The Grand Old Lady’ (see picture - left) is re-erected outside the museum. This was the first ever rig erected sometime in 1910, used to spud oil on land in the Baram district close to Miri. It was all manually done then and oil was found at a depth of about 450ft. On record, oil was found in the Baram district as early as the 1880’s where local inhabitants used to manually dig out the oil seepage and used it as fuel for cooking and other uses. The discovery led to formal studies being conducted in the area and manual digging carried out. (See picture below: Note the 'manual drillers' in colourful dressing!!) The first commercial production only started in 1910 with 83barrels of oil collected per day. More rigs were built and the volume of oil collected daily increased over time. Of course, the production of oil was controlled by the then foreign oil company (The Anglo-Saxon Oil Company) that was given the lease for oil extraction and the locals? ……. I wonder if they get any benefit from the oil. However, all land side oil fields were closed in 1972 and offshore and sea drilling and production of oil continued since then. The grand old lady was preserved and placed on top of the hill known as ‘Canada Hill’. Why Canada Hill, I do not know and I wonder. There must be a story behind this name. The Malaysian Government meanwhile enacted the Petroleum Development Act in 1974, which saw the control of the indigenous oil and gas transferred to the Federal Government and a system of profit sharing, later production sharing and later still cost sharing, with the private oil companies, being implemented, which was more equitable to the country. Look at Miri, Sarawak, Sabah, how little were they developed before the Petroleum Act was enacted, in spite of oil being found in abundance since the late 19th century!!. All proceeds were taken out of the country then!! At least now, with the benefit from the oil and gas accruing to the State and Federal Government, much of the funds were used for development of the state and country, thus benefiting the people. And not just the oil companies!!

We left Miri in the afternoon and had a very easy drive back to Bintulu, taking slightly less than two hours for the trip using the new road. We left Bintulu to return to Petaling Jaya on Monday 30th. There were only 20 passengers on board the flight back to KL from Bintulu. Most people were still in their respective family homes enjoying the holiday. The exodus back to their respective homes starts today and already there are 19 road deaths by this evening? Road deaths due to accidents have, like clockwork, increased this holiday season compared to the same season last year……. I wonder what more need to be done to make drivers and all road users realise that lives are precious and road safety should be on top of their head all the time!! But then, Malaysian drivers forget road safety once they are behind the steering wheel or on their motor bikes…….. what a waste……..

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya

Rice - To Eat or Not To Eat?

A week ago I posted an article I received from a friend on rice and its effects to human if taken in excess. I agree with most of the statements in the article but that is when you take rice in excess.

I wonder how early man discovered how to eat rice. Who taught the early man to prepare rice, or for that matter other grains to make them edible, as eating them in their raw form will definitely put the early man off as they are tasteless. The early man may have seen birds and other animals eating the rice and other grains in their raw form and hence try to find ways to eat them. But who taught the early man to remove the husk from the grains, to boil it and so on. Who taught the early man to add bacteria culture to the powder form of the grains and then convert it into bread? Is it a revelation from the Almighty? I have been taught that the Almighty taught man what he did not know, hence these may have been based on revealed knowledge. Discovery of the knowledge may come in different ways as only He can reveal. One can perhaps do research, spend all the efforts to study intricacies of things but without His revelation the discovery may just come to naught. Therefore I believe that if the revelation had indeed happened, than eating the rice is also meant for men. So I do not agree to the statement that rice is not meant for human consumption, or man were not meant to eat rice.

I also believe that if we follow the teachings of our religion, and I believe other religions teach the same, to do things in moderation, we will not fall into any harm. Our body system should be able to handle it. It is only when we submit to excesses that our body system fail to cope thus inviting all the ailments. Many ailments that are happening to man nowadays are results of excesses and failure of the body system to cope. Therefore, take rice or any other food for that matter in moderation.

I like rice, other grains as well, and food derived from them, like breads, capati’s, puttumayam (stringhoppers?), and what have you. The Japanese are known to have long lives and their staple food is rice. They take rice in various forms, throughout the day but each meal they take only one small bowl of it. The farmers, working in the fields tend take more rice at each meal, but they burn the sugar (from the rice) away when they work in the fields. Those who lead a sedentary lifestyle should not eat like the farmers do!! Eat less or in moderation and you will be alright. But then how much is “in moderation” ?

Puttumayam? I like it. I have been eating it occasionally since I was small. I have not eaten stringhoppers or puttumayam for a long while. A few days before coming to Bintulu, a puttumayam vendor on a motorcycle passed by the house in the early morning. I bought some and the vendor gave some grated coconut and brown sugar to go with it. This is the usual way I eat puttumayam. Some people take it with curry or with chilli-spiced gravy, but for me the only way to enjoy it is with grated coconut and brown sugar as taking it with curry is no different than taking grained rice with curry. I will mix them together and eat just like that, dry. I had the opportunity once to see how puttumayam was made. The powdered rice was in dough form. There was a brass cup with two handles at the top and tiny holes at the bottom of the cup. There was another cup with identical handles but with no holes at the bottom that fits snugly into the first cup. Dough was placed at half level in the first cup. The second cup was then placed over the dough in the first cup and the two cups were ‘squeezed’ together by their handles allowing the dough to come out in ‘strings’ through the tiny holes. The ‘squeezing’ was done over a wicker tray placed over a boiling pot of water with the stringhoppers shaped into circular palm-sized pieces. Steaming the puttumayam takes only a short while. Perhaps the dough had been partly cooked first before it was squeezed into stringhoppers. Now, how did this method of preparing the rice become possible? Somebody must have done the experiment(s) at some point in time in the past and I am sure not without Divine Revelation. I am glad that food has evolved over time to what we have today. If not, we would be eating just roasted food, or worse still raw food that the cavemen ate…….. hmmmm I wonder…..

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Bintulu

Old and New

Thinking of old times are what almost everyone does, sometimes. Some would reminisce while others would reevaluate and yet others would use the experience for the better. Me? I do reminisce and I also use the experience for the better where applicable although at this late stage of my life there is not much I can do for the better. However I do share my experiences with others wherever possible, either in writings, or giving talks or just chatting amongst groups of people especially the younger ones. I believe that whatever experience we go through, whether positive or negative, they are learning points for us. (Yesterday is the basis of what you do today and plan for tomorrow. At the end of each day, evaluate and then find ways to do better).

When I reminisce, I sometimes go back a long time, half a century or more even. And when I do that I sometime wonder how time has evolved many things in our life and how, certain happenings and events influenced these evolvements. Things could be different now if that certain event did not happen then.

I am in Bintulu now. When I drive, or when I am in the car with son Shaffik driving, I would wonder at how, in the space of 20-25 years the face of the town have changed. Overall the town has grown, from a fishing town with a population of only about 6,000 people (that was how small the town was) to a bustling town of several hundred thousand people. My comparison is based on the time when I first set foot in Bintulu in the early 80s to the current. The evolvement has a lot to do with the discovery of oil and gas offshore, and the decision of the ‘powers that be’ for the oil and gas installations be located in Bintulu. What criteria was used to choose Bintulu as the right location I am not sure, but the contour of the coastline and the surrounding areas do appear ideal to start a new industrial town. Hence Bintulu has been transformed from a very small fishing village (not a town even!!) into a bustling oil and gas industrial town.

Today, while driving in town, I noticed that the street directions have been changed, overnight, to one way streets. They were two-way yesterday. Yet another evolvement for the sake of easing the traffic woes in the town. That sets me to thinking of what it was more than twenty years ago. I could lie down in the middle of the street then and I will not be run over!! One can recognize every car in town and differentiate them from newcomers arriving from out of town. There was only one gas station located near the jetty then that depended upon boats to bring in their replenishment gas supplies and these supplies came about once a week. When the boat came in to replenish supplies for the gas station, all the cars in the town will be in queue to fill up their tanks and almost all will have additional drums or ‘jerry cans’ to keep for spare. Similarly with food supplies!! Most came by boat. Seafood was ‘dirt’ cheap but agricultural produce were exorbitantly priced!! The shanty shacks that they call ‘market’ were next to the gas station sharing the same jetty!!

The town has changed so much.
There are no more wooden shops in town and not many of the wooden houses and buildings left. They have progressed into two, three and four storied concrete buildings. Roads have been widened and more parking lots built.
Certain times in the day traffic can get very bad in the town. Hopefully with the one-way street design, the chaotic traffic flow can be eased somewhat. The town too has spread from its original concentration around the so called airport and its runway to four pockets of commercial areas each about three to five miles apart with housing estates in between. I think the town planners are doing the right job of spreading the commercial areas interspersing them with residential houses and estates while keeping the industrial area concentrated at some twenty kilometers away and that is provided for by proper port facilities. One can see very large tankers and bulk carriers, capable of carrying perhaps 200,000 tons of oil or the equivalent volume amount of gas, docking there to load, and almost equally large bulk and container carriers docking at the port to discharge their cargoes.

Bintulu could have been different if oil and gas was not found off its shores, or if the ‘powers that be’ had decided to beach the oil and gas to a different town or area away from Bintulu. Bintulu can be considered a newly developed town when compared to the original oil town of Sarawak, which is Miri. Now Miri, recently declared a city, concentrates on oil and its products while Bintulu concentrates mostly on gas and its products. Spin-off industries are also coming up, adding to the industrial development of the area.

There are a lot more of Bintulu and Sarawak that I can write about but I will have to gather my thoughts and reminisce further before I can transfer them into words on my laptop screen. I am thankful though that I was allowed the opportunity to contribute to the growth of the town and its industrial development, and during the course of it learn new things, make new friends, established new family ties even, through my son. But let me have some time to write more on this. Meanwhile, I will just continue to ponder and wonder which direction Bintulu will move on to next………

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Bintulu

Rice - Is it good for you?

A friend sent me the following article. Interesting. All the reasons for avoiding rice and rice products. But........ do read on and decide for yourself!!

==== RICE =====

The human body was never meant to consume rice! You see, our genes have hardly changed in more than 30,000 years. However, our food choices and lifestyle have changed dramatically. The caveman would hardly recognize our food or way of life.

Caveman food was never cooked as fire was not yet tamed. Thus, he ate only those foods that you can eat without treatment with or by fire. He ate fruits, vegetables, fish (sushi anyone?), eggs, nuts and meat. Yes, even meat. You can even eat meat raw if you were starving in the forest. You have the necessary enzymes to digest meat.

However, rice, like wheat and corn, cannot be eaten raw. It must be cooked. Even if you were starving in the desert, you cannot eat rice in the raw form. This is because we do not have the system of enzymes to break rice down. You were never meant to eat rice. To make matters worse, you not only eat rice, but also make it the bulk of your food. In some parts of Asia, rice forms up to 85% of the plate.

Even if you take rice, keep it to a minimum. Remember, it is only for your tongue - not your body. Actually, rice and other grains like wheat and corn are actually worse than sugar. There are many reasons:

Rice becomes sugar - lots of it. This is a fact that no nutritionist can deny: rice is chemically no different from sugar. One bowl of cooked rice is the caloric equal of 10 teaspoons of sugar. This does not matter whether it is white, brown or herbal rice. Brown rice is richer in fiber, some B vitamins and minerals but it is still the caloric equal of 10 teaspoons of sugar. To get the same 10 teaspoons of sugar, you need to consume lots of kangkong (watercress) - 10 bowls of it.

Rice is digested to become sugar. Rice cannot be digested before it is thoroughly cooked.
However, when thoroughly cooked, it becomes sugar and spikes circulating blood sugar
within half an hour - almost as quickly as it would if you took a sugar candy.

Rice is very low in the "rainbow of anti-oxidants". This complete anti-oxidant rainbow is necessary for the effective and safe utilisation of sugar. Fruits come with a sugar called fructose. However, they are not empty calories as the fruit is packed with a whole host of other nutrients that help its proper assimilation and digestion.

Rice has no fibre. The fibre of the kangkong fills you up long before your blood sugar spikes. This is because the fibre bulks and fills up your stomach. Since white rice has no fibre, you end up eating lots of "calorie dense" food before you get filled up. Brown rice has more fibre but still the same amount of sugar.

Rice is tasteless - Sugar is sweet. There is only so much that you can eat at one sitting. How many teaspoons of sugar can you eat before you feel like throwing up? Could you imagine eating 10 teaspoons of sugar in one sitting?

Rice is always the main part of the meal – While sugar may fill your dessert or sweeten your coffee, it will never be the main part of any meal. You could eat maybe two to three teaspoons of sugar at one meal. However, you could easily eat the equal value of two to three bowls (20 - 30 teaspoons) of sugar in one meal.

I am always amused when I see someone eat sometimes five bowls of rice (equals 50 teaspoons of sugar) and then ask for tea tarik kurang manis! (tea with less sugar!!)

There is no real "built in" mechanism for us to prevent overeating of rice. How much kangkong can you eat? How much fried chicken can you eat? How much steamed fish can you eat? Think about that! In one seating, you cannot take lots of chicken, fish or cucumber, but you can take lots of rice. Eating rice causes you to eat more salt.

As rice is tasteless, you tend to consume more salt - another villain when it comes to high blood pressure. You tend to take more curry that has salt to help flavor rice. We also tend to consume more ketchup and soy sauce which are also rich in salt.

Eating rice causes you to drink less water. The more rice you eat, the less water you will drink as there is no mechanism to prevent the overeating of rice. Rice, wheat and corn come hidden in our daily food. As rice is tasteless, it tends to end up in other foods that
substitute rice like rice flour, noodles and bread. We tend to eat the hidden forms which still get digested into sugar. Rice, even when cooked, is difficult to digest.

Can't eat raw rice? Try eating rice half cooked. Contrary to popular belief, rice is very difficult to digest. It is "heavy stuff". If you have problems with digestion, try skipping rice for a few days. You will be amazed at how the problem will just go away.

Rice prevents the absorption of several vitamins and minerals. Rice when taken in bulk will reduce the absorption of vital nutrients like zinc, iron and the B vitamins.

Are you a rice addict? Going riceless may not be easy but you can go rice-less. Eating less rice could be lot easier than you think. Here are some strategies that you can pursue in your quest to eat less rice:

Eat less rice - Cut your rice by half. Barry Sears, author of the Zone Diet, advises "eating rice like spice". Instead, increase your fruits and vegetables. Take more lean meats and fish. You can even take more eggs and nuts.

Have "riceless" meals. Take no rice or wheat at say, breakfast. Go for eggs instead.

Go on "riceless" days - Go "western" once a week.

Take no rice and breads for one day every week. That can't be too difficult. Appreciate the richness of your food. Go for taste, colors and smells. Make eating a culinary delight. Enjoy your food in the original flavors.

Avoid the salt shaker or ketchup. You will automatically eat less rice.

Eat your fruit dessert before (Yes! No printing error) your meals. The fibre rich fruits will "bulk up" in your stomach. Thus, you will eat less rice and more fruits.

=== END ===

Any wonder now why population with diabetes is increasing worldwide.........??

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Bintulu.

The Kids and Bintulu Town

A conversation between a 4 years old boy and his Mummy:

Dedek: Mummy, today is Friday, so tomowoo Dedek no school?
Mummy: Yes, tomorrow is Saturday, and no school for you on Saturday and Sunday.
Dedek: Mummy, please tell Kakak (babysitter) no bekfirst for Dedek tomowoo.
Mummy: Why? Dedek don’t want to eat?
Dedek: Noh! Dedek want to eat roti chanai, (showing 3 fingers indicating he wants three pieces of roti chanai and I wrote about his love for the roti chanai in an earlier posting).
Mummy: Ok, we can go for the roti chanai tomorrow.

The next morning he was up bright and early, in anticipation of course. No hassle for the sitter to give him his bath and dress him up (when on normal days he will fret and gives the sitter a hard time to prepare him for school!!). When we reached the breakfast shop, he told his mother that he wants three roti chanai. But the mother asked, “which one you want? Plain roti chanai or roti chanai with egg”. He replied that he wants the roti chanai with egg and his mother said egg roti chanai is big, (one piece is usually filling even for an adult!!) so take one first and if not enough you can ask for some more. He smiled and replied ok. Ah ha! I thought, this little fellow has his scheme of things in his mind!! And true enough, when he finished his first egg roti chanai he asked for some more and this time he wanted roti chanai with cheese!!

Meanwhile, all of us were eating our breakfast and chatting while this little boy waited for his cheese roti chanai. He had finished his drink and yet the second order had not come. After a while he thumped his fist on the table several times. A little while later he thumped the table using his elbow. He was clearly annoyed that his second roti chanai did not come, and he usually shows his annoyance by thumping his fist or elbow. I think he had lost his mood in eating by the time the roti chanai came, hence we had it packed for take away. However it was not difficult to appease him as his mood changed as soon as we got into the car to go to the market. He ate the roti chanai in the car. Smart fellow!!

The Bintulu Market
This same little boy does not like to go into the wet market. It is “dirty and shmelly yak” he will always say. So I stayed in the car in the parking lot to be with him while everyone else goes into the market. Recently both he and his elder brother were in the habit of repeating everything that we said to them, even when we asked them to stop repeating they will still be at it and laughed at us. When we asked them questions they will repeat the questions and do not give the answers. It can be annoying. I had the opportunity to give him the same treatment when we were alone in the car. I thought I will use this reverse psychology on him. I repeated everything that he said, in his imitable child slang even. He was laughing away at me and asked me why I repeat after him and I kept on repeating him. Then he thumped his first fist thump at the seat back rest. I continued and he thumped his elbow this time. I asked him if he is angry and he replied noh noh Tok Bah, and that too I repeated him. I continued doing this all the time we were waiting for the others to return from the market. Finally when he asked me why I repeat after him I replied that I will stop if you stop doing the same to others. He agreed. Haa Ha, I managed a truce with a 4 year old!! He was even on my side reprimanding his elder brother not to repeat everything I said.

One thing I like about Bintulu market is the abundantly available local fruits and vegetables of many different types and cheap too, compared to prices in Kuala Lumpur or Petaling Jaya. Sea food is also much cheaper here. So, you can imagine how Ram will just pick her fancy at the market!! However these cheap products are are limited to local produce and catch. Anything imported, even from West Malaysia, will be exorbitantly priced!! Therefore, we reserve our favourite ‘taste-bud quenchers’ until our return to West Malaysia.

The market place is in two separate buildings, one of which houses the wet catches and produce that are predominantly sold by Chinese traders while the other houses ethnic produce that are predominantly sold by the local ethnic Iban and Malay traders. The buildings are quite identical in design, quite modern, and a far cry from the shanty shacks that the market was, on the same site, some twenty years ago when I was working in Bintulu. In those days, one goes to the market, buy whatever is required and then get away from the place quickly. The cramped, dirty surroundings, and ‘shmelly’ too will throw one off quickly. The wet market used to be a wooden planked building that juts out on stilts over the river edge adjoining the jetty, where boats anchor to discharge their catches. Now, the place is on solid ground, of concrete, spacious, and one can browse around before deciding to make one’s purchase. Of course, this convenience comes with a price as prices of the produce are higher. You can however, still get cheaper agricultural produce from some of the roadside peddlers who sell their backyard produce. These peddlers have low overheads and do not pay rents or license, hence are able to sell cheaper than the market.

Close to the market are jetties where ferries and passenger boats or river taxis pick up passengers to cross the river or go upstream to the hinterland. There are not many of these river taxis now compared to twenty years ago. Proper roads have been built over the last twenty years leading to the villages upstream the river. Hence demand for the river taxis dwindle while road taxis keep multiplying in number causing traffic jams in Bintulu town now. Those days, getting parking spaces in the town was easy but not now. I guess that is what progress is all about. I wonder what Bintulu will look like twenty years from now…… I wonder and ponder…..

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Bintulu

River Taxi

 


A River Taxi across the river 

Bintulu Town

 

Part of Bintulu Town at Riverfront