Sarawak Layered Cake

Wikipedia Bintulu and you will learn that it was originally just a fishing village. With the discovery of liquefied natural gas and the founding of MLNG, Bintulu became the next oil and gas town after Miri.

Bintulu is growing and expanding. At one glance, you can see plush green backdrop. Take a closer look you will see construction mushrooming in many areas.

Population

The majority in the following order are Iban, Chinese and Malays.

I've learned what it means to be a minority in Malaysia. It teaches me humility and respect. For once I see more dogs than cats, and they are my friends. They protect me and my neighborhood. They do not chase or bark at me because I treat animals with respect.

I learn from my Christian, Bhuddist and Iban colleagues what it means to practice their religion and enjoy holidays such as Gawai and Good Friday.

Being Muslim here is also exciting. People give salaam out of respect. I love giving salaam and returning salaam. Men say salaam really to wish you peace, and not to ...court.

The few practising Muslims are very close. We band together and do charity together.

Geography

Bintulu is akin to some areas of Shah Alam, but 20 years ago. The biggest mosque also has a blue dome, and it has many roundabouts.

Economy

There is very little Government body presence here. Hence, employment is mainly private sector driven i.e. Petronas, Shell, Murphy Oil, Sime Darby, SESCO (TNB equivalent), and in-coming Japanese companies. If you don't work for these companies, you either work with the Bintulu Port, Bintulu Development Authority or you are self-employed.

Most are self-employed. What I admire most is that Bintulu-wakians are generally self-sufficient. They do not depend on the Government as much as the West Malaysians do (for obvious reasons). They operate their own businesses. If we don't have McDonalds, they come up with The Munchies (local burger fast food).

I know a family who took my friend and I in as step daughters (anak angkat). They are very welcoming, warm and loving. They treat complete strangers like us as their children. The feeling is genuine and sincere. They operate a growing layered cake business, a catering service, and a bridal shop to make ends meet. They won the Best Belacan in Bintulu and Sarawak award.

We get invited for dinner almost every other day.

I have offered to manage their business and my expansion plans, but I do understand that they need manpower and resources to expand. You know me, I have all these ideas ;-)

Ever since I have been in Bintulu, I have only eaten at KFC twice, Marrybrown once, Pizza Hut twice and Sushi King once. My friends and I prefer to patronize local eateries. We support the local economy.

Having said this, there is still many in Bintulu and Sarawak who are poor. You can see from the side of the main road that they still live in long houses without access clean water and electricity.

Cycling through out some parts of Bintulu has really taught me that all the resources that Sarawak has i.e. crude oil, natural gas, timber, sago, pepper, etc has not been equitably disbursed to its population. Shame.

Social

In Bintulu, you will tend to do outdoor activities such as the following:

• fishing, prawning or deep sea fishing


• cave exploration


• diving


• jungle trekking


• running, cycling, swimming or general sports

Apart from the above, my friends and I play kites, watch the sun set at the beach, have picnics, cook-overs, boardgames, Chenga (China Jenga), DVD nights...the usual.

When a friend of mine was hospitalized for appendicitis and had to remove a cyst in her ovaries, I took turns with a friend to care for her. She told me she was lonely in the hospital. I can relate since I was hospitalized a few times, and I hate staying in the hospital. I smuggled in a dvd player and we would watch movies.

She couldn't laugh because laughing hurts (post operation). Imagine having to suppress all the jokes in my mind. I suppressed them for a while until she recovered :-)

When our friends do not have cars, we send them every day to office and pick them up. What would take 20 min to the office, now would take 1 hour. Our office is in a rural location in Bintulu. It is not in Google Earth because it is a national security location.

My friend volunteered to be my back-up just so I could go on leave. She made sure I got the much deserved rest. I can't thank her enough for her selfless-ness.

We take good care of each other because nobody will. Our families are all in West Malaysia.

We're all a layer in the cake. One layer wouldn't taste good. With all the layers, we're finger licking goooood. Hehehehe.