I first visited Kuching when I was a young, bug-eyed reporter and was somehow lucky enough to land a writing assignment for a photography book on Sarawak.
I don’t know why I thought myself qualified to do the job but I’ve never been one to let ignorance stand in the way of endeavours.
Robert Hoebel wanted a writer to travel with him for a period of two weeks and who can say no to an assignment that would allow her to fly by helicopter into the remotest reaches of this most mysterious and undeveloped of territories. Some areas were simply not accessible by road or plane.
I recall landing on a remote mountain top where the nomadic Penan tribes roamed. I felt like I was in a movie. As soon as our chopper touched down, the villagers came out to greet us like we were long lost friends. They didn’t have much in the way of material possessions but they certainly had big smiles and open hearts.
I visited longhouses in areas such as Bario, one of the first highland areas to be converted to Christianity by early missionaries. I was woken every dawn by cockerels and church singing.
My first visit to a longhouse, I got hopelessly drunk. I had been told of the tradition where every family will offer you a glass of “tuak” (rice wine) and every household had their own special brew, and that you had to drink it. To refuse would be rude. Well, I believe this longhouse had 20 families – and by the time I got to the last household, I think I was singing in Iban dialect and unable to walk out of their village.
All these memories came back to me last week when I visited Kuching to facilitate the Sarawak Tourism Forum, an event organised by the Sarawak Tourism Federation and supported by the Ministry of Tourism. The purpose was to foster collaboration and forge a common vision to take Sarawak tourism forward.
Millennials bursting with ideas, enthusiasm and opinions
I have run many events but I’ve not attended one that had so much industry participation, such high energy and generally, just a lot of people who really care what happens to their home. It was great to see so many young people in the audience and the Millennial panel was bursting with ideas, enthusiasm and opinions.
Kuching is a small town, everyone knows everyone, and Sarawak tourism is small as well. Last year, 4.8m arrivals came to Sarawak but bear in mind a large percentage of that is cross-border from Brunei – almost 2 million. Tourism earnings totaled RM10.68 billion in 2014.
The advantage it has is that it is not dependent on tourism, like Thailand is. The disadvantage is, because it is not, not much commitment and energy is put into it to make sure it is developed gracefully and managed responsibly. This is a place of living culture, living forests and rich history, delicate assets to protect and preserve.
As the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Tan Sri Datuk Patinggi Haji Adenan Satem, said in his speech at the forum, “Which place has had a bunch of white rulers running it, we should be proud of it?”
“No new timber concessions, no more logging.”
His was one of the most interesting political speeches I’ve heard in a long time. He spoke off the cuff, saying things like, “ No more new timber concessions, no more logging, we need to save our forests”, “We will fight for flights, we won’t be sidelined”, “people don’t come to Sarawak for sex, let other people have them” and “let’s make a movie like Lord of The Rings about our white rulers”.
In these four quotes, he summed up what Sarawak needs to do – protect its forests and culture; fight for more air accessibility; go after quality tourism, travellers who get it and not come for the wrong reasons; and get better at telling its stories and marketing itself.
You know how there is a time for everything? Well, I believe the time is right for places like Sarawak to be discovered, enjoyed and loved. Travellers are looking for different, hidden, mysterious.
Landing in Kuching makes you feel you’re arriving in new frontier territory, with lots to be discovered.
Call them boutique or niche destinations – think Bhutan or Penang – but these places have become discoverable by word of mouth, social media, and they offer something different. Okay, there is a Starbucks in Kuching but there are lots of proprietor-run shops that are in trades that are disappearing in cities like Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. And beyond Kuching is a land as old as time. Mighty rivers, hidden caves, rainforests, wildlife, birdlife, tribal culture.
In Sarawak, I see an opportunity for a collaborative social experiment in tourism. Get everyone in the state who cares about tourism to form one collective voice on social media – it’s small enough for this idea to work. No need to wait for an official body to do it, really. We live in different times. All they need is a spark – and I hope the 2-day forum provided a bit of that spark.
Everyone I know who’ve been to Kuching or Sarawak always leave happy and they return. Ever since that first visit, I’ve returned many times, rediscovering Kuching and beyond. And I always leave with a yearning to return as well as a wish to protect its riches from the ugly side of tourism.
As one expatriate resident, who’s lived in Sarawak for 70 years, stood up to say at the forum, “It’s the trees. They help me breathe. Every time I feel stressed, I go to stand under your big trees and I breathe in Sarawak.”
Now isn’t that the best customer review ever?
Photos from the forum can be viewed here
