Giant & Rare Nepenthes

A Pitcher Plant Cutting

1.3 feet tall, 5 inches wide at the broadest girdle

The huge pitchers dwarf the basin

A wild orchid collector was shocked to have bumped into a rare giant pitcher plant.

The nepenthes is very difficult to take as they grow only on steep sides and edges of limestone mountains. He only found one vine. Of that vine he managed to make only 10 cuttings.

SDNU National Gawai Dinner 2009

The much awaited dinner will be held on Saturday, 16 May 2009, 6.45 pm at the Christian Ecumenical Centre, Kuching. It is organised by Sarawak Dayak National Union.

The theme is “Showcasing Dayak Cultural Heritage”. Other than the local cultural presentations, there will also be cultural troupe from Pontianak, Kalimantan Barat.

For those who missed last year’s sold-out MALAM DAYAK BORNEO WITH GOVERNOR AGUSTINE TERAS NARANG dinner, now is another opportunity to enjoy the mesmerising, dramatic yet very ‘Dayak’ show.

Dinner Tickets at RM500 per table are still available at SDNU Hqs. You may contact Salam at 017 811 6561 as well for tickets. The dealer tables are sold out.

There will be Muslim Dayaks attending the dinner, who are doctors and civil servants. Therefore food to be served is halal for all, including ‘anyang’ (In Bidayuh) or ‘pansuah’ (in Iban). Optional drink such as beer and tuak, which are only halal for non-Muslims, are also available on requests.

This is a non-political and a non-politic-affiliated event. As an individual Dayak, I suggest the guests leave their Datukship, pehinship or whatever politically motivated ‘award’ at the door before entering the dining hall. You are however encouraged to bring in your personally achieved awards such as Phd, Dr and Dayak-recognised positions, such as Chairman SADIA Sarikei Branch for instance and ‘YB’. This will make it easy for you and other fellow Dayaks to mingle.

Dinners must report to the organising committee any drink to be brought in to the dinner. This is to make sure that the drink is safe for other fellow dinners.

And later we proceed to Gawai With The Governor on 19 May 2009.

Gawai At Pontianak

The above trip is now confirmed on 19 – 21 May 2009. Please liase with Spencer of SDNU at 019 854 7355. Alternatively you may call Mr Salam at 017 811 6561.

It only cost RM550 for 2N3D trip all in.

For more info, please log in to:http://allahsite.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/gawai-with-the-governor-at-the-istana/

Pokok Laila?

This Muslim Polish immigrant married Mr Taib, a Sarawakian magistrate, a year before I was born, in Australia.

She was always being commended by Standard Chartered Bank staffers and customers, as humble and down to earth. Despite being a chief minister’s wife, she would rather stand, joined the queue and waited for her turn to maintian her accounts. Her police escorts would keep an eye from a distance.

The bank officers and managers would feel uneasy and guilty for having failed to coax her to their office, and let the junior staff sort all the transactions, like what other corporate customers enjoyed to do.

She was once very angry with me, or rather my organisation that I represented at that time: she invited me to her residence for tea and discussion, but I did not turn up. My wife gave birth to our third daughter that morning. I thought that charity starts at home so I opted to be with my beloved wife and new born baby.

“Datin is now waiting with cakes and drink at her residence”, Dr Morni, her secretary pleaded, from his Petra Jaya Bapa Malaysia Office.

After Normah, wife of Mr ex-CM Rahman, died, she was honoured by the Sarawak government, by naming a State Flower after her, Orchid Normah.

Laila had successfully organised the planting of thousands of trees. Some say that she wanted to make up for the numerous trees felled by Mr CM Taib’s timber-friends. Perhaps the Sarawak Government should consider honouring her with a State Tree, Pokok Laila. That tree species ought to be tall, green and perenially beautiful.

Laila’s 35% share in CMS is a lot of money. I hope that the money could be put into Laila Foundation to assist the educational needs of children of displaced Dayaks, to prevent them from being squatters in their grandfathers’ land.

Any suggestions on the candidate-trees?