Paradise in my mind

At about RM1,700 a pole, it is cheaper to build a house in Sabah so as to qualify for free electricity poles from the Government, than to pay for the cost of connection.

ON Thursday I visited the life that I could be living if I were not chasing my own tail in greater Kuala Lumpur.

About 18km from Sabah's capital, Kota Kinabalu, is an 11 acre (about the size of 11 football fields) secondary jungle land I inherited which I've fantasised could be my own River Cottage.

River Cottage, originally a game-keeper's lodge in Dorset, England, was the setting for chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's three television series: Escape to River Cottage, Return to River Cottage and River Cottage Forever.

I follow Hugh's adventure living an idyllic life on television – he grows and rears some of his own food.

I was in my Borneo hometown to attend a niece's wedding.

On a cloudy afternoon, I drove over to check out my 73-year-old mother's bamboo hut project near the Crocker Range National Park.

My mother is building a RM6,000 hut of wood and bamboo to qualify for free electricity poles from the Government.

She figured it would take six poles to support electricity cables from the main road to our land.

At about RM1,700 a pole not including the cost of the cables, she figured it was cheaper to build the house than to pay for electrical connection without a house.

It was about 3.30pm when we arrived at the land in Penampang, the heartland of the Kadazan-dusuns.

At a wooden hut on the top of a ridge with a view of Kota Kinabalu city was the idyllic life I had imagined.

George Awang, a 73-year-old farmer, was having an aramaitii (Sabah slang for 'let's be merry') session with his two neighbours who owned land in the area.

On the table were beer cans and the three men seemed to be in high spirits.

If I were in the office in Petaling Jaya now, I would be editing news stories.

My mother handed a bottle of Red Label whisky to George, who is a relative.

He said in Kadazandusun: "We will drink this when your sulap (hut) is ready."

To which she replied: "It's for you."

Occasionally, my mother buys George drinks and food to show her appreciation for allowing my family to build a road through his land to reach ours.

My mother gave Diman Langkap, a 50-something Kadazandusun who owns a piece of land next to ours, a bottle of VAT 69 whisky.

"I've not done the walls and the floor of your sulap. I'm still waiting for the bamboo to dry," said Diman in Kadazandusun.

"It was tough carrying the bamboo (sourced from our land) to your hut as the land is very steep."

After some small talk, we trekked about five minutes downhill through rubber trees to the sulap.

Inside the half-built hut I imagined how life would be living in the jungle.

It could be heavenly, I thought. Especially when I could tweet photographs of the hut.

It meant the Maxis 3G connection in the area was strong.

The next day I visited George at around 5pm to understand life in the jungle.

If you drive up the gravel road to his hut at night, and switch off the car lights, you'll be enveloped in darkness.

His neighbours, who own a bird nest farm, cattle and goat farm and oil palm plantation, usually go to bed early.

"Where's Diman?" I asked. "He has gone to Kuala Penyu (about 60km away) to hunt for monkeys," George said.

During the time of Tun Mustapha Harun (the first governor of Sabah) George had applied for an 11 acre plot of land.

George tamed the jungle using an axe and planted rubber trees.

"There were no chainsaws and it was hard work cutting trees the width of an oil drum," he said.

In 1995, he retired from the Water Works Department, where he was a pipe fixer, and lived alone in his hut tapping rubber trees to make a living.        

"At around this time (5.30pm), I will go to sleep, and I usually wake up around 10.30pm," he said of his daily schedule.

"I will start tapping at midnight and finish about 100 trees at 7am. I prefer to work at night because it is cooler and there are fewer mosquitoes."

As it was getting dark at around 6pm, we bid George goodbye and he said: "If it does not rain tonight, I will tap my rubber trees."

I can't really imagine tapping rubber at midnight. But once in a while when I'm stuck in a one-hour jam driving to Subang Jaya, it is heavenly to dream of my slice of paradise.

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