I was born and raised in the interior of Baram, Sarawak. I still keep dearly in my heart many sweet memories of my childhood in the village. They have inspired me in many ways. This blog is also inspired by the memories of life in the village.
When I was growing up in the village, one of the things I always looked forward to was the time for "ngejeman" or in English known as the time for making handicrafts or for working on anything that can be considered as hobbies. This includes things such as making rattan mats, baskets, hats made of dried leaves or making large mats for drying rice. The women folks often work together to make large mats for drying the paddy. I enjoyed watching them sitting in row of 4 to 6 persons and weaving the mat right from the first few strands of rattans until it is done.
The process often took a few days to finish. I often asked to be taught how to weave but my "teachers" would have to undo the strands of rattan that I had woven. I didn't want to slow them down so I often collect the excess rattans, cut them to shorter lengths and learned to weave on my own but I was never able to weave well. I compensated by helping my mother serving drinks or doing any other chores.
During the "ngejeman" sessions which are often in the evenings when the villagers are not so busy working at their farms. Weekdays evenings sessions are often shorter than the weekend sessions as the villagers were already often too tired after working at the farm in morning.
The weekend sessions are the best ones as there would not only be the "ngejeman" activities but also a lot of food like sweet glutenous rice cakes, "sambals" (raw fruit or vegetables eaten with spicy chilly based condiments and many more. People would be sitting at the verandah, escaping the often hot afternoon sun and they will sit with their families at the verandah. Jokes and laughter would be heard. It was such a great time.
Everyone mingled peacefully and happily. They talked about their works or their hunts the day before and some might take the opportunities to plan for week ahead with family members.
Life was simple yet to my eyes everyone seemed content and happy. They woke up early to cook for the day and to attend the morning prayers at the church. Then before the sun gets too hot they'll leave home for their farms. When they come back in the evening they spent time with their family and on certain nights of the week they would attend prayer services at the church.
I know there are so many other sophisticated ways to live a life and to be happy but I feel such simple village life offered so much joy and happiness back then.
Being a town dweller now, life is not that simple. The demand on my times as a working mother puts me under a lot of stress and I have been searching for ways to strike a peaceful balance between working life and home life. I am a homely person by nature and I love doing things related to home. So I told myself why not blog about something that I love, something that will not consume me and take me away from my immediate responsibilities/realities but something that will reinforce my efforts at creating a harmonious balance in life and at maximizing quality times spent with my children. I searched for a good name for this blog several times then after I almost gave up BORNEO GREEN BREAK came to my mind and here we are now, reading this.
I hope you enjoy reading my posts here. Feel free to comment or to share your own insights, experiences or tips.
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