Ulat Mulong (ulat Mata) 3n215

IV Thursday, May 15, 2008 he United Nations celebrates an Earth Day each year on the March equinox, a tradition which was founded by peace activist John McConnell in 1969. A second Earth Day, which was founded by U.S. politician Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in the late 1960s, is celebrated in many countries each year on April 22. In conjunction with this event, The Pacific Sutera marked the Earth Day celebration 2008 with tree planting at the Sutera Harbour Resort.

This event was organised to by the resort’s Human Resource Department to raise broader awareness of ecological among their associates in line with one of their corporate core values ‘Protecting the Environment’. The Earth Day celebration saw approximately 200 associates of Sutera Harbour Resort participate in a ‘Gotong Royong’ to clean the resort and planting trees to show their spirit of Community Involvement, which is among one of the resort’s core values. Sutera Harbour’s

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b u for grubs r g o How t

OPINION SABAH, LAND BELOW THE WIND, a land of natural beauty and diversity. We say this when we introduce our State to our tourists. We are very proud of this fact and will never grow tired of expounding on our beautiful countryside, our rainforests and the fauna that live within. We extol the beauty of our rivers, our waterfalls, our mountains and the friendly beautiful people that inhabit our land. However, blanket promotion of our tourism product may be too general at times and there may be time when we have to introduce our tourism products by the district. Each district in the State has something interesting to share with tourists. There are the traditions of the ethnic majority in that area, the natural attractions and also their festivals. These can be the main products. The other side products, although no less important is the handicrafts, the foods, the costumes and the local agricultural produce. Social Activist, Datuk Patrick Sindu, concurs with the idea and believe that each district have its own identity that can be promoted as tourism products. “In Sabah, each district is unique due to the diverse ethnic group residing within the State. One ethnic group may be the main population of a certain district, so the main cultural festival in that area may be different from another district where the majority of the residents are of another ethnic group.” According to him, this festival and the cultural as well as traditional norms of that group can be picked as the main tourism attraction, to be pro-

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Community Involvement efforts are diversely focused in the areas of humanities and health with the greatest emphasis placed on charity. Their associates are encouraged to be civic minded in their efforts to community and charitable organisations. Also present to plant the trees to mark the Earth Day were Ravindran Kathiravelu, Chief Operating Officer of Sutera Harbour Resort and the Executive Committee of the resort.

Earth Day

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New Sabah Times

By ANNA VIVIENNE

Promoting tourism by the district moted actively on the tourism market. Tambunan where the bamboo festival and the Harvest Festival are celebrated annually may be a good example of what he means as well as Beaufort where the Adau Janang Gayuh celebration is held due to the majority of Bisaya there and of course the Kalimaran in Tenom, a Murut celebration. It must be stressed that there are many other ethnic groups living in those areas, who participate in the main celebration, through exhibitions and cultural performances. Patrick stresses, “This is not to say that the minority is sidelined. They too should be promoted with the larger group. Their handicrafts and food as well as agricultural produce can be promoted especially during cultural festivals.” “In fact, the ethnic minority can hold their own celebrations especially if they are involved in the homestay programme. This will add flavour to their homestay packages.” On how to promote tourism of the ‘grassroot’ level such as ethnic festivals and celebrations as well as natural attractions, he says that the people’s representatives and community leaders have major roles in this task. “The State Assemblyman on his rounds and interaction with the people should identify tourism products in his constituency. For

instance, he should take note of the natural attraction in the countryside or villages and encourage his constituents to take part in the homestay programme.” “He should also look at the handicrafts being produced there and talk to the people about promoting and of course selling that in a centralised market together with the main agricultural produce of that area. The agricultural produce can be fruits or crops like maize, potatoes, tapioca and bananas among others. They don’t have to be sold in its natural condition ether; they can be processed and sold in processed forms. Other than that, local cakes and biscuits can also be sold.” “Of course he must make sure that these programmes and projects are available to everybody. To ensure this, he must make sure that all the villages in his constituents have serviceable roads besides other basic amenities such as water and electricity supply.” “When all these are in place, then he can promote his area as a tourism destination. He can select an identity for his district and coin that in every promotion.” Patrick concedes that this is a tough mission, but the assemblyman does not have to work on his own in this task. He can form a committee to look into this project, but he has to monitor the process carefully so that the people will benefit fully. “Promoting tourism by the district in the State is an excellent idea but this needs concerted efforts by those concerned such as the assemblyman for that area and his officers as well as enthusiastic cooperation from the people.”

he Sago palm is a very useful tree. It can be on par with the coconut tree in its usefulness. The leaves can be used for roofs, the branches can be used to make containers of every kind; for paddy, for rice and for catch or games. You can even make a chicken coop from it. The bark can be used to make walls and floors, with the pith can be used as food. Extract edible starch from the pith and you have sago to make into pancakes, ambuyat (edible gum!) and snacks. However, that is not the only food item that could be garnered from this plant. There is the grub. Sago grubs are popular with the natives in Sabah, especially among

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the Kadazandusun-Murut community. These grubs, known in the Dusun tongue as ‘Butod’ is usually harvested from felled and decayed sago trunk. In my community, the damaged trunk of the sago is left for the adult beetles to live in and inevitably lay their eggs. They are left undisturbed for at least a couple of month. After that the people will go and see whether the grubs are big enough to harvest. They do this by listening to the trunk. They put their ears close to the trunk and listen for scratching sounds. They will then determine whether the grubs are big enough to harvest or not. If they want to make doubly sure, they will cut open a section of the rotting trunk and look inside.

Upon finding the grubs big enough, they will then cut open the trunk and grub through the mushy inside. Usually they will be rewarded with fat wriggly grubs. Sago grubs are usually boiled with other items, like spring onions and tender manioc leaves. These grubs can also be fried or skewered and roasted over a slow charcoal fire. They are quite delicious, but it is an acquired taste. In Kuala Penyu, the locals say the sago grub is just one of the foods they usually eat and they are quite adept at preparing them. This grub is of the Rhynchophori Dae family. Apparently the people of Papua, New Guinea, also like eating Sago grubs and often boil or roast them over an open fire. Their edible sago grub however is of the Rhynchophorus ferrungineus genus. They look the same, except theirs look a bit greenish. Anyway, if you are operating a homestay and you may want to show your tourists how to grub for grubs, these are the actions you can take.