Taken during the Kanjet Ngeleput dance of an Orang Ulu warrior, this portrait shows off the magnificent ceremonial head dress comprising of Sarawakian beaded motifs, hornbill feathers and tufts representative of what I assume to be monkey fur. The dance portrays the stealthy warrior advancing through the Bornean jungle, hunting prey with a blowpipe and poison darts.
Canon EOS 50, 200mm f/2.8L, Fuji Neopan 400 B&W film
Filed under Malaysian Borneo
Miri is an oil town, Malaysia’s first oil town. I didn’t have much to do in Miri except pay homage to the the Grand Old Lady (Malaysia’s first oil well) and wander the back-streets looking for photo opportunities, taking care not to disturb the rabid dogs.
Canon EOS 50, 17-40mm f/4L, Fuji Neopan 400 B&W film
Filed under Malaysian Borneo
The sape is a traditional lute used by the Orang Ulu or interior people of Central Borneo. It is hand carved from a single bole of wood, as being carried out by the man in the background. Tebuloh (a diptercarp) is considered the best wood for the instrument due to it being bitter (avoided by insects). The frets, which are movable to facilitate different tunings and playing styles, are made from palm stalk and are held down with a gum derived from a local bee. The frets of the sape pictured map out a pentatonic scale.
Originally used as an instrument to induce trance during healing rituals, the sape is now used to accompany modern recreational dances of the many Bornean tribes. The sound can be described as both soothing and melancholic with a natural rhythm reminiscent of relaxed breathing.
Canon EOS 50, 17-40mm f/4L, Fuji Neopan 400 B&W film
Filed under Malaysian Borneo
This portrait captures a Sarawak artisan engrossed in her work in a pottery factory on Penrissen Road, Kuching. I have tried to increase visual clutter whilst minimising depth of field in this photograph to really draw attention to the artisan’s high level of concentration.
Ceramics were introduced to the Sarawak people by the Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai. After initially being imported, ceramics began to be made locally by skilled Teochew potters and were traditionally made as large jars used for domestic storage. Nowadays, as more efficient methods have been adopted for storage, the market for ceramics has shifted to provide for the tourism industry. Modern Sarawakian potters use distinctive hand carved designs akin to the dominant Dayak tribal groups (as seen in the photograph).
Canon EOS 50, 200mm f/2.8L, Fuji Neopan 400 B&W film
Filed under Malaysian Borneo
The Semengoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is an education facility and temporary home for orphaned, injured or illegally kept endangered Bornean animals such as the orang utan, sun bear, gibbon and hornbill. The animals arrive at the centre near Kuching, Sarawak, after either being confiscated from their owners or brought in by members of the public and park rangers. The main attraction for visitors to the centre is the orang utans which are free to traverse the tree-tops of the 740 hectare jungle reserve. The wardens eventually teach the younger orang utans enough about independence that they can be released back into the wild.
I was fortunate to visit Semengoh after a couple of days of heavy rain. A large percentage of the ~25 orang utans on site were out looking for food whilst the weather was good: Richie the Alpha Male, mothers with babies and cheeky youngsters stealing food when Richie wasn’t looking. They were so joyfully destructive in breaking trees branches to drop onto the people staring up at them from below, in using their weight to swing the flexible trees back and forth and in smashing coconut shells against tree trunks that it almost inspired me to drop all my inhibitions and climb up to join them. Had it not been for the stories of their incredible physical strength of picking up women with a single arm (and of course the watchful eyes of the wardens) I probably would have at least attempted…
Filed under Malaysian Borneo
