Author: Valentine Tawie Salok

For over forty years, longhouses in the Melupa area, at middle Krian in Saratok, have been surviving on water from ‘gravity feed’.  These ten longhouses, namely Kedap, Nanga Assam, Sungai Belong, Tanjung Sikup, Munggu Embawang, Pelaie Ili, Pelaie Ulu, Mendas Asal, Mendas Baruh and Mendas Atas,  most of which are

Pemakai Menua and Pulau Galau (PMPG) issue remains a hot topic that should be handled properly as it involves a big section of our people, particularly the Dayak community. As I am not an expert or well endowed with knowledge in this domain, it better be left to the relevant

This is my 54th article in this column As I See It, a figure of vital significance to me for 1954 was the year of my birth. Of course my entry to this world of the living was attributed to the love of mom (indai) and dad (apai). When I

Many people called me at my personal number making further queries on Dunging Gunggu (1904-1985) subsequent to my last week’s column. As such I am compelled to write this ‘part two’ piece on him. “Tu ukai ulih aku belajar tang ulih nengkebang magang (These are not copied from others but

Those born in the fifties and early sixties in the Betong, Debak, Saratok, Roban and Sarikei areas would certainly have heard of Dunging anak Gunggu (1904-1985). He might be known for his Iban Alphabet also known as Urup Dunging, thanks to his grandson Associate Prof. Bromley Philip but many of

Nature’s best scenery is manifested by the greenery of ‘ulu’ (remote) hinterland, namely the soothing images and smell of trees, vegetations and the foliage around one’s vicinity. That is if you are living at the jungle’s edge, like we did in the early sixties or as long as my memory

During a musical journey of nearly fifty years since 1968 I have been involved in a number of musical bands. These involvement s wer e either as a player (member) in the respective bands or accompanied by them during performances. Many of them are just blurred and distant memories while

Having been invited to have an exclusive lunch with a diplomat from the United States of America on Friday 6 October was a privilege. Our lunch at Lepau Restaurant in Ban Hock road shadowed accordingly from the morning or afternoon sun by the six-storey Grand Supreme just a few yards

I started having a crush on someone when I was in Primary Five in an upriver school; she was in studying Primary Six in a town school. During that Christmas of 1966 I was on cloud nine but it was a shortlived flirtatious affair, for when school reopened a week later,

‘Sadin pusu’- any canned food is a ‘sadin’ of any kind for ethnic Iban longhouse folks – is no longer as tasty as it was in the 60s. When the ‘Sambal ikan bilis (anchovies)’ first arrived at a tuckshop by the river bank at our old Kedap longhouse, it cost