Thursday, October 1, 2009

Travel Guide: Lundu-Biawak Road, A Signboard At Last (After A Long 37 Years Of Waiting)


Waiting for thirty seven years within a person's life span is a very long period of time indeed. Judging from past experiences, nobody would have expected it to come "so soon". The signboard is there nevertheless, barely twenty four hours ago to be exact. May be the fact that it has been so long overdue could now be forgiven. Or may be it is too soon to be too euphoric about it until the upgrading is completed from end to end. The signboard says that the date of completion would be on 22 February, 2011. Between now and then there might be a lot of "un-sangka-able" things that might happen. Again, our our past experiences whisper to us that. By the way, "unsangkaable" is the writer's own term for unpredictable.

But one wonder, without being malice or sinister though, why must there be a tag line or catch word which reads "Jasa Kepada Rakyat" on the top most of the signboard? Loosely translated to English, that would mean "Deeds To The People/Citizens". Does it not sound more appropriate and befitting if the catch word is "Tanggungjawab Kepada Rakyat" which means "Responsibility Towards The People/Citizens" when this is after all done by the "government of the people, by the people, for the people"? Indeed, all throughout the history of Sarawak's free election, no government of the day candidates have ever been rejected by the voters in the affected areas. To compound that, millions have been extracted from along the road and it's surrounding geography and this upgrading of the road should be some kind of a "compensation" albeit having to wait for such a long, long time. I am not into politics though, just an ordinary citizen who feels that we should have been given what is due, with all honesty.

That being said, if and when the upgrading is completed on the 22/02/2011 as advertised, citizens living along the Lundu-Biawak Road should be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Generally industrious, the mainly Salako and Rara community within the geography should be able  to harness their own full potentials to participate in whatever suitable endeavor they are capable of to upgrade their standard of living. By then there should be no more dust, no more huge puddles and gravel and no more treacherous and bumpy journey for them to participate in whatever undertakings as true citizens of Malaysia. If indeed there are manifestations of this bountiful, beloved motherland, this upgrading of the road should be one of it.

By the way though, come 23/02/2011, some local business sectors might be slightly affected. Expect less tire punctures, engines and suspensions breakdowns and anything related with motor vehicles care and maintenance. This would mean less frequent visits to mechanics and accessory outlets. Local vehicles shampoo agents would see some drop in business because there would be less need for them amongst vehicle owners along Lundu-Biawak Road as the dusty road of yesteryears are now RIP. Shops selling face masks would see their sales dwindle a bit due to the above signboard. On the plus side, more new helmets and motorcycles would probably be sold.

And by the way too, expect emergency calls for emergency prayers at odd times due to reckless driving and unnecessary speeding. God forbid, may these not be the case.

Oh, one more thing, in as far as this road upgrading is concerned, let the credits belong to this bountiful and blessed motherland. Nobody should therefore be downgraded to owing something to somebody.

Further related articles can be read here, here, here, and here.



The signboard put up barely 24 hours ago. The writings say it all.


The road condition as time-stamped.


Strategically put up right at the junction of Lundu-Biawak Road.


The writer's visualization of how travel to Biawak would be after 22/02/2011


After 22/02/2011, hopefully no images similar to these below would ever be seen or recorded again by anyone traveling along Lundu-Biawak Road.


During dry seasons.


During wet seasons.


During dry seasons.


During wet seasons.


20 comments:

Gold Arawana said...

Tahniah dan syabas kepada semua penduduk sepanjang Jalan Lundu Biawak.....

Arap maraga koa dimijawat untukh kabaikatn rakyat...

Kasia Kanaun @ Raya Ramoh said...

GA,

Ana' unang kali ia dabua' ait nyian. Kalo dabu' uga', antah jamaya' tohe dunia balah sia.

Anonymous said...

Just wondering.

The folks along Biawak road are now going to have to adjust to the improved road, what after 30 over years of breathing in and eating dust, and riding and driving over pot holes, gravels and mud.

So will the wildlife, the flora and fauna and the livestocks along the road need to adjust. After all the years of being caked in dust during the dry months, and caked in mud during the wet ones.

I foresee this. The Biawak folks are going to have to adjust their vehicles suspension settings from hard to soft. Yes, they are finally going to be able to see and appreciate the color of the ir vehicles. Demand for car shampoos and car wash is going down. There is going to be less need to clean the vehicles now. Biawak folks will have to learn to drive faster, what with all these years driving gingerly over the mud and avoiding those pot holes and loose gravels. A great development for Mat Rempits.

The Biawak folks will have to get used to the loud noise of speeding traffic. Laundry will now dry faster and cleaner. But they will probably need to starch their laundry, now that there is no more road dust to stiffen it. Demand for hair shampoo will drop, and demand for hair gel and mousse wil go up. There is going to be less need to clean the hair, but the Biawak folks will need something new to stiffen their hair, now that there is no more road dust to do the job for them.

The Biawak folks will need to adjust their housekeeping routines. They will sweep, dust and mop their homes less. What are they going to do? Let us hope will find productive ways to use this freed time.

The Biawak folks will now realise that the cream-coloured chicken, pigs and dogs that they reared all this time are actually brown, black, red, yellow (fill in the colours). So will the livestocks and pets; they will realize that their do not exactly look alike anymore. Itis going to cause some confusion. Livestocks and pets will need to cross the road faster now. The traffic is going to be a lot faster and a lot more dangerous than it used to be. So back to road skills and road etiquette schools for them.

The vegetations along the road will look green. So that is what a tapioca leaf and a rambutan leaf looks like. They looked better when they were all a uniform dust colour.

The Biawak folks will find that in the 1 hour plus thay used to take to go to Lundu, they will now be able to reach Bau and Kuching. So expect them to go to Bau and Kuching instead. Lundu is going down, I foresee. Bad karma.

The Biawak folks will have to learn to drive on the left side of the road. They must learn that they do not need to pick the parts of road that is less pot-holed and muddy anymore. It was fun being able to drive on any part of the road they wanted to. But now they must drive straight up, like a left winger on the football field. You are not Critiano Ronaldo; you cannot change your position from the left wing to the midfield and to the right and back as you like. But then again, there may be some ingrained and diehard C. Ronaldo type motorists in Biawak still.

Pity the Biawak folks. Why must things change? What is another 20 years when they have waited, survived and adapted for 30 over years? Perhaps the authorities should set up a change management committee to ease in the Biawak folks to the new dust-free and porthole-free road experience. After all the 30 over years of experience is not somethning you can brush aside overnight. Biawak folks must be prepared for hangovers and nostalgia. Some like the blogger Kasia Kanaun will probably go cold-turkey to get rid of his old Biawak habits.

Oh, what a development!

(satire from a demented mind)

Kasia Kanaun @ Raya Ramoh said...

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for the comment.

I guess you must have had quite some "jumpy, dusty and muddy" experiences traveling along the road thus the quite lengthy "satirical lamentation", which to my mind is an act of sympathy and concern on your part.

We will have to wait until after the 22/02/2011 to see if those adjustments must come true.

Meanwhile, there isn't much euphoria yet shown by the folks along that road, may be not until the upgrade is complete from end to end. This is not a sign of ungratefulness though but I have an inner feeling that they have learned their history lesson quite well.

Binau Uwap said...

Tahniah Ua, usaha kitak daam blog nyian sadikit sabanyak marek sumbangan ugak untuk ngance'hik projek nyian an dah ama giak karajaan bajanji maok nyawat.

Tapi sedih ugak dah ada urang-urang tuha dirik an dah ninga'ant, napant sampat nanang maraga ko jaji huuuuu

Anonymous said...

Re-education of a Biawak driver.

Driving Re-educator (DR): No, no, don't grip the steering wheel so hard! Relax, just feel the steering. You are driving on good road now. Careful, be careful! Your car has power steering.

Biawak Driver (BD) smiles, and assumes his standard driving posture.

DR: Don't lean forward. Don't be rigid like that. Lean back on your seat. That is why the seats have a backrest. You can see the road ahead very clearly now. There is no dust on the road. Just relax. You are not driving a tractor.

BD adjusts his sitting and appreciates how much more comfortable it is. They have been driving for 2 kilometers, and he notices that DR looks fightened.

DR: Move up your gears! You have been on the 2nd gear and doing 10 km per hour for the last 2 kilometers. Drive faster. There is long queue behind us. It is ok, you are not speeding. The road is good now. See, there are no potholes and mud. Drive, drive faster. Go 6o km per hour. Go 5th gear.

BD smiles weakly, changes to 3rd and then 4th gear and gingerly presses presses harder on the accelerator. His heart is beating fast. This is a new experience!

After 1 kilomster.

DR: Hey, watch where you are going. Keep to the left side. You almost hit that lorry coming this way. No, no, you can't go to the right side. Just stick to the left. There is not more pothole and mud to avoid. Don't worry.

BD sticks to the left side like a leech and maintains a steady speed of 65 km per hour. He is doing good. Biawak people are fast learners.

Soon they reach Biawak bazaar, and have drinks on a dust free table (for once)

DR: You are okay. You learn fast. Remember this. Relax, sit comfortably and use all your gears. Stick to the left side. Use the horn only in emergencies and don't switch on the headlights during the day. You are not driving through a dust storm anymore. You may also want to change your floor mats to something that is less heavy duty.

DR: Another thing. I notice most of the people here have nice supple and fluffy hair. I remember Biawakians have stiff wiry hair, almost punk-like. Yes, it looks like things are changing for Biawakians. Even your hairstyle is changing.

Kasia Kanaun @ Raya Ramoh said...

Dear Anonymous,

LOL. Your comment really make my day.

But I fear that scenario would not come to soon. The date of commencement of the upgrading says 28/08/2009 but the heavy machineries for the tasks are still illusive, no where to be seen yet. It reminds me of the "longest bridge in Sarawak", the Batang Kayan Bridge, when it took seven years for them to complete a barely 100+ meters long bridge. Seven years for that length is a record (hardly challenged)you know, thus I say the longest.

Well, when that comes, then it would be like The Transformers sort of characters. Though the road grudgingly evolved, but I think the populace there will "revolve" and dance the tune quite effortlessly, with minor hiccups and glitches though. Anyway, a cup of coffee and a bowl of "mee kolok" is worth a betting I suppose.

But what if the signboard is just there? Dare to bet? LOL

qirxie said...

link to your Salako Bato added on both ofpal and GnM

kiawarman said...

impian mjadi kenyataan! repo lah nonton gawei ka rmh ktk kalak :)

Anonymous said...

Dear kiawarman,

Mereka baru pasang papan tanda sahaja. Belum lagi mula kerja2 pembinaan. Setakat ini cuma sedang rancak kerja sukat menyukat. Entah2 nanti macam Jambatan Batang Kayan, berkali-kali tukar kontrektor, bertahun-tahun menunggu.

Anonymous said...

Time economy slowdown sekarang lagi lah SLOW MEN AT WORK.. segala gala nya..

Anonymous said...

The notice board states the completion date as 12/02/2011. The starting date is written as 28/08/2009. But the first week of October 2009 is gone, and the contractor has not started the work. The way it is going, this may be another long-drawn and long-past-due date overrun project like the Batang Kayan Bridge as some of the respondents have mentioned.

For the record, the English Channel tunnel took 6 years to build compared to 7 for the Batang Kayan Bridge. But then maybe the English Channel, at 51km, is small compared to the gigantic Batang Kayan.

As for the upgraded Biawak road, I hope that it will be fully realigned and re-leveled, with proper road shoulders and run-offs and drainage. It should be a proper new road, not just a surfacing the existing road. A CIQ town like Biawak and its people deserves a proper road after having to suffer all these years.

Augustine said...

Dear Biawakians,
Just beware of BN ploy. This upgrading will not start until June 2010, that is if BN win in Biawak.

This is mere ploy to "pancing undi" la...state election predicted around march 2010.

By the way, who is the DUN guy here? Is it Mr Ranum Mina?

Augustine said...

Dear Sir/ Web Owner,
Can you widen your coverage on issues pertaining to Bidayuh? It should be more fun and exciting if you can cover Bau-Lundu area so as to catch more followers- readers la... TQ.

Woman and a pet snake said...

The client should be the people of Lundu, not the Government of Malaysia

Anonymous said...

"jasa kepada rakyat" ??????

what does it mean jasa kepada rakyat?? thats not "jasa" but "responsibility". all of that is our money...tax payers money. bukan duit kerajaan...tapi duit rakyat!!!

they should put up there:
"thank you lundu folks for choosing us as Kerajaan. Now we will fulfill our responsibilities"

dayaksalako said...

dah masuk tahut'n 2012 nyian, maraga napat'n siap. Pangalok kayak unang, tahi palat balaie ang talibat koa. janji maok siap buat'n nov 2011 tapi damea dah jaji? maraga ang di tar 1 km kahae dari simpak'ng biawak nyabak kpg Rukap,m. Dari Kpg Rukap,m sampae ka Biawak maraga makit'n tarok, ari darak'ng badabu, ari ujat,n maraga maecak sampae motor lap. ada van tabalik di simpak'ng Kpg Jantan akhir buat'n Disember ari koa. sampae kaniak maraga koa di tingat'n entak-entak napat'n di karajaan. kontraktor dah dari, bukat,n satu kontraktor ang talibat tetapi 3 sub kontraktor ang terlibat, tapi anak ugak siap.. amea dah jaji urak'ng kampuk'ng makin sengsara gara-gara maraga koa makin taruk..nyata giak bangsa salako kana tindas, kalo di tampat bangsa lain dah ama maraga koa dah siap... kaniak harapan tinggal harapan....

zionistsky said...

kasih ku nanang nenek ku mun mau ka kabon, ngantam dabu....

kent1189 said...

dh nk habis tahun 2012, janji 22/2/2011 nk siap, sekarang jln biawak masih lagi belum siap-siap, jambatan ke kpg selampit yang djanjikan pada 2006 smpai sekarang belum lagi nampak apa2, air bersih pun x supply lagi. Janji-janji macam tin kosong, bunyi kuat tapi kosong.. inilah keadaan parti pemerintah di kawasan ini sekarang. Cakap parti pembangkang janji kosong, tapi sebenarnya sama sahaja, mungkin parti pembangkang bagus lagi jika diberi peluang memerintah. Pemimpin tertinggi sarawak pun x pernah menjejakkan kaki ke kawasan ni, mungkin tak nak kasut kena debu dan lumpur, tak nak pinggang sakit lalu jln berlubang, takut rambut putih bertambah putih oleh debu dan takut diserang sesak nafas menghirup udara penuh debu, atau mungkin dia fikirkan kawasan biawak ni tidak memberikan income kepada mereka2 ni. Ini menggambarkan pemimpin di kawasan ini sekarang tidak layak menjadi pemimpin lagi untuk pilihanraya umum akan datang..

visit salako's blogger lowisslow.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Sekarang sudah siap ke?
Aku mahu pergi Singkawang.