The Penans of Ulu Magoh

During the recent Chinese New Year holidays, I went on a trek with a group of friends into the interior of Sarawak, Malaysia. Our objective was to understand the life and struggle of one of the last hunter-gatherer tribes on earth, the Penans. This trek was inspired by Bruno Manser, the Swiss conservationist who was an activist for Penan rights.

What attracted me to the trip was the spontaneity of it all. It wasn't part of any tour package. It was more like backpacking in the middle of the jungle with elements of adventure, danger and unpredictability thrown in. More so, there was a possibility we would be retracing the steps taken by Bruno Manser during his his involvement with the Penans around the Magoh area.

The plan was to trek from Long Seridan into Ulu Magoh, where we will spend the night. From there, we were to go to Long Balau and then back to Long Seridan.

We arrived in Long Seridan at 11.30am via the twin-otter Maswings flight. Our trek leader secured a guide through his contact in this small Kelabit village. Before setting off, we walked around to take in the sights and sounds of the area.

Long Seridan is the hub that connects the interior settlements to modern facilities. This is the nearest place where people who live in the surrounding forest can seek medical help and education. We visited a local 'rumah sakai', a longhouse accommodation for transient visitors from the interior. The rumah sakai was bare and deplorable, with rubbish strewn all over the place, and child scribblings adorning its dirty walls. There, we met an old Penan lady infected with malaria who came all the way from Ulu Magoh for treatment only to find the medical assistant on annual leave.

After getting our supplies, we went off in the direction of Ulu Magoh at 1 pm. Our guides estimated that we would reach there by 6 pm.

The route took us onto steep hills, treacherous ridges, slippery downhills and river crossings with swift currents. By 5 pm we thought we would already be near to the Penan settlement, but we trekked further on into the forest until 12 am! The guides had underestimated the time it would take for us city slickers to reach the destination. We finally decided to camp by the river because it was already late despite the guides saying the village was very near. We were tired, hungry and aching all over. All we wanted to do was sleep.

At dawn, the Penans came to our campsite to lead us to their settlement. The guides had gone ahead earlier and informed them of our arrival. We had expected a large longhouse at Ulu Magoh, but in fact the settlement consists of three huts built with tree logs held together with rattan strings, and old zinc sheets as roof materials. We spent the whole day here recuperating, and getting to know the friendly semi-nomadic Penans.

The Ulu Magoh settlement was very basic and spartan. There was no electricity, no water supply and no sewerage system. They depend solely on the forest for their needs.

One of our guides turned out to be the daughter of the chieftain, Sayat Magut. Lujan Magut had led us through the forest barefoot. Her stature resembled that of her father: muscular, with wide shoulders and huge hands and feet. We found out that Lujan was refused admission to school in Long Seridan because she suffers from a mild case of epilepsy.

Sayat had eight children but one had died. He later showed us where he had buried his son, which was quite a distance from his settlement. He said he will build a farm around his son's grave soon.

Two of Sayat's daughters, Diana and Remen, attend boarding school in Long Seridan. They were home when we visited. We saw them as very keen to learn as they were doing their schoolwork that evening. What struck me hard was knowing they had to take the tough route we had trekked in order to go to school. That route was tough and dangerous, even for an adult, what more for a mere child. Then I remembered the old lady with malaria from Ulu Magoh. How she must have suffered even further to get treatment for her disease.

When I saw Sayat's youngest, a toddler named Luna, my heart broke. She has been coughing for three months, with nothing more to wear everyday than a small frock.

"We couldn't afford treatment for her," said Sayat, who was proficient in Malay. "We have little money."

With that, we pooled all the medications we had among us: antibiotics, paracetamols and vitamin, and gave the pills to them. Luckily one of the trek member is a doctor.

The Penans at Ulu Magoh very much depend on the forest for their needs. A visit to one of the huts revealed that poisonous blow darts are still being made and used to hunt deer and boar. A glimpse at the simple hearth saw a bowl of half-eaten frogs caught in the nearby river, while at the corner of the hut lay strips of rattans to be weaved into baskets.

As I spent the day observing their simple lifestyle, I cannot help but admire their steadfastness in preserving their way of life. Many other indigenous tribes have resigned to live the modern life and abandon their dependence of the rainforest for sustenance. However, the signs of logging around Magoh are a dark omen for things to come for these hunter-gatherers.

That night as I lay down on my sleeping bag, the smoky aroma of burning firewood permeating permeating through my senses and hearing the soft lilting melody from a homemade guitar playing from a nearby hut, I cannot help but wonder about the future of these semi-nomadic Penans and their nomadic brethren. Must they abandon the rainforest for the sake of progress? It is a must for every human here on earth to strive for modernization? What about those who does not want to? What does fate have in store for them?

The next morning as we were about to head to Long Balau, we said our goodbyes to the hospitable people of Ulu Magoh. Indeed, they had very little, but they had shared with us what they had without any reservations. Even with such basic necessities, we felt comfortable and welcomed.

Faye Osman is a freelance writer and photographer based in Sarawak, Malaysia. She writes about her thoughts and travels as she journeys around Borneo to immerse herself in local culture.

For more stories and images from the mystical island of Borneo, visit her website at http://www.fayeosman.com

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