Heidi Munan’s incredible journey as a European living in Sarawak has touched many people with the knowledge she shares about the state’s beauty through her lens.
Sarawak’s cultural heritage keeps Heidi Munan going
There is so much about the beauty of Sarawak that intrigues Heidi Munan.
Born in Switzerland, Heidi then spent her adolescent years in New Zealand.
While studying Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English and German at a university there, she met a handsome young Sarawakian man, Sidi Munan, whom she had followed back to his hometown, Kuching.
For her, it was easy to fall in love with a foreign country like Sarawak because of its hospitality and cultural heritage — something that had always fascinated her since she was young.
“When we first moved to New Zealand when I was 15, I experienced a different culture, a different race known as Maori. I found that quite interesting.”
As she recollected her memories from more than seven decades ago, Heidi remembers the landscape where she spent most of her adolescent years.
At her family’s farm in a Maori village, in a green grass area with a herd of cows, Heidi was able to observe how people from a different culture lived.
“I saw women weaving mats among other handicrafts. Being able to witness that opened my mind,” she said.
When she arrived in Sarawak, Heidi, drawn to the culture, was mesmerised and curious.
What piqued her interest the most were the things that people here made with their hands.
“With my interest in material culture, I was excited to see the handicrafts such as beadings and weavings here.
“And then there was my mother-in-law, who was a skilled mat maker who made the most beautiful sleeping mats with all these intricate patterns. If I asked her a question, she would gladly explain each pattern, its symbols, and meanings. All of this I found very interesting,” she shared.
Among the many questions Heidi would ask over the course of her decades spent living in Sarawak, the first few that she had in mind was why Asians eat rice every day.
The answer, which she gathered from many observations and questions, all boils down to the rhythm of our culture, which has been constructed over the centuries.
“Of course, I wouldn’t mind having rice every day. But all of this is unfamiliar to me. I found everything here to be quite mysterious until I ask questions, and I am not shy to ask more.”
Being a European in Sarawak
When Heidi arrived in the Land of the Hornbills, her first few jobs here included writing for the Sarawak Tribune’s women’s page in the 1960s and teaching both local students and the children of New Zealand and Canadian expatriates.
She was also chosen to serve as the Sarawak Museum’s honorary curator. At times, she would guide European and American tourists around Sarawak.
Aside from her different responsibilities as a writer, curator, tour guide, and teacher, she had a deep interest in research, which she subsequently compiled into a book.
With her curiosity for the state, she would go for research trips to rural Sarawak in search of answers to questions such as: Why do some cultures wear this? Why do some people have the habit of wearing hats? What about the beads the Orang Ulus’ are fond of? What about the food that each ethnicity eats?
“I take notes each time I do research. The first time I seriously went out on a research trip was when I was looking into Sarawak beads. It was a report on the status of the beads in the year 2000. I was travelling a lot in 1998 and 1999. I was going all over the place. I visited the Ulu areas, Baram, and Ba’kelalan,” recalled the jovial octogenarian.
However, there were no recorders available for her to use in order to document her interviews with the people there.
“So, what I’d do is talk to them without writing. Then, while they were eating or drinking, I’d sit in the corner and jot down what they said. But when I returned to Kuching, sometimes I couldn’t read my own handwriting because I wrote too quickly.”
To date, Heidi has produced a number of books about Sarawak. Among her most notable ones are “Beads of Borneo”, “Food Heritage of Sarawak: A Cultural Perspective”, “Sarawak Folktales”, and her most recent “The Sartorial Heritage of Sarawak: A Study of Local Clothing Traditions”.
Experience in the technology revolution
Heidi, who has been a writer for decades, recalls the first typing device she used in the 1960s.
“When I was in university, I used to type my term papers on a typewriter. So, it would be a 10-page term paper; I finished it and made copies. Then, as I read through it, I realised it was too long in one section, so I had to shift the paragraphs. Then I’d have to start all over again.”
As she continued to write, she came across a newer device, a word-style computer program.
“The formatting was done with keystrokes, and it did not appear on the screen as it does on paper. Nonetheless, we made it through that period.”
After experiencing many advancements in technology, Heidi is now typing on a computer.
“It is now easier to type on the computer because I do not have to retype the same thing three times. The disadvantage is that I will never get a final version. Until I send the draft to the editors, I will always be fiddling with the writings.”
Furthermore, the computer and the internet were the tools that became all too convenient for assisting her research work.
Previously, she had to go to the library and flip through books to conduct her research, but now everything is done with just a click of a mouse.
“For one of my research, I spent 10 days at the Singapore University’s School of Asian Studies library. It was a beautiful one, with tons of books about Sarawak. Back in the 1990s, there were also books in the form of microfilms. Though I still enjoy visiting the library today, it’s much easier to look at books now as I can search for them over the internet even if they are at a library in Holland!”
In her home, Heidi has shelves upon shelves of books that she has accumulated over the years.
“I even have a complete collection of the Sarawak’s Museum Journal,” she revealed.
But having books makes cleaning hard for her, she said.
“I’d just wind up stumbling across a book, and then I’d be stuck reading it. That’s how much I love books,” she added.
Her daily routine
A slower pace than in her earlier and more youthful days, Heidi’s daily schedule begins with breakfast with her husband. She would next do a few chores before sitting down to work at her computer.
In the afternoon, after lunch, Heidi enjoys watching a myriad of news programmes from different countries and comparing their reports all the while doing needlework — a therapeutic hobby she had picked up while living in Switzerland.
According to her, knitting, or doing handicrafts was something that every little girl in the 1940s had to learn.
“My mother and grandmother both knit. It’s probably why I was drawn to material culture. We were taught at a young age to create things with our hands.”
Having lived her whole life exploring, Heidi, with her enormous knowledge of Sarawak, lays back laughing at what’s on her television all the while creating a weave of heritage in the form of needlework.
As she incorporates elements of Sarawak wildlife and cultural heritage into the various knitting projects she does, Heidi revealed that her handicrafts are sold at the Borneo Cultures Museum shop, with every profit going to the cancer society.
