Durians the king of fruits are flooding the market again here in Kuching city. Just a day ago while making a trip to E-Mart here in Matang I encountered a sudden urge to sample the tasty golden flesh of the Musang King variety at a stall there and thus paying RM30 for the one that I enjoyed which the operator complied with my request to have it opened on the spot.
Other fruits of the same stock fetched prices between RM28 and RM35 each. It was worth it. When I asked where the stock came from the man operating the stall said he obtained them from Bau. At another stall, there were varieties of the fruits, big and small and I suspect they came from Serian which reminded me some beautiful moments enjoying the durians belonging to one Mr Chai (now deceased) from Serian next to Kampung Kakai in 1986/87 when we were invited to his house by the roadside on the Serian/Kuching road for a durian treat. I was then serving as acting principal of SMK Serian and Chai’s wife Mdm Ting was a teacher in the school.
In Satok a few days ago, there were two vans selling the king of fruits by the roadside and I noticed there were a big number of customers too. Perhaps they were a slight hinderance to the traffic flow there.
This is a moment when there are a lot of durians on sale by the roadside along the Pan Borneo Highway from Serian to Sri Aman, from Sri Aman to Sarikei as well along the Kuching/Kota Samarahan Expressway and elsewhere thus giving members of the community to spoil for choice. But perhaps this is still an early season, thus the fruits are sold for some hefty prices. One has to wait for two more weeks for a better bargain.
I recall my last trip to our durian orchard at Bila Dua in the Melupa River basin in Saratok was in 1992. We came in three cars from SMK Julau, Julau in Sarikei Division with the trip comprising three couples involving me and my spouse plus two other couples who were also teachers in the school. During the trip we stopped by my longhouse at Kedap, some 22 km from Saratok town and fetched my elder brother Jon and his two sons to lead the trip.
Then we proceeded to Nanga Assam School at middle Melupa River basin where we parked out cars and walked to dad’s birthplace Munggu Embawang longhouse a short distance from the school where we fetched an uncle, Nyiring Jembu, my father’s younger brother (now deceased) who led us along a jungle trek, taking about two hours to Bila Dua in upper Melupa. Halfway, we stopped by Letung Naga the site where my late dad saw a dragon flash while tapping rubber at their plantation by the lakeside circa 1926 when he was just a 16-year-old. This story was written by me in this column earlier titled ‘Dragon by day, Keling by night’.
So upon reaching Bila Dua we made a quick tent out of wood and leaves quickly. Luckily the weather was fine and upon checking the ground around the four durian trees, we found the ripe fruits a plenty having dropped on the ground. Our tents were erected further away from the trees in order to be free from the dropping zone. A few of us started using the fishing rod to catch some fish while my two nephews went at dusk looking for mouse-deer using a gun and caught two which they prepared in speedy style over the fire and were readily enjoyed by our group. So our dinner consisted of some fish and the barbequed mouse-deer. There was flush of strong wind rendering a good falling moment for the durian fruits.
Uncle Nyiring and my brother Jon had a good time sharing the ripe durians together with ‘cap langkau’ liqour and laughing loudly without any worry at all. None of us joined them doing such a potentially fatal combination. But my brother had done it many times before and telling uncle Nyiring he had nothing to worry about. They survived the ordeal and my brother now at 75 is still kicking while our uncle had passed on some years ago out of natural death in his late 80s.
We spent just a night at Bila Dua but really enjoyed it. We took some fruits back to Julau the next day but Jon and sons as well as uncle Nyiring remained in the valley for another evening.
Back in 1968, while being in Form One in SMK Saratok I went with a cousin and his father to Sebirung durian valleys in Assam, a Melupa tributary but going on land all the way over a distance that took about two hours plus on foot from Kedap. Sebirung is a shared communal area comprising four durian valleys namely Rajang, Tukak, Lusing and Lemayung. The three of us went to Rajang Valley but were later joined by four others who were communal owners of the shared property. All of us stayed inside tent of wood and leaves that were already built earlier by another group who had left. This was expected at the shared property and accepted each other. At times, another person’s presence could add value to the company in the middle of the thick jungle.
At the Rajang Valley there were four trees including one that was famous for its golden flesh which was similar to the Musang King. In Iban we call this ‘rian temaga’. That evening there was some strong winds that rendered many ripe fruits to drop or fall. In the early morning the next day I and my cousin speedily went to search for the fallen fruits of the ‘rian temaga’ variety and found aplenty. According to the sharing act, these should be gathered and put together with the other fruits found by others in the common pool.
However, we two the naughty culprits opted to hide a few fruits far away from the dropping zone and hid around four big ones to be collected later after the shared items were divided. We succeeded but the jungles had eyes and ears. I had to pay for my sin a year later when I was stung by a hornet called ‘Menaning’, the second most dangerous of the stinging insect. This was when I was looking for durians at the Tukak Valley of Sebirung but was stationed at Lusing Valley with a friend and my uncle. It was most painful sting I had ever suffered but I didn’t cry because my friend was younger than me. Luckily it happened during a school break. My left eye brow was swollen for about a week due to the sting.
This incident was a reminder that one needs to be careful in the jungles that they say have ears and eyes. There are restrictions one need to consider such as prohibition from saying anything when smelling perfume in the jungle because this could be due to the presence of a third party around you. One is also prohibited from burning salted fish because the smell could draw in insects and reptiles as well as wild animals.
My last trip to Sebirung Valley was in 1972 before sitting for the School Certificate examinations. I had to miss a day or two of school as a Form Five student in SMK Saratok due to being away in the durian excursion. Those were desperate moments due to my requirements to pay for the examination fees and I had to sell some durian fruits to obtain the required amount which was not that much. So after the durian sale I confidently returned to school with the fees but needed to explain to the principal Encharang Agas about my predicament. He was very understanding and let off me without any punishment, an act that I emulated when some students of the same school came over to see me when I headed the school 13 years later. In 1972, durians saved me from my quandary over exam fees.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the New Sarawak Tribune.
