STUDENTS' ARTICLES
· A Field Trip to Kampong Merangking
· School Excursion to KBFSC
· Study Trip to Taman Warisan Tasek Merimbun
On
Friday, 24th March 2000, 35 members of Geography Club of Sekolah
Menengah Sayyidina ‘Othman, accompanied by 4 teachers and 6 officers from the
Curriculum Development Department, had made a visit to a padi plantation in
Kampong Merangking. The teachers involved in the visit were Cikgu Pitar bin
Pangkat, Cikgu Rajuan bin Luang, Cikgu Noraini bte. Hj. Mohd. Raddin and Cikgu
Dk. Malia bte. Pg. Hj. Damit. We departed from our school at 7.36 a.m. by bus.
The journey took about 44 minutes to reach the destination through Jalan Labi
and Jalan Labi-Merangking. We arrived at 8.20 a.m.
Although, the padi field is located near the road but the path to the padi
field is situated at the other side of the padi field near the home of the
owner, Awang Munan. After 5-minutes walk, we reached the home of Awang Munan.
He and his family greeted us warmly. From the expression of his face I could
tell that he was so happy to see us. After a short introduction about the padi
field from the owner, we were divided into groups. We were given the golden
opportunity; to harvest the padi ourselves!
The padi field, which covered an area of about 2 acres, was covered with wet
padi. The soil was a little bit swampy and some students had stomped into water
puddles, which resulted from the rainfall the night before. We harvested the
padi by using special harvesting tool as well as pocketknives. The exciting
30-minutes activity under the hot sunny day has made us think. It really is
hard work for a padi farmer in order to earn a living.
After that we were shown the process of ‘mengirik’. This is a process to
separate the padi from its stalk and the waste with the help of wind. An
upraised platform made on stilts with wire mesh covered with sack as the floor
is prepared. This is to ensure that only the padi will fall through the mesh
and the stalk with remain on the sack, while the dust formed will be blown away
by wind. According to Awang Munan sometimes the process of ‘mengirik’ can take
two days. He demonstrated it for us and asked some of us to try it.
The next process was the process of ‘menumbuk padi’ or milling. A pair of ‘Alu’
and ‘lesung’ was used for this process. The padi was put in the ‘lesung’ and
milled with ‘alu’ or a long wooden stick to pound the padi of its husks. Then
the padi will be separate from by using ‘nyiru’, a large flat ‘plate’ made of
bamboo under the process of ‘menampi’ or willowing.
Then, we had a photograph session with the owner of the padi field after the
demonstrations. We thanked the owner and walked back to the bus and then went
to the Balai Raya of Kampong Merangking, which is just located near the padi
field. There we had our delicious lunch together with Awang Munan’s family.
After
the lunch and some rest, it was time to return. After all our stuffs were
packed, we got into the bus and started our journey back to the school in an
air-conditioned bus bringing together photos and sweet memories of the exciting
visit to the padi plantation in Kampong Merangking.
Hjh. Masnah, one of the officers of KBFSC, greeted us. She divided us into two
groups and we departed in two different boats. Our boat departed at 1.35 p.m.
The panoramic sight of Kampung Ayer impressed me. It is definitely one of the
tourist attractions of Brunei Darussalam. The sky was getting darker. The
driver realized this and stopped the boat for a while to put the roof on. I took
this opportunity to see the beauty of the mangrove forest along the riverbanks.
The sky became very darker and the clouds began to burst. It rained on our way
to Bangar. We continued our journey after 5 minutes rest at 1.57 p.m. through
the rain.
After
45 minutes from the departure time we arrived at the chief town of Temburong
District, Pekan Bangar at 2.22 p.m. Our first destination is the Tourists’
Center. Here were wrote down our names in the visitor’s book. From there, we
went to further south to Outward Bound Logistic Centre at Batang Duri by bus.
Then, we traveled 10 km upstream along Sungai Temburong to Kuala Belalong Field
Study Centre by three longboats (temuai) manouvered by skilled Iban boatmen. At
a junction we went to the right into Sungai Belalong. The journey upstream took
us about 45 minutes due to the low tide.
Awg. Rodzay, another KBFSC officer, greeted us and introduced us to the staffs
and showed us around. The center, which was built on steep ground on the west
bank of Sungai Belalong, is mainly made up of wood. Obviously designed to
reduce environmental impact. We settled in quickly. Girls and boys are
allocated on separate floors of a visitor’s chalet. We have tea at the dining
room at 5.10 p.m. At 5.34 p.m., we were given a short briefing about KBFSC and
the activities we will be doing for the next three days. After having our
shower and maghrib prayer, we have our first delicious dinner at 7 o’clock. Our
first activity is the slide show. We were shown various slide of wildlife,
plants and the map of Kuala Belalong. The light went out at 11 o’clock.
Second day’s first activity was a trip to Ulu Temburong National Park. We
departed at 8.35 a.m. on longboats to our destination. As we arrived at the
national park, we were given a short explanation about the rock types around
Kuala Belalong. Before entering the national park, we must sign in and were
given a visitor’s pass. We were divided into two groups, each lead by Hjh.
Masnah and Awg. Rodzay. I have learned many things I do not know. Some of my
friends gulped in silence as we have to cross a suspension bridge, Jambatan
Kayu Ara, which is probably more than 10m above the river.
Walking
about 250m uphill is very tiring. But it is worth the walk uphill as we were
able to hear cries from hornbills and we also saw a big salamander climbing a
tree. The next interesting thing about the national park is the canopy walkway.
We climbed the structure made of aluminum, which was about 65m high! I have
climbed the walkway before, so my fear was less compared to my friends. A good
advise to anyone who will climb up the walkway is not to look down, you will
know why! After enjoying the beautiful scenery of the rainforest, we quenched
our thirst and took a rest. Walking downhill was more fun than climbing uphill,
of course. A friend of mine did a very difficult task! He was to count the
number of stairwell from the canopy walkway to the end of the stairwell near
the riverbank. He counted 1,200 stairwell altogether!
As
soon as we returned to the KBFSC, we had our lunch before reporting at the
briefing area for the next activity after lunch.
To be continued…
On
13th July 2000, Kembara Sek. Men. Sayyidina Othman Tutong, made a nature study
and camping trip to Tasek Merimbun For 4 days, 3 nights. Our Teachers, Cg.
Daniel Bin Yaakub, Cg. Hj. Ahmad Dahlan, Cg. Alexander, Cg. Rajuan and Teacher
Dk. Hjh. Maria Pg. Hj. Damit accompanied us.
At
9.00am we arrived at Tasek Merimbun. We stayed at the multi-purpose hall, Balai
Purun. At 9.30, we went to the museum of Tasek Merimbun. We had to walk to the
museum. I can feel the fresh air blowing from the forest and hear the sounds of
birds and little creatures. At the museum we can see the history of Tasek
Merimbun, animals and Insects that can be found at Tasek Merimbun. Then we went
to the laboratory where we will be doing our project. After that, we went to
'Rumah Asli', where we can see the lifestyles of the old village folks around
the area.
On
14th July 2000, we woke up early and performed suboh prayer at 5.00 a.m. The we
set out to do our plant study project. We were divided into groups. A teacher
supervised every group. It took us two hours to get ten different species of
plant. Then we went to the lab for compiling our finds. After completing our
work, we took our bath and went for Friday prayer at Kg. Rambai’s mosque. At
2.30pm we have to go to Camp 2 for the night. It took about 30 minutes to go
the camp by using a 'temuai'.
We left the camp at 7.30am the next day. We passed an island called Labi-Labi on our way back. Everybody felt tired and sleepy that day but we enjoyed it the whole time. My friend and I managed to compose a song. I guess, the quiet place inspired us! I will definitely come back here again in future.
Zaki, Ahli Kelab Kembara SMSO
Send
in your article to:
|
| HOME | WELCOMING ADDRESS | ABOUT US | ADMINISTRATION | DEPARTMENTS | |
|
| ACHIEVEMENTS | ECA | PHOTO ALBUM | USEFUL LINKS | |
|
| SPECIAL FEATURES | STUDENTS' ARTICLES | WEBSITE'S COMMITTEE | COMMENTS & FEEDBACK | |