Long Houses in Flames

 

Another (living) heritage is in flames..

Long Houses are poorly addressed in heritage records, but are living monuments where various families of kinship share one long roof, with partitions within.. It is reflection of traditional Bahasa social structures..

As I make this post, the longhouse is still on fire. We don’t know yet of any injuries or lives lost. This time last year, it was our longhouse that burnt to the ground. This happens too often in Sarawak. So much heartache. Please take a moment to send your love and energy to the community of Uma Bawang, Belaga, Sarawak. To make a donation, pls see the message below. If you’re overseas, you can Paypal to Alena.murang@gmail.com and I’ll make the local transfer.

MEMOHON DERMA IKHLAS

MUSIBAH KEBAKARAN DI BRS

Pada 15 April 2019 (Isnin) pada waktu lewat senja, sebahagian besar blok rumah panjang masyarakat Kayan di Uma Bawang, di Petempatan Semula Bakun telah musnah akibat kebakaran. Sebagai langkah untuk meringankan beban dalam kalangan isirumah yg telah kehilangan segala2, Persatuan Anak-Anak Daleh Belaga memohon bantuan tuan/puan untuk menderma kpd mangsa berkenaan. Sila masukkan sumbangan tuan/puan ke dalam akaun PADB bernombor 1-11052-0037279-0 (RHB Bank).

Sekian dan terima kasih.

Yang Menjalankan Amanah,

Dr. Juna Liau

Setiausaha

Persatuan Anak-Anak Daerah Belaga, Kapit

Sofiyan Yahya

Road tripping around beautiful Malaysia, this Ramadan let’s discover Malaysia’s old mosques.
I was exploring Chenor when I spotted a blue building through the trees from across the Pahang River. I decided to cross to the other side and looked for the building, to discover the fascinating mosque.
Masjid Kampung Pantai, Chenor, Pahang, is a beautiful old wooden mosque located close to the Pahang River.
In early 1900, Che Wan Mahmud bin Engku Panglima Besar Wan Mohamad Salleh, the penghulu (village chief) of Kampung Pantai gifted a plot of land to build a mosque for the village.
The mosque was built 1918, officiated in 1925, and is still in use today.
The original wooden building did not use a single nail during construction. The design was based on traditional Langkat architecture.

Amin Rasidi 1st degree connection
Senior Vice President Planning & Design | Waterfront & Tourism Planning Expert | History Enthusiast

1w

I wish that new mosques in the country had celebrated this unique Nusantara character instead of increasingly turning everything Middle Eastern. By the way, Langkat architecture - is that from Langkat in Sumatra?

Sofiyan YahyaAuthorExecutive Chairman at Cekap Technical Services Sdn Bhd

Amin Rasidi yes Langkat from Northern Sumatra. I agree with you that more mosques or even buildings shud be based on traditional architectural designs from this region. They have been tried and tested for centuries. They are also aesthetically beautiful.