Sibu Flood 2010

 Ops! Sibu is in water again!!

[Flood in front of shop houses near Jalan Kampung Nyabor]

Due to unpredicted change of climate and continuous raining especially at upstream area such as Kapit and Kanowit plus the high tide, Sibu is once again became the victim of flash flood. 

[Temporary "bridge" was built by staffs of a supermart to ease people crossing]

Everybody in Sibu realized that the main cause of the flood is the shallowed Rejang River which needs to clean up urgently, but this fact is fully denied by the politicians in power. Despite, they chose their own solution by spending millions of tax payers money to build some sort of water pump in order to pump the water back to the river which appears to be illogical and impractical! The luxury construction still in progress.

 [Traffic jam on the "bridge", people just can't wait to cross...]

Nothing much I can comment about. Perhaps the coming state election is the best path to give a lesson to those in power what people's voice is all about!

[The newly renovated Sibu Heritage Center is one of the venue surrounded by flood]

I leave you with the photos I took this morning on the flood in Sibu, just in case you are wondering how the town looks like when it is in the water!

[Flood view at Jalan Central]

[This is dangerous, somebody needs to do something on it]

[Shop lots near Jalan Central were badly affected by the flood]

[Hand-in-hand, we across water!]

[Which way should I go?]

[Road and Rejang River is on the same level]

[A view at Jalan Kho Peng Long which is just beside the Rejang River]

[Life still need to go on despite the inconvenient resulted from the flood ]

[Utilize the water from mother nature]

A Visit to Pineapples Farm

Ever see how a pineapples farm looks like? Yeah, I mean the real pineapple farm and not the one in Farmville game which people are crazy about nowadays!

I felt lucky to have a chance for around an hour's visiting to a real pineapple farm during my visit to Sri Aman recently. This farm is owned by an uncle of mine who operate this farm not for the sake of commercial, but it is to fulfill his own satisfaction, passion and interest!

While younger generation nowadays prefer to sit in front of computer planting their pineapples through the virtual soil, this is what the elder generation such as my uncle prefers to do. Be realistic, get a land, and plant the fruits with his sweats, energy and hard work on the mother earth!

The weather was hot when we visited the farm, but by wearing the straw hat that we brought along and long sleeve, it avoids the sun from burning the skin directly. Anyway, when I saw the beauty of the farm, the heat is just too minor to deal with.

You need to be extra careful when walking in a pineapple farm as the pineapple's through-shaped leaves are covered with very sharp spines that can cut through the skin!

The young pineapple can be very colorful and beautiful! I love the view so much!

It was not the right time to visit the farm as it was nearly the end of the fruiting season. Therefore, most of the fruit had been harvested.

The ripen fruits sometimes can become the target of pests such as rats. This is what happened when a pineapple was attacked and eaten by the rats. Poor pineapple...

Yeah, these are part of the pineapples we harvested on the day. Although not many, but the satisfactory was indescribable! It's a very good experience though!

Sibu Heritage Centre - Some Personal View

Sibu Heritage Centre was officially opened this morning by Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, the most glamorous local politician, who is also the 2nd Finance Minister and Minister of Environmental & Public Health for the state of Sarawak.

For Sibu people, this is not a newly added structure on town. It's actually one of the landmark building which was once the Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) office and public library before the former moved to Wisma Sanyan and the latter to Jalan Keranji.

The building since then being abandoned for many years before the first plan of reconstructing the building had been shown to the public during Sibu Development Expo (SIDEX) 2005, just before 2006 state General Election.

I am not sure how many Siburian remember this, but at that time I was attracted with the suggestion. It said that the old SMC building will be converted to a theater and opera house and the model of the reconstruction  showing the impressive building architecture! (But I was wondering what the hell a theater and opera house can do in a small town like Sibu?)

After waiting for years, this building has not be seen! When the next state election is coming soon, the reconstructing works only began and this is what we have now, the Sibu Heritage Centre. The previous planning totally buried in nowhere and you can see the final product is totally different from the planning.

Well, as an amateur blogger I don't think I am in the position to criticize the decision of those in power. But as a Sibu citizen who love this town, I am a little disappointed and feel of been cheated. Perhaps I put too high hope on the model shown on SIDEX 2005. I thought Sibu would have another landmark that we can proud of.

Anyway, I should always be thankful. Perhaps a heritage centre for Sibu is not a bad idea after all. The place is not fully operate yet. Only its 2nd floor has been opened to the public as Sibu Cultural Heritage Museum. This mini museum was originally placed at Dewan Suarah Sibu but been shifted to this venue.

There are quite a few artistic, unique and modern design structures which made the building and the landscape looks attractive. The main entrance which is made of the combination of woods and glasses with modern artistic design make it eyes-catchy especially in the middle of busy town center.

As it is located in the middle of busy town center, the thing I am worry is the traffic and parking space around the compound. Although just behind this heritage centre there is a multi-storey car park, but as far as Sibu "culture" is concern, parking on the car park is something very "luxury" to do. Parking along the roadside and on the pedestrian street seems to be more practical for a lot of them.

The mini museum on the 2nd floor showing the history about the different ethnics and also their stories in Sibu. But one thing I am pretty disappointed and upset is that it is prohibited to take photo inside the mini museum! There is no notice to be seen, but once I took out my camera, an officer stopped me from doing that. However I still manage to "steal" 2 photos just for my blog readers!

The unfriendliness of the officer is something that really pissed me off. When he saw me about to take photo, he said "Cannot take photo inside here". I replied, "I wanna introduce the place also cannot?". The way he responded to me is really rude and terrible, "They will come here themselves and not you".

Come on! This is a tourism spot! Is this the way you treat visitors? Why can't you advice in a more polite way and please put the sign at the entrance at least to remind the visitors on this matter! The attitude of the officers in charge should change in order to make this a better place for the visitors no matter where they come from!

One thing I really not understand is why they hang the item below (Chinese traditional sedan chair) high above just near the entrance to the mini museum. Isn't this part of the Chinese cultural item? So, why hang outside but not just display inside the exhibition hall? I thought this is a cultural museum and not a "ghost museum"? Any explanation on this?