On the way - the Back Courtyard

I'll be in Kuching for the whole month of October. While busy studying and preparing for my series of tutorials next weekend, assignments that follow and an exam slotted at the end of the month, I'll continue to pick up on my back courtyard gardening. The side garden is more or less completed by now, though more continuing experiments, additions and subtractions are a pleasant activity to further improve it. The yellow bells flowers ( Tecoma stans)(see inset) mark the entrance to the back courtyard. My idea of the back courtyard according to my "Laman Kambatik "or the Malaysian Garden concept is basically that of an edible garden. In Malay there is at present no name for 'edible landscaping'. Thus I have coined a term to describe it. I call it "Sara Landskap" in Malay. Truly, I'm the only one soul to use this term in Malaysia at present. Whether it will be used commonly in future is yet to be seen. If it ever does, then the word originate from me. Will it be taken up by DBP? I wonder.

CU of the Chinese Lantern ( Physalis alkekengi). It's tiny round fruits taste like tomatoes.

The above pictures illustrate quickly what I mean by edible landscaping. If you plant the Chinese Lantern ( Physalis alkekengi) within a matter of weeks, you'll be able to enjoy its fruits right from your backyard. Besides fruit trees, the essential planting materials for a "Sara Landskap" are herbal plants and they can come in all sizes, shapes, tastes, colours, heights and preferences to shade and sun. I'll expand on this idea on edible landscaping in future posts.

View of my next challenge. The yellow bells plant ( Tecoma stans) to the right, is my starting point for the edible garden.

View of the side garden, mostly completed from the back courtyard.

End of Year Rains Are Back

The last three days of October have witnessed the coming of end of year rains in Sarawak. It is about time that these rains come after having lived through the two months of drought in June and July and very little rains in August and September. This year however the end of year rains are preceded by strong winds and heavy tropical downpour mainly due to the tail end winds from typhoons that hit the Philippines but barely hit our shores as they habitually swerve up north to Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan in good time. It is for this reason that Sabah, the most easterly state of Malaysia is called " The Land Below the Winds" in describing the nature of typhoons movement around the Asia Pacific region which build up force and intensity in the Asia Pacific ocean, then pound the Philippines before venturing up north towards other East Asian countries principally Vietnam, Taiwan, China and Japan and leaving Sabah ( and Sarawak) untouched. The news over TV and the Internet this last two weeks are testimony to the tremendous damage that the typhoons have caused to the millions of people in the Philippines this year,turning them homeless and with little food or shelter. Today I was not spared the heavy rains as I drove back from the City ( see inset). And grateful that we in Sarawak are spared from the typhoons.

End of Year Rains are Back in Kuching City

In Kuching it has always been my experience ( at least for the last two years) to find that the rains fall mainly in late afternoon, say around 4.00 pm onwards. In contrast, I find that in Bintulu rains are mainly during the night till morning and come daylight it 's good weather to work in the open fields especially if you are a civil contractor , a farmer or fisherman. In Kuching on the other hand, you start to pack your bags early in the afternoon and therefore there is less working hours in a day.

DBP - as confusing as confused be!

Yesterday (4/10) I went to visit the "Ekspo Bulan Bahasa Kebangsaan" at the Sarawak Tourism Complex situated right smack in the center of Kuching City (see inset). The yearly exposition takes turn to be held throughout the thirteen states of Malaysia and this year it's Sarawak. At the expo, I dropped by at the DBP 's booth. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) is the premier Malaysian agency on the development and standardisation of the national language especially regarding its spoken style and spelling which are of real concerns for students or any users of the language nationally and worldwide. The national language was called " Bahasa Malaysia" in the early 70's when linguistic nationalism was at its peak and efforts to optimise the usage of the national language became the norm in the 1980's onwards, culminating in its use as the main medium of instruction in all public universities in Malaysia. I used to teach "Bahasa Malaysia" as a single language at a secondary school in Bintulu in the mid 70's ( after my graduation) and used it daily in official written communication throughout the 80's till early 90's when I was employed as a civil servant.

A Millenium or Global Language?

Come the 21st century, some bright Ministers in the Malaysian Cabinet changed the naming of the national language to " Bahasa Melayu". "Melayu" means "Malay", thus 'the Malay language'. Presently Malaysia is caught by a national fever called "One Malaysia" which resembles very much like the " One Unilever" concept introduced a few years ago by Unilever as a means to integrate all its operations globally. Now caught in this latest fever will the national language be faced with a reversal of fortune and be called "Bahasa Malaysia" again? I wonder.

( Note: In the above column, "Salah" means wrong and " Betul" means right )

I was glad to be given a copy of the pamphlet on the "Pedoman Bahasa Melayu" - Guide to Malay Language. So it is confirmed. The authority now declares the national language as "Bahasa Melayu". Any doubts? Back home, I turned to page 6 of the pamphlet and couldn't yet fully recover from a rude shock.Let me explain.
In the days of high linguistic nationalism, teachers, students and any users of the language were told to translate "nationalism" as "nationalisma". Now the pamphlet says we are wrong. The latest spelling is "nationalisme". But 5 lines below it I was knocked by another major shock. If "organism" is to be translated correctly as "organisme" today, what then thus "ism" mean when 'nationalism' is to be spelled " nationalisme" while "organism" is to be written as " organisma". Isn't it just plain crazy when "ism" is spelled as "isme" in one and "isma" in another and both are allowable. I guess it is such glaring erratic nuisances that make some a plain hobby to be 'mad about Malaysia'.
Ok, in reading between the two words another word struck me. It's " Optimum". Here's a short story. The word "Optimum" was my school motto in Miri as early as the 60's. I left the school/college in 1969 to take up further studies at University of Pulau Pinang on the historical island of Penang, West Malaysia. Well now, back to Miri in the 80's , the Principal of the school which by then was transformed into a college and who by the way is a Bahasa Malaysia language expert decided to translate the school/college motto and the letters " OPTIMA" appeared on the school emblem, logo, exercise books, certificates, letterheads, badges and whatever paraphernalia related to the college branding. That sounded so upbeat, new, nationalistic and spelling-wise correct. Now according to DBP , the word " Optimum" should be spelled exactly as the English derivative. Will the college authorities, paint over the school's motto and badge to " OPTIMUM" like it was in the 60's? Makes me wonder where DBP is leading us to?