Without Cold Season

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30808, 21 July 1965, Page 2

Without Cold Season

A much easier way of life was followed in a land without a cold season, Mrs B. C. Wanty, who recently returned from Sarawak, told members of the Women’s Electrical Association at a luncheon yesterday.

The Wantys lived for more than three years in a large house on stilts close to the jungle in Miri town, where Mr Wanty taught at the New Zealand-assisted Government secondary school. “There were no worries about planning for winter,” Mrs Wanty said. “We simply put our five children in shorts and tops, the girls wore dresses to school, and they were able to wear those clothes all year round.” Miri was a prosperous town as many local people were employed in the nearby oil refineries, and the family soon became accustomed to the sights and smells of the Chinese shops. Long, narrow, and very dark, they were often occupied by several venders, and seemed to have a “bit of everything. “Many of the goods, including food and clothing, were imported from Communist China,” she said. “I even saw a man buying dried frogs for 6d each, which he insisted were delicious.”

The Chinese open-air market with its stalls for beef, pork and fruit was also fascinating. The only foods familiar to the European were French beans, tiny and very expensive I tomatoes, a sweet potato similar to the kumara, and lettuces and cabbages which looked as though they had gone to seed. Although they liked the pineapple and bananas, other strange tropical fruits did not appeal, as they were often squashy and had very large stones. One aspect of life in Sarawak particularly surprised the Wantys. “We always thought of the Chinese as clean, thrifty persons, but the litter around their homes is just unbelievable, and I never could get used to the spitting in the streets,” Mrs Wanty said. “However, in other towns we did find conditions much better, so I suppose it just depends on the community." The Chinese were the main supporters of the Communist party, the Malays being very loyal and pro-British. “Malay tribes seem to adapt very well to European ways,” she said. “They choose the parts of our life they like, and fit that into their own pattern very easily.” Their “long houses” were

often a quarter of a mile long, accommodating 60 to a 100 families, and often had refrigerators and flush toilets. Boys at school would often boast of the latest Western innovations their community had acquired. There was some racial feeling in Sarawak, between the Malays and the Chinese, evident even in Miri, which was generally a “nice peaceful town.” I think the Communists must send in trained people to stir up trouble because normally the Chinese are a peaceful people,” Mrs Wanty said.