Oooookkaaaaaaaaaaayy. "Interesting," I nodded to her with a big smile while my heart was beating harder and my head was processing all the questions speedily about this 'unknown' place. That happened in the middle of May this year.
If I have posted about my work project on Financial Inclusion (FI) in Kota Marudu, Sabah before this, well this time I would like to share my personal experience in this special place called Dabong. Actually, this project had taken place in the month of June (before I launched this blog). However, the feelings that I've experienced from this journey have never faded. It is still fresh in my mind and warm in my heart every time I think of it.
Dabong is located in the state of Kelantan, which is at the east coast side of Peninsular Malaysia. I had been to Kelantan few times before this but not Dabong for sure. Alien as it was, I however was convinced that Dabong would be the right place for the project to take place. It matched the purpose of FI itself, which is to provide linkage and financial access to rural and suburban communities.
The team and I reached Kelantan and stayed overnight at Kota Bharu, the capital state. We were told that the journey to Dabong from Kota Bharu would take approximately 3 hours. So the next morning, we adjourned to Dabong and reached there before noon. We met the local Kelantan-based team at a restaurant nearby Dabong for early lunch before the event started. One thing about Kelantan, the people's hospitality and graciousness have never failed me! And the food too! They really treat their guests well. In fact, extremely well I dare say. Not that locals at other states aren't great, of course they are great in their own way but Kelantanese are just a little bit different. I guess the combination of their food, accent, geniality and warmth made it special. At least, that's how I felt.
So I had a very good chat with the locals and I must say, I learnt interesting facts from them. "Kalau nak tau, orang Kelantan ni dulu-dulu suka try cakap orang putih. Kalau orang lain cakap, dia pun nak cakap jugak," admitted one of my acquaintance. Kelantanese are actually fond of using English words and they try their best to speak the language. "Pernah dengar perkataan 'bekwoh'?" she asked me if I have heard the word before. "Hmm...macam pernah dengar tapi tak sure sangat. Apa tu?" I asked her curiously the meaning of it. "Orang Kelantan dulu kalau nak buat kenduri ke majlis ke, mesti cerita ada 'big work'. Tapi lama-lama bila sebut jadi 'bekwoh'. So sekarang ni jadi la kenduri bekwoh! Maknanya kenduri besar la tu," she finally revealed the meaning of it. "Oh ye ker! Itu rupanya makna dia," the rest of us laughed when we found out the meaning behind it. From the phrase 'big work' to describe preparation of a big wedding or celebration, it is localised to become 'bekwoh' instead. Kreatif sungguh.
My observation of Dabong is that it is actually a pretty green area. It has not lost its 'virginity' to rapid development. There were some development work going on but I think they probably want to preserve the overall area for the next reason. I bet most of you readers will not know this fact. Do you know where is the tallest waterfall in South East Asia located at? It is at Stong of Dabong! Yes, believe it or not, it is there. My acquaintance proudly showed me the waterfall from the main road when we passed by. It is a hidden gem indeed. I think the ones who knew about this are the Kelantanese and foreign tourists. This was proven true when we saw some 'mat salleh' nearby the waterfall. A quick one on the word 'Stong'. It came from the word 'stone hill' initially (the waterfall is on a stony hill) as explained by my acquaintance. See, what is there not to admire about Kelantan. Ada orang putih touch tau. That somehow answered my curiosity on the name. Some pictures of the waterfall:
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| The Stong waterfall from the main road. You can really see it from far! Image taken from waterfallsofmalaysia.com |
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| Closer view of the waterfall. It is said to be 270 metres tall and yes, it is 'stong' indeed! Image taken from waterfallsofmalaysia.com |
After lunch, we headed to the event venue which was at one of the local villages, located 5 km from the restaurant. True enough, this is a very strategic location for FI. The place really needs it because the nearest bank branches are very much far away from here. This particular event project was special since we have a mobile bus, which is designed and customised as a moving customer service counter when we have FI events. The bus had parked at its allocated spot and I met another colleague who was in-charge of the bus.
"Hey kau tau tak, tadi ada problem nak park bas ni. Jalan kat sini sempit," my colleague explained to me that earlier, the mobile bus could hardly get in and park at the spot due to the narrow road. "Tapi kau tau, orang-orang kat sini memang sporting. Diorang tengok bas tu ada problem, tak boleh masuk, diorang terus berkerumun datang dekat bas. Bagi moral support kat abang driver tu sampai bas tu boleh lepas jalan sempit tu and park kat sini. Bila dah settle and bas tu dapat park, semua orang terus sorak happy and tepuk tangan," described my colleague about the whole bus parking incident. She explained that the village community, especially the children were very supportive that they crowded the bus to give moral support to the driver when the bus had problem to get in and park. When all settled, they were so happy that they cheered and clapped. Awwww so sweet! Super sweet that it touched my heart when I heard about it. Kalau kat tempat lain, melantak la kau bas. Pandai-pandai la kau pusing sendiri sampai boleh masuk.
So the event finally hit off and I was thrilled to see the response. More people came later and it looked as if the whole village community was there. Some of the photos during the event:
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| Before the event started. The community members took their seats. |
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| The traditional musical instruments played to liven up the atmosphere |
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| The 'silat' performance, a Malaysian martial art. The traditional music accompanied this special performance, which made it more intense and interesting to watch. |
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| A touch of West in the middle of Dabong! English choral speaking performance by secondary students from the school nearby. Really, I didn't expect this from them. They were really good! I heard some cynical remarks like "Alaa, tu performance je. Cuba dengar diorang cakap nanti. Sure terabur!" Well hey, it is not for us to judge and I would say this is a good effort for a start. Plus, they are all girls. I'm so proud of you ladies! And trust me, the local communities were even prouder to see their children are able to speak English, the language that would link them to greater opportunities and better life |
After the performance, the speeches and launch took place. The local communities then had the opportunity to listen to financial talks and registered for basic savings account. We were then introduced to the FI agent for the area. This was continued with community events by our collaborators and the local council to further strengthen the corporate-community ties.
We left Dabong to Kota Bharu when the event was over. Overall, I was just too delighted to see the positive response, excitement and happy faces of the people in Dabong. The event was definitely not a success if the people in Dabong had not given their support from the beginning. Thank you Dabong people!
Truthfully, deep inside my heart, I was really humbled by this whole experience. It was just different, and it is a good different. It gave me a fresher perspective on how I view life in total.
For this, you will always have a special place in my heart, Dabong.
2 comments:
Nice write up.. :)
Thanks dear :)
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