June 8, 2011

Lilies in Ulu Limbang

Many Iban men "berjalai" or travel to seek a fortune as part of their cultural awakening journey. A few books have been written by local writers on this topic.

I have long been fascinated by this topic. Do the women "berjalai"?

In the modern sense I feel that many Iban women have travelled far and wide and may be not really on their own. They have travelled to study overseas for example. Many have left behind families to work in Saudi Arabia. And more have also become pioneers in their own professions elsewhere.

In a more simple way many Iban women I know of have travelled to different parts of Borneo be it rural or urban. And indeed many Iban women too travel more now to visit their children in Peninsular!!.

Upon their return they would bring back something new to their kampong naturally. And here is one example of a woman who brought back a single huge plant of lily to grow in her garden at home.......

Here enjoy her lilies...it was also my first time seeing several of these blooms. In two plants she has four lilies blooking...and each bloom has more than 14 florets....






Here she is wearing just one of the lilies...to show you how big it is....

Below is a lily bud growing..and soon flowers will burst out of the bud. This bud is already 9 inches long...

2 comments:

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Haven't seen these in my days in Singapore, they have the spider lilies.

Ensurai said...

I think this is one of those rare ones and a type that does not flower easily...I haven't seen them in Miri or Sibu yet.

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