Photo by Kelvin Bong. Long Bedian. |
Raw rattan, after drying in the hot sun, these cuttings would be refined several times to be ready for crafting in different forms. |
The Sarawak Gazette carefully recorded trade in rattan , timber and other natural resources. It also mentioned a lot of other interesting business dealings.
The Penans for example were described as people who harvested "rattan and sold them at tamus, allocated by the government officers."
By 1950, rattan was already exported to Singapore and further afield, perhaps even the UK.
Throughout the 1950's and 1960's rattan was transported from the upper reaches of rivers of Sarawak to the lower parts of the rivers and then exported by selected Chinese middlemen. This photo shows rattan bundles atop a big express boat.
4 comments:
The best rattan fr Swak is Wi segak. Natives of Borneo (Sabah, Swak, Brunei, Kalimantan) all called rattan wi or wai. One of the few common words across all ethnic groups!
Looks like Mahmud Yussop.
Thank you for your comments. Yes it is Mahmud Yussop. I have to borrow his wonderful photo for this posting.
Thank you for your comments. Yes it is Mahmud Yussop. I have to borrow his wonderful photo for this posting.
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