The dabai is only available in Sarawak and is high valued, especially by the people (of all races) of the Rajang Valley. It is commonly believed that the best dabai come from Song, Kapit and further up.
When I was a child, I used to wait with my father at the Pulau Babi wharf for the huge baskets of dabai to arrive from Kapit by the motor launches.
Rich and poor, old and young would rush towards the motor launches and the middlemen to buy a share of the seasonal jewels.
In those days, before global warming, the dabai were available only at the end of the year when schools had their holidays.
So many poor children would be employed for about 1 dollar a day to climb the small trees to harvest the fruits. When the small branches broke the children would fall down, and probably break a leg or an arm. The dabai tree is not a very strong tree and its wood quite fibrous. It cannot bear the weight of a big man.
The best way to get dabai from the tree is to use a hook to pull the black fruits down, with a net waiting at the bottom of the tree. Some people cleverly plant dabai trees on hill slopes and they can go up the hill to pull down the fruits.
Then there was one time a retired teacher friend of mine went to his farm to collect dabai. He must have climbed up the tree since he was quite a small man and then he fell. He was missing for about two days. Luckily some Iban friends of his found him lying on ground with lots of dabai strewn around him.
He was disabled for about a year, and was treated as an outpatient by several doctors. What if no friendly Ibans came to his rescue?
His family was quite traumatised. And he was never the same again after the accident.
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