Annual festival tagged as another potential key tourism product in Miri
Cincaluk maker Siti Suhaila Yunus packs the orders placed by her regular customers. The Kampung Batu Satu villager is well-known for her high-quality cincaluk.
IT was not at all surprising to see the traders manning the stalls at Kampung Batu Satu during the recent two-day ‘Pesta Bubuk’, organised by the Miri City Council (MCC), were mostly women.
The heavy rain in the morning caught many by surprise on the opening day of the festival, which took place at the Fishermen’s Market along the Lutong-Kuala Baram Road, but after that, it was all bustling trade and happy smiles throughout the event up until the closing ceremony.
History behind the name
Renowned local history buff Sherman Bourne had written ‘The Story of Kampung Batu Satu’, where he featured an interview with a village elder, Rumbi Ibrahim, about the origin of the name.
Rumbi, now 88, and his wife, 73, were amongst the earliest settlers of the coastal neighbourhood, which was established around after World War I.
Born in 1934 in Kampung Lallang, located across the Lutong River, Rumbi said his grandfather hailed from Brunei and brought his family to Sarawak during the reign of Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke in the late 1800s.
When asked by Bourne how long did they live in Kampung Lallang before moving the present location, Rumbi responded: ‘Twenty-five years’.
“After the war, some people slowly began moving nearer to the beach area. Our houses were built quite a distance from each other.
“Only after 1958, the people decided to form a proper ‘kampung’ (village); that a proper community be established at ‘Batu Satu’ (first milestone),” said Rumbi.
That milestone referred to one of many laid out by Sarawak Oil Ltd back in the 1950s when it was constructing a coastal road from Lutong to Seria in Brunei, along which a large stone was placed at each mile marker.
Kampung Batu Satu was established near the site that was marked ‘Mile 1’.
Abundance of ‘bubuk’
Introduced in 2020, ‘Pesta Bubuk’ celebrates everything that has to do with ‘bubuk’ – a species of small shrimp from the Acetes genus that would come in abundance during the bubuk season in Miri in the first quarter of the year, especially between February and March. This seasonal commodity has been harvested by local fishermen for hundreds of years, and one that they are especially thrilled about as it brings them extra income every season.
Bubuk is the key ingredient of the famous ‘belacan’ (shrimp paste) and ‘cincaluk’ (fermented krill shrimps). Today, belacan is not only made by the Malay and Kedayan communities, but the local Chinese, Ibans, Kayans, Kenyahs, Mirieks and Melanaus know how to make it too.
Rainy day
This year’s Bubuk Festival opened amidst morning downpour, but this did not stop people from coming as they knew that the freshest catch, belacan, cincaluk and a host of other bubuk-derived delicacies were up for grabs.
The guest-of-honour, Transport Minister and Senadin assemblyman Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin braved the rain to officiate at the ceremony before proceeding to visit the stalls.
A planned out-to-sea tour on board a decorated boat with a ‘pakak’ (bubuk trawl) attached, however, had to be cancelled.
Still, the atmosphere was festive, especially when Lee and a few other VIPs tried their hands at pounding the bubuk to make belacan during a stop at a stall – their awkwardness drew a lot of laughter from the crowd.
Amidst it all, someone was heard commenting rather loudly: “Hopefully next year, the area could be improved so that it could accommodate more visitors that just the members of the organising committee.”
Innovative bubuk products
Asnani busy frying her much sought-after cucur bubuk.
Initiated by the MCC Standing Committee for Tourism Development, Pesta Bubuk is a tourism event aimed at showcasing and promoting bubuk and products based from it. The festival is known to have introduced many bubuk-inspired creations such as ‘cucur bubuk’ (fritters) and ‘lekor bubuk’ (bubuk sausage).
Asnani Jawoin, in her 30s, has been in the bubuk trade for many years now and amongst the locals, she is known as a cucur bubuk maestro.
Her stall at Kampung Batu Satu rarely stays open for the whole day as customers would come non-stop to grab her delectable crispy cucur, apart from other offerings such as belacan, cincaluk, ‘keropok’ (crackers) and biscuits.
For this year’s festival, she introduced ‘Satay Bubuk’, which could be used to complement stir-fried vegetables alongside fried ‘tempe’ (fermented soybean cakes).
At RM12 per jar, they sold out in no time.
Asnani’s delectable cucur bubuk, fresh from the frying wok.
Friendly trader
Kasmah at her lekor bubuk stall.
There were many different kinds of lekor bubuk on offer during festival, but a particular stall caught the writer’s attention.
Kasmah Sise was all smiles to her customers, even welcoming them to her stall to take refuge from the heavy rain.
Hailing from Limbang, the friendly Kedayan was very hospitable and upon learning that the writer had worked in Limbang before, the chat became even more engaging.
As she animatedly talked about her enterprise, the ropes that held the tarpaulin covering her stall snapped, causing the rainwater that it collected to cascade over – leaving everybody drenched!
Surprisingly, she only paused for a few seconds before continuing her chatter – as if it was nothing!
We all had a good laugh about it.
Kasmah said she made her own lekor at home and bring them to her stall at the Batu Satu Market to be deep-fried upon order.
“I do hope that the market would be extended. I would want a larger trading space so that I could sell more items,” said Kasmah, who also makes fish burgers, as well as lekor made from fish and prawn.
Kasmah’s ready-for-sale packs of lekor bubuk.
‘No fresh haul, no problem’
Lee trying his hands at pounding the bubuk to make belacan during his tour after declaring open Pesta Bubuk 2022 at Kampung Batu Satu. — Photo by Ukas
Ironically, there was no fresh catch of bubuk coming ashore in this year’s festival due to the unfavourable weather.
Apart from the heavy rain on opening day, this was another news that had disappointed those visitors who had hoped to buy fresh krill shrimps in bulk during the festival.
The saving grace had been the friendly, hardworking women traders who not only showcased the products that this part of Miri had always been famous for, but had also shown wonderful hospitality to the visitors, some of whom had never even heard about Kampung Batu Satu before the festival.
In his speech for the festival’s opening ceremony, Lee had said that the Sarawak government was planning to turn the coastline passing Kampung Batu Satu into an esplanade, the next in Miri after the one in Luak.
He added that the upgrading of the Batu Satu area would not only turn it into a tourist spot, but would also boost the socio-economy of the local community, especially the fishermen.
He said the plan was viable given the strategic location of Kampung Batu Satu, well-known for its fishermen’s market.
On the festival, Lee said it could be highlighted as a potential tourism product.
“It is amazing to note that during the bubuk season here, many families especially those living along the coastline, go out to catch the krill (shrimps) and can earn extra income.
“We will also look into developing a cottage industry here, with the focus on fish and bubuk products, such as belacan and cincaluk,” he was quoted as having said.
Photo shows the bubuk trawler, which was supposed to bring the VIPs out to sea as the festival’s opening-day gimmick, but the plan had to be cancelled due to unfavourable weather.
Lee also said with the RM20 million wave breaker at Batu Satu having reached completion, the safety of people and the fishermen in the area would be assured.
All of these are certainly good news for the local fishermen community, but more aid and support must also be channelled specifically to the womenfolk, whose sole intention is to supplement the earnings brought home by the their breadwinners but in doing so, they have also made the visitors happy with their products and hospitality.
Perhaps Pesta Bubuk next year would be a bigger and better event, one that is able to attract more new visitors and get them to understand the significance of bubuk to the local community.
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