By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, April 6: The villagers of Long Terawan, who have the distinction of being the reigning ‘King of River’ at the Baram Regatta, hope their villages may be turned into a tourist destination known for their longboat building skills and longboat races.
Their aspiration was made known to the public following the speech of their representative Councillor Gary Hassim at the launch of the Sarawak Rural Broadband Network, officiated by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg at Long Terawan, Mulu today.
Taking advantage of the villagers’ interest in longboats and their capability in longboat building, Gary presented the proposition to Abang Johari, requesting for the Sarawak government’s help to make their vision a reality.
“We, the community of Long Terawan, really like river sports like longboat races. Whenever there is a regatta, our team will claim the championship. Long Terawan teams have won the Baram Regatta championship several times because we have strong and powerful paddlers.
“It is also because we have longboats that are really fast, made by the villagers of Terawan villages. Because of that, we hope longboat races may become our signature activity and that longboat making will become our iconic product of tourism,” said Gary.
It was also the hope of Long Terawan villagers that when the villages are eventually linked to urban centres and Mulu National Park, the villages at Long Terawan will become a side destination for tourists.
Gary believed that if the villagers are given an opportunity to present their longboat races and their longboat building skills which they are proud of to visiting tourists, it will become a viable tourism product in the future.
The villagers had won so many longboat races that they had requested for a gallery to be built to house all their trophies.
“We hope a gallery may be built to display artefacts and the trophies such as those won during longboat races,” said Gary. — DayakDaily
