A FRIEND recently encountered a person who is of the opinion that Kuching (specifically) and Sarawak (generally) is a ‘boring backwater place that has not developed for the past three decades, where there is nothing to do’. The friend relayed this encounter over coffee one day to the Eye.

He had met this particular person who happens to be a Sarawakian residing overseas. This particular person had started whining about how he had gone back to Kuching for two weeks to visit family and was bored to tears.

“Didn’t your family bring you places?” asked the Eye’s friend.

“They did, to Damai beach, the cultural village and that’s all there is to Kuching. Nothing else,” was the answer.

The Eye’s friend, being a true ‘miak Sarawak’ (Sarawak kid) at heart and one who doesn’t hold his tongue, took the comment personally and couldn’t resist but to retort, ‘then your family obviously doesn’t get around much and have no lives apparently’. He then proceeded to mention places of interest just around Kuching that covered the entire Bau area, Rembungan, Matang, Lundu, Padawan, to name a few, where one could actually go trekking, hiking, caving, kayaking, bird watching, do photography or use a mountain bike to explore.

That ‘Kuching promo’ that he did with passion took him almost 30 minutes alone. He went on to tell the person “… and don’t get me started on other places in Sarawak Sarawak is a beautiful land, with beautiful places. Anyone who finds it boring is either blind, lazy or is simply a katak dibawah tempurung (frog under a coconut shell, synonymous to ignorant). If you’re not into nature and outdoor activities, then there is the food, the culture, the home-stays, handicrafts and much more. If all these still don’t interest you, then it is you who is boring. Not the place.”

Had it been The Eye who had met this person, the same would have been said. To say that we have not developed for the past 30 years is wrong. Kuching has become a much bigger place. We are now spoilt for choice for coffee in town. We have begun to explore the natural wonders of places that were almost inaccessible to us just 10 years ago. Bau for example is an awesome place for nature lovers (provided that it is not developed for housing areas or blasted away for its limestone) — caves, villages, amazing limestone outcrops and wildlife.

Boring is not the word to describe Sarawak. Wondrous is more like it. Awesome is definitely the word to describe the culture, nature and adventure one would be able to come across here. It is a haven for photographers who have the aesthetic eye and heart for nature and people.

The Eye had once overheard Kuching being described as a ‘retirement home’. The Eye will have to look at it positively. Anyone who has the passion for nature and culture should retire early here. Want a good quality of life? Sarawak is the place. What is quality of life? It is where one does not have to spend most of his life waiting out traffic jams. It is where one can wake up one morning on the weekend and zip off to the beach without much planning. Where one can gather friends in an hour or so and head on out for a hike in the forest or a technically challenging bicycle ride through some amazing tracks.

Living in Sarawak is not living a rat race. Yes, career-wise it may not be on the fast track, but we Sarawakians have the edge when it comes to retaining our souls and sanity. A person who cannot see the potential activities around him has no zest for life. We’re not boring. Not at all.