KUCHING – An international student and one from Peninsular Malaysia are encouraging their peers to experience the rural way of life.
Swinburne Sarawak students Kornilov Vitaly from Siberia, Russia, and Muhammad Asri Bin Yaacob from Malacca, recently took part in a foster family program where they spent four days living among Bidayuh Salako longhouse folk in Kampung Pueh, Sematan.
The longhouse is about two hour’s drive from Kuching.
Also joining the Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus-organised program were fellow students from Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan.
The university organises the program annually with the aim of creating awareness among students who are not Sarawak residents on the local culture, customs and traditions.
“I recommend international students to join such programs, otherwise they might only stay in their hostels, go to the shopping malls or the (Kuching) waterfront. They won’t see the other side of life here,” said Vitaly, a postgraduate student, after returning from Kampung Pueh.
“The experience (at Salako longhouse) was quite fulfilling as we had the chance to see how people here actually live. When I first arrived I expected it to be a simple longhouse but they have Astro,” said a beaming Vitaly, who had been to Iban longhouses during Gawai festivals in his two years as a student here.
Fellow student Muhammad Asri found the experience to be equally educational and humbling.
“I learned to accept their culture and how they live. It helped to broaden my knowledge about my own country. Life here is different from where I live. It’s simple but they (the village folk) are happy. I’ve learned that the simple things in life can make a difference,” said the finance undergraduate.
Like Vitaly, Asri also encourages students who are not from Sarawak to experience the lifestyle in the outskirts of Kuching.
Community service projects are normally incorporated into the program. The students at longhouse helped to clear a dam of debris that was brought down the river by heavy rain, organised activities for children and took part in a gotong-royong to clean up the longhouse compound.