Naturebug4- Bajau Laut, The Sea Gypsy

After leaving Kinabatangan,  we had the opportunity to visit Lahad Datu, located about a few hundred kilometres away from Sandakan. There was nothing much to talk about Lahad Datu except that it was a small town next to the Celebes Sea where the natives talk almost like the Indonesians, more Indonesian then Sabahan. Well, i might be wrong cause i am not really an expert regarding the Sabahan Malay tongue.

We stayed in one of the small hotels here in Lahad Datu. Infact i noticed that all hotels are small here and always within a row of shop houses. Our plan was actually to find anything interesting here to shoot for our TV programmes "Salam Dari Sabah". We went to the wet market and boy, were we suprised to see  the kind of fishes they have here  in this market. Celebes sea offers various types of fishes that i never thought existed.  I couldn't identify almost any of the fishes they have here.  The fish mongers were nice enough to smile at us  and each time they look at us they would say; " Dari mana..TV3???"  We just smiled back and said," Tidak, TV 1". Everytime we shoot at the various types of fishes, they would asked, "Bila mau tayang ini rancangan ?". Most of the time i couldn't anwer them because we ourselves didn't know when.


I asked a few people  if there was anything interesting here that i could shoot  for my programme and one man said; " Ada..Orang Bajau Laut". Mmm..This sound interesting. I asked again; "Orang bajau Laut??".
He answered me;"Yes, The boat people..they come and go as they please..very strange people"
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Now i was getting excited and asked; "Where can I find them?. He showed me the way but cautioned me that they might have left. I thanked him and rushed to my car with Farez, Zul and Wan, and drove  to the location mentioned.

It didn't take very long to find these people. They lived in a make- shift long wooden boat that is  covered with canvas-like roof. They are a few boats consisting of a few families living together. I was somehow amazed to see these people. I kept telling myself  how could such people still exist  in our modern age. There were rumours that they are so used to be at  sea , they are afriad to be on land...and they are especially afraid of dogs!!!. The kids are known to be great swimmers and can be under water longer than anyone else. But i didn't come  to confirm this. I was more interested to understand  their way of life which obviously are so much different from ours.

I saw a few bajau laut kids playing at the seaside while  their mothers were busy cooking at one corner of the boat. From the size of the boat,  i couldn't imagine how people could  live, sleep, cook and rest in such a small place.I saw one lady busy hanging wet clothes to dry at one end of the boat. What about the men? I didn't see the men..

I approached the kids playing there. Most have  tanned skin and brownish hair.They were amazed at my camera as i was shooting them playing near their boats.. They looked  at me with curiousity. There were some sign of eagerness in their faces  to know about this stranger  but yet at the same time dared not approach me. I smiled and called them to look at my LCD screen  and played back the shots i had taken and showed them. They started to smile and began to come close to me. One cute girl laughed as she saw herself in the video. I guessed this was the first time they saw themselves in a video. I could see the excitement in their tanned faces.

I asked them where were the male adults  of the boats. One of the kids told me in  poor malay that his father was selling some fish and clams that he caught to the market. One said that his father was working at one of the restaurant to earn some money. And none of these kids go to any school as they had to travel with their parents and further more, they are not Malaysian. Infact they are the gypsy people of the pacific travelling from island to island between Philipines. Indonesia and Malaysia, making a living from catching fish and dried them out to the sun, beside collecting  clams and mussels. In other words,  they are a people without any citizenship!! ( Later I found out that there are many groups of Bajau Laut living and settled down in Samporna who are now Malaysians)

I asked them about their religion. One small boy spoke malay fluently and told me that they are muslims.He was really a smart boy as he answered my questions with ease.

I came back the next day and this time i brought along some canned drinks for each of the kids. They were so happy to accept it and even asked me to shoot them playing., which i happily did. I even showed them the playback on the LCD screen. They were so excited. The women in the boat just look at us and smiled. They might  be deprived from all the luxuries of the world, with No TV,  no radio,  no computers, no nothing and  at times i felt sad for them but most of the time, i realised that they do not need our kind of  luxuries.They have their kind of luxury...no debts to think about, no house rent to pay and no bills to settle. All they need are the love and  compassion of loved ones among the families and the will to survive at sea...and of course, having each other are the best luxury one could possess.
I had to go  to Tabin Wildlife Reserve for a few days to shoot some shots of wild elephants there. After  a few days, on the way back to Sandakan, i had the urge to go back and meet the Bajau kids again. How i missed their look and their innocent laughters. Unfortunately, by the time i reached  Lahad Datu, the whole families  had already gone to  new location, some where off the  islands of the celebes sea.

Meeting the sea gypsy  was one of the highlights of my adventure in Sabah  as i learned so much about them and their way of life  off the ocean of Celebes sea. Although i didn't find out whether they are afraid of dogs or could be under water longer then anyone else,  one thing for sure is that,  they are the citizen of the sea and without the sea there won't be any Bajau laut! A fresh new knowledge  that i couldn't get  in any school anywhere in the world.