PELITA - The Methodist Church Newsletter
Listed below are articles abstracted from past issues of PELITA
01 Jun 2013
June 2013 - Essay
Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah Methodist
Sarawak Gleanings
For those who aspire toward pioneering in the tropics, Sarawak is the field for experiment. The experiment is one in personal adjustment primarily, because the ability to attain poise in living depends upon the degree to which one is resourceful within himself. Consequently, life in Sarawak does not long remain an experiment. Very soon it is either achievement or failure.
Economic achievement may be recognized in booms of logs floating down to the sawmill, or in holds of ships full of rubber, sago, and cutch. These represent the achievement of men who left their homes to be pioneers in a strange new land.
Penetration into Sarawak is only beginning. Along the rivers, within access of transportation, there is rubber, but the virgin jungle is only three miles from the bank of the river. Between the mouth of the Rejang and Sibu the monotony of the flat mangrove swamp is broken by two villages, hubs of distribution for rice and rubber and sago. The only notable achievement in town planning seems to be a concrete wharf and godown in each town.
The bazaars are tall frame shophouses, about seven in a row under a common roof. In Binatang at low tide these shophouses tower ten feet above the ground on stilts. Every thing which is not wanted in the shop or house is thrown out the door or through a hole in the floor, awaiting the dispersing influence of high tide. What serves as a five-foot way is a bridge-like accumulation of boards, varying in width and stability, responsive to the rhythm of the gaits inflicted upon it. Besides the usual provision shops and coffee houses, in each village there was at least one shop with an arena-like arrangement, and a dentist’s chair in the centre.
Gambling farms are legal in Sarawak and are faithfully patronized by Dyak and Chinese rubber tappers. At night, above the noise of the shops, comes the sound of rattling dice and shouting men. Fighting cocks in Borneo evoke memories of colonial times in the southern part of the United States. Two good looking cocks were outside a coffee shop. One was dead and the other stood pecking at his bleeding breast. Further long a cock stood half dead, his eyes closed, head dropping, and his breast and neck gory. He seemed to sway in the breeze.
Sibu is flat and uninteresting although the shops and market are recognized to be among the cleanest and best planned in this part of the world. A fire destroyed the business section several years ago, and it was necessary to rebuild. From Sibu to Kapit the beauty increases with each bend in the river and every new rise of hills in the distance. Lying ten hours in a long boat is not at all difficult when one can move under canopies of trees and watch brilliantly plumed birds start from their nests startled by the throb of the motor. The lure of little known, sparsely inhabited land is impelling and one is not content with merely a view from the river. Even two weeks’ association with the edge of the jungle and the friendly people who come out of the jungle do not satisfy. Time spent in the jungle may stimulate to go farther but it rarely satiates a wanderlust.
Methodism in Borneo
This feeling symbolizes the spirit of the people in Sarawak. They are not satisfied. They are going farther. As a Mission we have achieved. Tuan Hoover was a pioneer and spent his life penetrting the society of chinese planters and bringing them Christ. Every time the ship stops along the Rejang there are numerous Methodist schools and churches within an hour’s walk which are memorials to the work of Mr. and Mrs. Hoover. As true memorials these institutions must grow in their influence upon the communities in which they have been started.
This year we have new pioneers in Sarawak. Rev. and Mrs. Paul Schmucker realize that the Dyak people have achieved success to a degree, but these pioneers have gone around a bend upriver and they want to lead the people to higher achievement. They have gone particularly to be friends of the Dyaks, but Chinese and Malays as well go to see the new friends in Kapit.
Rev. and Mrs. Schmucker are not working alone. Many who may never see Sarawak are making it possible for the Schmuckers to be there because of their prayers and interest in the work. If Dyaks learn to love the Great Spirit instead of fearing many unknown spirits, it will be because people around the world are faithful to their partners in this pioneer venture in the jungles of Borneo.
By Louisa Lambert
Malaysia Message
February-March 1941
Economic achievement may be recognized in booms of logs floating down to the sawmill, or in holds of ships full of rubber, sago, and cutch. These represent the achievement of men who left their homes to be pioneers in a strange new land.
Penetration into Sarawak is only beginning. Along the rivers, within access of transportation, there is rubber, but the virgin jungle is only three miles from the bank of the river. Between the mouth of the Rejang and Sibu the monotony of the flat mangrove swamp is broken by two villages, hubs of distribution for rice and rubber and sago. The only notable achievement in town planning seems to be a concrete wharf and godown in each town.
The bazaars are tall frame shophouses, about seven in a row under a common roof. In Binatang at low tide these shophouses tower ten feet above the ground on stilts. Every thing which is not wanted in the shop or house is thrown out the door or through a hole in the floor, awaiting the dispersing influence of high tide. What serves as a five-foot way is a bridge-like accumulation of boards, varying in width and stability, responsive to the rhythm of the gaits inflicted upon it. Besides the usual provision shops and coffee houses, in each village there was at least one shop with an arena-like arrangement, and a dentist’s chair in the centre.
Gambling farms are legal in Sarawak and are faithfully patronized by Dyak and Chinese rubber tappers. At night, above the noise of the shops, comes the sound of rattling dice and shouting men. Fighting cocks in Borneo evoke memories of colonial times in the southern part of the United States. Two good looking cocks were outside a coffee shop. One was dead and the other stood pecking at his bleeding breast. Further long a cock stood half dead, his eyes closed, head dropping, and his breast and neck gory. He seemed to sway in the breeze.
Sibu is flat and uninteresting although the shops and market are recognized to be among the cleanest and best planned in this part of the world. A fire destroyed the business section several years ago, and it was necessary to rebuild. From Sibu to Kapit the beauty increases with each bend in the river and every new rise of hills in the distance. Lying ten hours in a long boat is not at all difficult when one can move under canopies of trees and watch brilliantly plumed birds start from their nests startled by the throb of the motor. The lure of little known, sparsely inhabited land is impelling and one is not content with merely a view from the river. Even two weeks’ association with the edge of the jungle and the friendly people who come out of the jungle do not satisfy. Time spent in the jungle may stimulate to go farther but it rarely satiates a wanderlust.
Methodism in Borneo
This feeling symbolizes the spirit of the people in Sarawak. They are not satisfied. They are going farther. As a Mission we have achieved. Tuan Hoover was a pioneer and spent his life penetrting the society of chinese planters and bringing them Christ. Every time the ship stops along the Rejang there are numerous Methodist schools and churches within an hour’s walk which are memorials to the work of Mr. and Mrs. Hoover. As true memorials these institutions must grow in their influence upon the communities in which they have been started.
This year we have new pioneers in Sarawak. Rev. and Mrs. Paul Schmucker realize that the Dyak people have achieved success to a degree, but these pioneers have gone around a bend upriver and they want to lead the people to higher achievement. They have gone particularly to be friends of the Dyaks, but Chinese and Malays as well go to see the new friends in Kapit.
Rev. and Mrs. Schmucker are not working alone. Many who may never see Sarawak are making it possible for the Schmuckers to be there because of their prayers and interest in the work. If Dyaks learn to love the Great Spirit instead of fearing many unknown spirits, it will be because people around the world are faithful to their partners in this pioneer venture in the jungles of Borneo.
By Louisa Lambert
Malaysia Message
February-March 1941