DIVING star Pandelela Rinong, who comes from the little known village of Kampung Jugan in Bau is being hailed as the “People’s Darling” of the Bidayuh Community.
“This girl, from a poor family who won Malaysia’s first-ever Fina Diving World Cup gold medal deserves all the adulation that is being bestowed to her by her community, state and nation,” Bung Bratak Heritage Association president Datuk Peter Minos told The Vibes today.
He said Pandelela is perceived as a heroine who has brought great pride and honour to the state and nation as well as to the Bidayuh community, the second-largest Dayak ethnic group in the state after the Ibans.
“That is why her community which originated from the historical and heritage-laden hill-top settlement of Bung Bratak respect and sincerely love her.
“How the state government and Putrajaya honours her is up to them. We will appreciate in whatever way she is honoured. But ‘Datuk’ or no ‘Datuk’ title, we must say that our Bung Bratak community has put her on the pedestal and holds her in esteem as our very own ‘People’s Darling’.
“Today, she has come a long way, nurtured by a modest Catholic family to becoming two-time Olympic medalist and has five other World Championship trophies under her belt,” Peter Minos said.
Peter Minos, who is also Kota Samarahan Municipal Council chairman and a political observer, praised Pandelela for her dedication to her sports and her perseverance to attain success and glory.
“She is a model Malaysian, especially, for today’s millennials because of her exceptionally outstanding poise and performance each time she takes to the diving platform,” he said.
Recently, Sarawak Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah drew flak from politicians and the rakyat for “talking down to Pandelela”, saying it is not always appropriate to reward an athlete each time he or she won something big.
He said this in response to Sarawakians who had asked him if the diving star would be awarded the honorific title of Datuk from the state or nation.
Bung Bratak and Pandelela’s gold
Bung Bratak is located off the 6th Mile Bau-Lundu Road via Kampung Tembawang Sauh. It was once a large Bidayuh hill settlement of seven longhouses.
Bidayuh elders of the Jagoi-Bratak clan from over 40 villages in Kuching, Lundu, and Bau districts are said to have originated from Bung Bratak.
Pandelela is from a later generation of this proud tribe.
Today Bung Bratak in the district of Bau – a once-blooming gold-mining region – stands eerily silent on most days of the year except for the annual Bung Bratak Day where thousands would come to ascend the hill. This hill is believed to be the Bidayuh’s cradle of civilisation as a mark of respect to their ancestral place of origin.
However, such a mega festival is not likely to happen this year with the restriction on large gatherings of people due to the ongoing pandemic.
Perhaps Pandelela’s recent climb to the podium in Tokyo to receive her gold medal says it all for the Bung Bratak Bidayuhs. The diving star has ascended the peak of Bung Bratak to pay homage to her tribe’s ancestral mountaintop pedestal with her World Cup gold trophy. Syabas, Pandelela. – The Vibes, May 13, 2021
