Story and pictures by DIANA ROSE
drose@thestar.com.my
SPORTING a cowboy hat, checked shirt, heavy duty boots and donning a pair of faded jeans, Kenyah Tony Kulleh, 50, is all brawn and determined to tap the countless opportunities when South-East Asia’s largest hydro dam, the Bakun dam, starts full operations next year.
The ex-teacher and entrepreneur hails from Uma Bakah and is one of the 9,400 indigenous people who were resettled 12 years ago to make way for the construction of the dam.
Under the Bakun Resettlement Scheme, their new homes are located in Sungai Asap, Belaga district, with an undulating valley of some 6,000ha entirely bounded by steep hills, state land and privately-owned oil palm plantations and is accessible by timber roads.
For Tony, he understands only too well that those who can alter their mindset to quickly adapt to the modern life are the ones who will survive and thrive.
Most of the Orang Ulu communities, including the Melanau, practice the stratified social structure, which is still very entrenched also among the Kenyah, Kayan and Kajang tribes.
Read more at: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/1/business/6027520&sec=business
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