TRAVELLIVE 04-2016

White skin equals beauty in Malaysia, and single women use borak
everyday to find a spouse. Mothers apply it to their children’s skin
because they are constantly exposed to the sunlight.
was greeted by dozens of smiles. The little group
of children gathering around me were over the
moon with joy as I produced a packet of biscuits
from the bag, bought a few seconds earlier from
one of the shops. I’m used to being asked for food
and money, but by distributing the biscuits and
exchanging a few friendly looks, the Bajau children
soon got used to my presence and went back to
playing in the water. Of all the people in the world, the
Bajau spend the most time in the water. These are real
mermen, the people who only feel whole when in their
element: the ocean.
I managed to visit the other islands where the Bajau
live over the next four days. Some of the islands
such as Tabbalanos are not even referenced on the
internet, perhaps because they are too small for the
giant that Google has become. Yet this might be
what has preserved the tranquility of its inhabitants.
I traveled across the ocean and met the tribes on the
islands of Mabul, Omadal, Sibuan, Maiga, and the
village of Tagatan. The houses in Tagatan are built on
stilts over the lagoon. I met a family there who had
fled from the Philippines a few years earlier to settle
in this peaceful haven.
118
TRAVELLIVE
I could easily count the number of bungalows on
the island, eleven altogether. Eleven
small houses placed there between
land and sea. It was later that I learned
from Karim that each family had
about five children. Women give birth
here in their stilted huts. Most Bajau
are born, live, and die on their land.
Life is organized around fishing, and
they have no knowledge of reading or
writing. Regardless of age, everyone
finds his place and helps catch fish.
Younger children are constantly on the
boats learning how to dive or swim,
while those of about 8 years or older
are already busy hunting. The Bajau do
not know their ages. They have a rough
concept of age, but measured time
doesn’t matter much to them. Only the
present moment counts. I took out my
camera to capture the moments, in awe
before such wonders, a feeling that you
can easily understand when seeing this
island lost at sea and it’s inhabitants
totally at peace with their values and
traditions.
Further information
Itinerary
ü It takes 2-3 hours to fly
from HCMC or Hanoi to Kuala
Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.
Fly from Kuala Lumpur to
Tawau (2.5 hours), then take a
bus to Semporna (1 hour) and
travel by boat to the islands
(1 hour).
Cuisine
ü Bajaus people live far from
the civilization so there isn’t
any tourist services here. On
some islands where they live,
you can find some small shops
mainly serving the community.
Accommodation:
ü At night you should go back
to Semporna. There are some
mini hotels here for about
40USD/night. On some tourist
islands such as Mabul, hotels
are much expensive.
Discover
ü if you have a chance to visit
the islands, you should spend
time wandering around floating
villages built on coral reef in
lagoons.
Though small, each of these places are different.
Some of them are larger and contain
more people. There are seventy
families in Omadal living in stilted
bungalows that are connected to
one another by bridges so that the
tight-knitted community may live
together peacefully. You can find
some small shops (food stands) and
even a football field here. Upon my
arrival, I was greeted once again by
the children and took a picture of
them with their hair bleached blond
by the salt water. Women further on
were smearing their faces with borak,
a local turmeric paste they use every
day to protect their skin from the sun.
White skin equals beauty in
Malaysia, and single women use
borak everyday to find a spouse.
Mothers apply it to their children’s
skin because they are constantly
exposed to the sunlight. I noticed a
small boat arriving towards the beach
loaded with provisions to stock the
island’s stores and food stalls.