SARAWAK DAY: OVER 500 TAKE ON CHALLENGE TO CONQUER BUNG MUAN 

BAU (Sarawak), July 22 (Bernama) -- Making the most of the public holiday in the Land of the Hornbills in conjunction with the 61st Sarawak Day celebration today, many took the opportunity to challenge themselves to conquer the peak of Gunung Serembu, located about 25 kilometres from Kuching city.

Also known as Bung Muan by the Bidayuh community, the mountain is a Rajah Brooke Heritage Site and takes about two hours to reach the summit via the entrance from Kampung Peninjau Lama Siniawan, here.

"The Persatuan Asal Serembu Bau organised the Bung Muan Open Day, coinciding with Sarawak Day, as an effort to highlight the uniqueness of the Bidayuh community living in this area in line with the state's historic day.

"This mountain has its own history as there were 24 longhouses on the mountain during the Rajah Brooke era, and now, the villages around the mountain originate from those longhouses," said Bung Muan Day Organising Committee chairman, Harem Peri, when met here.

A fourth-generation resident of the area, he said public participation in climbing Bung Muan, which stands approximately 1,646 metres above sea level, was very encouraging this year, with about 500 participants from various backgrounds arriving as early as 7:30 am.

Entry was free today, but participants had to face a challenging root-covered climb and rocky trails over the 2.5-kilometre journey to the summit.

Dressed in a Bollywood-style kurta at the mountain's peak, a teacher, Hasri Kreni, 35, from Asajaya, said he decided to make the most of Sarawak's historic day by inviting seven friends to the event.

"My friends and I from the 'FatWar Samarahan' exercise group found out about this event through a Facebook ad, so we agreed to wear traditional outfits like baju kurung and the like when we reached the summit.

Today is a proud day for the people of Sarawak. I hope that Sarawakians will also use this historic day to inspire future generations," said Hasri, who left Samarahan at 6 am.

Given this year's response, Persatuan Asal Serembu Bau chairman, Wilson Spilak Asui hopes the programme will expand next year, becoming an annual event with the potential to boost the tourism industry in the area.

“There is still room for improvement so hopefully next year we will have a bigger space and more parking spaces for the public too at our association centre,” he said. 

Sarawak Day has been celebrated annually on July 22 since 2016 to commemorate the date the state achieved self-governance.

-- BERNAMA