KUCHING: It’s not uncommon several decades ago to see people resorting to plastic bags to collect human excreta when there was a lack of proper toilets and people were forced to practise open defecation.
These plastic bags were later discarded in rivers or ditches. Thus emerged the term ‘flying toilets’.
Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Hamzah recalls the era when ‘flying toilets’ were common in Sarawak.
He cited the Sarawak River as an example where on one side it used to be the town, and on the other side a kampung.
“In the 1960s and 70s, there were a lot of flying toilets or ‘jamban terbang’ along Sarawak River as people would use the river as a place to discharge human excreta and throw rubbish.
“Now we don’t see that anymore.
“See how many years it has taken to create that kind of awareness? To the point where people know that it’s not right for them to throw rubbish everywhere,” he said, adding there has been an ongoing effort to raise such awareness on other rivers too.
Sharing an experience of his own, Karim said he once thought that it was nothing throwing plastic bags or bottles into the sea when he went fishing, about 10 to 20 years ago.
“Now I see people bringing their own pails so they can collect the faeces and bring it back for disposal,” he said.
He said there is a need to raise awareness and educate the people which take time.
“We need to educate the people and raise awareness that everyone has a responsibility to preserve all these for our future generation.
“But, of course, this (awareness) takes time,” he told New Straits Times during an interview recently.
On nature tourism, he said while Sarawak continues to focus on promoting nature as its main tourism product, it is also crucial to ensure the industry develops at a pace that is manageable.
Karim described a ‘good pace’ as ensuring or having tourists and visitors respecting the environment, forest and doing no harm or spoiling them.
Meanwhile, Sarawak, he said, cannot promote itself as a shopping destination as its main product remains as nature; such as beautiful forests, rivers and a rich continental shelf.
“We cannot run away from nature because we are very proud of what we have. Sarawak has the most nature parks and national parks, but not all these parks are open to the public,” he said.
“When you gazette them as a national park, there are lots of things you can’t do as we need to protect and preserve our flora and fauna.
But, Karim said the ministry might consider opening up a few more national parks in the future as infrastructure gets better.
Currently, the famous ones are Bako National Park and Gunung Gading National Park in Lundu, which are all nearby, between one and two hours’ drive from Kuching.
“We also have the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, where you can see the orangutan up close. We will be beefing them up and upgrading the facilities gradually as well,” he said.
Apart from that, he said, fishing is another interesting thing to do when visiting the state.
According to the minister, there would be hundreds of Singaporeans and Malayans coming down on weekends, where they would usually book a ship to take them out to sea.
“From the airport, they head straight to the jetty and spend two nights out at sea.
“On Sunday, they head straight back to their respective states and country. The fish they catch will be shipped or couriered over by the boat operators,” he said.
