sarawakbahai.org

16 July 2008 No Comment

On October 30, Mr. Terrence Tinggi Sait and I drove to Sarikei and met Roland Katang in Taman Jasmin. Together with his two brothers-in-law, Kudang and Solomon, we visited the family of the late Philip Suning, the first Iban follower of Bahá’u’lláh. It was a pleasant meeting and we reminisced about old times in Brunei and Limbang and the early years in Sarawak. I remembered how he invited Grete to visit Sungai Stalun and how that place in central Sarawak was opened to the Faith.

We then took some pictures of the family and friends who also visited them. We later went together to the gravesite of the late Philip. The grave is in a remote field with some other graves. It is easy to find and there was a small jungle path to the site. We said prayers at the site and also took pictures.

Later that evening we visited Rumah Chili, as part of a programme arranged by Roland Katang. We were there on time but the other guests came in later. By 8pm we decided to have dinner and they had slaughtered a 30kg pig for the occasion. Bahá’í tuairumahs from neighbouring areas also visited. Teng Ming Ching and Annie Teng were also present with their three children. Tuairumah Chili expressed his joy at our presence because it was rare for visitors to come there nowadays. He then invited me to say something. I spoke about the state of the Cause of God in the world today; how it is honoured and respected in the UN circles and described its worldwide spread. Also, it is also time for entry by troops and the believers must have systematic training to be prepared for the challenges ahead. They then asked some questions. Their main concerns were with challenges from non-Bahá’ís. After a very enjoyable four hours there, Terrence and I drove back to Kuching and reached home at 2.45am.

Report by Dr. Fozdar