"Son, I'll wait for you there"
There was once a lively village called Encang deep in the Borneo jungle and the village was guarded
by the mighty Santubong Mountain and the Rajang River. Encang was never mapped
or opened for the world to see. Rice was planted at the edge of the hills kept
the villagers tummy filled, farming was never disappointing during
harvest day. Thus, the people gratuitously gave offerings to the nature’s spirit
every year. For generations, their true Ibanese way of life was untouched like
the serenity of Lake Bunut.
“Dad,
what does the city looks like?”, Anak asked his father. “Ravages.”, Apai replied. Apai will soon realised that his
word would be taken for granted by his own son as his beloved home will be
ravaged as well. As time passed by, Anak left Encang for the city hoping to
return his father’s favour and he successfully did that as he became an engineer. “My
greatest gift to Encang and its people is this bridge, The Sayau Bridge”,
Anak claimed. The people of Encang were amazed as they now have an access to
the city. Within days, the opposite river bank was stacked with bulldozers and construction's equipment. Everyone was cheering except the Tuai (chief) itself,
Apai.
“Son, you will make the nature’s spirit angry. The guardian of
Santubong will never bless your soul and you’ll never be one with the earth in
the afterlife”, Apai angrily snapped. Anak on the
other hand laughed and cynically said, “I
prayed to thou O nature’s spirit to curse Encang and Sayau”. Immediately
after the construction started, things get ugly as Apai hung himself on a
banyan tree near the river bank as a protest. The clear river
turned murky and it's not safe for drinking. Men who bathed in the river would get
attacked by crocodiles. Body parts scattered along the river bank and their rancid
maggoty rotting corpses brought the deadly plague.
The people of Encang were infected with the
plague would kill themselves by being burned alive. New-born couldn’t survive
the plague as well as the pregnant women would have a deadly abortion or their
new-born were severely deformed during birth. Day by day, Encang turned into a
barren land with nothing left to feed the people. Eventually, the bridge was
completed and the local shaman suggested to plant 50 children skulls within
each beam of the bridge to as a blessing. So, began the massacre of Encang where hundreds of
children were decapitated. Their bodies were dumped into the river where it’ll
be devoured by the crocodiles and were to never be found.
The People of Encang
could never find peace like they used to, the families were grieving too much
and drowned themselves in sorrow. Many couldn’t cope with deaths and
misfortunes bestowed upon them by the guardians. On one quiet morning, the
whole people of Encang committed mass suicide by hanging themselves on the
bridge. The villagers would drink rice wine to ease the pain and they would cry
with all their hearts out. One after one were dead. In present day, there are
no more Encang or the Sayau Bridge as the Dam has submerged the area along with
the ill-fated Encangs. Sometimes, when explorers went into the Borneo jungle,
they would hear wailings and crying sound from afar. That served as a reminder from
the people of Encang to the outside world saying the spirits are among you.
