The People of Pusa

This post is a tribute to the people of Pusa who made our visit here most welcomed.

The people here are friendly and not shy for their photos been taken by us. Thanks for the hospitality!

Kampung Pusa

Kampung Pusa is a village just across the river from Pusa town. Out of curiosity, Bengbeng suggested us to take a boat to the village. The boat ride fare is RM 0.50 one way.

Kampung Pusa from the boat.

Children swimming and playing at the river

Cooking gas cylinders been delivered to the village via boat from Pusa Town

The boat will stop at any piers along the village. All the landing points are interconnected from the main road inside the village.

A large number of boats berthed/docked by the river bank create a spectacular scene I don't get to see very often. The wooden poles were erected to guide the boats to their intended berthing area.

Concrete and wooden walkway once leaving the pier which lead to the heart of the village.

This is the main road of Kampung Pusa. I noticed a car here and found out from the locals that one can drive here on land from Spaoh (which is quite a distance away).

I think the people here don't get to see any outsider or foreigner here and most of them looked at us with curiosity. However, we had a wonderful time here as all the people here are friendly and helpful.

Goats run freely here.

SJK Chung Hua Pusa Primary School.

Rambutans are of abundance here. It costs only RM 0.20 per bundle

A few houses been partially converted to convenient stores. Interestingly, the stores are not manned at all time. Just give the owner a shout if you plan to buy any items and the owner will probably appear from the living room.

Pusa Town

Pusa is a small town about 150km away from Sibu. Once arrived at the town, the fish mascot greets the visitors. I have no idea why this fish is selected as mascot as I hardly notice anyone fishing here and this fish is not widely sold in the market here.

There is about 2 rows of shop houses here which mainly owned by the Chinese. Most of them are convenient and sundry shops which enjoy brisk business by providing the essential supplies to the people at Kampung Pusa, just across the river.

Food Court at the edge of the town

Pusa marketplace. Gula Sarawak (Sarawak Sugar) seems to be widely sold here and I reckon is the signature product here.

Children playing at the play ground

A lot of Durians are on sale here. Almost all the Durians here are from Kabong. They are simply delicious and cheap. 3 for RM10 only.

The most busy part of the town is the jetty itself where people commute to the opposite Kampung Pusa. The boat fare is also surprisingly cheap at RM0.50 one way to Kampung Pusa.

Saribas River view from Kampung Kalok. Beladin town is across this river and there is a ferry nearby which serve this area.

Dayang Isah Tandang Sari Tomb

Dayang Isah Tandang Sari is a well known figure for the locals in Pusa and almost everyone here, old or young seems to know the location of her tomb. Pusa is a small town which is about 150km from Sibu.

To locate the tomb is like finding a needle in the haystack for first timer here. However, we bumped into a local youngster who was kind enough to lead the way to the tomb. To reach there, turn at the junction to Agro bank into the abandoned terrace houses area. The abandoned terrace houses are connected to the nearby Kampung Kalok via 5-6 parallel small lanes which are mainly surrounded by overgrown grass.

Turn into the last lane which lead to Kampung Kalok (before exiting to another main road) where one will come across this signboard.

The signboard shows the layout of the tomb complex. Basically there are 3 tombs here. This is probably the only historical place in Pusa with a legend behind it.

For the people of Pusa, Dayang Isah Tandang Sari was born in Pusa and was like a princess to them. According to the legend, she was a very beautiful lady and many men fell in love with her.

Somewhere along her life, she married to a handsome and strong man (name unknown). However their life was not smooth sailing as many other men who fell in love with her kept following them to wherever they go. Her husband got jealous and this put Dayang Isah Tandang Sari under tremendous pressure. The pressure got the better of her and she finally commit suicide.

The route to the tomb is rather challenging as if they do not want any visitors here (in fact there is no visible sign that anyone had visited this place for a very long time) . At the beginning of the route, dirty water seems to clog the area and one will have no choice to get wet and wade through it.

After negotiating the pool of stagnant water, are the tombs for Dato Godam and Pengiran Temenggung Abdul Kadir (which I reckon is the father of Dayang Isah Tandang Sari)

Well, the journey to Dayang Isah Tandang Sari tomb is not for the faint heart. I was lucky to have Bengbeng as my companion or else I might not have the courage to continue this journey alone.

The eerie surrounding and noise made us rather uncomfortable. The wooden plank is in a dilapidated condition and covered with the surrounding grass. I got the feeling as if someone was watching us. I never had any supernatural experience before in my life but without any iron rod, silver knife and salt as my protection to counter any spirits, this was rather a spooky place to be in.

After walking about 50-60m, the Dayang Isah Tandang Sari Tomb become more visible.

The tomb stone seems to be tied with a yellow cloth, which probably suggest that Dayang Isah Tandang Sari was of a royalty status