Crocs and kek lapis in Kg Boyan

                                   

	By Badrolhisham Bidin, June 5, 2011 Those from Peninsular Malaysia will inevitably have two questions when they arrive at Kampung Boyan, a village in the heart of Kuching, Sarawak.
	The first is how an Indonesian village, as the name suggests, came to be located there.
	And the next: "Where are the crocodiles?" The village is, after all, located by the banks of Sungai Sarawak, which is said to be crocodile infested.
	To both these questions, villager Muhammad Taha, 83, would answer: "That's all in the past."
	He says only Malays live in the village now. These days, Kampung Boyan is more famous for its kek lapis - a Sarawak delicacy - and Fort Margherita, built by the Rajah of Sarawak Charles Brooke in 1879. The old fort, which is walking distance from the settlement, is a well-known landmark and monument in Sarawak.
	Built in the style of an English castle, it was designed to protect Kuching from pirate attacks.
	It was turned into a Police Museum in 1971 before being handed over to the Sarawak state government. Now, it is a famous tourist attraction in Kuching.
	Muhammad says the village could have been founded by the Bawean - an Indonesian ethnic group - a long time ago.
	However, when Brooke became the Rajah, he decided to place the Malays in the village, while the Chinese were given land across the river.
	"But as far as I can remember, there has never been an Indonesian villager. Sometimes, first-time visitors would ask whether we were Baweans."
	Many Kampung Boyan villagers will converge for dinner or supper at two food courts at the village riverfront which is also a good place to watch boats sail by.
	Tourists, especially those from Peninsular Malaysia, will make it a point to visit the village, accessible via a one-minute boat ride from Kuching, to look for the delicious kek lapis Sarawak.
	As almost everyone in the village claims to be a kek lapis expert, Muhammad advises tourists to be careful in making their selection.
	Tourists are also attracted to the village due to another popular delicacy - fresh or salted ikan terubok (herring).
	He also fondly speaks of the boat operators, catering to the villagers who want to go to the other side of the river.
	"The fare used to be two sen and it was later increased to five sen for a one-way trip. Now, it is 50 sen. But tourists are used to giving the operators RM1 per trip.
	"It is a dying profession. As you can see, old men are paddling across the river. The new generation refuses to take up the job."
	Asked if there are crocodiles in the river facing the village, his friend, Ismail Dahan said there had been no sightings for a long time.
	"When we were young, we used to swim across the river for fun. We were never disturbed by crocodiles. Even the latrines were all lined up beside the riverbank in the 1960s and 70s.
	"Of course, our parents would scare us with horror stories of crocodiles lurking in the water, but boys will be boys. That was back then."
	Ismail, however, remembers coming face-to-face with crocodiles in Batu Kawa, a few kilometres away from the village.
	He says he was collecting sand by the river with his grandmother to be sold to middlemen.
	"My grandmother told me to ignore the creatures and continue collecting sand. I was relieved when the crocodiles just yawned and watched us."
	Ismail says there are about 100 houses in the village. Since the houses are built on slopes, their cars are parked along the main road, near the river.
	A walk around the village will reveal that the villagers are a friendly bunch of people.
	Don't be surprised if you are invited in for a cup of tea.