School in the Past
Robin Udau talks about his experiences of going to school in the 1960s in the Long Banga dialect of Sa'ban. The recording was made in Long Banga on 1st December 2017.
éek nai Robin Udau éraat Long Banga
I am Robin Udau from Long Banga
éek la' cerita lem ayoo' lún taam
I am going to talk about our lives
lem laak nam puluhan lah
in the 60s
jadi lem laak nam puluhan nah
so in the 60s
pu'uen-pu'uen amai mai sekolah
when we first went to school
mai sekolah Long Lamai
we went to school in Long Lamai
éraat nai arai malaan kuet arai
we walked from here
malaan kuet éraat nai mai Long Lamai
walking from here to Long Lamai
kira weh jam lah
took about two hours
anak adiek amai masa nah
we were small children in those days
am sekolah Long Banga
there was no school in Long Banga
am sekolah Long Balong kai nah
there was no school in Long Balong at that time
dei nah amai mai sekolah Long Lamai
so we went to school in Long Lamai
sekolah mission yeh abei
it was actually a mission school
tapi pi nah kerajaan neh alaak yeh lah
later the government took it over
lún orang putih masa nah
but at that time it was run by the missionaries
pi nah jadi' sekolah Long Balong
after that a school was set up in Long Balong
yeh nah sekolah nnoi dong Long Banga
that is the school in Long Banga today
nnoi, lem adiin nnoi
nowadays
proe'-proe' nah amai éraat Long Lamai mai Long Balong ah
we moved from Long Lamai to Long Balong
lem laak lem nam pluu' lau, nonoh lah
in the year 1963, or something like that
jadi lem laak nam pluu' lau, nam pluu' paat
so in 1963 or 1964
amai sekolah Long Balong
we went to school in Long Balong
pi nah...
then...
lem masa nah memang susah lah
during that time, it was really difficult
malaan kuet arai hoo'
we had to walk after all
ataupun maya' alút lah mai Long Balong
or take a boat to Long Balong
pi nah, pi lem masa nah
after that time
ameu hnguei Dato Ose deh dei jump kelas ameu lah
Dato Ose and I skipped a year
si' laak aroo' primary three, primary four, si' laak
we did both primary three and primary four in one year
pi nah mai Bario
after that we went to Bario
kelas imah ngaan kelas nam amai mai Bario lah
for class five and class six we went to Bario
malaan kuet arai nah
and we walked
abiin am aliin
because there was no road
éraat nai arai malaan
we walked from here
mai diep Long Peluan kah ataupun Long Beruang
and slept at Long Peluan or Long Beruang
éraat nah mai wan këut ngaai
from there we went up into the mountains
éraat nah dei mai Pei' Mréeal
from there we went to River Mbreeal
éraat nah tau mai, dei tah arai mai Lemdeu ataupun Pa' Mada
and then from there we came to Remudu or Pa' Mada
pi nah dei tah arai sieng noknai
and then we arrived there
sieng Bario lah
arrived at Bario
sekolah amai Bario lem dei' laak
we went to school in Bario for a few years
lem lem laak nah lah
in those years
laak primary imah, primary nam
for primary five and primary six
amai pu'uen-pu'uen aroo' form one dong Bario nah
we were the very first people to do form one in Bario
form one, form two, form three
form one, form two and form three
nah amai sekolah Bario hoo'
so that was going to school in Bario
éraat nah pi...
from then....
lem masa noknah memang arai malaan kuet lah
at that time we had to walk
paat sieu arai éraat Long Banga mai Bario
it took four days to go from Long Banga to Bario
diep lem plueng arai kai si' ai
sometimes we spent the night in the jungle
diep maa' lún arai kai si' ai
sometimes we slept at people's houses
nonoh ddúet ayoo' yeh
that's what it was like
pi nah lem lima laak nah lah
after that... that was five years
tapi masa nah naan konfrontasi
but that time was the confrontation
naan masa mai-mai maya' bilun lah
so sometimes we flew
maya' hellicopter mai Bario
or took a hellicopter to Bario
nonoh yeh
that's how it was
tapi naan loe' masa mai-mai maya' anok lah
but there was lots of times we walked
abiin si' kai cuti masa nah alam
because when we had holidays in the past
lau igu ah
it was three wéeks
bliin paat, bliin alau, bliin dua belas
April, August and December
si' igu kai deh cuti
one week, if they had holidays
si' igu naan arai malaan
we walked for one week
si' igu ceh dong maa'
you were at home for one week
si' igu naan ceh mai lëu' sekolah breu
and then it took a week to go back to school
nonoh ddúet gaya' hnah
that's how it was
belanja' hlong tah amai mai
and we had to bring our own supplies
boarding amai, am tah yeh wei' eu lah
our boarding house wasn't particularly good
dong Bario masa nah
in Bario in those days
kai kerajaan am loe' siin lah
if the government didn't have a lot of money
naan anok
that's what happens
jadi nah lem ayoo' nah
so that was that
pi nah dei tah amai mai Marudi
after that, we went to Marudi
mai form five
for form five
amai sieng form five lah, form four, form five
we got as far as form five, form four or form five
pi form five naan deh mai Tanjung
after form five, some people went to Tanjung
mai form six lah
for form six
and then mai university lah
and then to university
nonoh ddúet ayoo' lem in the seventies pi nah hoo'
that's how it was in the seventies
masa nah
during that time
jadi éek nai sieng form imah
but I got to form five
pi lëu' éek éraat Marudi
after that I came back from Marudi
mai jadi training guru' lah
and went for teacher training
mai training guru'
I went for teacher training
pi training guru' nah nah arai guru' lah
and after training I became a teacher
nai nah éek mengajar
then I taught
pi nah pensen
then I retired
pi pensen
after retiring
umur nam pluu' laak
at the age of 60
jadi anok ne'éek lah, jadi pensen, jadi pengulu ne'éek nnoi lah
I retired and became Penghulu
si' laak pi pensen hoo'
one year after retiring
aroo' deh éek pengulu lah
they made me Penghulu
so nnoi dong hmaa' nnoi lah
so now I'm back home
nonoh ayoo' hoo'
so that's all