On our return journey, we made a detour and visit this little town of KUNAK. Non of us being to this town before despite Tawau is just 100 km away from here. Kunak Town has a population 50,000 mainly Bajau and Bugis. A sizeable Chinese population involved in the running most shops in the town and landowners cultivating oil palms.
"...Eat more swordfish and shark meat. These types of fish have high concentrations of Omega-3 fatty acids, the healthy fats that support healthy cell, muscle and tissue growth. Focus on adding these to your daily meals whenever possible...." This is a suggestion I read in a Keep-slim article.
The 3 big sward fish in the boat is about one meter in length. Drying on the wooden jetty (photo above) are some smaller swardfish drying up under the strong sun to be made into salted-fish. Though it is unhygenic to place such food under processing on the foot path where every walked on, these salted fish are surprising "Clean" with no house flies.
This is not an ordinary fishing boat. Chun Xing was the first to bring every one attention to a family living inside this house boat. This is a curious and interesting life style to us.
The sea gypsies (Palauh) of Sabah retained their drifting seafaring lifestyle. This traditional nomad kind still skim the waters in their boathouses and forage for food in the sea reef.
Kunak local population include a colorful mix of local Bajau (the sea gypsies), Chinese, Philippino and Indonesian all bringing with them their individual culture and language.
What are they doing inside their house-boat? "They are counting cash while the children watch by...."
The sea-Bajau are among the lowest income group in Malaysia. This has received the attention of government and international welfare organizations. As a result, livelihood for the local has greatly improved for the past decades.
As for this boat family we saw at the jetty, seem they just made a successful trade with their sea products and now counting the earning. A profit enough to sustain the whole family for sometimes. I peep at their cash...... are all Rm50 notes.
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