Perjalanan KeBt Balos dan Bt Tapadong, Ulu Segama Lahad Datu

Perlu jalan darat keKg Opak diUlu Segama melalui ladang kelapa sawit FELCRA dan persendirian. Berjalan lebih kurang 200 meter kepengkalan ditepi sungai Segama untuk menaiki bot keBt Balos, perkuburan pagan lama. Bot diikat ditepi sungai dan berjalan kaki lebih kurang 100 meter, naik tangga kayu belian, buka get dan sampai kegua Bt Balos dimana terletak perkuburan lama pagan dan kristian suku kaum Dusun Suphan yang dianggarkan lebih kurang lebih 700 tahun lamanya.

Pihak Muzium Sabah mentafsirkan sudah ada penempatan zaman batu lebih kurang 20,000 tahun dulu.

Tapadong merupakan sebuah daerah selain Batarong dan Segalong Tingkayu diKunak Lahad Datu. Berbagai peristiwa seperti penyakit, perpindahan dan pembangunan mungkin menyebabkan daerah daerah itu ditinggalkan oleh penduduknya dan kini tinggal sebagai bahan sejarah dan pelancongan sahaja.

The Story About The Barunsai

There was also this story from PITAS about the Bajau community who does the Barunsai (a kind of local dance) and merry making. Barunsai is normally done at wedding or festivals or reception of important people. The merrymaking lasted for many hours with lots of laughter. The people were so happy that they had forgotten the time and they turned into stones. The stone can be sighted at PITAS at Kg Likapas, near Pualau Jambongan. Such stories are also quite common with the other ethnics especially the Dusun and there are many version. Some stories told was about some toad getting into the gravy and the audience laughed at it, while other stories was about a monkey that was dressed up and the audience laughed at it.This story was told by an Orang Sungai Iman and a Suluk.

Bajau Community At Kampong Darau Laut

It is interesting to note that there are many Bajau ethnic groups in Sabah, but one catches my attention, that of the Bajau Community at Kg Darau Laut, Inanam, Kota Kinabalu.

The village is now divided into two; one is the old village and the other the new settlement. It is most heartening to note that the river had been widened and strengthened with concrete.

This community came to the area now known as Kg Darau about some 300 years ago from Johor, southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia. When they first arrived they saw some Dusun rice farmers. The Dusun farmers soon moved fruther inland to the foot of the mountain which is now known as Mandau, in Menggatal, a town closeby to Inanam.

Darau got its name from the Dusun language which means 'slowly' or 'pelan pelan' in Bahasa Malaysia. Some people also said that Darau comes from the word Darul which is similar to Darul Salam which is the neighboring State of Negara Brunei Darul Salam.

The community which originally came from Saudi Arabia could have come to this part of the world to spread the religion of Islam at that time. There were 6 of them including the father which included 3 men and 2 ladies and the one that stayed in Sabah was the lady. This means that the Bajau Community in Darau is of the Arab decent or heritage. They still keep some of the things left by their forefathers including some old religious document, dress and of course an old drum which we call 'beduk'.