From a Cottage to Malahing Village
Malahing village is located in a bay around 30-40 minutes’ sailing from the pier of Tanjung Laut, Bontang city. In the beginning, Nasir and Jami needed a place to rest when they were out are sea.
Nasir Lakada
On the telephone, the voice of Nasir Lakada, 49, was full of joy. Several times he even let out a laugh. His first child had just been admitted to the School of Communication Science, Mulawarman University (Unmul) in Samarinda, East Kalimantan. It means that Adit Wijaya, 19, is the first teenager of Malahing village to become a college student.
“I’m legalizing a diploma in Bontang. My son has been admitted to Unmul,” said Nasir on Tuesday (12/7/2022) from Bontang. When he returned to Malahing, he informed the village’s residents that Adit would soon live in Samarinda. This would also be the first story of one of Malahing’s youngsters settling in another city.
So far, said Nasir, teenagers from Malahing attending school in Bontang had sailed back and forth by motorboat. “From junior high school, they have been used to going by boat. They leave in the morning and return in the afternoon,” said the chairman of neighborhood unit (RT) 030 of Malahing village, Tanjung Laut Indah subdistrict, South Bontang district, East Kalimantan.
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The subdistrict, Tanjung Laut Indah, (beautiful cape) deserves mentioning, as Malahing is a village standing on the sea. The village, where 55 families now live, was built by Nasir and his late brother-in-law Jami in early 2000. “This is really the sea here, the [nearest] island is over there…,” said Nasir, pointing at a small island west of the village. It was formerly called Kuetang Island, now it is also named Malahing Island.
They covered a distance of hundreds of kilometers from Sulawesi, passing the Makassar Strait to Kalimantan.
Malahing village is located in a bay around 30-40 minutes’ sailing from the pier of Tanjung Laut, Bontang city. In the beginning, Nasir and Jami needed a place to rest when they were out are sea. The two departed from Mamuju, West Sulawesi, in early 2000 for Bontang in the hope of improving their fortune as fishermen. They covered a distance of hundreds of kilometers from Sulawesi, passing the Makassar Strait to Kalimantan.
“Bontang was said to be abound with fish. So, we sailed for two days across the sea,” said Nasir, when we met in Malahing village on 6 June 2022. The meeting coincided with a goodwill visit of dozens of artists (poets and painters) to Bontang, headed by Butet Kartaredjasa. While it was already part of the community empowerment program of PT Pupuk Kaltim (fertilizer company), Malahing village became one of our destinations due to its unique and attractive features.
Building cottages
Nasir and Jami constructed huts where they could rest while they were roaming. In their early period in Bontang, they both stayed in the huts of the Mamuju people on an island not far from the present position of Malahing village.
“We were lodging there for 2-3 months. But we started to not feel comfortable. I was thinking of building our own cottages out on the sea,” said Nasir.
Nasir Lakada sedang duduk di beranda rumahnya. Inilah rumah pertama yang berdiri di Kampung Malahing, Bontang.
Nasir Lakada
They thus built a cottage for two. Measuring 3 meters by 3 meters, it was made from mangrove wood. The cottage was not located on the island but a bit farther away on the water. The choice was questioned by the Mamuju people with whom they stayed. However, Nasir had different considerations. Frequently, he said, when the water started ebbing, fishermen could not directly moor alongside Kuetang Island. Therefore, they could not promptly rest after working all night at sea.
“I chose the place here, east of the island, so that whenever we wanted to go to the cottage we could moor right away,” said Nasir, adding that Kuetang Island was actually formed by tree clusters growing on the sea. Rather than land, there was only sand when the water ebbed.
So, Malahing village was built from only one mangrove-wood cabin occupied by two fishermen roaming from Mamuju. One day, still in the early 2000s, Jami took leave to pick up his family from his village. Nasir remained in the cottage alone.
Jami returned not only with his family, but also with his younger sister, Marliana, who is none other than Nasir’s wife. But a problem arose as they had one cabin to accommodate two families. Their only solution was to build a new cottage. So, the next cottage was set up not far from the first.
“It went on that way. The Mamuju people on Kuetang Island finally also joined us here,” shared Nasir.
In order to continue their studies into sixth grade, the children of Malahing have to go on a return trip to Bontang. Besides a mosque and a reading park, this village also has small lodgings.
Today, Malahing village floats in the middle of Bontang bay, measuring 5 hectares with a population of 226. There is also an elementary school (SD) but it only goes up to the fifth grade. In order to continue their studies into sixth grade, the children of Malahing have to go on a return trip to Bontang. Besides a mosque and a reading park, this village also has small lodgings.
As for electricity, said Nasir, this village had once owned a solar power installation. But although the apparatus remains installed to date, it is no longer functioning. “It is damaged. So, we’re now using diesel power, which is switched on from 6 p.m. in the afternoon to 11 p.m. in the evening. Thereafter we use pressurized oil lamps,” said Nasir.
There is no worry about clean water, which in Malahing village is always available, derived from rain water processing and supplied from the mainland.
In spite of the limitations due to its mid-sea position, Malahing people feel self-confident in welcoming tourists. They call out: “Better Living in Malahing!”. Yes, it will be better to live in Malahing.
Yet apart from being able to watch the sea to their heart’s content, their life is full of challenges. When the weather is unfavorable, you cannot be certain when you will arrive there, and this happened to a group of media representaties from Jakarta wishing to visit Malahing, just one day after the sojourn of the artists. It’s challenging, isn’t it?
Nasir Lakada
Born: Mamuju, 31 December 1972
Education:SD (formal), SMA (Package C)
Occupation: Chairman of RT 030, Malahing village, Tanjung Laut Indah subdistrict, Bontang, East Kalimantan
Wife: Marliana
Children: three
(This article was translated by Aris Prawira)
