Just came back from Simanggang(or rather its now appropriate name Sri Aman) attending the Maal hijrah function. While all recognise the place now as Sri Aman i still fondly referred it as Simanggang,reminiscent of the great local football catchphrase 'main Simanggang" meaning robust play which Simanggang football team was famous or notorious for!!! It was a short brief visit with just a night stay at its "pristine" hotel, Mega Hotel. i asked a friend where he was staying, the reply,Theatre Inn, what the heck makes one come with such a name at such a place where i cant see much cultural presence. Simanggang though used to be a happening place in Sarawak, for sure during the Brooke Rajahs era ,this place was regarded as a major strategic and buzzing place and history books reflected Sir Charles Brooke great fondness for this "dangerous" outpost. He spent many years there as an officer before taking the helm from his uncle, Sir James. Simanggang those days must even be bigger than Miri,Bintulu or even Sibu and maybe just fractionally smaller than Kuching in terms of importance as well besides the size. What ails you,Simanggang? The only stop i made besides attending the function was to have a cursory look at that great Brooke era outpost, Fort Alice. Bit of a shame to see such an important historic place or rather outpost in such derelict state for Fort Alice can tell us a lot of stories of our past, a past that can be learnt from, a past that can be a source of local pride,i wont say more. Thankfully now the tourism authority is now trying to publicise the unique phenomena , the benak (or tidal bore..) that happens annually at Sri Aman and hopefully you never know it can be a world wide attraction and "cult' event like our another great success,the Rain forest festival. something to ponder on, but at present i can only view this sentimental place as a place in decline, bypassed by the progress of the times in Sarawak ,why even Serian town is more lively!!
Incidentally i was there in Simanggang to attend the Maal Hijrah for my daughter Diyana was given the Maal hijrah award for best student SPM(she got 12 A1 during the recent SPM) and as a proud father the visit to Simanggang was indeed a happy one plus or minus the scant melancholy observations i had of a place that used to be famous for its great warriors and football culture(oops sorry)...Live it up Alice and i know soon you will be restored as a Simanggang landmark.
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