Dalat, Sarawak

Dalat
The aerial view of Dalat town. The great river seen here is the Batang Oya.
Coat of arms Districts of Sarawak
Motto: Berakar Rumbia, Berinti Budaya[1]
Dalat Location of Dalat in Malaysian Borneo
Coordinates: 2°44′20″N 111°56′19″E / 2.73889°N 111.93861°E
District Office location	Dalat
Local area government	Majlis Daerah Dalat dan Mukah (MDDM)
Population (2010[2])
• Total	619
District Officer	Kueh Lei Poh
Postcode	96300

Dalat is the administrative town of the Dalat district in Mukah Division, Sarawak, East Malaysia. It is situated by the Oya river.

Infrastructures

Education

Dalat town has one secondary school which is SMK Dalat. In the town proper, there is only one primary school which is SJK (C) Chin Hua.^[3]

Banking

There is only one bank in Dalat which is a branch of RHB Bank.

Others

Dalat town also has a post office, district office, a hospital, a stadium (Stadium Perpaduan Dalat), a few blocks of shop-houses, a Catholic church (St. Bernard Church), a Methodist Church, a Chinese temple (age more than a century) and a district mosque. A Senior Citizens’ Activity Centre (PAWE) was established by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development in Dalat with 439 registered members.^[4]

Demographics

According to the 2010 National Census, Dalat townland has a population of 619.^[5]

Ethnicities of Dalat[6]
ethnic group			percent
Melanau			50.89%
Chinese			29.72%
Malay			7.75%
Iban			4.68%
Other Bumiputera and others			6.96%

Languages

Most of the people use the Melanau language to communicate here. There is a slight difference of the language between each villages, yet they can understand each other very well. Other languages such as Malay, Sarawak Malay, Iban, Mandarin, Hokkien and English are also widely spoken.

Religions

Main religions practised in Dalat are Islam, Christianity (Roman Catholic, Methodist and SIB), Buddhism, Malaysian Chinese religion, etc.

Politics

Dalat is represented at the State Legislative Assembly by Datuk Hajah Fatimah Abdullah @ Ting Sai Ming, from Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu. She won the seat in the 18th State Election 2016 for the fourth time. For Parliament, Dalat district is under Parliament 213: Mukah.

Transportation

Road

Dalat is connected by a single-carriage road to Mukah. There are daily express bus services connecting Dalat and Miri via Bintulu and Mukah.

Air

The nearest airport is Mukah Airport. The locals however prefer to use either Bintulu Airport or Sibu Airport to fly to Kuala Lumpur particularly.

Water

River transportation is still very vital in Dalat. There are speed boats connecting Dalat and Sibu with a fee of MYR 20. The journey takes approximately 2 hours.

Culture

The people here particularly the Melanaus are still practising their culture. The Melanaus are famous for their traditional food such as umai, sago worms and the sago pearls. Also, there is a carnival named Karnival Balau (Balau is the Sago palm in Melanau language) which is held annually, and also a regatta, held few years once. Some major celebrations here are Christmas, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Chinese New Year and the Kaul Festival. The Kaul Festival is celebrated on different dates for different villages.

Association/Club

• For melanau community at Dalat they can participate on Dalat Melanau Association which is registered on 9 September 2010 under association act 1966-33 with ROS PPM-002-13-09092010.^[7] The association encouraging melanau at Dalat district to be more pro active and while helping to promote progress for local melanau people. They also serve to protect Melanau Dalat heritage and cultural.
• For photography enthusiast the can joint Dalat Photography Club. A well known Freelance Photographer Naising Bega who is famous for his artwork were co-founder of this club and he also one of the instructor in this club.^[8] The club registered on 6 November 2012 with ROS PPM014-13-06112012.^[9] The club initially known as Melanau Dalat Photography Club which made it early present on Pesta Bersaug Dalat on October 2010. It later renamed to Dalat Photography Club to encourage more people enter the club.^[10] The Patron of the club is Dalat state assembly woman Datuk Hajah Fatimah Abdullah @ Ting Sai Ming^[11].

Literature

• Heidi Munan's short story 'How Dalat Got Its Name' is published in the book Melanau stories(2005) Utusan Publications and also is used as a short story for English Literature for PMR level in the textbook "Literature Component For Lower Secondary; Short Stories for Form One".
• The Kut Canal and Medong Village also featured in the book Melanau stories(2005), in the story 'The Story of Kut Canal'.

Gallery

• 

  The temple dedicated to deity Tua Pek Kong located at the waterfront.

• 

  Kg. Brunei, this is how a typical Melanau village looks like in Dalat.

• 

  Hospital Dalat Phase 1

• 

  The waterfront by the Oya river as seen in December 2010

References

1. "Dalat waiting to be explored by culture, history buffs". The Borneo Post. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
2. "Laporan Kiraan Permulaan 2010". Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia. p. 27. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
3. "Daerah Dalat". Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
4. "Fatimah: Senior Citizens deserve to live happy and prosperous lives". New Sarawak Tribune. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
5. "Laporan Kiraan Permulaan 2010". Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia. p. 35. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
6. "Visi, Misi dan Latar Belakang" (in Malay). Pejabat Daerah Dalat. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
7. "Persatuan Melanau Dalat Sarawak". Retrieved 2015-10-17.
8. "NainetPhotomania Blog". NainetPhotomania Blog. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
9. "Dalat Photography Club ( Kelab Fotografi Dalat )". mysociety.my. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
10. "Dalat Photography Club - DPC". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
11. "Dalat Photography Club turns 3 | New Sarawak Tribune". www.newsarawaktribune.com. Retrieved 2015-10-17.

External links

• Laman Web Rasmi Majlis Daerah Dalat & Mukah
• Laman Web Rasmi Pejabat Daerah Dalat
• Pictures of Dalat on Flickr
• Dalat Town Sharing Channel
• Dalat Photography Club - DPC