Miri folk stand up for smell of pungent sun-dried ‘bubuk’ wafting into city

MIRI (Mar 27): While the ‘bubuk’ or krill season means extra income and fresh home-made belacan (shrimp paste) to many, some dread it for one reason — the smell of bubuk drying in the hot sun can be too pungent to handle.

Most would just tolerate it as it is a temporary thing that only lasts during the short krill season, but some neighbours have gone out of their way to lodge complaints of the smell to the Miri City Council (MCC).

Recently, Miri Mayor Adam Yii posted on his official Facebook (FB) page asking Mirians for advice on what the council should do about the complaints, with the topic quickly becoming popular and garnering over 450 comments and over 350 shares.

“Dear Mirians, I need your advice. I have received numerous complaints about neighbour drying bubok in the past week. And the smell is terrible and disturbing. What should the Miri City Council do?” posted the mayor.

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Many netizens responded with positive comments while some comments were also quite ‘interesting’ and even witty.

“In that case I’d like to complaint also.. the strong smell that irritates and cause social uneasiness in public..it’s the smell of ‘tengong’? (body odour) among some netizens esp in public places and counters..does it make sense if I file a report over such issue? Well I do feel giddy and lost appetite when suddenly or accidentally inhale that strong smell when somebody is queueing up nearby. (it’s occasional) Now that somebody complain about the bubok smell seems no difference too.. it’s seasonal,” said FB user with the handle Felicia Lim responding to the post.

“Council should tell bubok not to come to Miri waters anymore. If they come, make sure they have police permit and quarantine for 14 days. Unless they wish to ignore the SOP, they will be captured in raids of nets, and be processed accordingly into varieties of delicacies according to the local preference. This notice should be treated as a serious matter as it involves both the bubok and the Miri community at large,” joked another FB user Sebastian Edwin.

FB user Kelvin Chia also responded saying it was a cultural phenomena and should be seen as a blessing.

“It is a culture/tradition and we should be proud, as Sarawak has this seasonal event every year.. We should feel blessing, every year has the harvest for local to make income and the tasty belacan/Cincaluk (femented krills) for our food like Laksa. As Sarawakian (we) should treasure this culture/tradition. Be tolerate and understanding.. Let our local council handle on other matters that benefit the community well.. I personally enjoy belacan and cincaluk, Sarawak Boleh!!!,” he wrote.

FB user Sean Wong also commented saying that home maker should be allowed to make some income from the abundant bubuk during this difficult time.

“I smell it too. It is smelly, but I also enjoy the belacan later. It’s not whole year as it’s seasonal. Let the home maker make some income during this difficult time. I also think it’s part of our culture. Since young, every year I am smelling it. I am sure in big city, they wont have this luxury. Sooner or later, city people will miss this when this culture is gone like many others,” he said.

Meanwhile, Yii when contacted about the issue said the majority of people who responded to his post agreed that the situation is only temporary, thus it should be tolerated.

“The great majority opinion of the response is that it’s seasonal and traditional, and therefore should be tolerated and accepted,” he said.

The post Miri folk stand up for smell of pungent sun-dried ‘bubuk’ wafting into city appeared first on Borneo Post Online.