I had read about Borneo’s famous rainforests and now had a chance to go see for myself. The Malaysian state of Sarawak, home to amazing wildlife and culture, had become a bullseye for large energy companies in Australia who wanted to build megadams. These dams completely wiped out hundreds of villages, languages and cultures that have thrived for millennia. Next up was the Baram dam, to be built by Sarawak Energy. It would be erected near the village of an extremely kind and humble man named Peter Kallang. Well, they messed with the wrong person. Peter vowed to stop it from happening. He organized several villages, created a multi-year roadblock that stopped construction from starting, and traveled to Australia to protest on TV. And it worked. The Baram Dam blueprints were shredded like a summer cabbage.
Travel light, live aplenty.
iPhone wasn't there yet.
I documented the story along the way and later connected with BBC to give them the footage for a 4 minute profile here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-49753290?fbclid=IwY2xjawIs9kxleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHVp5CYnHS8LgsV_fX0NJmbH3O75tJcHw2IQngzMskQ8N0eX--ZZeo9KxpA_aem_0SKyRotLe8isqLTVojovDQ