21-06-2025
The man who handles medicine
Photo from his album shows Gurong clocking out for the last time in 2020, after more than 40 years in service.
SINCE the 1950s, the health delivery system in the Baram region of Sarawak has been making inroads.
That said, it is also home to many Orang Ulu who became good 'dressers' – a colonial-era term referring to the profession of those assisting the physicians at a clinic or a hospital, often providing basic care and performing routine tasks.
The position's name originated from their main task of helping the doctors 'dress up' surgical wounds on patients.
Today, they are known as medical assistants (MAs).
There was the late Ngimat Ayu, a Kelabit who joined the medical service in the early mid-20th century, encouraged by Major Tom Harrison who later became a curator of the Sarawak Museums.
The late Merang Apui was a respected Kayan dresser who was most skilled in surgery.
He was the mentor of another outstanding Orang Ulu dresser, Gurong Wan, a Kayan of Long Tebangan. This is his story.
Photo shows Gurong attending to a villager during a visit to a longhouse in Ulu Baram.
Educational background
Gurong hailed from Long Tebangan, a settlement at the Akah River in Baram.
Born in 1960, he was delivered by Asong Lenjau, the first trained midwife from the Kenyah community.
At seven years old, he entered Ubong Emang Primary School in Long Lama and later, attended the Good Shepherd Primary School in Marudi for two years before completing his primary education at Long Liam Primary School in 1972.
It was around this time when his father, after having resigned from the government as a boat driver, moved the family back to his home village.
From 1973 to 1977, Gurong studied at Marudi Secondary School before joining the government service as a medical worker. He later pursued higher education in 2012 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Practice Development from the University of Northumbria in Newcastle, UK.
'Days as a dresser'
Gurong was trained as a dresser during a transitional period, inheriting the legacy of colonial-era healthcare.
From the 1940s to the 1980s, Sarawak's rural communities were served by the 'dressers'.
Though not medical doctors, these dedicated individuals provided vital healthcare services.
In the Kayan language, they were known as 'Lake Gem Taban' – literally, 'the man who handles medicine'.
Like many indigenous people of Sarawak, Gurong is multi-lingual – apart from his mother tongue, he is also fluent in English, Malay, Iban, Kenyah, and Penan.
This has helped him tremendously in his work.
In 1980, Gurong graduated as a dresser after completing a two-year programme at the Paramedics School at the old Miri Hospital.
'I had the opportunity to serve in three different eras: the Travelling Dispensary (TD), the Village Health Team, and 1Malaysia Mobile Clinic,' Gurong recalled.
His first posting was at the Long Lama dispensary, managing TD No 14.
His unit, which covered 13 longhouses, consisted of a junior MA, a nurse, an attendant, and a driver.
Their longboat doubled as a clinic and an accommodation during their week-long outreach missions.
'The villagers would gather by the riverbank, often sitting on the hot gravel under the sun with their children, waiting for treatment.
'At night, we would sleep on the riverbank, and often, we did a bit of fishing with the villagers who were camping there.
'We cooked meals by the river and during the rainy season, we did our cooking on the longboat.'
The river mobile clinic used by Gurong and his team in rural Baram.
In 1982, the rural healthcare service model shifted.
Clinics began operating at the longhouses, bringing healthcare directly to the rural communities.
'This was the time when we could stay at the 'ruai' (common area) of the longhouses.
'We still cooked our own meals; there's the river where we bathed in and did the fishing with the villagers.
'Very often, there were so many patients that we had to work late into the night.
'This went on, from one village to the next.'
In 1983, Gurong was transferred to Long Jeeh, where a new clinic had just been set up.
It was there where he met Merang, who was the clinic attendant then, and a fellow dresser Jalong Lawing, and formed a close bond with both of them.
The Long Jeeh Clinic, which was set up in 1983.
Travelling between Marudi and Long Jeeh was an arduous journey – two days by boat, with an overnight stay on the gravel banks of the Baram River.
'I was pioneering the new health delivery system, helping to launch the Long Jeeh health team, and expanding the service to the surrounding settlements.'
One particularly remote location was Ba' Purau, a Penan village along the Datah River.
'That journey involved a six, seven hour trekking through leech-infested jungle.
'We carried everything: medicines, supplies, personal belongings.
'It was a great relief when the Flying Doctor Service took over a few years later.'
His experience was not without danger.
'On several occasions, our boat capsized in the rapids of Upper Baram.
'We were lucky to have survived,' he recalled.
Gurong and his mentor, Merang, having lunch on the riverbank, during one of their assignments in rural Baram.
Public health leadership
After more than eight years in Long Jeeh, Gurong was transferred to Village Health Team No 2 in Marudi in 1992.
He underwent in-service training and was later promoted to assistant MA, eventually becoming the district's officer in charge of tuberculosis and leprosy control.
He was tasked with case detection and contact-tracing across the Baram District.
'The 1990s signalled the delivery of better equipment to Marudi Hospital and the rural clinics.'
However, Gurong said the dressers' work continued to be challenging due to the size of the Baram District.
'Long distances had to be covered, and remote villagers had to be visited, but we continued to serve with heart and soul,' he said.
Flying Doctor Service
Introduced in 1973, the Flying Doctor Service brought critical medical access to remote regions utilising the rented Bell helicopters based in Kuching and Miri.
This service provided monthly visits and the team would usually comprise a doctor, a MA, and two nurses.
Before retiring in 2020, Gurong rose to the post of senior assistant medical officer and served as supervisor of rural clinics in Baram.
After retirement, though, he was re-engaged as a community liaison officer under the Highland Development Authority, where he stayed on until 2023.
The Flying Doctor Service team at a Penan settlement in rural Baram.
Anecdotes
Gurong said in his over 40 years in service, he had undergone some of the most unforgettable experiences that anyone could have ever lived through.
'There were two incidents in the 1990s, when the midwife was on leave.
'I conducted two deliveries on my own; one baby was premature, but things went well after the urgent transfer to Miri Hospital.
'Once, a baby boy was choking on a half-inch metal belt buckle. I did all I could before was airlifted to Miri Hospital.
'That baby is now a young man, working in the oil and gas sector.
'In the 1980s, many young Orang Ulu girls came to me to 'repair' their elongated earlobes. I can tell you that there were hundreds of these minor procedures!'
Recognition and legacy
Gurong's contributions to the field of rural healthcare earned recognition including Sarawak Civil Service Exemplary Officer Award in 2011, Excellent Service Award and 'Pingat Pangkuan Negara' (PPN) in 2015.
Today, Gurong enjoys retirement life with his wife.
He is devoted to his church and remains active with many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Sarawak Kayan Association where he is a vice-president, and the village security and development committee of Long Tebangan where he is the secretary.
He frequently meets up with his friends in Marudi.
Those who remember and remain in contact with him, especially the former patients, still call him 'CHIP' (colloquial pronunciation of 'chief').
'Life is sweet when you're at peace with God, and with your fellow men,' Gurong reflected.
'We are settled, surrounded by a healthy environment, and filled with gratitude,' he added. Gurong Wan medical assistant rural sarawak Ulu Baram
