It’s Long Luping, not Long Lopeng, says villager

MIRI (July 31): An aggrieved local Lun Bawang man is calling on the authorities and media to correct the frequent wrong spelling of his birth village Long Luping in Lawas district.

Drawing the attention of The Borneo Post yesterday, he pointed out the village had too often been erroneously misspelt as Long Lopeng by some government agencies and the media, including news reports, resulting in confusion.

“Long Luping is the name, so from now on, let’s hope that the careless mistake of calling my beloved village as Long Lopeng won’t be repeated,” he implored.

Balang Sigar, who was born in this village in 1952, said he has been raising the matter because he knew all along that Long Luping is the right name of his birthplace, which is even indicated in his birth certificate and identity card issued by the Malaysian National Registration Department.

It is also the birthplace of the first Ba Kelalan state assemblyman, the late Datuk Dr Judson Sakai Tagal, and current assemblyman Baru Bian.

A government primary school in the village was correctly named by the Education Ministry.

Balang wondered if the confusion might have arisen from an area in Miri named Lopeng where a school and the main fire station were also named Lopeng.

He was prompted to call up The Borneo Post to clear the air after Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Port Development Datuk Aidel Lariwoo told the press on Monday that the work progress of the first phase of the Sarawak-Sabah Link Road (SSLR) connecting Lawas to Long Lopeng Junction had reached 35 per cent completion.