THE Bugis (sometimes called the Ugi) are a dynamic and highly mobile people who originated from the province of South Sulawesi (previously known as the Celebes).

Skilled sailor-navigators, fighters and traders, many left their homes to seek success and wealth in the late 17th century.

Some of them settled in Selangor on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia where they traded in tin. They were also active in Perak and Kedah.

The Bugis captured Johor and Riau in 1721. In 1819, Johor was controlled by the Temenggong. The Riau-Linggi Sultanate, in the Riau Archipelago, was controlled by the Bugis.

Over time, the Bugis migrants adopted Malay-Muslim customs and merged with Malay society. Intermarriage secured the Bugis bloodline. As a result, Johor’s racial mix of Malays are mostly of Javanese and Bugis descent.

The descendants of settler Daing Hadadek are one such family in Johor proud of their Bugis heritage.

Construction of the ancestral home on two acres of land in Kampung Sungai Kuali, close to Pontian, started in 1935 and took two years to complete.

Today, it is the pride of the family. Patriarch Ambok Ingtang Md Yassin opens his home to visitors to experience an authentic Bugis homestay.

I was invited to join a visiting group one day and the visit was an eye-opener to the life and culture of the Bugis.

The Bugis houses are built on stilts and they have tall windows that allow in the breeze to ventilate the rooms. Stepping in from the anjung or front hall into the main hall, we were impressed by an antique intricately-carved wooden cupboard. A big chart outlines the expanding family tree.

Among the decorative items in the home are framed charcoal sketches that depict images of the family’s ancestors.

Working in collaboration with 30 homes in the neighbouring Bugis villages, Ambok Ingtang makes the Daing Hadadek’s home the focal point for homestay visitors who gather there for communal meals and activities.

Passionate about sharing an authentic Bugis kampung experience with visitors, Ambok Ingtang, his family members and the villagers paid particular attention to detail in every aspect during the visit.

Preparations for the kampung lunch started with an interesting procession of food being ferried to the hall in a traditional gotong-royong manner. Typically, the kitchen was a fair distance away, on the ground level of the kampung house, and dishes had to be ferried by a human chain made up of visitors and hosts to pass large trays laden with food hand-to-hand from the kitchen up to the hall to be arranged on the “table”.

White tablecloth was laid out on the floor marked as the lunch “table”. After all the dishes were arranged in sets for four to six persons along the “table”, everyone sat down to enjoy the meal. Maintaining traditional values, social decency and propriety, ladies eat in groups separate from the men.

Before and after meals, hands were delicately rinsed with water from an innovative piece of tableware called the kendi that looks like a teapot on a stand. Water was poured from the pot over a stand, which is a receptacle to collect used water.

Amid companionable chatter, lunch comprised of generous portions of white rice with delectable dishes of ikan assam pedas, young banana masak lemak, fried fresh and salted fish, pineapple pacheri and cucumber-lettuce salad with spicy sambal belacan. These were eaten with relish by hand.

Dessert consisted of fresh plump bananas and slices of watermelon which went well with the appetising lunch.

After lunch, the dishes were reorganised on trays and returned to the kitchen in a similar gotong-royong method.

After such a delicious and satisfying lunch, the key to aid digestion was an invigorating visit to a nearby apiary. We gathered around the bee farmer who explained the amazing characteristics of his bees which were of Australian origin.

When he opened the breeding boxes, we had an up-close and personal encounter with the busy honeybees. While bees buzzed harmlessly around, the brave among us had the opportunity to hold up the honeycomb, thick with live bees!

At the end of the visit, the farmer deftly cut the honeycomb from its frame and placed it on a clean banana leaf before slicing it into neat chunks. We were then invited to help ourselves to the chunks of honeycomb, dripping with natural golden honey! When we tasted it, we were speechless with wonder and thrilled at the sweet memory of the texture and flavour of honey directly from its waxy comb!

The afternoon’s activities continued with a friendly traditional game of sepak takraw among the men while the women were invited to a demonstration and participate in preparing the evening meal.

The Bugis women explained that burasak is a staple dish made from nasi lemak. Rice cooked in coconut milk is wrapped in young and pliable banana leaves and shaped in a rectangular rice patty. Then, a stack of about six patties are bound together in a larger piece of banana leaf and boiled for another six hours. Similarly, another Bugis favourite, lepat loi, made from glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, is shaped into triangular bars (closely resembling Toblerone chocolate bars!) and wrapped in young banana leaves.

Several triangle bars of lepat loi are tied together in a cylindrical-shaped bundle within a larger piece of banana leaf and boiled for another six hours. The long cooking time is a traditional method used to preserve this food for up to a week without refrigeration.

For dinner, we tasted burasak and lepat loi served with Bugis dishes like ikan parang assam pedas, curry chicken, and delicious beef and fish sambal serunding. First-time tasters of Bugis recipes notice how they are distinguished by their thicker curry and spicier flavours. The meal was even more satisfactory because we had a hand in preparing the burasak and lepat loi.

As with other parts of the visit, the evening’s entertainment continued to involve us. Ambok Ingtang’s wife was in her element as she directed a full-fledged mock Bugis wedding with the “bride” and “groom”, selected from among our excited group.

After a real Mak Andam pampered the “bride” with a full make-up session, the bride looked radiant for the part. Decked in full wedding finery, complete with headdress, the “groom” was escorted into the house with his entourage, bearing essential Bugis wedding gifts or hantaran.

A cloth canopy borne by four bearers was held over the groom as he was ushered into the bridal chamber to meet his bride. After traditional rituals and much teasing, the blushing bridal couple emerged from the chamber to sit on the wedding dais in the main hall.

The bridal couple’s family “elders” were some of the male villagers dressed up for the role. Sitting opposite each other in the main hall, they made a formal exchange of gifts and dowry symbolising their consent to the marriage. Finally, tea and traditional sweet cakes were served to seal the bond between the two families.

From the significance of each colourful wedding gift in the hantaran, observing and participating in the performance of a traditional Bugis wedding, the delicious home-cooked food, made and eaten in a convivial ambience, to interacting with Ambok Ingtang’s family members at Daing Hadadek’s ancestral home, the Bugis homestay was indeed a unique first-hand experience to learn more about the Bugis heritage in Johor.

Being involved in the events made us share a realistic taste of the traditions of the Johor Bugis community.