KOTA KINABALU: The story of Saudin bin Labutau from Kg Ambual in Keningau who became the first Malaysian – and for that matter from this part of the world – to visit New York in the 1930s and return to Sabah to tell his adventure will be known to the world soon.

Peninsula-based RYE Productions Sdn Bhd, noted for producing television dramas and concerts, has made a documentary on the exploits of the partially blind Murut. It would be shown on History Channel after the official launch in Sabah on Oct. 28 at UMS by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor.

The documentary combines actual footages, dramatised re-enactments of Saudin’s life, including interviews with family members about their grandfather, who is well documented in the 1939 international classic by Agnes Keith, “Land Below The Wind”.

                   James briefing Hajiji about Saudin while Noreini (left) and Noorhayati look on

Agnes devoted an entire chapter in her book to Saudin, also dubbed “the Murut Marco Polo” after his return from New York. It was she who recommended him to pioneer Hollywood silent era wildlife documentary makers Martin and Osa Johnson, when they completed shooting the movie “Borneo” after spending one and a half years on the Kinabatangan in 1935.The Johnsons wanted someone who could look after Abai, one of the largest orang utans ever captured alive in Kg Abai, during the ship’s journey to New York Zoo, along with few more orang utans, gibbons and proboscis monkeys.

The ship left Sandakan for the month-long journey calling at Singapore, Port Klang, Mumbai, Colombo, Capetown, Morocco, and several other ports along the way, before crossing the Atlantic to New York.

Saudin pointing to skyscrapers coming up in New York in 1938. during a talk organised by Martin to New York’s elite, Saudin remarked in Malay that he was surprised to see New Yorkers lived in concrete cages while in the Borneo rainforest, only wild animals lived in cages. – Pic courtesy of the Saudin household.

It was noticed that only Saudin had the special ability to calm Abai, which won him the ticket to travel to the Big Apple at a time when New York ala Wall Street was the “happening capital” of the world. This is what lends the documentary the title “Saudin: The Orang Utan Whisperer”.The documentary is a powerful story of not just the bond that developed between man and animal but also of Saudin’s internal conflicts and observations, especially of adjusting to the shock of being suddenly plucked out of the Borneo rainforest and transplanted into the concrete jungle of New York.

Among the establishments that supported the documentary is the Safari Museum in Kansas, USA, where the iconic work of the Johnsons is stored and Finas.The documentary also received the support of the State Government and Hajiji praised the producers for their extensive research and resolve to put Sabah on the world map through the documentary.

Abai the largest orang utan ever captured alive, who died in New York’s Central Zoo.

Those who were present at the briefing for the Chief Minister at the State Administration Building on Wednesday included producers Noreini Abdul Rahman, Noorhayati Abdul Rahman, Director Muhd Zaili Sulan, Norsina James Julius, a granddaughter of Saudin and James Sarda, Chief Editor of the Daily Express, who has done research on Saudin, Agnes Keith and the Johnsons. — EDITOR（Source：15.09.2022 https://sabahbarunews.com）