The  Borneo Writing Boards I have always heard about the Iban writing system and was told they had a written language. I kept trying to find the alphabet to hopefully translate some of the writings on the cliffs on islands in the bays around the area. I finally did a

The Death Ceremony of the  Berawan People of Sarawak The Berawan people live in longhouses  along the Tinjar and Tutoh Rivers both tributaries of the Baram River in Sarawak. They are part of the orang ulu people or up river people. There are two ceremonies which occur. Just after death,

All Creatures #83 New Species Two new species of plants in the schismatoglottidae family have been made known to science from north Borneo. https://doi.org/10.1002/fedr.70075 Colonial Photography of the Ngepan Iban This article describes the various images housed in museums around the world of these people from Saribas. Go to the

Islam comes to Borneo The Arab traders came from India and began commerce in various ports.  Settling in the trade ceners, they intermarried with the people of the land, and these heathen wives and the slaves of their households thus formed the nucleus of a Muslim community. The traders and

A Sarawak Book While living here, I noticed a lack of books about the history of the Sarawak area pre-1840. I searched all the local libraries and museums, and none were to be found. I began my search by visiting kampong houses searching for people who may have copies of

A swashbuckling sailor who turned priest and tried to free the slaves on Borneo Don Carlos Cuarteron Coming from a prosperous family, Don Carlos Cuarteron went to sea at the age of 13 in 1829 boarding a ship for the Philippines, Spain’s most prosperous colony at the time. While on