New Species
Three new species of marine parasites that attach to the gills, mouth, or skin of fish have been made known to science. They are flattened, allowing them to cling to fish and usually attach and then detach from the fish’s body. They were found in Borneo waters. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2025.101157
Proboscis Monkeys in Sabah
Habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation continue to threaten primate conservation. We recorded proboscis monkeys at only seven sites (39%), with at least 75 individuals in 13 groups, mostly confined to isolated and fragmented areas with poor connectivity. Land-use and land-cover analysis showed that only 54% of surveyed areas still provide suitable habitat, and just 43% lie within protected areas. These results suggest that while the species can tolerate some disturbance, its small population size, patchy distribution, and limited connectivity increase the risk of local extinction. International Journal of Primatology https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-025-00511-4
Banjar People and Mandai
Mandai is a traditional fermented food derived from the inner peel of the cempedak fruit (Artocarpus champeden). It is commonly served in riverine villages at home meals and carried during travel. This narrative review addresses current knowledge on mandai’s historical origins and ethnographic perspectives among others. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41055-025-00186-w
Orangutan in Sabah
The Bornean orangutan is a critically endangered species facing severe population declines due to habitat loss, fragmentation, climate change, and human disturbances. This review highlights the Danum Valley Conservation Area (DVCA) as a long-term orangutan research site and conservation in Sabah. Climate-driven fluctuations in fruiting and human pressures continue to threaten population stability. Future conservation efforts should prioritise long-term ecological and health monitoring, employ advanced tools such as drones and strengthen landscape-management connectivity with surrounding forests. 10.62613/mnj.25773.02/
Ong Sum Ping in Chinese Sources
Ong Sum Ping was a Chinese official from Yongchun, Fujian, who traveled to northern Borneo during the 14th century. He became an important ally of Sultan Muhammad Shah, the early ruler of Brunei. He was given the Bruneian royal title Pengiran Maharaja Lela and later married the Sultan’s daughter. Many traditions credit him with helping defeat foreign threats (particularly from Sulu) and strengthening Brunei’s early coastal settlements. In this essay, I discovered that Ong Sum Ping and the King of Borneo, buried in Nanjing, are related, and that the Ming government had made a mistake.
Serikin Market
Serikin Market is a cross-border economic center between West Kalimatan and Sarawak. The market distributes items such as cloth, food stuffs and other items from individual kedais situated along a wide dirt road. Both currencies are accepted. This study shows Serikin is effective in distributing goods and encourages small enterprises. However, this market faces challenges because of poor roads, spotty electricity, and risky informal trading practices. International Journal of Economic Literature (INJOLE) Vol. 3 No. 2 November 2025, page., 272-280
New Species
A new species of Tiger Beetle has been made known to science from Sabah, North Borneo. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5722.3.4
Murut of Sabah
This study addresses the question of how British modern administration influenced the traditional leadership system of the Murut. The findings of the study show that Murut’s traditional leadership institutions, centred on the tribal system have undergone significant changes through the implementation of government policies such as the Village Administration Proclamation 1891, the Native Chief Classification Scheme 1912 and the Indigenous Administration Ordinance 1937. Traditional leaders including Orang Tua and tribal chiefs were either replaced or incorporated into modern administrative roles such as Village Headmen and Native Chiefs. https://doi.org/10.21315/kajh2025.32.2.6
Piracy
This article investigates the roots of piracy on the west coast of Kalimantan during the 19th century, focusing on the complex interactions between the Pontianak and Sambas Sultanates and European powers. The findings reveal that pirates on the west coast of Kalimantan were led by the Sultan and Prince Anom of the Sambas kingdom, who formed an alliance with the Ilanun to attack traders in Pontianak, Mempawah, and Banjar. Additionally, pirate activity was found around Sukadana Bay by the Tanjung Pura community due to the collapse of the Sukadana Kingdom’s maritime power resulting from Dutch East Indies colonial expansion. https://doi.org/10.55981/purbawidya.2025.12272
Sanfosi and Cambodia
Although not of Borneo interest, Dr Liam C. Kelley has written part two of his essay Rescuing History from Srivijaya: The Fall of Angkor in the Ming Shilu (Part 2) One may remember part one of this essay, where he challenged the existence of Sri Vajaya. This study argues that Sanfoqi actually referred to “Cambodia.” Having demonstrated in the first part of this article that the geographic information about Sanfoqi places that polity in the area of Cambodia, in this article Sanfoqi’ location is determined with more specificity and the information about Sanfoq in the Ming shilu is examined to gain an understanding of Cambodian history in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, a period corresponding with roughly the final century in the history of the empire of Angkor. I have a copy. just ask
New Species
A new species of sand stone dwelling rock gecko has been made known to science from Brunei. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5725.4.4
Semi Slug
A semi slug is a type of land snail whose shell is too small for the animal to fully retract. This study, using genetic material, relates the evolutionary history of the animal. Our findings suggest that mountain ranges, like Mount Kinabalu served as important interglacial and glacial refugia for these species, influencing their current distribution patterns and genetic diversity. https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/eyaf024
Croaker Fish or Gelama Pisang
Pennahia aneus is a bottom-living croaker fish that is important to commercial fisheries. It was discovered that there are two populations: the South China Sea population and the Strait of Malacca-Celebes-Sulu Sea population. You can tell the difference by their different eye length, the nose (length from the front of the head to eye) and other factors. (Morphometric multivariate analyses reveal population structuring of Pennahia aneus (Perciformes: Sciaenidae) in Malaysian waters, Research Square Universiti Sains Malaysia)
Indians in Sabah
This essay describes the marriages between Indian migrants and locals during the rule of the British North Borneo Chartered Company from 1881-1946. The study “Dynamics of Social Integration among the Indian Migrant Community of Sabah” explores how Indian migrants have adapted to and integrated within Sabah’s multiethnic society from the colonial period to the present. Originating largely during the British North Borneo Chartered Company era, the Indian community initially arrived as plantation laborers, clerks, and technical workers before becoming permanent settlers. The research highlights economic participation, education, language adaptation, and interethnic interaction as key drivers of integration, while noting the community’s continued preservation of cultural and religious traditions through temples, festivals, and associations. DOI:10.6007/IJARBSS/v15-i7/25865
Archaic Human Tooth at Niah
A human tooth (incisor) has been found at Traders Cave in Niah dating to 52-55 thousand years ago. The tooth, not human, indicates an archaic community,Homo such as H. erectus, H. neanderthalensis, sharing a link with H. heidelbergensis. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0338786
New Book
A new book has been published entitled The Making of Singapore as an Asian Regional Corridor: Historicity, Trade, and Diaspora, where the first chapter is dedicated to the history of the relationship between Singapore and the north Borneo colony of what is now Sabah. DOI: 10.4324/9781003569589-1
Sarawak Malay Dance
In this highly academic article, the authors attempt to describe Malay dance as an educational exercise. The only points of interest to me was” before performing Zapin Simanggang, an instructor may recount the tale of the Stumbin River of Simanggang District and its importance to local livelihoods and cosmology.” and ” the Zapin Sebat, performed in a coastal Malay village, incorporated gestures mimicking sea navigation and fishing, evoking the livelihood of the community while simultaneously embedding religious piety through structured, repetitive movements that reflect spiritual discipline.” DOI: 10.20961/iccull.2025.1204
Tom McLaughlin for BorneoHistory.net
Sarawaktom@gmail.com