Tom’s Note: This 630-page book tells the story of the third district of Sarawak. Unfortunately named “Anthropogenic Tropical Forests”, it is a compilation of research papers written by Japanese and Sarawak scholars. This magnificent and illustrated tome provides information not found elsewhere. From the people’s history to the fishes and the effects of oil plantations, this […]
A History of Sarawak’s Third Division Read More »
KOKOK of Beluran This spirit takes the form of a monster human being. It has long straggling hair with the upper lip being deformed and hangs over the jaw. When it wants to eat, it has to lift the upper lip to put food in its mouth. Many people have disappeared and been found days
A History of Bidayuh Vegetable Marketing The Sekeduk Bidayuh adopted the idea of vegetable marketing from the Chinese living closer to Kuching in Beratok and Tapah. They at first used the trial and error method of growing vegetables. Later, the early Bidayuh adopters played as experts in the Bidayuh community. When the Bidayuh had problems
Bidayuh Vegtable Farming Read More »
All Creatures Great and Small # 15 Tom’s Note: The changes in font and colour mean nothing. I still can’t figure out how to change them. The Kimaragang People of Sabah The essay describes the Kimaragang about where they came from, where they live, their language, economy and relations with each other. ETHNIC MINORITIES IN
All Creatures Great and Small #15 Read More »
Tom’s note: These stories are from the headman of the upper class of the Leppo Tan Kenyah in 1959. Improper Pregnancy In ancient times, whenever a Kenyah woman was found to be with a child without a responsible man, the woman was sent far away into the forest where she had to stay alone in
Punishments among the Kenyans Read More »
Pegu and Sarawak Pegu was a city-state located on the eastern side of Burma between Burma and Thailand. The country had easy access to ships from Malacca, India and Persia and their main exchange were rubies. There was a regular trade route from Yunnan to Pegu in the second century. The colony was established, according
The Saga of the Child of Padan Sigau (A Sebob Saga) Padan Sigau lived at Tebau Na-a A man of great renown He married a lady called Bungan from Alo Mara They had a child, the child of Bungan who was born at Tebau Na-A A very brave lad he proved to be an expert
Sarawak River Valley, Early Times to 1840: Santubong Kuching Brunei bySURAINI BINTI SAHARI and TOM MCLAUGHLIN, Kuching, Sarawak, SueJ’s Enterprises, 2020, ISBN 978-967-17890-0-1; 205 pp; maps, plates, bibliography.This is an unusual history book by Suraini Sahari and Tom McLaughlin. The scope of this study is overwhelming, more so for these new, and untrained, history writers.
Sarawak River Valley Book Review Read More »
Recent Research on Borneo The bold text on some of the entries means nothing. I just could not figure out how to get rid of it. New Genetic Information Our results point to a surprisingly active population in Wallacea, marked by two periods of extensive change concentrated around the Last Glacial Maximum ~15 ka and
All Creatures Great and Small # 14 Read More »
The Batang Ai resettlement scheme moved 26 longhouses of Ibans to another area because of flooding due to the hydroelectric dam across the Batang Ai Wong Irup. The Iban received cash compensation and were given 11 acres of land consisting of five acres of rubber, three acres of cocoa, two acres of hill padi and
Iban and Batang Ai Read More »
