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Author: Tom02

Iban Rebellion 1930’s

Asun’s Rebellion: The Political Growing Pains of a Tribal Society in Brooke Sarawak, 1929-1940 by Robert Pringle Tom’s Note: This article reflects a bias favouring the Brooke government and relegates the Asun Rebellion as a minor irritation. I doubt Ibans who were killed, resettled and had their longhouses torched saw

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April 23, 2022 No Comments

Pleiades Creation Story by the Iban

The Mother of the Pleiades A Mythological Story of the Iban Almighty God made a golden stone in the eastern corner of the sky known as Tangkulas Batu Mas. Many years afterwards this stone changed into a very beautiful girl whose eyes and skin shone and glittered like a lump

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April 16, 2022 No Comments

“Mona Lisa” of China

While travelling in Surabya, Indonesia, I acquired a fold-out book of about 20 leaves. I never knew what the book depicted, so I placed it on the shelf, hoping to find out. After showing it to many people over the years who said they did not know, the puzzle concluded

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April 5, 2022 No Comments

A Mouse Deer Story

Salam The Mouse Deer- Second Evening Old Abdullah picking his way homewards through the deep forest one evening at sundown by following the narrow winding Wild Beast tracks that criss-cross it in every direction but which to him were as familiar as our town streets to ourselves, had picked up

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March 31, 2022 No Comments

All Creatures Great and Small # 23

Barclaya All Creatures Great and Small # 23 Gas and Oil A report from Petronas, the oil company for Malaysia, indicates that production of 5.0 thousands of gallons of oil per day is possible from the Brownfield  Sarawak area. https://doi.org/10.2523/IPTC-22448-EA White Shrimp A disease affecting white shrimp being grown in

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March 28, 2022 No Comments

The Chinese Come to Sarawak

Historian John Tan, of Kuching and Australia, wrote the following essay about early Chinese immigration. He translated and used information from the Chinese language publication Hainan Temple 天后宫 published by Dr Lin YT and his own sources. The Han Chinese  The Han Chinese migrated to the south of China from

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March 2, 2022 No Comments

All Creature Great and Small # 22

Flycatcher Plumage Resolved The plumage of the female and sub-adult Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Narcissus Flycatcher, Green-backed Flycatcher (F. elisae) and Ryukyu Flycatcher (F. owstoni) has been resolved. Three species winter in Borneo while there is no information about the Ryukyu Flycatcher. BirdingASIA 36 (2021): 22–34 Leptospirosis This disease is on the increase in Sarawak. The current

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February 26, 2022 No Comments

Brunei 1790-1905

Brunei and Sarawak This essay was very convoluted and confusing. I have taken out the facts, numbered them and arranged them so they flow in chronological order. The story begins in the 1790s. 1. Sultan Mohammed Tajuddin abdicates the Brunei throne. 2. His son, Jemal ul Alam, takes the throne.

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February 12, 2022 No Comments

Sarawak Gold

Gold in Sarawak The first gold was discovered in the Montrado and Sambas areas of Kalimatan. The Chinese were brought in to work the goldfields in ~1760. Panning of gold in river deposits of Bau began in about ~1828, and this type of activity continued until 1898. The Malays noted

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February 2, 2022 No Comments

All Creatures Great and Small #21

New Book Ian Douglas Water and the Rain Forest in Malaysia Borneo Hydrological Research at the Danum Valley Research Center Switzerland: Springer Nature Ecological Studies,362 p. 2022 e-book Euros 129; hardcover Euros 159.00 The book is a collection of scientific papers dealing with water at the Danum Valley research station. Book review later.

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January 30, 2022 No Comments
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