logo

Author: Tom02

Notes on the Earless Monitor Lizard

Earless Monitor Lizard This article is probably the most unintentionally funny article presented by the museum. Enjoy a good laugh! The discovery of the Earless Monitor Lizard was considered very exciting by anatomists and zoologist because it was thought to be related closely to some extinct lizards and could be

Read More »
February 18, 2021 No Comments

Rajah Charles Tax Collectors

Tax Money for Rajah Charles I always wondered where the Rajah Brookes got their money. While going through past copies of the Sarawak newspaper, I noticed that Rajah Charles spent more time in England than he did in Kuching. Knowing transport was expensive, I could not figure out where he

Read More »
February 14, 2021 No Comments

Santubong Iron

Iron Work and Santubong The Santubong delta iron working industry began in 615 AD at the earliest and 900 AD at the latest and stopped around 1380 AD.  They used a single Carbon 14 date and  associated Chinese stoneware and coins and some religious artefacts of the Buddhists era to

Read More »
February 9, 2021 No Comments

Why So Many Ibans ?

Why so many Ibans? The author of this article attempts to explain why there are so many Ibans compared to other groups. He says the Ibans, relative newcomers to Sarawak, predominate in the State. Increase in children does not explain the phenomena. The Iban are below average in natural fertility.

Read More »
February 3, 2021 No Comments

This and That #7

An occasional paper consisting of current research pertaining to Borneo. Pua Kumbu and Title History Using a pua kumbu from Borneo, the author tries to show the title of the piece, Remung, evokes the mythical tiger flying spirit , who, in ritual chants, is supposed to guard the rice bin

Read More »
January 30, 2021 No Comments

Melanau Poison Tale

Melanau Tale On the Oya river, a few bends above Tamin and just below Skuau, there once lived two brothers whose Chieftain father had died. Both were still young, kind to everyone in the village and good at every undertaking. The elder of the two was elected to succeed his

Read More »
January 26, 2021 No Comments

Births among the Selako

The Selako are one of the dyak groups living in Lundu between Malaysia and Indonesia on the border. Batang Saka ‘ampat is a cluster of about 20 houses. (1978) After the birth of the child, the umbilical cord is cut off off by the midwife (bidan) with a bamboo splint.

Read More »
January 20, 2021 No Comments

Tarsier

Note: This is a first person essay which I have abbreviated to fit the Internet form of reading.  Enjoy ! I arrived in Kuching at the end of October, 1971. The monsoon season had just brought the first and longer lasting rains of the wet season. What was I doing

Read More »
January 20, 2021 No Comments

Sarawak River Fishing

Each evening, my wife and sit out on our balcony on the 20th floor of the Riverine Condo. We often light a candle, have dinner and discuss the days’ passing. This is our time. After sunset, we see a boat and a man circling the above buoy. He usually has

Read More »
January 20, 2021 No Comments

The Missionaries

Probably one of the most hilarious stories I have read in the Sarawak Museum Journal, if that publication can ever be called hilarious, is an article by Barbra Harrison entitled “Near to Ngadju”.Here she relates the tales from the Rhinish Mission of Barmen Germany. The Rhinish missionaries were in search

Read More »
January 20, 2021 66 Comments
Don't miss a single post

Discover New stories with Us

Stay in the loop with all the latest posts from Borneo History. Get notified on my blogs and contact us now! 

Subscribe!