Author: Tom02

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

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Tiger Leech

“Spurn not the loopy leech with language lurid Annelids have much to teach The anak murid” Christine (my youngest daughter) and I first came to Sarawak in 2008 and knew we were going into the jungle. We purchased those leech guards which protected your ankles and legs from what we

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This and That # 1

An occasional paper about the current research related to Borneo Two new philodendrons (Homalomineae Araceae) from Borneo have been made known to the western world. They are restricted to sandstones and forested karsts in the Sarawak area. Sing Yeng Wong of Unimas and Peter C. Boyce are the people who

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This and That # 2

An occasional paper related to current research aligned to Borneo Melanu and Numbers The way a society thinks is important in development. When one combines numbers into that thinking the results can be astounding. Suffina Long and Yahutazi in the November issue of the Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities

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The Santubong Buddha

Probably the crown the jewel in the Sarawak Museum Collection is the Santubong Buddha found in the Bukit Maras part of Santubong area 1955. The 26 cm figure belongs to the Late Gupta (Sarnath School) classification of Buddhas where the robe is open, the right hand is down and the

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Melanau Healing

For many generations now, the healings of various dukuns, bohmohs, Chinese medicine men and others have been relegated to the antique shops and their cures to historians like myself. Modern doctors and nurses have taken their place as most everyone is within reasonable traveling distance to modern medical care. There

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Bamboo Beliefs

Planted in a pot on my front balcony is a clump of bamboo. I don’t recall where we got it but we moved it from our home in River Bank Suites to Riverrine Emerald at least five years ago. We watered it when we remembered and a bird built a

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A European Jug in Mukah

There are many, many Chinese made jars found here in Sarawak. One can find them in any antique shop or curio store. Sorting them out and trying to tell which kiln they were from in China is a daunting task, which we will try and pursue at a later date.

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Iban Whetstone Feast

This summary condenses twenty printed pages from the Sarawak Museum Journal July-December 1962 written by Benedict Sandin. My sincere apologies if things were left out or written in error. Probably one of the most unusual of Iban gawai rights is the whetstone feast. A whetstone is used for sharpening knives

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Murder in Sarawak

The following are two abridged versions of the murder of Fox and Steele, the English rulers in Kanowit, in 1859 as reported by the people of Sarawak. The complete accounts are in the Sarawak Museum Journal July-December 1965 p. 207-227. Kanowit Versionas told by Jaro bin Lamit, ex Chief of

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