Mammal and Human Migrations An important paper about the migration of mammals and humans was recently published by Julien Louys and Patrick Roberts of Australian National University in Nature. They state the forests of the early Pleistocene had given way to Savannah by the middle Pleistocene in the area between Malaya and Borneo. This led […]
KongsiThe concept of Kongsi began in the towns of South Borneo in the late 1700’s where the Hakka Chinese immigrated, at the request of the Sultan, to mine the gold from the hills in central Borneo. The concept spread throughout the mining district and later to Bau and into Kuching.Before that period, Van Noort, a
Kongsi and the Hakka Read More »
ilI know it’s hard to imagine, but imagine oil seeping out of the ground. Also imagine there are many places where this occurs in the Miri area. This was how Shell Oil Company found the oil to recover in Sarawak. Of course, Shell did not “find ” it. The people of Sarawak did. The people
The Bisayah, Tabun, Tagal and MurutThe Bisayah“The Bisayah are the indigenous people in Sarawak’s Fifth Division. Living side by side with them are the Kedayan and Pa Balat people. The Kedayan settled along the coast while the Pa Balat people fished in the sea and lower parts of the rivers in the area.”Earlier, the Limbang
Bisayah,Tabun,Tagal, and Murut Read More »
The Seven Omen Birds of the Iban Lang Sengalang Burong (Lang) is considered as the Chief all bird deities and appears on earth as the Brahminy kite. The Ketupong or Entis The authoritive or deliberate leader. He is Raja Ngaka of the many head trophies who dwells in the great tree full of bee’s nests
Omen Birds of the Iban and Kenyah Read More »
Punan Hunting BlowpipesThe blowpipes came to the Punan from other tribes crossing from Indonesia. They are not the invention of the Punan and, in fact, nobody in Punan Busong knows how to make one. The dart is composed of two parts. One is the long sharp stick which is usually 3 mm wide and 23
Hunting with Blowpipes Read More »
Earless Monitor Lizard: Water or Land Reptile. The earless monitor lizard has been subject to endless debate about how to classify it. Some scientists think it should be thrown together with other land monitor lizards while others think it deserves its own family.Examination of the lizard began with Mr. Tom Harrisson (again, here we must
Earless Monitor Lizard Read More »
The second oldest temple in Kuching is the one on Carpenter Street erected by the TeoChew community. It was built in 1896(?) in honour of Hian Tien Shian Tee, God of Heaven who was born on the third day of the third moon and died on the ninth day of the ninth moon. On earth
God of Heaven Temple Read More »
The Siteng PeopleIn the olden days, the Siteng people inhabited the upper Baram river in the Fourth Division of Sarawak. While in this area they were attacked and killed by hundreds of wild pigs. Those that survived fled in many directions. Some lived in Julan, a tributary of the true left bank of the Baram
Tree Sparrow Editors note: We thought we would fly out of 2020 and into 2021 leaving the guano behind The Tree Sparrow(Passer montanus) was first spotted in Sandakan in 1964, the next year in Kuching and in Brunei town in 1969-1970. No other bird has so swiftly and successfully populated Borneo Island. The birds seem
Tree and Java Sparrows Read More »
