Anti Chinese Sentiment 1840-1900John ChinamanHow the Europeans and later, the Malays and Dyaks, viewed the Chinese were contained in a caricatures of the Chinese known as John Chinaman. Published in Punch magazine in April 1858, the term John Chinaman was referred to in official publications of the Brooke government and the Sarawak Gazette. This helped […]
Brookes and the Chinese Read More »
Our story begins with the migration of the Hakka from central China in Henan to the south from about the Third century A.D. They first entered Jiangxi, then during the Tang and Song periods to Southwest Fujian. The migration continued into Guangdong Province. By the 18th and 19th centuries the areas of northeast Guangdong were
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A Young Princess Who Married a Wild BeastOnce upon a time there was an old women who lived in the Pontianak region of Borneo. She was very poor. She was not able to farm padi but was able to gather fruits and vegetables and sold them to the Rajah. In return the Rajah gave her
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Indian Muslim CommunityWe can date the Indian community to at least 1820 when Patinggi Ali built a house in the area. It would seem logical that he would build a house in an already established Indian Moslem community. It is thought he came down from Bau. When the actual Indian community came, whether it was
Indians+Plantations+Sikh Read More »
An occasional paper on current research aligned to Borneo New Spider Species A new species of spider has been made known to the western world. Aetius bicuspidatus sp. nov. (Araneae: Corinnidae) was found in the Lambir Hills National Park. It was based on the collection of male and female specimens. Acta Arachnologica, 69 (2): 105–108,
A few years back I took a trip up the river to Kapit in central Borneo. The boat stopped at numerous ports drooping off and picking up people, goods and to my surprise roosters. They were in separate cages and everyone looked at the birds and cackled in a language I did not understand. The
We begin this series with a Dyak love story. The people were not half crazed lunatics charginging into the villages to take heads and drink blood, but were sensitive humans who took a head for the purpose of presenting it to his loved one. This poem, from the Sarawak Museum Journal of 1959, tells the
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This and That #5Sunda Clouded LeopardThe Sunda Clouded Leopard is the apex predator of Borneo yet little is known of its ecology reports the Journal of Threatened Taxa (vol. 12 No. 16). A ten year camera trap study revealed 11 individuals. (8 males, one female and two with unknown sex) Males remained in the area
This song seems to be part of a much longer song of praise as the young warriors return home. The word layak, the author was unable to translate. The reference to mushrooms is quite common in Kenyah songs. A Morik SongCome back to the place of your birth where your youth has been spentCome back
Return from Battle: A Kenyan Song Read More »