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Category: Borneo Research

British Blunders lead to Punjabi Defeats in Kuching Retreats

The British Punjab Retreat from Kuching Toms Note: The Punjabis or Sikhi are from India and are known for their smart turbans. They were led by British commanders during the colonial period. The Germans entered Belgium, Holland and France in 1940. They were unable to take England because of the

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October 11, 2021 No Comments

Proboscis Monkey

The Proboscis Monkey I have often been teased because of my big nose. I never knew there was anything wrong with my nose until high school when other boys would mention it unmercifully. I often thought about getting a nose job. This kept up until one of my teachers told

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September 25, 2021 No Comments

All Creatures Great and Small

Hi all and new people to my work. This column is about the latest information about Borneo taken from a wide variety of sources. You can find other such columns scattered through my website Borneohistory.net All Creatures Great and Small #16 Soft Ticks Soft Ticks (Acari:argasidae) are blood-sucking insects found

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September 20, 2021 No Comments

A History of Sarawak’s Third Division

Tom’s Note: This 630-page book tells the story of the third district of Sarawak. Unfortunately named “Anthropogenic Tropical Forests”, it is a compilation of research papers written by Japanese and Sarawak scholars. This magnificent and illustrated tome provides information not found elsewhere. From the people’s history to the fishes and the

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September 7, 2021 No Comments

Ghosts

KOKOK of Beluran This spirit takes the form of a monster human being. It has long straggling hair with the upper lip being deformed and hangs over the jaw. When it wants to eat, it has to lift the upper lip to put food in its mouth. Many people have

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August 25, 2021 No Comments

All Creatures Great and Small #15

All Creatures Great and Small # 15 Tom’s Note: The changes in font and colour mean nothing. I still can’t figure out how to change them. The Kimaragang People of Sabah The essay describes the Kimaragang about where they came from, where they live, their language, economy and relations with

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August 15, 2021 No Comments

Sarawak River Valley Book Review

Sarawak River Valley, Early Times to 1840: Santubong Kuching Brunei bySURAINI BINTI SAHARI and TOM MCLAUGHLIN, Kuching, Sarawak, SueJ’s Enterprises, 2020, ISBN 978-967-17890-0-1; 205 pp; maps, plates, bibliography.This is an unusual history book by Suraini Sahari and Tom McLaughlin. The scope of this study is overwhelming, more so for these

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July 19, 2021 No Comments

All Creatures Great and Small # 14

Recent Research on Borneo The bold text on some of the entries means nothing. I just could not figure out how to get rid of it. New Genetic Information Our results point to a surprisingly active population in Wallacea, marked by two periods of extensive change concentrated around the Last

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July 17, 2021 No Comments

All Creatures Great and Small

Current Research about Borneo #14 Malaysia Anti Malaria Certification Endangered The continued preponderance of the P. knowlesi mosquito in Sabah may threaten Malaysia’s quest to become a malaria-free state. The vector seems to be prevalent in areas disturbed for agriculture and land clearing operations. Scientific Reports article# 11810 (2021) In a related

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June 26, 2021 No Comments

Tarsier and Evolution

Early Sketch from Camel’s description Tom’s Note: The people of the Indo/Malay islands already knew about the Tarsier. However, when the white men came, they made the animal known to the western world of science.  The story of the Tarsier began in 1705 when a person named J. Camel described

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June 12, 2021 No Comments
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