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Category: History

Tom Harrisson a colonial master

Opinion Tom McLaughlinTom HarrissonWe now get to the part of the Sarawak Museum Journal where Tom Harrisson has written many of the articles. He was a British subject who was appointed head of the Sarawak Museum and the Sarawak Museum Journal in 1949 by the British Colonial Authorities. His writings

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May 1, 2022 No Comments

Iban Rebellion 1930’s

Asun’s Rebellion: The Political Growing Pains of a Tribal Society in Brooke Sarawak, 1929-1940 by Robert Pringle Tom’s Note: This article reflects a bias favouring the Brooke government and relegates the Asun Rebellion as a minor irritation. I doubt Ibans who were killed, resettled and had their longhouses torched saw

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April 23, 2022 No Comments

“Mona Lisa” of China

While travelling in Surabya, Indonesia, I acquired a fold-out book of about 20 leaves. I never knew what the book depicted, so I placed it on the shelf, hoping to find out. After showing it to many people over the years who said they did not know, the puzzle concluded

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April 5, 2022 No Comments

The Chinese Come to Sarawak

Historian John Tan, of Kuching and Australia, wrote the following essay about early Chinese immigration. He translated and used information from the Chinese language publication Hainan Temple 天后宫 published by Dr Lin YT and his own sources. The Han Chinese  The Han Chinese migrated to the south of China from

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March 2, 2022 No Comments

Brunei 1790-1905

Brunei and Sarawak This essay was very convoluted and confusing. I have taken out the facts, numbered them and arranged them so they flow in chronological order. The story begins in the 1790s. 1. Sultan Mohammed Tajuddin abdicates the Brunei throne. 2. His son, Jemal ul Alam, takes the throne.

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February 12, 2022 No Comments

Sarawak Gold

Gold in Sarawak The first gold was discovered in the Montrado and Sambas areas of Kalimatan. The Chinese were brought in to work the goldfields in ~1760. Panning of gold in river deposits of Bau began in about ~1828, and this type of activity continued until 1898. The Malays noted

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February 2, 2022 No Comments

Iban origins, floods and rules for sex, war and kitchens

Notes from Benedict Sandin Sources of Iban Traditional History published by the Sarawak Museum Journal 1994 Sumatra Suriani and I have maintained the Iban came from Sumatra. On page 140 n.2 “The question of where the Iban originated is largely unanswerable. On linguistic grounds, it has been frequently argued, that,

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January 7, 2022 No Comments

A History of Brunei Oil 1906-1932

The Discovery of Brunei Oil A Borneohistory.net Production In 1906, Brunei was ruled by the British under the residency system. In dire need of some form of income, oil was considered an answer to the problem. Any company that wished to explore for oil had to obtain a prospecting license

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January 3, 2022 No Comments

The Sarawak Wreck Melbourne

The Viscount Melbourne The Viscount Melbourne was a three-masted 680-ton carrier that operated during the reign of James Brooke of Sarawak. The ship was 150 feet(45 meters) long and 47 feet wide.(14 meters) The wood was assumed to be oak and beech. The wreck was found 90 miles north of

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December 29, 2021 No Comments

Bidayuh Kampong Life

Tales from the Countryside by Luke Pihee JohengReview by Tom McLaughlin Borneohistory.net A Bidayuh Journey Tales from the Countryside is a beautiful book about the origins and coming of age of a Bidayuh resident in Kampung Stass and the history of the Malaysian Indonesian Confrontation. Chapter one tells of the

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December 26, 2021 No Comments
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