A Walk into the Gates of Hell:(黄泉)(地府)(九泉) Walking toward The Chinese Temple Hong San Si of Jalan Petanak Kuching one should bear to the left. On this side of the temple is the entrance to the gates of hell. The doors are large and forbidding. As I eased one of the doors open there was […]
Kuching Chinese Temple Hell Read More »
Tapadong -700 Years of Cave History in Sabah The Tapadong Caves are on the middle reaches of the Segama River north of Lahad Datu and have been frequented by man since the early times. From a small rock shelter under 6 inches of pure guano came Sabah’s first Bronze tool, a socketed axe of a
The Helms Letters Ludvig Verner Helms, a young Dane of 26, was hired to take up an appointment in Kuching as an agent of the London firm Messers. R&J Henderson had a concession for working the antimony mines. Four years later, he became the Borneo Company LTD manager on its formation in 1856. The Company
Letters from First Manager of Borneo Company Read More »
Brooke and Brunei On Brooke’s arrival in 1839, Brunei was a decayed empire stretching the whole northwest coast of Borneo. In some rivers, pirate communities had been established. Pangerans at the capital of Brunei played politics. In other rivers, such as the Saribas and the Skrang, Arab adventurers and Brunei chiefs encouraged the local Dyak
The Chinese Revolt by Rev. Brian Taylor SMJ 1969 The first woman, other than women with their husbands, ever sent abroad by the Society for the Propagation of the Bible was Sarah Coomes. Miss Coomes was left behind in the first evacuation of the town after the Bau Chinese had arrived to pillage and sack
A Ladies Perspective of the 1859 Revolt Read More »
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 had ideas that were often
Tom Harrisson a colonial master Read More »
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 it that way. Asun was
Iban Rebellion 1930’s Read More »
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 yesterday when historian John Tan
“Mona Lisa” of China Read More »
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 the central part over about
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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. 3. Jemul un Alam dies
