Menu Home Posts Gallery Keris (Gallery) Sarawak River Valley About Us Wafaq In the Sarawak Malay world, there is a line between the pure Islam that everybody worships today and the fuzzy beliefs of the past. These fuzzy beliefs were a combination of supernatural ways from everything to cure one of a disease, to make […]
Menu Home Posts Gallery Keris (Gallery) Sarawak River Valley About Us Edward Dari Kampong Panglima Seman Lama Kisah Edward dari Kampong Panglima Seman Lama Dari akhir Perang Dunia II sehingga pergantian abad ini, orang Melayu di seberang sungai dari Kuching hidup dalam kemiskinan yang teruk. Sementara anak-anak penduduk bandar mempunyai sekolah seperti St. Thomas, St.
Edward Dari Kampong Panglima Seman Lama Read More »
Who are You? Tom McLaughlin I have been researching the origins of the people of Sarawak for about ten years now. It has been fun but frustrating. These are my opinions from the research: The Malays came from Taiwan. These people were the indigenous residents and not the current Chinese who now run the island.
Genetics and Borneo Read More »
by Tom McLaughlin Across the river from where I live in Kuching, are several kampongs all to be torn down to make way for either high rises or a park where people can walk along the river. I am not sure which. The following is a report on a visit to the area. We were
Goodbye to the Kampongs Read More »
Tom’s Note: Here is an oral history of Datu Merpati. He is a person who, it was said, ruled Sarawak sometime in the 1700s and who many of the current and past rulers have traced their lineage. Much of it is fantasy except for one item the Sultan of Brunei appointed Datuk Merpati to rule
Datu Merpati: A Fable? Read More »
Book Review: SMJ 1970The Malays of South-West Sarawak before Malaysia by Tom HarrissonReviewed by Gale Dixon (Department of Geography, University of Oregon)This big, heavy volume is packed with good information important to professional anthropologists, historians economists, geographers, and sociologists and of interest to a wide readership of informed people who make the social sciences their
The Malays of Southwest Sarawak Read More »
Since I arrived here 12 years ago, I have heard of the stories about the Mouse Deer. I wanted to find examples, but the stories in English were all prohibitively expensive. Finally, a few months ago, a volume appeared in Ireland and was termed a “reading copy.” I jumped on it. When it arrived three
Toms Note: I continue with the history of the mission schools in Sarawak St. Mary’s In 1882, only one girl was being educated in St. Thomas, the Anglican school at Kuching. At the efforts of Mrs Hose, a day school was started in 1883. However, it was the efforts of the wife of the Archdeacon
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Each plant description has an accompanying detailed drawing like the above. Now swept away by modern medicine, these plants were used by the Borneo people. The indigenous groups and the coastal Malays knew which plants to collect for a wide variety of illnesses. However, the plant is a fickle creature producing its’ cures at various
Borneo plants used in medicine and ritual Read More »
Along the coast of Sarawak there were dugong or sea cows. In Malay, they were called sea women. They are extinct or nearly extinct. These animals were thought to be the source of mermaid stories among the Malay fishermen. The Tears of the Mermaid or Minyak Senyongyong are considered to be a strong love potion
Love Potions and Sea Cows Read More »
