Bisaya Fables

Ngaju People: Blood, Slaves and New Religion

The historical information was gleaned from a lecture by Martin Barier, date unknown. Much of the information about German missionaries ie names and places in Germany etc was omitted to focus on the Ngaju people. The Ngaju People South Borneo contains the settlement area of the Ngaju People. The first European descriptions date back to the 1690s. Father Bartolomeo Ferro refers to the “Porto […]

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Bisaya Fables, Borneo Research, Culture, History / Tom02

Some Bisaya Folk Lore The scene of this story is the Klias Peninsula situated on the west coast of North Borneo opposite Labuan Island. After crossing the beautiful beach with its palm trees there is a huge swamp with a tangled mass of impenetrable mangrove, nipah and sago. It is a poor country with the

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Datu Merpati: A Fable?

Bisaya Fables, Borneo Research, Culture, History, Malay, Story / Tom02

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

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A Mouse Deer Story

Bisaya Fables, Borneo Research, Story, Wildlife / Tom02

Salam The Mouse Deer- Second Evening Old Abdullah picking his way homewards through the deep forest one evening at sundown by following the narrow winding Wild Beast tracks that criss-cross it in every direction but which to him were as familiar as our town streets to ourselves, had picked up a baby honey bear which

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Mouse Deer

Bisaya Fables, Culture, Malay, Story, Wildlife / Tom02

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

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Early Schools in Kuching

Bisaya Fables, Culture, History, Iban / Tom02

The Anglican Mission Schools The mission schools were used by the missionaries as a source of converts to Christianity. The Rajah James Brooke used the schools as a source of English language graduates to work in the civil service and local European commercial houses. The Chinese viewed them as a pathway to the Cambridge School

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Tortoise and the Mouse Deer

7,144 Comments / Bisaya Fables, Culture, Iban, Story, Wildlife / Tom02

The Tortoise and Mouse DeerTranslated by A.C. HaddonThe tortoise and the mouse deer agreed to steal from a neighbouring garden the fruit known as ‘buah mah”(rambutan in Malay). The mouse deer suggested that the tortoise should climb the tree whilst he would pick up the fruit. The tortoise did so and threw down showers of

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The Ibans of Saribas

1,410 Comments / Bisaya Fables, History, Iban, Story / Tom02

The History of the People of Bangkit , Paku, SaribasNote: The houses mentioned in this article are called longhouses. They are built on stilts where each section is like a townhouse with a family living in each one.They share a common porck or verandah.There are several ancient people who lived among the Ibans. They include

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