Past Posts

The Sarawak Malaysia Dispute Over Oil and Gas Malaysia is Southeast Asia’s second-largest oil producer and the world’s fifth-largest natural gas producer. Sarawak holds 60% of these reserves. Petronas is Malaysia’s national oil company, and Petros is Sarawak’s state oil company. Petronas works with Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total Energies (France), and PTTEP (Thailand) to develop… Read more: Sarawak-Malaysia Oil Dispute

Pirates in the South China Sea Letter from James Brooke, the first White Rajah of Sarawak,  to the Editor of the Straits Times in Singapore June 4, 1862. To the Editor of the Straits Times. My Dear Sir. l promised to give you occasional news from this coast, but until now there has been nothing… Read more: Pirate encounter off Sarawak 1862

Current Research from Borneo: Brunei, Sarawak, Sabah and Kalimantan Gecko Researchers described a new gecko species from the Crocker Range of North Borneo. 10.11646/zootaxa.5881.3.2 Rafflesia The main pressures on this plant include deforestation and human harvesting. Biological weaknesses include separate male and female flowers, and having more male than female flowers. Ecotourism practices are dangerous… Read more: Current Research about Borneo: All Creatures Great and Small #87

Santang Island After hearing an oral history about a massive meteor shower over Santang Island, and that people loaded boats to take the metal to Santubong for processing, I decided to go out to the island and see for myself whether the story could be true. This occurred possibly around 800-1200 A.D., but I felt… Read more: Satang Island

Tulin River During the Brunei Sultans’ rule, they owned the rivers the Bajau people lived along. They maintained a feudal-like control in which the Sultan delegated authority to others. When the British took over, they dismantled this system and paid the “owners” for their control of the rivers. A Tulin is a hereditary title for… Read more: River Control in North Borneo-Tulin

Smallpox and Borneo The earliest description of smallpox was in China in the 4th century. By the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Chinese physicians practised variolation by drying smallpox scabs, grinding them into powder, and blowing them into the nostrils of healthy children. This method probably began around 1000 and was not very common until the 1500’s,… Read more: Smallpox,Brunei,Borneo James Brooke