All Creatures #79 Sea Snails These sea snails live in the water along the coast of Sarawak, from the coastal areas to the deep oceans. They occur in large quantities and serve as food for commercial fish, seabirds, and whales. The piece is a comprehensive essay on the snail species
Early Visitors to Santubong 487-488 CE In the Song Shu (宋书 Liu Song History Annals), which was edited by Shen Yue (沈约, 441–513) during the Nan/Southern dynasty, are records concerning the Poli nation (婆利国). The Poli nation was considered Santubong. All records show the arrival of emmissarys from Poli to
New Species Three new species of marine parasites that attach to the gills, mouth, or skin of fish have been made known to science. They are flattened, allowing them to cling to fish and usually attach and then detach from the fish’s body. They were found in Borneo waters. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2025.101157
Early Locations in Borneo from the Nagara Krtagama The Nagara Krtagama is a court poem written in 1365 by the Javaenese poet Mpu Prapañca during the reign of King Hayam Wuruk of Majapahit. The following list was taken from the poem, but the descriptions and locations are mine. Kapuhas A
Semporna Islands The Semporna Islands are located off the coast of Sabah in the Celebes Sea. They can be reached from Semporna Town by a 45-minute speedboat ride. They comprise multiple islands and reefs, including Bodgaya Island. There are various people who live in the Sulu Islands of the Philippines
Early Indian Colonies in Borneo The earliest evidence, 400 A.D., of the Hindu colonisation in Borneo is furnished by four inscriptions. These were discovered in 1879 in the district of Koti (Kutei), at Muara Kamai on the Mahakam river, three days’ journey above Pelarang. The remains of a Chinese junk,
Writing History and AI About a year ago, I played around with AI but when I discovered they used Wikipedia as a source, I quit. Wikipedia can be written and posted by anyone anywhere without any research. I could write I came from Mars in a spaceship and they would
Ong Sum Ping in Chinese Sources Ong Sum Ping lived in Brunei. He established a trading post and a Chinese settlement called Wicaya (from the Sanskrit meaning victory?) on or near the Kinabatangan River. He supported Sultan Muhammad Shah as the ruler, but he was never the ruler of Brunei.
All Creatures #77 New Species Two new species of Mealy bugs have been discovered feeding on forest trees in Kalimatan. 89 species have been described worldwide and several are considered agricultural pests. 10.3897/zookeys.1249.159569 Book Chapter A chapter in the book The Making of Singapore as an Asian Regional Corridor entitled
Why Preaching Christianity to the Malays in Kuching Didn’t Work The first Anglican missionaries set foot in Sarawak on 29 June 1848. At the time, Sarawak was a war-ridden and impoverished Raj. Why would the Borneo Mission send their clergy to Sarawak? James Brooke, the first white Rajah, appealed to
Brooke Colonial Thinking in Sarawak European powers were competing to take over lands in Asia that they saw as “empty” or “unclaimed.” They called these places terra nullius — meaning “nobody’s land” — and said that made them free to claim and rule. They didn’t care that people were already
All Creatures Great and Small #76 New Species A new species of pygmy grasshopper has been found near the Meligan River in Sabah. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5683.4.5 Sabah and Muslims This article examines the historical development of Islamic expansion and the emergence of Muslim converts (mualaf) in Sabah during the British colonial period.