Posts

The Rise and Fall of Sarawaks first government

Two White Men and a Chief Minister: A Fall from Grace and Then a Revival of Sarawak. Stephen Kalong Ningkan was born on 20 August 1920. His Chinese grandfather adopted him, lived in China and spoke Mandarin. He was a clerk with the Rubber Fund and was with the Sarawak

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All Creatures Great and Small # 39

All Creatures Great and Small #39 Imported Malaria Although most kinds of malaria have been eradicated in Sarawak, malaria, Plasmodium knowlesi, continues to be imported from other areas. Kapit, Sibu and Miri lead the way in cases because of workers returning from malaria-infested areas. DOI: 10.1111/tmi.13875  New Species A new species of shining

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The Bone House

Bau and the Bidayuh Kampong Gumbang Kampong Gumbang is located in the rural Bau district of Sarawak. At the time (1986) the village was only available on foot, where the trail goes up and down through the secondary forest, with a long final climb to the village. Of special interest

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Ketapang Borneo

Ketapang The Dayak kingdom was called “the Dayak Kingdom of the Headwaters.” It was located in the interior of Ketapang. The kingdom was a regional federation of the Dayak group, and the kingdom once controlled a large area that encompassed north of the Kapuas River. The kingdom lasted until the

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Sea People

Brunei and the Bajau by D.E. Brown Borneo Research Bulletin December 1971 Many parts of the southern Philippines were under the rule of Brunei in the early part of the 16th century. When the Spaniards tried to colonize the southern part, a long period of instability arose between the Baju and

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All Creatures Great and Small # 38

Kingfisher The Dulit Partridge The Dulit Partridge can only be confirmed in three sites in the Borneo Highlands. The last was in the 1930s. The specimens they have were collected between 1894-1902. Surveys are urgently required in this little-explored part of Sarawak. https://doi.org/10.25226/bboc.v143i1.2023.a8 The Sunda Sea Sundaland is the currently

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Dayak, Land and Belaga three short essays

Where did the name Dayak come from? Here are some of the more amusing theories of where the word Dyak came from. Origin of the name Dayak P.J Veth in Borneo Research Bulletin, September 1983 Crawfurd, in his Descriptive dictionary of the Indian Islands, the term Dayak is used by the

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Travelling to the Upper World

The Ngajus and the Bridge to the Upper World. The Ngajus are a major population in Borneo. They call themselves by the river they inhabit, rather than being lumped together by anthropologists. Thus, you have the uluh Ngajus, the upriver people, the uluh Ngawa the low river people, uluh Kahayan,

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A British Swindler

The British Swindler This was a nightmare to follow because as an American, I am not familiar with the Colonial hierarchy and the people in each position. If you have an interest in following the minute details of the case, please go to the Borneo Bulletin Website. Before the implementation

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Baram River People

The Baram River Peoples In the early nineteenth century, warfare occurred regularly throughout the Baram watershed. (The Baram River flows from the Kelabit highlands westward to the South China Sea) People from the far interior, Kayan and Kenyah, were pushing down the Baram River towards the centres of trade on the coast. From there came

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Genetics and Borneo

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

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The Kingdom of Kutai

Kutai I have always wondered about Kutai and its history. I had visited there but never really intellectually explore it. Here are two condensed articles on the kingdom for your enjoyment. The oldest known inscriptions in the Archipelago were found in Kutailaman Kutai. These consist of four stone sacrificial poles

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