Posts

Melanau Leader ~1830

Melanau Lady Abang Manai: a Melanau The history of the Melanau as recorded by Wikipedia does not mention Abang Manai or the island of Bali. His name is not included in the” list of prominent people of Melanau descent” also compiled by Wikipedia. This version could be an early oral history

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All Creatures Great and Small # 70

Agarwood Agarwood is one of the most valuable non-timber forest products due to its gratifying aroma. This has led to the overexploitation of agarwood produced by several species. The aim of this study is to tell the wood anatomy of A. sympetalum and thereby determine the features that distinguish this species

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Pirates: Sarawak

We now zoom in on part three of our essay by Dr Lee English about the piracy around Borneo Island. Dr English also dwells on the attacks on Saribas and Skrang Dayak as pirates and the debate afterwards. The following was extracted and edited from Tides of Law by Tom

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Pirates part 2

Here is part two of the history of piracy in Southeast Asia written by Dr Lee English and edited with permission by BorneoHistory.net. Dr Lee English earned his doctorate from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Dr English uses the term “marine predator” for pirate however I  prefer the term

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Pirates

The sections of this essay are taken and edited, with permission from the dissertation of Dr Lee English who earned his doctorate from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Dr English uses the term “marine predator” for pirate however I  prefer the term pirate to avoid confusion among my readers.

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An incident at Fort Mukah

Some small history visits The Taking of Muka Fort Mukah was a small town located on the coast between Sibu and Bintulu on Borneo Island in Sarawak. Apparently, in 1869, there was fort located in the town with cells for prisoners. The name was Fort Burdett. The person in charge

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All Creatures Great and Small #69

New Species Two new species of Fanged Frog from South Eastern Borneo have been made known to science. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5575.3.3 New Species Two new species of tropical blueberry from central Sabah have been discovered. From the person who discovered the plants:  Blueberries are edible and quite tasty and are sold to

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Kanyau Iban

The Kanyau Iban The Kanyau Iban are a group of Iban who live on the border between Sarawak Malaysia and Indonesia on Borneo Island. The Kanyau Iban consists of 108 households that live in the villages of Sedap, Kelayam, and Kampong Madang, which are on the upper reaches of Batang. 

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Elephant Man, Borneo and Limbang

The following was adapted from an article by Gregory Kiyai@Keai of the University of Malaya. Efforts to contact him by e-mail for permission have proven unsuccessful. Hinduism reached Borneo as early as the 5th century or possibly earlier. Evidence includes records written on stone from Kotei, East Borneo, which details

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All Creatures Great and Small #68

New Species Three new species of the Hairy Fungus Beetle (Litargus) have been made known to science. Two are from Sulawesi while the third is found in Sabah and Sarawak. Munis Entomology & Zoology Mun. Ent. Zool. https://www.munisentzool.org/ 20 (1) ISSN 1306-3022 (January, 2025) New Species A new species of

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A medium and ternate

Medium This begins a series called Adventures and tells of trips Suriani, Dzul and I have taken through SEA. The Other World and Ali Ternate, Indonesia-Alfred Wallace, the premier biologist who with Charles Darwin published the famous paper on evolution, would have loved this. Indeed he would have.  You see,

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Architecture of Kampongs across the Sarawak River

Architecture of the cross river Kampongs Kuching This is one of the very first articles written about the Kampongs Sebrang across the river from Kuching on the north bank of the Sarawak River. Yon Syafni Samat is currently working on her doctorate degree at the University of Sydney. She is

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