Sarawak River Valley Book Review

Sarawak River Valley, Early Times to 1840: Santubong Kuching Brunei bySURAINI BINTI SAHARI and TOM MCLAUGHLIN, Kuching, Sarawak, SueJ’s Enterprises, 2020, ISBN 978-967-17890-0-1; 205 pp; maps, plates, bibliography.This is an unusual history book by Suraini Sahari and Tom McLaughlin. The scope of this study is overwhelming, more so for these new, and untrained, history writers. […]

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Iban and Batang Ai

The Batang Ai resettlement scheme moved 26 longhouses of Ibans to another area because of flooding due to the hydroelectric dam across the Batang Ai Wong Irup. The Iban received cash compensation and were given 11 acres of land consisting of five acres of rubber, three acres of cocoa, two acres of hill padi and

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All Creatures Great and Small

Current Research about Borneo #14 Malaysia Anti Malaria Certification Endangered The continued preponderance of the P. knowlesi mosquito in Sabah may threaten Malaysia’s quest to become a malaria-free state. The vector seems to be prevalent in areas disturbed for agriculture and land clearing operations. Scientific Reports article# 11810 (2021) In a related case, a major outbreak of

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Selako Circumcision

Tom’s Note: When I announced my engagement to my Malay wife, most people wanted to know if was circumcised. I said yes I was, however, the question still kept coming. I finally asked if they wanted to see it. Nobody took me up on the offer. Even after the honeymoon, people asked my wife the

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Kelabit Harvest

The Kelabit Harvest The Kelabits are a small tribe inhabiting an isolated highland area of 1000 square miles in Sarawak known as the Kelabit highlands. Local oral history states they have been isolated for 500 years (from 1979). Their raiding and headhunting practices necessitated that they have only suspicious and hostile relations with neighbouring peoples.

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