The following is taken from an essay written in a prison camp at Lintang in April of 1944 and was published in a journal called “Adversity”. The manuscript was written on “Sun Wah Tobacco Company” wrappers with a pencil stubs. The author is unknown. According to Dr Jerry Drawhorn, the O.F. at the end of the article stands for ‘optimistic fiddler,” the pen name for John Belville Archer, who was Governor during the Japanese occupation.
There are three institutions so essential to the British: the churches, the race course, and the golf links. With regard to the Churches, St. Thomas will be 100 years old in 1948. The big brick Roman Catholic Church cost $6,000 to build, a remarkable achievement. (not sure if he means the cost or the edifice)
There is a Chinese Temple on the riverfront. It is very old, and the Chinese venerate it as a symbol of their long residence in the country. There is a Chinese monastery near Sekama Road. The monastery is unknown to many Europeans. Few pass through its doors.
There is an old Christian cemetery overlooking Bishopsgate. It has not been used for “many a long year,” and most people pass it by. Here are buried many pioneers of Sarawak. Here are the graves of Fox and Steel, who were murdered at Kanowit in 1859.
At rest here are the graves of Lee and Bereton. (first names not given) A punitive expedition was launched against the Skrang in 1853. Brereton accused his friend Lee of cowardice for not advancing upriver and attacking the enemy. Lee, who was in command, had suspected the Dayaks had prepared an ambush and did not want to walk into a trap. Lee and Bereton had a violent quarrel the night before. Lee, exasperated by Bereton’s taunts, ordered an advance.
The Government forces were surrounded and outnumbered by the Dayaks. Lee, up to his waist in water, met a valiant death at the hands of the Dayaks. Bereton escaped but never forgave himself for ordering the charge that killed his friend. He died a year or two later.
The author, who was related to Lee, searched the Skrang longhouses for his skull hanging in some Dayak longhouse, but only found his sword.
The Chinese insurrection was misnamed, as it was really the work of a Chinese secret society. The culprits were all from one district and did not reflect the actions of Chinese living in other parts of the State. Admittedly, there was great damage done and a grave loss of life.
The Rajah had to swim up the Kuching river; his secretary was killed, and the Astanna went up in flames. The rebellion was quelled after six days, and the remains of the flagstaff on which the rebel flag was first hoisted were still to be seen at Bau Lama just before the war.
The golf links are a sporting course, and the Director of Education makes a tidy income from selling lost balls. His garden adjoins the links.
Horse racing has been going on since 1890. The Japanese have since eaten the racing ponies and destroyed the course. It is true that the second Rajah rode in several races, and the records show he won them all.
Dancing became almost a rage and was taken very seriously. The Chinese and Malay Miss’s would look upon in horror at kitchen lancers(a square dance popular in the 18th and 19th centuries) or the Roger de Coverley. (an English or Scottish country dance)
The museum is so well-known that it requires little comment. The building is modelled after a town hall in France. It has been altered twice in my time but remains an architectural curiosity. The contents are fascinating, ranging from a whale to a burial totem pole and an elephant god to a palang maybe seen.
The old government buildings of Kuching are in harmony with the surroundings. However, the new offices are ” Pseudo-Gothic-Grecian-Temple Public lavatory ” style.
The biggest mosque in town, a plain affair, except that the dome is studded with empty bottles of broken colored glass to give it a glittering effect. Chinese and English houses are beautiful.
Road names are unfortunate. Kling Street was renamed India Street at the insistence of the Indian community, while Pig Lane was hotly and vehemently protested by the Chinese community.
Pending is really not a place at all, being a customs station at the end of a road leading to Kuching. Many years ago, the Borneo Company used to charter ships to carry their produce, and the ships used to stay docked “pending” further orders. The name has stuck.
The Sarawak Club is known by repute. The architecture is everything a club should not be. The acoustics of the bar are shattering to any newcomer, and the intense gloom of the central hall casts a shadow on all human voices.
There are, of course, other clubs, and people tell me there is a pink light district down a smelly little place called Khai Joo Lane, although in later years, Padungan near the shipping center has become very gay. Sailors don’t care.
A band plays in the ornamental grounds, and a cozy municipality has made retreats for lovers. The streets are either very wide or narrow and like Topsy “have growed.”(Topsy was a famous Asian elephant with the Forepaugh Circus in the States)
A few yards from the noise and bustle of Carpenter Street, you may come upon a small Chinese Temple sleeping away its long years up a narrow alley. In the midst of a mass of shops, there is a Chinese house hidden by a courtyard of orange trees. Showy saloon cars, messy little two-seaters mix with rickshaws and bullock carts.
One thing I can tell you is that the name of the town has nothing to do with a cat. No race in Sarawak uses kuching as a cat. The Malays and Melanaus call the animal pusa. There is a government station called Pusa.(The Sidney Herald of March 23, 1840, p.1 “The town of kooching is of no note”. At least we know it was Kooching in 1840.)
The spelling and pronunciation of cat is pusak in Sarawak Malay.
The main entrance to the Astana is an imposing and rather ancient tower overlooking the chief door to the palace. There is a Brooke tradition that the exterior of this tower must never be whitewashed or renovated. The legend states that some kind of disaster will befall if it is. The tower has become covered with an ivy-like creeper, and parts of the tower are crumbling in decay.
The Japanese saw fit to put this edifice in apple pie order. The creeper was torn down, and plasterers and whitewashers got busy. Shortly afterward, Field Marshal Prince Maida, cousin to the Emperor Sun God, fell miserably to earth in a plane crash somewhere around Miri. The locals attribute the crash to the tower, while the Japanese say it was sabotage or suicide.
Nevertheless, the old motto remains for those who can read it:
Harap-lah sa’lagi bernapas.
Where there is life there is hope comes from an ancient Greek saying and was made famous in the Pickwick Papers. The Malay was probably a translation of this English phrase.
Some day, when our dreams come true, I hope to show you a pleasant Kuching a place where there is really fun and laughter-may you live happy ever after.
Many thanks to James S.L. Yong
Tom McLaughlin for BorneoHistory.net