Patricia Hului

Murders call up the same amount of emotions – horror, fear, rage, even intrigue – whether they happened in 1859 or 2019.

One could argue that for 19th century Sarawak where headhunting was still in practice, a double homicide might not be that all interesting…unless the murder victims were two European officers.

Who were Fox and Steele?

Charles James Fox and Henry Steele were two Brooke officers stationed in a fort in Kanowit.

Although Fox was appointed as the Resident of Rejang and Steele as the commander of the fort, the second white Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Brooke was not entirely convinced of the two’s capabilities in carrying out their jobs.

According to Cassandra Pybus in White Rajah: A Dynastic Intrigue, Fox was “an unsteady and inconsistent fellow, had come to Sarawak as a missionary and had been deflected from his calling by his desire for a dyak mistress” while Steele was “an imaginative bully who treated the dyaks with arrogant disregard”.

Meanwhile, Robert Payne in The White Rajahs of Sarawak described Fox as “brusque, efficient, easily excited”. As for Steele, he was a “former apprentice on a merchant ship, was more knowledgeable about the native ways, but hard on the Dyaks who worked under him.”

Whatever the reason, Fox and Steele were murdered on June 25, 1859.

Payne wrote that on the morning of the murder, Fox was calmly digging a trench in the garden attached to the fort.

He had been unarmed when a local, whom Payne described as ‘a Kanowit’ came out from the forest and speared him in the back. He then pitched forward into the trench that he himself dug.

At the same time, another local attacked Steele. He was about to get the upper hand in that struggle when another local came up behind him with a sword and split his head.

Fox and Steele’s heads were cut off and the murderers fled.

The alleged killers of Fox and Steele

As the Tuan Muda, Charles was furious over the deaths of his two officers. He reportedly said he had “an intense thirst and concentrated desire to seek out and bathe hands in the blood of those who had murdered our much lamented friends.”

One theory had it that Syarif Masahor, a Malay leader from Sarikei was behind the murders as he was famous then among the locals for his rebellion against the Brooke administration.

Charles – who was still the Tuan Muda at this time – also believed that Masahor was behind it, but nobody had any proof.

Nonetheless, the Brooke government managed to name two suspects; Sawing and Sekalai (Pybus added a third suspect named Talip).

In some records, it was stated that these suspects fled to their Kayan relatives at upper Rajang river. Meanwhile, local historian Jayl Langub stated that they actually took refuge at the Kejaman Longhouse. This was located at Tuju Matahap just above the confluence of Belaga and Balui rivers (tributaries of Rajang river).

Over a hundred native lives paid for the deaths of Fox and Steele

What followed after the double homicide was something that left a dark past along the Rajang river: The Great Kayan Expedition 1863.

It is uncertain that the murders of Fox and Steele were the sole reason for the punitive expedition mainly against the Kayan people.

However, Charles did send an expedition of 1,000 Dayak people to punish the murderers as well as those who harboured them.

For the Brooke administration, the first expedition was a failure although they were well-armed. The second one led by Charles himself was successful.

According to Payne, it was Charles’ first major engagement. So, you can imagine how excited he was.

“He felt he was completely fearless, showing himself in the open. Whenever he found one of his Dyaks wounded, he would rush up to him, pour some brandy between his lips and make him get up and walk. Apparently brandy and walking were a sufficient antidote against poisoned arrows,” he wrote.

There was no exact number of casualties but it was believed over hundreds lives were lost, including women and children.

But Charles did ‘bathe his hand in the blood of the murderers’; They were sentenced to death by having their throats cut.

As for his ‘much lamented friends’, Payne stated “No one had anything good to say about Fox or Steele, and it is possible that they deserved to die.”

Located about 156km from Sarawak’s capital Kuching, Engkilili is a humble town in the district of Lubok Antu, Sri Aman.

According to Chang Pat Foh in Legends and History of Sarawak, the bazaar was first established in 1888.

By 1920, there were 12 attap shop-houses in the bazaar.

The name of the bazaar was likely derived from a local fruit which was found in abundance in the olden days.

The Engkilili tree (Lepisanthes alata) is also commonly known as pokok ceri Terengganu or Malay cherry.

The tree can grow up to 15m high with flowers that come in purple to reddish brown.

Besides Borneo, the Engkilili tree can also be found in Sumatra, Java and Peninsular Malaysia.

Early Chinese Settlements in Engkilli

In 1854, a group of Chinese Hakka came to Engkilili from Pontianak and Sambas in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Led by Bong Chie, the group came through Tebedu, passing through Tebekang and from there to Engkilili.

According to Alex Ling in Golden Dreams of Borneo, the move was inspired by a medium, who told them in a trance that it would be safer for them to move to Engkilili in the future.

True enough, the Dutch administration was reportedly harassing this community, forcing them to make the move faster than expected.

Originally, this group of mainly Hakka migrated all the way from four districts (Tapu, Chia Ying, Huilai and Kityang) in Kwantung Province of China before they arrived in Borneo.

By September 1870, according to Sarawak Gazette there were 450 Chinese settled down mainly at Marup, Engkilili.

During that time, the gold mining industry was booming in Marup. The gold miners formed the Fifteen Kongsi at Marup to run their daily administration.

Then in 1917, another wave of Chinese immigrants came to Engkilili. Unlike the Hakkas, the Teochews worked mainly as traders at the bazaar.

A visit by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari

The Fifteen Kongsi had a house which also functioned as the administration office, gathering space, as well as guesthouse.

In fact, one of the earliest records of Marup from the 19th century was written by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari.

He spent three years in Borneo from 1865 to 1868. Most of his experiences were recorded in his book Wanderings in the great forests of Borneo, travels and researches of a naturalist in Sarawak (1904).

Of Marup, Beccari wrote, “Marop is a Chinese village, placed in a small valley surrounded by low hills. The stream from which it takes its name runs through it, supplying an abundance of cool limpid water, and giving off a minor torrent which dashes merrily amidst the houses. The village was very clean; most of the houses were made with mats or palm leaves, but the big house, or residence of the Kunsi, the headman of the Chinese, in which I took up my quarters, was almost entirely built by wood.”

More importantly, he recorded some of the species found in Engkilili in those days. These included the hyacinth orchid (Dipodium sp.), monkey (Semnopithecus rubicundus), orangutan and Rajah Brooke’s birdwing.

Beccari also noted that Marop was an excellent station for a zoologist but a poor one for a botanist. This was because the forest in the area had been mostly cleared for paddy planting.

The rise and fall of Fort Leonora

Like most settlements built during the reign of the White Rajahs of Sarawak, Engkilili has its own fort.

However unlike most Brooke’s forts which were built for defence purposes, the one in Engkilili was designed as an administration office.

Built in 1924, the fort was named Fort Leonora after Vyner’s eldest daughter, Dayang Leonara Margaret.

Since it was built, the fort served different purposes over the years. When the Japanese took over Sarawak during World War II, the fort was used as the kempeitai’s office.

Then during the colonial period, the British colonial officers used it as their office. Later during Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, Fort Leonora was turned into an army base for the Commonwealth forces.

Despite its rich history, the original building was torn down and was rebuilt. Today it is the Engkilili Sub-District Office.

The only known photo of Fort Leonora belonged to Brian Houldershaw which was taken in 1965.

Most towns in this world have at least one thing that they are known for, be it an agricultural product or a wildlife species that also calls their respective regions home.

This symbol usually can be found as a landmark or statue in the centre of the town. The same thing happens here in the Land of Hornbills.

If you get the chance to travel to each and every town of Sarawak, pay extra attention to the roundabout or the main entry road leading into the town. These are the common sites to find the town’s symbol.

Here at KajoMag, we want you to get to know all the symbols of the towns in Sarawak:

Kuching

There are plenty of stories about how Kuching got its name. The most popular one is that it came from the word ‘Kucing’ or ‘cat’ in Malay.

However, this theory is usually rejected as ‘cat’ in Sarawak Malay dialect is ‘pusak’ not ‘kucing’.

Nonetheless, this animal has become the symbol of Sarawak’s capital city. You can find plenty of cat statues around the city. There is even a museum dedicated to felines.

Lundu

Situated in the western part of Sarawak, Lundu serves as the gateway to Gunung Gading National Park and Tanjung Datu National Park.

There are two symbols of this town; Normah orchid and Rafflesia flower.

Normah orchid (Phalaenopsis belina) is Sarawak’s very own state flower while Rafflesia tuan-mudae is endemic to Gunung Gading, Lundu.

Bau

The town of Bau was historically known for its gold mining industry. Hence, it was only natural that the symbol of the town would be its miners.

There is a landmark in Bau depicting three miners with sculptures of Normah orchid and pitcher plants on top.

Serian

Serian town is home to – allegedly – the most delicious and best quality of durian in Sarawak.

There is a giant monument of king of fruits in the middle of Serian market place.

Sarikei

This town is known as the food basket of Sarawak. However, the symbol of this town is not a food basket but a pineapple.

At the Sarikei waterfront, visitors can find a 3.6 high pineapple statue.

The history of pineapple planting in Sarikei goes back to the 1970s. At that time, the locals started to plant pineapples n the Sungai Sawang, Parit Tengah, Parit Bugis, Sungai Salah, Sungai Sageng and Bukit Kinyau areas.

Sri Aman

Although the town is now called Sri Aman, the older generations in Sarawak still call this town Simanggang to this day.

After it was renamed as Sri Aman or town of peace in 1973, the symbol has been a pair of doves.

Betong

The symbol of this town is the rubber tree. This is because Saribas district was one of the first districts in Sarawak to plant rubber tree back in the early 20th century.

Sibu

Do you know that Sibu is also nicknamed the ‘Swan City’ of Sarawak?

Legend has it there was a famine in Sibu, which ended when a flock of swans flew through the skies of the town.

Bintulu

Bintulu is the energy town of Sarawak. While most visitors might expect the symbol of this town to be a liquefied natural gas plant, the symbol of this town is actually an egret.

There used to be a landmark of several egret statues in downtown Bintulu which, unfortunately, no longer exists.

Miri

Miri Municipal Council picked the seahorse as the town’s official symbol after it was proposed by then Sarawak chief minister Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud.

It was introduced as part of the “I love Miri Campaign” in 1994.

The seahorse is chosen reportedly because of its beautiful and distinctive figure with gentle and graceful motion just like the multiple ethnic and cultural identities of Miri which live in peace and harmony with good values of life.

Limbang

In the rural parts of Limbang, buffalo are not just used for sources of meat but also in paddy farming, exchanged as dowries and in their famous buffalo races.

With plenty of buffaloes around, it is no surprise Limbang picked it as its town symbol.

Lawas

According to Chang Pat Foh in Legends and History of Sarawak, the famous landmarks of Lawas are the sweet corn and apple.

Sweet corn is the most popular crop planted in Lawas while the apples planted in Ba’ Kelalan in the 80s was a success and has become famous since then.