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James Brooke might be widely known as the first ‘White Rajah’ of Sarawak. However, did you know that he was not the first man to be known as the first ‘White Rajah’ in Borneo? About 30 years before Brooke established his dynasty in Sarawak, British merchant and adventurer Alexander Hare founded an independent fiefdom in […]
Unit 731’s official name was ‘Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army’ but their actual work had nothing to do with safeguarding health and security. This biological and chemical warfare research development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army actually started epidemics and polluted rivers with human remains. Based at the Pingfang district […]
If you are not familiar with the term ‘haruspex’, it is a term to describe one who is trained to practice a form of divination called ‘haruspicy’. In ancient Rome, haruspicy involved the inspection of the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially the livers of sacrificed sheep and poultry, to divine omens and communicate with the […]
The Geneva Conventions are four treaties and three additional protocols which establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. Basically, the treaties define the basic rights of wartime prisoners for both civilians and military personnel. In other words, just because you have conquered a country, it doesn’t mean that you can do whatever you […]
Captain Lionel Matthews might not be a familiar name for Sarawakians but during World War II (WWII) he was executed by a firing squad on Mar 2, 1944 in Kuching. After the war, he was posthumously awarded the George Cross. It is the highest award for heroism or courage in the face of the enemy […]
According to Dusun mythology, Kinharingan is a creator deity who came from a rock in the middle of the sea with his sister/wife Munsumundok. In one version of the legend, Kinharingan and Munsumundok walked across the water, perhaps like Jesus in the Bible, until they arrived to the house of the god Bisagit. Bisagit gave […]
Kempeitai or also known as Kenpeitai was the infamous Japanese military police from 1881 to 1945. In Japanese-occupied territories, this police force was in charge of arresting and executing those who were suspected of being anti-Japanese. They were notorious for their brutal treatment of prisoners during World War II (WWII). Many historians refer to them […]
World War Two (WWII) brought a lot of changes into the world including the food that we eat. During the war, food supply was low in Japanese-occupied Asian countries because priority was given to the military. There were even incidents of animal captives in zoos being sacrificed for Japanese military food. When people are pushed […]
If you are not familiar with Flores island, Indonesia, it was the home of Homo floresiensis, a species of small archaic human. This species of human was nicknamed ‘Hobbit’ by its discoverers, after the fictional race popularised in J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Hobbit. It is believed that the Homo floresiensis lived on Flores island until […]
Outram Prison was one of the earliest prisons in Singapore. Originally, it was known as Pearl’s Hill Prison before being called Outram Prison or Outram Road Prison. Completed in 1882, the jail complex had five blocks for male criminals; four for natives and one for European. Other buildings housed the female prisons, hospitals, employees’ quarters, […]
