After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Royal Australian Air Force planes dropped leaflets all over Sarawak’s First Division.
According to The Sarawak Gazette, the leaflet was foolscap size (a bit longer than A4) with a broad orange border and it was only available in English.
The content of the leaflet was about what to expect or do when the Japanese surrendered their power after the end of the war.
These leaflets were dropped all over Kuching, Batu Kawah, Bau, Lundu, Serian and Simunjan.
The day when the Japanese Surrender. Aboard HMAS Kapunda as the Japanese envoy’s interpreter reads the surrender terms to Major-General Yamamura, the Kuching Garrison Commander (right). Copyright expired-public domain.
Here is the text of of the leaflet announcing that the Japanese surrender:
To the people of the First and Second Division of Sarawak.
1.News of the Japanese surrender will already have reached you. In addition to the Australian troops who will be coming to remove the Japanese, three officers of the Sarawak government are coming to help you, they are Lieutenant Colonel W.P.N.L Ditmas, Lieutennat Colonel C.E. Gascoigne and Major G.T Myles. They belong to a military unit known as the British Borneo Civil Affairs Unit (BBCAU).
2.The following general instructions are issued for your help and guidance:
A)You are asked to conserve your stocks of food as carefully as possible and to continue planting food stuffs to your utmost ability, as shortage of shipping and food makes the supply problem difficult.
B)Persons living outside the Kuching Municipal Area are asked to stay where they are until called, this applies particularly to the Bau and Serian districts.
C)Looting or stealing of any property whatsoever is a very serious offence and is liable to severe punishment. This includes all Japanese owned property, also property taken from others by the Japanese but in the case of the latter, after investigation and in due course this property will be returned to the rightful owners.
D)In the event of the Japanese authorities relinquishing administrative control before the arrival of the Allied troops and until further orders are received from BBCAU, Native officers and other government servants at present in office should administer the areas under their control in accordance with the laws of Sarawak and of conditions existing in Sarawak immediately prior to the Japanese occupation in 1941. Their main duty is to ensure the protection of life and property. Ketua-ketua kampung and Kapitan-kapitan Cina and other chiefs will continue to exercise the powers they held prior to the Japanese occupation. Improper behavior during the period of enemy occupation will be investigated.
E)The native officer in-charge of Kuching district and the senior inspector in charge of Police in Kuching will report to BBCAU immediately on its arrival at Pending or Kuching.
F)It is possible that some stocks of food still exist in the First and Second divisions. All of these must be safeguarded and police guards put over the places in which they are stored. In cases of genuine need, issues of food may be made from any of such stores, but full details of total stocks, amounts of issues with names and dates must be recorded.
G)All government office buildings, including the Museum, the Power Station, Churches, the Mosque and Cinemas, and all stores of valuable commodities must be placed under Police guard to ensure their safety.
H)It should be be the immediate responsibility of all Native Officers assisted by their staffs to make reports on the availability of all food supplies and the location and quantity of all food in stores, and the condition and location of any former Government or Japanese vegetables gardens or rice plantations. These reports for the whole of the First and Second Divisions are to be handed to or sent to BBCAU as soon as possible after their arrival in Kuching. The Kuching Chinese Chamber of Commerce is requested to assist with this work.
Aboard the corvette HMAS Kapunda, General Yamamura, commanding officer of Japanese forces in the Kuching area, hands his sword to Eastick, commanding officer of Kuching Force. This marks the Japanese surrender in Sarawak.
In the right background is Lieutenant A. J, Ford Ranr, commanding officer of the Kapunda. Copyrighted expired-public domain.
In the end, the surrender document was received by Australian Brigadier General Sir Thomas Eastick in the afternoon of September 11, 1945.
Today, one can only imagine how Sarawakians felt when reading the leaflet, especially those who lived in fear during the Japanese occupation.
Avet is what the Kayan people in Borneo call their baby carriers.
Typically consisting of a rattan and wood frame and woven rattan straps to carry the baby, some wooden seats in an avet can be removed completely.
The most time-consuming part of an avet though, is the decorative beadwork. In the olden days, an avet was made by a family member – most likely a grandmother or an aunt.
Meanwhile, the Kenyah call it ba’ and it is more than just a baby carrier, it is also a status symbol. Other ethnic groups such as the Kajang, Punan, Berawan and Sebop also used the same style of baby carriers although they may use different motifs.
Although most Kayan mothers hardly use an avet today, you can still find one in some households being passed down from generation to generation as heirlooms.
Today, you can purchase them from local craftsmen or antique collectors online.
Here are some interesting facts about the avet or ba’:
1. It serves two roles: utilitarian and symbolic purposes
In terms of practical use, the avet or ba’ allows parents to carry their baby in an old-school backpack. It also serves as a symbol to indicate the baby’s social status.
For example, an avet with a human figure can only be used by the maren (aristocrat) of the Kayan people. Those who are not from maren status are prohibited from using this motif or illness will fall upon from them.
A baby carrier with a human figure or face by right can only be used by the maren (aristocrat) of the Kayan people.
2.The motifs have mystical roles
According to Robyn J. Maxwell in Life, Death and Years of Southeast Asian Ancestral Art, the avet is believed to be embedded with prayers.
This is to protect the souls of young children from wandering and coming into contact with disease and illness.
In addition to that, the dramatic demonic figure on some of the beadwork was designed to protect the child by scaring off offensive spirits.
How the lining of the baby carrierlooks like.
3. An avet is not supposed to be sold or lent
In The Pagan Tribes of Borneo by Charles Hose and William McDougall, none of a child’s possessions, including the avet, should ever be sold or lent.
They may, however, be used by a younger sibling once the older one has outgrown them.
4. James Brooke’s secretary Spenser St. John once wrote about it
Spenser St. John was Brooke’s secretary and a British Consul General in Brunei in the mid 19th century.
St. John wrote in Life in the Forests of the Far East (1862) that at a Kayan village in the Baram river area, he saw a high-ranking woman carrying her baby in a “rattan seat covered with fine beadwork.”
5. The Metropolitan Museum of Arts have one on display.
The Met in New York features one avet which is believed to be from the late 19th to 20th century.
Made from fiber, wood, glass beads, cloth and shells, that avet is most probably by the Kenyah or Kayan people from Kalimantan, Indonesia.
It was a donation by the Ernest Erickson Foundation.
6. You can find one at Penn Museum, Philadelphia in US
According to Penn Museum records, there is a Kayan avet in their collection which is believed to have been made in 1890.
This avet has a wooden seat, is made with woven rattan and also has bunches of dangling charms made of seed pods and snail shells.
Sultan Tengah mausoleum of Sarawak’s first and only sultan
The story started of how Sarawak got a sultan begins with Sultan Muhammad Hassan, the 9th sultan who ruled the Bruneian Empire from 1582 to 1598.
He succeeded the throne from Shah Berunai, his older brother who died without an heir.
When Sultan Muhammad Hassan himself died in 1598, his eldest son Abdul Jalilul Akbar ascended the throne.
Abdul Jalilul Akbar’s younger brother Pengiran Muda Tengah, however, also wanted to become the Sultan.
He claimed that his elder brother’s ascension to the throne was invalid as he was born when their father was still crown prince.
Therefore Pengiran Muda, who was born when their father was already king, claimed he had the right to succeed the throne.
In response, the newly crowned Sultan appointed his brother Pengiran Muda Tengah to be the Sultan of Sarawak which comprises present day Kuching division.
Here are 3 things to know about Sarawak’s first and only Sultan, Sultan Tengah:
1. Sultan Tengah’s reign in Sarawak
Sultan Tengah’s tomb was rediscovered in 1993, more than 300 years after his death.
According to historian Chang Pat Foh in The Land of Freedom Fighters, Sultan Tengah came to Sarawak in 1599.
He brought along an entourage of a few nobles and over 1,000 warriors to help him to govern the new country.
As the Sultan of Sarawak, he carried the name Ibrahim Ali Omar Shah of Sarawak.
Before he set sail to Johor and Pahang, he established four ministers to administer his new kingdom.
They were Datu Patinggi Seri Setia, Datu Shahbandar Indera Wangsa, Datu Amar Seri Diraja and Datu Temenggong Laila Wangsa.
On his way back from Johor, Sultan Tengah was shipwrecked near the coast of Sukadana which is now the capital city of North Kayong Regency of West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
There he married Puteri Suria Kesuma, the younger sister of Sultan of Sukadana, Sultan Muhammad Saifuddin.
By 1600, he left Sukadana to Sambas where they built settlement in Kuala Bangun, near the Sambas river.
2. His issue
Opening hours to visit Sultan Tengah’s tomb.
It was during their stay in Sambas when the late Sultan had three sons with Puteri Suria: Radin Sulaiman, Pengiran Badaruddin and Pengiran Abdul Wahab.
Radin Sulaiman later married Puteri Mas Ayu Bongsu, the princess of Sambas.
In 1631, Radin became the first Muslim ruler of the Sambas Kingdom bearing the name of Sri Paduka al-Sultan Tuanku Muhammad Safiuddin 1.
By that time, in 1630, Sultan Tengah had already departed to Matan, an ancient kingdom located in the Ketapang Regency of West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
There in Matan, he married a local princess and had a son. They named him Pengiran Mangku Negara who later become the Sultan of Matan.
A brief history of Sultan Tengah written on a plague near his tomb.
3. His death
After staying a few years in Matan, the wayward sultan decided to return to Sarawak.
By 1641, he arrived home and made a temporary settlement at Batu Buaya near the coast of Santubong.
It was there that Sultan Tengah was assassinated by one of his followers.
His wife decided to return home to the Kingdom of Sukananda after his death.
No records show that the Sultan of Brunei sent a replacement for Sultan Tengah, and Sarawak was reunified with Brunei.
The tale of Sultan Tengah is one of a prince who was not supposed to be, but wanted to be king. And when he finally became one, he hardly spent any time in his kingdom.
It is unsurprising that none of his princes came to claim the throne of Sarawak as they themselves were not born or raised in the kingdom.
Nonetheless, Sultan Tengah did establish his capital along the bank of Sungai Bedil which slowly expanded into what we know today as Kuching.
Thanks to Sultan Tengah, the once Hindu royal houses of Sambas and Matan both turned into Muslim Sultanates and his descendants became the rulers for both kingdoms.
Sultan Tengah’s tomb was lost over the centuries and finally found again in 1993. Subsequently, the Sarawak Government commenced the construction of Sultan Tengah Mausoleum in 1994. The mausoleum was completed in May 1995 at the cost of RM546,000.
Sarawak’s first and only Sultan is now laid in his final resting place at the junction of Jalan Damai and Jalan Kampung Santubong.
His tomb is now overlooking the junction of Jalan Damai and Jalan Kampung Santubong.
The Kingdom of Sarawak was established from a series of land concessions by the Brooke family famously known as the White Rajahs.
In fact, it was even recognised as an independent state by the United States in 1850 and the United Kingdom in 1864.
The founder James Brooke and his successors Charles as well as Vyner built forts every time they acquired a territory from the Sultanate of Brunei.
As a result, forts mostly made of belian or ironwood can be found in almost every town in Sarawak.
Some of the forts in Sarawak were well-kept and turned into museums.
Another handful were abandoned, losing all trace of their former glory.
The rest were either destroyed, burnt down or bombed, leaving no physical evidence of their very existence.
Nonetheless, here is a brief guide on forts in Sarawak built during the reign of the White Rajahs:
1. Fort Emma in Kanowit (1859)
When it was first built in 1859, they only used timber and bamboo. It was named in honour of Emma Brooke, Charles’ sister.
2. Fort Brooke in Sibu (1862)
There was a fort built by the Brookes in 1862, believed to be located at present day Channel Road. However, the building was demolished in 1936.
3. Fort Alice in Sri Aman (1864)
Here is another fort named after the first Ranee whose full name was Margaret Alice Lili de Windt. The fort was built in 1864 with belian wood.
The oldest heritage building in Sri Aman, now it is also known as Heritage Sri Aman Museum.
4. Fort Keppel in Bintulu (1868)
The White Rajah started to build this wooden fort in Bintulu in 1862. They named it after Sir Henry Keppel who was a close friend of James and Charles.
Keppel was responsible for ending Dayak piracy in the Saribas between 1840 and 1850. The building was made of belian wood and had a cement floor.
Unfortunately, it was completely destroyed when it was hit by a bomb in 1942 during the Japanese occupation.
5. Fort Charles in Kabong (1878)
Fort Charles was first built by a Brooke officer named Maxwell in 1878.
Like most of the forts in Sarawak, it was used as an administration office and also to collect taxes.
In 1893, the fort collapsed due to soil erosion and was rebuilt further inland in 1895.
6. Fort Margherita in Kuching (1879)
Back in the olden days, a cannon shot was fired from this fort every evening to mark the end of the government work day.
Now, Fort Margherita plays home to the Brooke Gallery displaying historical documents and artifacts. The fort was named in honour of Charles’s wife Ranee Margaret.
A night view of Fort Margherita, one of the forts in Sarawak.
This historical fort was built in 1880 and named after Ranee Sylvia, Vyner’s wife.
From May 1997 till now, the Sarawak state government authorised the Tun Jugah Foundation to set up a museum in this building.
The front door of Fort Sylvia.
8. Fort Vyner in Belaga (1884)
It was named after the third White Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke.
The fort was officially declared complete on Jan 13, 1884. Belaga’s oldest government building was burnt to ashes in May 2015.
9. Fort Lily in Betong (1885)
Fort Lily was built in 1885 right after the Saribas area was ceded to the Brookes.
It played a significant role as defence centre during the war against Iban warrior Rentap.
As of 2017, the fort has been locked up from public access and its grounds appear untended.
A view of Fort Lily through its locked gates.Signage pointing to Fort Lily.
10.Fort Florence in Trusan (1887)
On Jan 3, 1885, Trusan river and its area were ceded to Kingdom of Sarawak. A fort was quickly built in 1887.
According to reports, it was named Fort Florence after Mrs Maxwell, whose husband was one of Brooke’s officers then.
11. Fort Ranee in Saratok (1888)
Ten years after Fort Charles in Kabong was built, Fort Ranee was built in Saratok on top of Satagok hill.
Initially, it was built as an temporary building with attap roofing and timber. During its glory days, it was used as a district office.
12. Fort Limbang (1897)
This two-storey fort was built in 1897. The first storey was made of belian timber while the ground floor was concrete. Sadly in 1989, the original building was burnt to the ground.
But it was then rebuilt on the original site with the exact design. It was turned into Limbang Regional Museum on Aug 27, 1994.
The construction on this fort began in 1889 and were completed in 1901. It was named after Charles Hose, the then resident of the Fourth Division.
Currently, it is also known as Baram Regional Museum.
14. Fort Burdett in Mukah (1911)
Fort Burdett was named after 19th century philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts. She was a good friend of the first Rajah.
During WWII, the original building was burnt to the ground.
15. Fort Arundell in Lubok Antu (1912)
Fort Arundell was constructed in 1912. It was named after the then resident of Simanggang division, Gilbert Roger Harris Arundell.
Unfortunately, he was killed in 1942 when the Japanese attacked Sarawak during WWII.
16. Fort Leonora in Engkilili (1924)
This fort was built in 1924.
Unlike the rest of forts in Sarawak, this fort was not built to defend the kingdom from any attack.
It was built purposefully as an administration centre in Engkilili. The fort was named after Vyner’s eldest daughter Dayang Leonara Margaret.
The original building was taken down to build the current district office.
17. Fort Long Akah (1929) and Fort Lio Mato in Baram
Fort Long Akah is located about 10-minute boat ride from Long San. The two-storey building was built as an administrative centre in 1929 using belian wood.
During WWII, it acted as a temporary headquarters for the British and Australian forces.
As of 2016, the building was reportedly still in a depleted state and overrun by jungle.
Apart from fort Long Akah, fort Lio Mato is another fort located along the Baram river.
Also neglected, this fort is located only 50km from the border with Kalimantan.
Historically, it was used during Sarawak-Indonesia confrontation in the 1960s.
18. Fort Brooke in Nanga Meluan, Julau (1935)
Asun Paing was a former penghulu born in the late 19th century in Julau. He led a rebellion against the Brooke government over taxation.
To halt his revolt, the Brooke built a fort in Julau in 1935.
Over the years, it was used as a district council office and police station.
After years of neglect, it was repaired under a project funded by the Ministry of Tourism in 2012.
Do you know any forts in Sarawak which are not listed here?
A small whirlpool or lubok was reported to be located at Batang Ai river.
Lubok Antu is a small district located in Sri Aman division of Sarawak.
The history of its bazaar dates back to 1872. Back then the bazaar was made of double-storey wooden shophouses, a market and a Chinese temple.
The name of this small town is interesting to the locals as the words lubok means ‘whirlpool’ and antu means ‘ghost’ in Iban language.
A row of handicraft stalls found in Lubok Antu town.
Locals and historians have different accounts on how Lubok Antu got its name. So let us take a look of the various versions:
1. A fight between two brothers
The name Lubok Antu is believed to come from a local folklore based on two brothers named Chiri and Jampi.
One day, the two brothers went off to sharpen their parangs(machetes).
Upon their return, they came across Bunga Nuing (a mystical figure) who then challenged them both to a duel on the sharpness of their parangs.
It was during that duel when Bunga Nuing slashed a rock along a riverbank next to a lubok (whirlpool).
Ever since then, the locals believed the area was cursed and called it Lubok Antu.
2. The Cholera Expedition
Thousand of dead bodies were reported floating around this area during the administration of Charles Brooke.
In June 1902, the-then Rajah Muda Vyner Brooke led an expedition to attack the Dayaks upriver at Batang Ai.
These Dayaks allegedly had been terrorising the neighbouring tribes.
By the time the troop had assembled in Simanggang (Sri Aman), two of their men suddenly dropped dead.
Vyner reportedly informed his father Charles that the two men might have died due to cholera.
To which the second White Rajah said, “Nonsense, the expedition must go on.”
They continued their journey upriver and eventually 2,000 men died of cholera out of the 10,000 strong force.
Their bodies were thrown into the river, eventually floating downstream.
Because of the lubok (whirlpool), the bodies continued to circle the area.
The locals saw all the dead bodies at the lubok and called it Lubok Antu.
3. Same dead bodies but different COD (Cause of death)
Another version of the story behind the floating dead bodies is that they did not die due to cholera.
Instead, they were the casualties of the uprising against the Brooke government by the Iban of upriver Batang Ai.
In another account, the bodies were the casualties of the tribal wars which happened back then among the different tribes living upstream.
4. A haunted pool?
In the book Legends and History of Sarawak by Chang Pat Foh, the name ‘Lubok Antu’ comes from a pool located outside of Fort Arundell.
Back in the olden days, people bathing or swimming in the pool had a feeling that someone at the bottom of the pool was trying to pull them down into its depths.
Then people started to call it a ghostly pool or what the locals called ‘Lubok Antu’ to this day.
5. A Demon’s Pool
According to the book River of the White Lily by Peter Goullart, Lubok Antu was known as a demon’s pool.
An old and monstrously large crocodile apparently lurked at the bottom of the river, only surfacing to attack animals which came for a drink or any man unfortunate enough to have his boat overturn in the area.
The locals believed the crocodile was an evil spirit which made the place come to be called Lubok Antu.
6. The simplest version
The last version of the story is quite simple yet amusing.
There was a guy named Antu who loved to fish at a particular lubok or whirlpool at Batang Ai.
Sooner or later, people started to call it Lubok Antu, which means a whirlpool belonging to Antu.
The town Lubok Antu was founded in the late 19th century.
While North America had the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1800s, other people in the Victorian era were rushing to satisfy a scientific obsession – collecting natural specimens.
This obsession for new discoveries and adventure brought many collectors and explorers to Borneo’s door, including notable botanical artist Marianne North.
A life of travel
North was born in Hastings, England on Oct 24, 1830. Her father Frederick North was a member of parliament for Hastings and a deputy lieutenant as well as a Justice of the Peace.
After her mother Janet died in 1855, North travelled frequently with her father and sister. They visited Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Italy, Greece and the Bosporus in Turkey.
She received her first lessons in oil painting from renowned Australian colonial artist Robert Hawker Dowling in 1867.
She had been painting throughout her life, starting with flower painting to cope with the grief after her mother’s death and again after her father’s death in 1869.
With a large inheritance North received, she started to travel from 1871 to 1885. She visited 17 countries, painting 800 illustrations of their native plants and flowers.
And she did all of this while travelling alone, reportedly in Victorian dress.
Thanks to her influential family, North was able to visit countries all over the world and was welcomed by their respective ambassadors, ministers and governors.
One of those government administrators who hosted her was Sarawak’s second White Rajah, Charles Brooke.
Marianne North’s visit to Sarawak
A visitor looking at a portrait of Ranee Margaret on display at The Brooke Gallery at Fort Margherita.
When she arrived in Sarawak in 1876, Charles was not in town to welcome her visit. His wife, Ranee Margaret stepped in to host this Victorian painter instead.
“One morning, as I was watching the arrival of the mail-steamer from my verandah at Kuching, I noticed the figure of a tall European lady standing on deck.
“A few moments after, a messenger brought me a letter from Singapore from the Governor’s wife, Lady Jervois, introducing a traveller to Sarawak, whose name was Marianne North.”
“The first evening of her stay in Kuching we went for a row on the river, and the sunset behind Matang was, as she said, a revelation. That land of forests, mountains, and water, the wonderful effects of sunshine and cloud, the sudden storms, the soft mists at evening, the perfumed air brought through miles and miles of frost by the night breezes, were an endless source of delight to her.”
Her views on the Dayaks
Despite being extensively travelled, North had a strong opinion of the Dayaks who were still practicing head-hunting at the time.
Margaret wrote:
“(Marianne North) could not bear the thought of either Dyaks or Kayans. I could never eradicate from her mind the idea that they were savages. I used to try and interest her in these people, for I longed that she should accompany us in our journeys into the interior, but this she would never do.
“’Don’t talk to me of savages,’she would say; ‘I hate them.’ ‘But they are not savages,’ I would reply, ‘They are just like we are, only circumstances have made them different.’
‘They take heads; that is enough for me’, she would add severely.”
How Marianne North influenced the Ranee
North stayed with the Brookes for about six weeks.
During her short stay with the Ranee, North managed to open her eyes more to the beauty of Sarawak’s biodiversity.
Margaret stated, “… I felt that something new and delightful had come into my life, for she had not only introduced me to pitcher-plants, but to orchids, palms, ferns, and many other things of whose existence I had never dreamed. Miss North was the one person who made me realise the beauties of the world. She was noble, intelligent, and kind, and her friendship and the time we spent, together are amongst my happiest memories.”
The story of Nepenthes northiana
A copy of Marianne North’s Nepenthes northiana displayed at the Brooke Gallery at Fort Margherita.
Nepenthes northiana is an endemic pitcher plant found in Borneo. The species was named after North who was the first one to illustrate the species.
During her stay, North made friends with Herbert Everett who was working for the Borneo Company then.
Everett went up to the mountainous area in Bau to get her this plant.
North wrote about the discovery for The Gardeners’ Chronicle:
“The specimens grew on the branches of a tree about 1000 feet above the sea on the limestone mountains of Sarawak. When I received them I tied them in festoons all around the verandah, and grumbled at having only one small half-sheet of paper left to paint them on.”
Regardless of the size of the painting, thanks to North’s illustration, Sarawak became known as a land of exotic plants in the late 19th century.
The painting of Nepenthes northiana is now on display at the Marianne North Gallery at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
For an idea of how Borneo looked like before the Brookes, have a read of The Eastern Seas written by George Windsor Earl.
An English navigator, Earl was the first one to provide a European account of north-west Borneo’s Chinese gold miners and the incredible wealth of Borneo which included gold, diamonds and other native resources like camphor and ebony.
His voyages took him around the world including India, Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Many were inspired by his expedition and followed suit including James Brooke himself, who eventually founded the Kingdom of Sarawak and ruled the country from 1841 until his death in 1868.
The book, The Eastern Seas and a miniature of The Royalist on display at The Brooke Gallery at The Fort Margherita.
Getting to know the author of The Eastern Seas
Born on Feb 10, 1813 in Hampstead, London, Earl was very much influenced by the world of navigation from early on. His father, Percy was a sea captain working for the East India Company. He started his nautical career by travelling to India after becoming a midshipman at age 14.
Earl was already on his journey from Western Australia bound for Java by the year 1832. Over the next two years, until about Nov 1834, he journeyed through the area he knew as “the Eastern Seas.”
Subsequently in 1835, Earl returned to London to publish his account in a book he later named The Eastern Seas or Voyages and Adventures in the Indian Archipelago in 1832-1834.
It comprised a tour of Java, Borneo, Malay Peninsular, Thailand and Singapore and observations on the commercial resources of the archipelago.
The Eastern Seas is culturally important. Interested readers can read it online through various archives.
The Eastern Seas or Voyages and Adventures in the Indian Archipelago 1832-33-34
George Windsor Earl’s work inspired many
Apart from Brooke, Earl also inspired other established naturalists and explorers.
In 1845, Earl published a pamphlet On the Physical Geography of South-Eastern Asia and Australia.
He described how shallow seas connected islands on the west for example Sumatra and Java with the Asian continent.
Furthermore, Earl found the islands on the east such as New Guinea were related to the Australian continent and reportedly had the same type of marsupials.
British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace used Earl’s deductions to propose the faunal boundary line now known as the Wallace Line.
Charles Darwin also reportedly used Earl’s observation on deep sea channels to study the bio-geographic distribution of the region.
Another of Earl’s works ‘The Native Races of the Indian Archipelago: Papuans’, was an important work of early New Guinea anthropology.
However, he did not actually visit the island or maybe he never officially recorded his visit.
He compiled the first hand accounts of other visitors for his works on the Papuan people.
In 1850, Earl proposed the term Indunesians or Malayunesians for the people living in the Indian Archipelago or Malayan Archipelago.
Earl’s student, James Richardson Logan later popularised the name Indonesia as synonym for Indian Archipelago.
But it was only after 1900 that the term Indonesia became more commonly used.
George Windsor Earl’s death
Portrait photo of George Samuel Windsor Earl (February 10, 1813 – August 9, 1865), colonial administrator, who coined the term “Indonesia”.
From 1855, he held various official administrative posts, his last one being Penang.
Earl died on his journey back to England in 1865. He was buried at the Old Protestant Cemetery, George Town in Penang.
If you paid attention to your history lessons in school, you might remember who Datu Patinggi Abdul Gapor is… but if you’re like the rest of us, you might only recognise his name on a school in Kuching.
As there is only a bit info on him in our history books, KajoMag decided to dig up more about this historical figure.
1. Who is Datu Patinggi Abdul Gapor?
Before James Brooke came to Sarawak, Datu Patinggi Abdul Gapor was a powerful and influential man.
He was once appointed as the Governor of Sarawak. He was also the first imam of the Masjid Besar (the State Mosque) in Kuching from 1851 to 1854.
Abdul Gapor was married to Dayang Inda. She was the daughter of Datu Patinggi Abang Ali, who fought for the independence of Sarawak from Brunei.
It was said that Abang Ali’s family was responsible for building the state mosque. The construction took place from 1848 to 1852.
2. Datu Patinggi Abdul Gapor had his title stripped by James Brooke
Abdul Gapor was awarded the title ‘Datu Patinggi’ after his father-in-law (Abang Ali) was murdered alongside George Stewart (a European officer) in 1844 when fighting a rebellion in Skrang.
In 1854, however, Abdul Gapor’s title was stripped by James Brooke because it was said that he imposed a very high tax upon the people under him.
Angered by this, he no longer had the privilege he used to before and demanded compensation.
3. He planned a revolt with another Sarawakian historical figure
Datu Patinggi Abdul Gapor planned a revolt with Sharif Masahor (picture) against the British (Image source Sejarah Melayu Sarawak)
In 1860, Abdul Gapor planned a revolt with Sharif Masahor, a leader from Sarikei, against James Brooke.
This happened when Brooke took control over the Rajang River in 1857 and stripped Sharif Masahor and several powerful men of their titles.
This resulted in them losing power to collect tax and influence the locals.
The revolt that took place in Kuching, however, failed.
Sharif Masahor managed to escape to Mukah but was handed over to the British by the Sultan of Brunei in 1861. He was later banished to Singapore.
Abdul Gapor escaped to Betawi, Jawa in 1860 but was captured by the Dutch and handed over to James Brooke.
He was later imprisoned in Betawi until he passed away after a few years.
4. Guess who his descendants are
Did you know that Abdul Gapor is Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg’s direct ancestor?
Tun Haji Openg bin Abang Sapi’ee (left) and Datuk Amar Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Abang Openg (Image source: Wikipedia)
The brief genealogy reads like a who’s who of Sarawak Malay history, which also outlines how through Abdul Gapor, Abang Johari can also trace his ancestry back to Menteri Hussin, the grandson of Raja Minangkabau, who was also an ancestor of Their Highnesses the Sultans Mohammad Tajuddin, Hashim, Mohamad Jumalul Alam and Omar Ali Saifuddin III of Brunei.
Interestingly, Openg was also Sarawak’s first governor upon the independence of Sarawak from Great Britain and the formation of Malaysia until his death on March 28, 1969 at the age of 63.
Meanwhile, Abang Johari became Sarawak’s sixth Sarawak premier in 2017 following the death of Pehin Sri Adenan Satem.
5. A school was named after Datu Patinggi Abdul Gapor
A public secondary school, SMK Datuk Patinggi Haji Abdul Gapor (DPHAG), Stampin in Kuching was named after him.
SMK Datuk DPHAG was established in 1974 by the Sarawak State Education Department.
At that time, there were only 182 students and four teachers teaching in the school.
It was the first school in Sarawak to use Malay as the primary language for communication. These days however, students and teachers use Malay, English and Chinese for communication purposes.
Famous today for the Pesta Benak, or Tidal Bore Festival, the Batang Lupar river was the site of a devastating cholera epidemic in the 1900s.
Modern-day Sarawakians might not have heard of the ‘Cholera Expedition’ that happened during the reign of the Brooke family.
But back in 1902, what was originally a military expedition against Iban rebels down the Batang Lupar river became a disaster, so much so it made headlines across the globe.
Historians and news reports back then called it the “cholera expedition” because one fifth of the 10,000 men recruited to fight against Iban rebels died of the disease.
A river runs through it
Batang Lupar flows for 275 kilometers from the Klinkang Range to the South China Sea. It has a large rivermouth and becomes shallow upstream.
The river runs through a number of towns including Lingga, Sri Aman and Engkilili. The Batang Lupar river is the only river in Malaysia which experiences the tidal bore phenomenon. Even though it happens everyday, it becomes more spectacular at king tide during dry season.
The narrower part of Batang Lupar river near Engkilili town.
What actually happened?
Vyner Brooke, the eldest son of Charles Brooke, the second rajah of Sarawak, started his career in the then-kingdom as a cadet government officer in 1897.
He first served in Simanggang (now known as Sri Aman), then at Mukah and Oya.
In May 1900, he participated in a punitive expedition against the Muruts in Trusan. Then in June 1902, he took part in another expedition against the Ibans in upper Batang Lupar.
It was an expedition Vyner would never forget.
The expedition was to pacify Iban factions who had started a few raids against their traditional enemies – and Brooke allies – the Ibans from the lower Batang Lupar.
Branded rebels under the Brooke regime, they also refused to pay taxes or follow directives by the Brooke government to move their longhouses to the riverbank.
Charles and Vyner arrived at the fort in Lingga on June 8 where they found more than 10,000 of their Iban and Malay allies in about 800 longboats ready to fight for them.
The next morning, Vyner reported to his father that two men had died outside his bungalow.
Charles refused to listen, assuming his son was trying to escape his duty.
Then on June 9, the Rajah made his way back to Kuching leaving Vyner to carry on the expedition with two English officers, Demetrius Bailey and Harry Deshon.
A wooden bridge across Batang Lupar at Engkilili town.
Margaret Brooke’s account on the Cholera Expedition
Vyner’s mother, Margaret wrote briefly about the expedition in her book My Life in Sarawak.
“For some unexplained reason, cholera broke out amongst the force just before it had reached the enemy’s country,” she stated.
When they arrived near the rebels’ area, the force was separated into two groups. One group led by the Malay chiefs set out on foot to attack the rebels while the rest including Vyner and his two English officers were left behind.
The remaining force set up camp by the river. By this time, many had suffered from cholera.
“As the days wore on, the air was filled with the screams and groans of the stricken and dying.”
According to Margaret, it was impossible to turn back despite the fact that men were dropping dead everyday because of the “bad impression such a course would have made on the enemy.”
In the end about 2,000 men died of the disease.
She was told by the two British officers that Vyner’s presence helped to keep discipline and hope among the force.
Margaret wrote, “He was always cheerful, they said. It appears that Vyner and his two friends used to sit on the gravel bed and with a grim humour point out to one another where they would like to be buried.”
The floating bodies from the Cholera Expedition
However, the truth is some who died of cholera were not properly buried.
Although Brooke’s forces had returned successfully from battle against the rebels, they found many dead bodies and dying comrades at the camp.
Some were buried in shallow graves at the campsite while some were flung from the boats during their return journey to Simanggang.
The bodies that were brought to Simanggang were stacked into pyres and burnt.
The disease spread even more when – after hearing of the dead bodies – the upper Batang Lupar Ibans came to the campsites to cut off the heads and bring them home.
This caused more people at the upper river to get infected, with some dying from cholera.
Sculptures of doves at the roundabout in modern-day Sri Aman are reminders of the MoU signed on 20 October 1973 between the Sarawak government and the communist organisation, PARAKU. The original name of the town, Simanggang, was also changed to Sri Aman (as “aman” means “peace” in Malay) to recognise the peace declaration.
The Cholera Expedition which made world headlines
When the Ranee first read the news about the expedition, she was in Italy.
The Italian paper had mistakenly reported that the Rajah’s son died of cholera in Sarawak, as he was leading an expedition into the interior.
“I hurried to England with my younger son, Harry, who was staying with me at the time, and when we arrived at Dover, placards at the station confirmed the report. Telegrams, however, soon put out of suspense, but I had spent a terrible day.”
Not all of the reports about the Cholera Expedition were inaccurate.
It stated, “While Harry de Windt has been undergoing tragic experiences in Siberia, his nephew Charles Vyner Brooke, son of Rajah Brooke of Sarawak, who married De Windt’s sister, has been having terrible time in the northern part of Sarawak.”
The news reported that more than 1,000 deaths occurred among the 10,000 members of expedition within 10 days due to cholera.
It pointed out that the intensely hot weather favoured the rapid progress of the disease.
The Singapore Free Press was more straightforward in its report on the expedition: They put the blame on the second rajah’s “arrogant stupidity” for insisting to carry on the expedition despite signs of cholera outbreak.
Plus, the paper observed that with more than 10,000 people travelling along a shallow river which they also used as drinking water, with even just one case of cholera, the rapid spread of the disease was inevitable.
The aftermath of the Cholera Expedition
According to Cassandra Pybus in White Rajah: A Dynastic Intrigue, Vyner was determined to turn his people back from the expedition.
But Bailey’s fear of the Rajah was greater than his fear of cholera so he insisted the attack must proceed.
Perhaps he was right: if only Charles had listened to his son’s plea, more than 2,000 people would have not been infected by the disease.
Margaret, however, was not that critical of his husband’s decision.
According to Margaret, the spread of this waterborne disease in the whole Simanggang area was almost fateful.
In her final note on the event, she wrote “Nothing apparently could be done to stop the disease, which disappeared as suddenly as it had come, but this calamitous epidemic destroyed nearly one-quarter of the population.”
Bintulu, once a sleepy fishing village on the island of Borneo is largely known today for its booming oil and gas industry.
What lies deep down in the seabed off its coast is not just large reserves of natural gas, however, but a silent witness to one of the most mysterious air crashes during World War II.
Toshinari Maeda was a Japanese marquis and a military general. Born to the former daimyo of Nanokaichi Domain* in Kozuke province (modern Tomioka city) in 1885, he was later adopted as the heir to the main branch of the Maeda clan in 1900.
The Maeda clan ruled the Kaga Domain from 1583 until 1868 and was one of the most powerful samurai families in Japan. The clan became daimyo (feudal lords) during the Edo period.
He became the 16th head of the Maeda clan on June 13, 1900.
*Domain or han is the Japanese historical term for the estate of a warrior after the 12th century of a daimyo in the Edo period (1603-1868) and early Meiji period (1868-1912).
Toshinari Maeda’s military career and death
Maeda had served as a battalion commander in the 4th Regiment of the Imperial Guard of Japan. He had also served as military attache to Great Britain from 1927 till 1930 and had actually retired from active military duty in 1939.
He was later called out of retirement to command operations in Borneo on April 1942 after the Pacific War broke out. By then, Sarawak had already been under Japanese occupation since Christmas Eve of 1941.
During World War II, the lieutenant-general became the first commander of the Borneo Defence Army which encompassed Japanese forces in northern Borneo (Sarawak, Brunei, Labuan and North Borneo).
His office of the Borneo Head of Military Defence Army, at first headquartered in Miri, was then moved to Kuching according to his orders.
On Sept 5, 1942, after witnessing the execution of five men at Padungan, Kuching for allegedly stealing petrol, he boarded a plane with two other officers to Labuan to officiate an airport named after him.
They never arrived.
A month later, the plane he was on was found to have crashed off the coast of Tanjung Batu in Bintulu.
Maeda was 57 years old.
The island of Labuan itself had been renamed Maeda Island or Pulau Maeda during the Japanese occupation in remembrance of the marquis. Maeda had also been promoted to ‘General’ posthumously.
A sunset view of Tanjung Batu where Toshinari Maeda was believed to have crashed.
Was it a curse that killed Toshinari Maeda?
The Japanese suspected the cause of the crash to be sabotage or suicide; but the Sarawak people attributed it to a curse brought on by Maeda himself.
In his post as commander of the Borneo Defence Force (which later became the 37th army), Maeda took up residence at the Astana.
John Beville Archer, a Batu Lintang camp internee and the last chief secretary to Rajah Vyner Brooke, in a June 1, 1948 issue of the Sarawak Gazette details how Maeda may have brought this curse down upon himself:
The main entrance of the Astana is the imposing and rather ancient tower overlooking the chief door to the palace.
Now there is a Brooke tradition that the exterior of this tower must not be whitewashed or renovated.
If this should occur, so runs the legend, some disaster will take place.
The tower had therefore became covered by an ivy-like creeper, and parts of the original building were crumbling in venerable decay.
The Japanese, vainglorious and victorious, saw fit to put this ruin into apple-pie order.
The creeper was torn down, masons, plasterers and white washers got busy.
Shortly afterwards Field Marshal Prince Maeda, cousin of the Emperor Sun god and Generalissimo, fell miserably to earth in a crashed plane somewhere round about Miri.
To this day, no one knows the cause of the crash and Maeda’s body was never found.
Toshinari Maeda’s legacy
After Borneo was liberated from Japanese occupation, Labuan assumed its former name. It became part of the North Borneo Crown Colony on 15 July 1946.
The Japanese had set up a Belian post at the beach of Tanjung Batu not far from the crash site in honor of Maeda, which was later taken back to Japan by the Maeda family after the Japanese occupation ended.
So now, there is no trace or anything in Sarawak to remember that the air crash ever happened.
But back in Japan, his former home built in Meguro, Tokyo in 1929 still survives to this day and part of the estate is now host to the Japan Museum on Modern Literature.
His former summer home in Kamakura is now used as the Kamakura Museum of Literature.
