Do you know a plague of locusts once hit North Borneo about a century ago in 1919? The Sarawak Gazette on Dec 16, 1919 reported that until that year North Borneo had never suffered from a locust plague on a big scale. “As far as is known the only occasion on which
Culture
3 theories on Kayan migration to Borneo island
5 stories about the Sihan people you should know about
With less than 300 Sihan people in Sarawak (as of 2012), any stories about their legends, customs and histories are very precious and important.As recorded by Benedict Sandin in "Notes on the Sian (Sihan) of Belaga" for the Sarawak Museum journal, the Sihan speak the same language with Punan Bushang
First shots of the Pacific War were fired at Kota Bharu, not Pearl Harbour
The Brunei Civil War and how it led to Sulu’s claim over Sabah
5 amusing Sarawak stories as recorded by colonial officer Ian Urquhart
The Crown Colony of Sarawak was established in 1946 right after the dissolution of the British Military Administration. On Sept 16, 1963, it was succeeded as the state of Sarawak through the formation of the Malaysian federation. Unlike other Crown colonies, Sarawak was perhaps the most unique one. Sarawak continued its pre-existing
Mangkok Merah 1967, the Dayak-Chinese conflict in Kalimantan
Mangkok Merah 1967, the conflict between the Dayak and Chinese in West Kalimantan Slogan proclaiming that Chinese and Indonesians stand together. Circa 1946. Credit: Berita Film Indonesia / Public domain The New Order in Indonesia is the term coined by the second Indonesian President Suharto to describe his administrative era when he
The forgotten Malayan labourers of Burma Railway during WWII
The Burma Railway is infamously known as the Death Railway. It is because thousands of people died building it during World War II (WWII). The Empire of Japan built it from 1940-1944 to supply troops and weapons in the Burma campaign. The railway is 415-kilometres long connecting Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbuzayat,
Numbul and Bedukun, the Bisaya traditional healing ceremonies
Before there were doctors and nurses, the people of Sarawak relied on traditional healing ceremonies to cure sickness. Every ethnic group has its own healing ceremony, for example the Ibans have their pelian and the Melanau turn to berayun and berbayoh to heal the sick. For the Bisaya people in the Sarawak,
8 things the Timugon Murut believe about Nabalu, or the afterlife
Different beliefs offer different views of the afterlife. In some views, the afterlife takes place in a spiritual realm. Another popular view is reincarnation. It is where the individual may be reborn into this world with no memory of his past life. Meanwhile in Sabah, the Timugon Murut people have their