Culture - Page 4

Imagine being sent to a company function with your fellow colleagues and ended up stuck at the airport due to a flight delay, what would you do?

While you may strike a conversation or two with your colleagues, most of us would definitely find some solace through our phones.

Now, imagine it is the year 1874 having stuck with your colleagues on a river, unable to reach your destination because of the low tide, what would you do?

For a group of outstation Brooke officers who were supposed to be in Kuching but stuck somewhere along the Sarawak River, they came up with a book.

To kill time, these men shared and made up stories among themselves so enthusiastically until one of them raised an idea to publish a book together.

‘Scraps and Scrawls from Sarawak’

The book is befittingly entitled ‘Waiting for the Tide, or Scraps and Scrawls from Sarawak’.

On the preface, they go,

“We start this annual with fear and trembling, as we are aware it has no pretensions to be skilled literary production, but simply what it is entitled – Scraps and Scrawls from Sarawak life, which is in itself strange, wild and romantic. Written by men whose jungle life more or less unfits them for literary pursuits, the pictures being lithographed in Singapore, and the work printed by a Chinese boy educated in the Mission School here, we trust these facts may be taken into consideration, and that the sharp blasts of criticism may be tempered to this our first-born.

There was an established rule which originated in the time of Sir James Brooke, that all officers who could leave their stations should keep up the old English custom of meeting to celebrate Christmas and the New Year in Kuching.

A party of outstation officers happened to meet on a Christmas eve in one of the small streams which intersect the two branches of the Sarawak river, which is generally used as a short cut; being detained by the failing tide, they were unable to reach the capital that night, and to beguile the time these stories were sketched out whilst ‘Waiting for the tide’.”

Fraser’s story is about his encounter with pirate while A. Perry tells the story of a jungle heroine named Pya.

Meanwhile, T. Skipwith shares the story of men with tells and O.C. Vane narrates a story of rescuing a Dayak from a Monster. H. Roscoe and W.H. Don tells stories of their encounters with an alligator and wolves respectively.

But here is the thing; all of the six stories in the book were contributed under assumed names.

Optimistic Fiddler and ‘Scraps and Scrawls from Sarawak’

Fortunately about 75 years later, a Sarawak Gazette writer under the pen name ‘Optimistic Fiddler’ figured out all the identities of these authors…or did he?

Optimistic Fiddler, was actually John Beville Archer. He held several posts in Sarawak service including as the Chief Secretary in 1939.

In an article which was published on the Sarawak Gazette on March 1, 1948, Archer shared that he came across the book more than 25 years earlier in the Officers’ Mess at Fort Alice, Simanggang.

According to Archer, as far as he knew, it was the only copy in existence.

When Archer returned to Simanggang a decade later, however, the rare book had disappeared.

After World War II, he found the book in a cupboard in the Sarawak Museum Offices.

“From the gist of the first story it seems that the two boats, one containing three, and the other two, officer meet in the mosquito ridden ‘trusan’ near Kuching just as the tide turned against them and night fell. This would be probably be up the Santubong entrance. The party, who came from outstations decided to go back to the fire and spend the night there, and from the descriptions in the tales I think we may take it that Santubong was the camp of the story-teller; the picture on the outside cover supports this.”

There is no spoiler here on what these short stories about but our curiosity as well as Archer’s remain on who were the authors behind ‘Scraps and Scrawls from Sarawak’.

A Pirate Story by W. Fraser

Archer believed that W. Fraser was William Maunder Crocker. He was the father of Harold Brooke Crocker.

Harold worked in Sarawak for almost 40 years since he joined the service in 1900, holding various positions including, Superintendent of Lands and Surveys, Director of Agriculture, Food Control Officer, residents, judge and Chief Secretary.

Meanwhile, Crocker worked in the Sarawak service from 1864 to 1880 except for a period of four years when he according to Archer, ‘engaged in mercantile pursuits’.

Crocker brought Chinese pepper and gambier planters into Sarawak and made one of the first few reliable maps of the state.

In 1887, he became the Acting Governor of British North Borneo but only for a year. Crocker Range in Sabah that separates west and east coast of Sabah was named after him.

Here in Sarawak, the remnant of Crocker’s work can be found in Mukah.

The old brick chimney in Mukah town is all that remains of a sago factory Crocker started there (when he was trying to be a merchant in that four years).

A Jungle Heroine by A. Perry

As for the writer of the second story ‘A Jungle Heroine’, Archer guessed it is written by Alfred Robert Houghton.

When Houghton first came to Sarawak in 1862 as Treasurer, he was paid $70 per month.

He held that appointment until August 1866 when he became the Magistrate of Upper Sarawak.

Houghton then subsequently became the Resident of Bintulu. When the first Council Negri was held at Bintulu on Sept 8, 1867, he was there as an appointed member of the council.

After that, he was promoted to Resident Second Class in charge of Sadong and transferred there on June 1, 1873. Then in July 1875, Houghton was appointed Resident Rejang District.

Archer was correct with the timeline of Houghton’s career as he stated, “At the time he appears to have been in charge of Sadong district.”

The youngest son of a physician in London Dr James R. Houghton, he studied for the Bar and also the medical profession before coming to Sarawak.

At some point of his career before Sarawak, Houghton was also a newspaper correspondent.

One of the highlights of his service in the state was when he accompanied Rajah Charles Brooke on the first Mujong Expedition of 1880.

After the expedition, Houghton fell sick and had to return to Kuching. He died somewhere in the Red Sea on the way home on Mar 20, 1881 at the age of 43.

Men with tails by T. Skipwith

Archer wrote, “’Men with Tails’ is no doubt Thomas Skipwith Chapman, 1864-96 who did all his service in the Kalaka district. He was a spirited artist and most of the illustrations are his.”

Chapman took part in a punitive expedition at upper Batang Lupar in 1875 under the command of Rajah Charles alongside 300 Malays and 6000 Dayaks.

Beside ‘Waiting for the Tide, or Scraps and Scrawls from Sarawak’, Chaoman also published another book of his illustrations “A Short Trip to Sarawak and The Dayaks”

On top of that, he was one of Brooke officers along with Houghton who attended the first Council Negri meeting in Bintulu.

To the Rescue by O.C. Vane

“O.C. Vane who writes ‘To the Rescue’ is Oliver St. John 1860-84. He has the distinction of being the first Postmaster in Sarawak,” Archer stated.

However, that was not his first job in Sarawak.

According to Sarawak Gazette archivist Loh Chee Yin, Oliver Cromwell Vane St. John first joined the Sarawak Service on Aug 17, 1860 as Midshipman.

He was then appointed first clerk in the Treasury on May 1, 1861.

St. John became the first postmaster on New Year’s day 1864.

In fact, his post as the postmaster was in addition of his Treasury duties.

He was the Resident of Upper Sarawak from 1872 until his retirement in 1884. The former postmaster died in Mexico in 1898.

Adventure with an Alligator by H. Roscoe

The ‘Adventure with an Alligator is the fifth story in the book and whose author Archer did not confirm.

In the Sarawak Gazette, Archer wrote, “This may be Oliver St. John too, but that is merely a guess and I do not know enough yet to say who it is.”

It is understandable why Archer guessed so, H. Roscoe might be a pseudonym in reference to Oliver’s  uncle.

That particular uncle was Horace Stebbing Roscoe St John but Oliver had another more famous paternal uncle.

Oliver’s father, Percy St. John was the son of English journalist James Augustus St. John.

Three of James’s sons; Percy, Bayle and Horace all became journalists and authors.

James also introduced one of his sons, Spenser St. John to James Brooke.

Spenser came to Sarawak in 1848 as the first Rajah’s private secretary. He then became the British Consul General in Brunei. During his tenure in Brunei, he made two ascents of Mount Kinabalu with Hugh Low.

One of the peaks of Mount Kinabalu, ‘St. John’s Peak’ is named after him.

However, there is one problem with Archer’s assumption that H. Roscoe is Oliver St. John.

In the introduction of the book as the authors narrating how the book came about, it is stated Vane and Roscoe are two people.

After arriving at the stream where they were unable to move on, ‘Perry’ heard another boat was coming and he said he even heard ‘Skipwith’ singing ‘The Hardy Norsman’.

To that ‘Don’ replied, “I wonder if they have dined? If not, we had better join mess, there must be ‘Vane’ and ‘Roscoe’ with him, as I know they intended coming round together. Here they come.”

Another theory is H. Roscoe was Horace’s son and Oliver’s cousin but there is no record found that Horace had a son who worked in Sarawak.

Nonetheless, the mystery remains who is H. Roscoe?

Don’s Story by W.H. Don

Finally, the last story is believed to be written by William Henry Rodway. Yes, Jalan Rodway in Kuching was named after him.

We understand from the book that it was Don who suggested the idea to have each of them to tell a story that would keep them awake.

He was the first Commandant of the Sarawak Rangers, a para-military force founded in 1862.

Rodway died on Jan 11, 1924 in Torquay, England and according to his obituary, he joined the Sarawak Civil Service in 1862 and retired on pension in 1883.

Apart from the role of the commandant, he had also worked as the Resident of the First Division as well as the President of the Committee of Administration.

Is ‘Waiting for the Tide or Scraps and Scrawls from Sarawak’ the first book published in Sarawak?

The book clearly stated it was edited, printed and published in Kuching and the year of publication on the book is 1875.

Unless there is any other book that was published here earlier than this, it is safe to say that ‘Waiting for the Tide or Scraps and Scrawls from Sarawak’ is the first illustrated book printed in Sarawak.

Since it is a fictional book, perhaps it is also one of the firsts if not the first fiction that came out from the state.

Nearly 150 years have passed since the book was published, is the book worth your read?

Well, we leave you with the words of one of its readers who perhaps read it at least dozen times when entertainment was scarce in Simanggang.

“I recommend this book to readers, especially to newcomers to Sarawak. It has no great literary merit but it has considerable charm. As an insight into old Sarawak it is well worth reading and digesting with care.”

The book is available through Pustaka Sarawak and Singapore National Library Board.

KajoReaders, do you agree on the real identities of the authors or do you have any thoughts especially who is H. Roscoe? Let us know in the comment section.  

Sarawak has been through quite a number of great fires throughout its history.

Just like the Great Fire of London which took place from Sept 2 till 6 in 1666 which gutted the medieval City of London, Sarawak has experienced fires so ‘great’ that have taken down whole bazaars or large sections of a town. Moreover, some places in Sarawak were unfortunate enough to have more than one great fire

So here are some of the historic fires that have taken place in Sarawak:

1.The Great Fire of Kuching

Sarawakians might have heard about the Great Fire of Kuching that broke on Jan 20, 1884 at 1.05am.

What most people may not be aware of is the looting that happened during the incident.

If the same case happened in Kuching today, the looters would, without a doubt, be condemned on social media.

Here is a report from the Straits Times which was published on Feb 2, 1884:

“Private advices received from Kuching, Sarawak and from Captain Joyce of the S.S. Ranee, inform us that a great fire occurred there on the morning of Sunday, the 20th January, which nearly proved the destruction of the entire town. The fire originated in Carpenter Street, entirely consisting of wooden houses, which were quickly consumed, and the fire soon spread into China Street and Bishopsgate Street, in which latter thoroughfare ten wooden buildings were also consumed.

The houses were old, and the fire ran from one to the other so rapidly that in a very short time from the first alarm the the three streets above named were one mass of flame, and it was thought the entire town of Kuching be destroyed.

Some of the principal merchants’ houses in the main Bazaar were connected through their back premises with these three streets, and at one time great apprehensions were entertained that the entire Bazaar and the merchants’ premises would be absorbed in the conflagration. The brick houses of Messrs. Seng Keng and Kong Wan were entirely gutted; but further damage was stopped by an opportune downpour of rain, which fell in torrents and effectively subdued the fire.

One hundred and thirty-two houses had, in the meantime, been destroyed, including the whole Carpenter Street, China Street, and Bishopsgate Street, and some new houses built in Nochi Road by Mr Ken Wat.

The Chinese residents and coolies stood looking at the fire, and not only refused any assistance, but devoted their attention entirely to looting.”

2.The Great Fire of Lundu

The common solution for all fire incidents in the past was to rebuild the town in ironwood.

Here is a report from Straits Times on Oct 17, 1893 that showed the Brooke government had another precaution to prevent fire from spreading.

“At Lundu, a town in Sarawak, a fire which broke out in the bazaar on the 3rd September consumed fifteen shops with property valued at $40,000. The Resident paid a visit to the town a few days afterwards, and on the shopkeepers proposing to rebuild the bazaar with ironwood, he advised that it should be built for the future in blocks, with plantains or some quick growing trees planted between which would serve as a screen in case of fire in the future.”

3.The Great Fire of Bau

The fire that engulfed Bau Bazaar in 1909 was so huge that the glare was reportedly distinctly visible from Kuching.

“Shak Lung Mung Bazaar Bau, was totally destroyed by fire early on the night of the 3rd. The shops on both sides of the Bazaar road were built of most inflammable materials, wood frames, attap and kajang roofs and walls, while many of the shops contained kerosene oil in tins. In such circumstances it only remained to try and save what could be got at from the shops not burning as nothing could possibly save the Bazaar when the fire had once obtained a hold, which it did in a few minutes,” The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser reported on Dec 30, 1909.

According to the report, the loss was estimated at $50,000.”

Meanwhile, a Chinese correspondent wrote to his Singaporean friend about how Bau town was destroyed by fire, causing panic among ita inhabitants.

The content of the letter was reported on The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser on Dec 16, 1909 under the headline ‘The Gods Send Fire’.

According to the correspondent, the flames rose hundreds of feet and, together with the crackling of wood, the smoke and frantic shouting, it was likened to a day of judgement for them.

He also attributed the cause of the fire to the ‘High Gods’ to whom, the writer stated, “the people have not prayed regularly for the last ten or twelve years.”

Hence, according to writer, the only way to wreak vengeance on the ungodly was, like Sodom and Gomorrah, to devour the town with flames.

4.The Great Fire of Simanggang

“From private advices we learn that on Tuesday last, at two o’clock in the morning, fire broke out in the bazaar, at Simanggang, Sarawak.

In a short time the whole bazaar was ablaze, and seventy-five shops were demolished, in the daylight.”

This was what Malaya Tribune reported on Dec 20, 1927 about the fire.

5.The Great Fires of Matu

Matu town was first established in 1885 by a group of Chinese who came directly from China to trade with the Melanaus.

According to Chang Pat Foh in his book Legend and History of Sarawak, Matu went through two great fires in which the whole bazaar was burnt down.

The first fire took place in 1897 and the second one 30 years later in 1927.

The Straits Budgets, however, reported on Feb 18, 1909 that another fire happened a month prior.

With the headline ‘Serious Fire in Sarawak’, this is what the paper reported:

“News was received in Sarawak, on January 21, that the whole Matu Bazaar had been destroyed by fire a few days previously and the Chinese shopkeepers there were destitute of goods and provisions.
The Government dispatched the steamer Alice Lorraine direct to Matu the following morning, with stores. The Sarawak Gazette understand that the loss to the Chinese is somewhere about $99,000 at the lowest computation.”

6.The Great Fires of Sibu

Sibu was burnt to the ground twice. The first fire happened on the night of Feb 10, 1889. About 60 shophouses were razed to the ground.

At that time, the cost of the damage was estimated at $15,000.

Then another bigger fire took place on Mar 7, 1928.

According to the report on the Straits Budget which was published on Mar 22, 1928, the blaze lasted for some hours but ‘the ruins were still smouldering three days afterwards.

The report continued, stating that “The only building that escaped in the bazaar was Messr. Soon Seng and Company’s retail premises. The premises of two British firms in Sibu, the Borneo Company and the Sarawak Steamship Company were destroyed. The former company had $50,000 in notes in a Chubb safe but the money and documents were untouched, and another firm which had $100,000 in notes in a fireproof safe was equally fortunate. The total damage was estimated at about $4,000,000, several hundred houses being destroyed together with other property and merchandise.”

Here are 50 very random historical facts about Kuching you need to know

1.Kuching is not the first capital of Sarawak.

The first capital of Sarawak was Santubong which was founded by Sultan Pengiran Tengah in 1599 and then Lidah Tanah founded by Datu Patinggi Ali in the early 1820s.

2.There were geographical and political reasons on why Kuching was chosen as the capital.

Kuching was founded in 1827 by the representative of the Sultan of Brunei, Pengiran Indera Mahkota.

Craig A. Lockard in his paper The Early Development of Kuching 1820-1857 explained why Mahkota chose Kuching.

“Selection of Kuching as the site for a new administrative centre allowed Mahkota to avoid the jealousy and resentment his appearance would arouse among the local elite at Lidah Tanah while at the same time insuring him settlement in which he would have full control. The decision also made geographical sense, as few good existed between Lidah Tanah and the sea, most of them either too exposed to the sea-going raiders then infesting the coast, or suffering from poor soils and lack of fresh water. Located just south of the coastal swamp, Kuching was convenient to both the river mouth 21 miles away, and the antimony mines 25 miles upriver. Finally, distance from the sea, availability of hills on which to build forts, and narrowness of the river all made Kuching easily defensible.”

3.The largest archaeological site in Malaysia is in Santubong

According to the Sarawak Museum website, Santubong is in fact the largest archaeological site in Malaysia, compared to Lembah Bujang in the Peninsular Malaysia.

“ Thousands of ceramic shards were excavated in 1949 under the curatorship Tom Harrison. Other than Chinese ceramics, about 40,000 tons of iron slag formed another salient discovery. It is believed that this area was once an important centre of traders and iron mining in the region between 11th century A.D. to 13th century A.D.”

4.One of the earliest censuses recorded there logged 8000 people living in the entire Sarawak river basin in 1839.

They were mostly Dayaks with perhaps 1,500 to 2,000 Malays and a few Chinese.

5.There were Dayak who settled in Padungan

Speaking of the Dayaks, columnist Sidi Munan once highlighted the existence of Iban settlers in Padungan before the arrival of James Brooke in his 2019 column in The Borneo Post:

“I didn’t know about all this until I read an account of the early missionaries. The Rev William Henry Gomes had been working in the Mission station in Lundu. On Dec 24, 1859, while resting in Kuching, he wrote to his boss in London talking about the Dayaks of Padungan. Beautiful handwriting the Rev had, I’ve seen copies of some of his correspondence. He was familiar with the longhouse at Padungan, and must have visited it at least a few times.”

The ‘firsts’ in the History of Kuching

6.The ‘first’ library of Sarawak was burnt down during the Bau Rebellion.

It was perhaps Sarawak’s first library, although it was never officially announced as one. James Brooke had a library in his house in which he allowed his fellow European residents to use. Unfortunately, everything was burnt down during the Bau Rebellion.

Harriette McDougall in her book Sketches of Our Life at Sarawak described the incident.

“And then the library! a treasure indeed in the jungle; books on all sorts of subjects, bound in enticing covers, always inviting you to bodily repose and mental activity or amusement, as you might prefer. This library, so dear to us all because we were all allowed to share it, was burnt in 1857 by the Chinese rebels. It took two days to burn. I watched it from our library over the water, and saw the mass of books glowing dull red like a furnace, long after the flames had consumed the wooden house. It made one’s heart ache to see it.”

7.The first Chinese settlers called Main Bazaar road as Hai Chun Street (meaning lips of the sea).

According to International Times, Chinese settlers usually named the first street near river as Hai Gan Street which means ‘at the edge of river or sea’.

This is because the early transportation in Southeast Asia were heavily dependent on rivers.

When the Chinese first came to Kuching, they named the first street in Kuching as Hai Chun Street instead. The name can be translated as lip of the sea.

Today, it is more popular known as Main Bazaar Road and it is known to be the oldest street in Kuching.

8.The oldest temple in Kuching city is the Tua Pek Kong Temple, Kuching

Also known as Siew San Teng Temple, Tua Pek Kong Temple is a Chinese Temple situated near Kuching Waterfront.

Although its history can be traced back to 1843, it is believed to had been in existence before 1839.

9.The oldest mosque in Kuching is also the oldest mosque in Sarawak.

The mosque was built in 1847 by Datu Patinggi Ali and his family. In the beginning, the structure was simple and made from wood. When cement was imported in Sarawak in 1880, the mosque was reinforced using bricks and concrete. The first imam was Datu Patinggi Abdul Gapur who was the son in-law of Datu Patinggi Ali.

10.The courtyard at Fort Margherita was used as an execution ground.

Built in 1879, the position of the fort was carefully chosen to defend Kuching from possible attacks.

While it is beautiful from the outside, Fort Margherita carries a dark secret on the inside.

The courtyard reportedly was used to execute prisoners right up to the Japanese occupation during World War II.

11.The Square Tower was a dancing hall at one point.

Lucas Chin in his paper Cultural Heritage of Sarawak pointed out that the tower was built for the detention of prisoners and later used as a fort and dancing hall during the Brooke era.

An impressive building filled with past stories of prisoners and dancers since 1879, it has now become a mere restaurant.

12.The Astana hosted fancy balls every now and then during the Brooke administration.

While the Square Tower had its role as a dancing hall, the Astana witnessed its own fair share of fun during the Brooke era.

Former Brooke officer John Beville Archer recalled in his book ‘Glimpses of Sarawak between 1912 and 1946’,

“Now and again there was a fancy dress ball at the Astana. Ingenuity in thinking out and making fancy dresses will never cease, but I remember two cases in which realism to do the thing properly overcame prudence. One gentleman, desiring to go as a Dayak, had himself painted all over with iodine. The result of course was a bed in the hospital. The other was the cases which the guest insisted on going as a Negro – he spent days in experimenting with dyes and pigments until he thought he had the right mixture. It certainly was a triumph of make up but it did not please his little wife at all. For days afterwards suspicious smears disfigured her face. The would-be Negro was eventually given a few days leave to become a pale-face again.”

Once known as the Government House, the Astana was built by Charles Brooke as a gift to his wife Margaret.

13.The Round Tower was originally planned to built as a fort.

According to Chang Pat Foh in the book Legend and History of Sarawak, the Round Tower was planned as a fort but never fully completed.

It was used as a dispensary for a while and later it was used by the Labour Department.

14.Kuching’s first ever hotel was the Rajah’s Arm.

It was first opened on Dec 1, 1872. The hotel was mentioned in a book by American taxidermist and author, William Temple Hornaday.

The Man Who Became A Savage: A Story of Our Own Times (1896) is a fictional account of how a man became a headhunter in Borneo.

In the book, Hornaday described the hotel as a ‘comfortable lodgment’ but with an ‘indifferent cook’.

Hornaday visited Southeast Asia including Singapore, Malaya and Sarawak in 1878 and stayed at the Rajah’s Arm Hotel during his visit in Kuching.

15.The first church bell of St. Thomas church was cast by a Javanese from broken gongs.

Harriette McDougall in her book Sketches of Our Life At Sarawak explained how the church bell was made.

“The church bell was a difficult matter. Nothing larger than a ship bell could be found in the straits. At last, a Javanese at Sarawak said he could cast a bell large enough if he had the metal; so Frank (Bishop Frank McDougall) bought a hundredweight of broken gong – there is a great deal of silver in gong metal – and with these the bell was cast. Then an inscription had to be put round the rim – “Gloria in excelsis Deo,” in large letters; and the date, Sir James Brooke’s name on one side and F.T. McDougall on the other.”

16.The first Malay house in Kuching to be built using stones and concrete was the Rumah Warisan Datuk Bandar Abang Haji Kassim located at Jalan Datuk Ajibah Abol, Kampung Masjid.

Built in 1863 by Kuching mayor Datuk Bandar Abang Haji Kassim, this was the biggest palatial size Malay house in town at that time.

Since it was the first Malay house built using stones and concretes, the locals called it ‘Rumah Batu’.

Kassim died in Mecca in 1921. His son Datu Patinggi Abang Haji Abdillah was a prominent community leader known for his protest against the cession of Sarawak to the British Empire.

17.The first Roman Catholic school in Kuching, St Joseph’s School only had 20 students when they first started.

When the first group of Mill Hill Fathers came to Sarawak in 1881, they realised there were not many formal school in Kuching.

The following year in April in 1882, the priests started a school catering for children regardless of their racial backgrounds.

They named it St Joseph’s School after the patron of the Mill Hill Fathers.

When they first started, there were only 20 boys studying there.

18.In 1921, Kuching’s Roman Catholic Parish owned at least 30 acres of rubbers as a means of support.

The Roman Catholic Mission in Sarawak began in 1881, Fathers Edmund Dunn, Aloysius Goosens and David Kilty from the Mill Hill Mission arrived in Kuching from London.

When they first arrived on the afternoon of July 10, 1881, they were met by the private secretary of Rajah Charles Brooke who arranged them to live in the hotel.

In the paper ‘A History of the Catholic Church in East Malaysia and Brunei (1880-1976)’, John Rooney described what happened when the priests first arrived.

“The Rajah had set aside ten acres of land for the use of the mission in Kuching but he suggested that its main efforts should be directed to Upper Sarawak and the Rejang. The site granted by the Rajah was a very fine one and had already been cleared by jungle but there were no buildings on it and the Fathers, worried about the costs of a long stay at the hotel, asked for the temporary loan of a government bungalow until such time as proper accommodation could be provided. The Rajah agreed to this request, but he suggested they should first pay a visit to the Rejang and arranged for them to make the trip in his own yacht. On they return to Kuching a fortnight later, they discovered that the Ranee Margaret had already furnished the bungalow for them and they were able to settle very quickly into their new home.”

During the early days of the missionary, funds were limited.

Msgr. Dunn, who was the Apostolic Prefects of Sarawak (1927-1935), encouraged each mission to plant rubber gardens to raise funds.

By 1921, Kuching mission owned 30 acres of rubbers while Kanowit 40 acres, Sibu 27 acres and the Baram mission 30 acres.

19.The first rubber trees planted in Sarawak was at the Anglican bishop’s garden in Kuching.

According to Henry Nicholas Ridley in his article which was published in the Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits Settlements in 1905, the first rubber trees in Sarawak was planted by Bishop George Frederick Hose at his garden.

He brought them over from Singapore’s Botanic Garden in 1881.

20.The first Gurdwara Sahib in Sarawak was built with all Sikhs in Kuching had to contribute at least one month’s salary towards the building funds.

According to history, the Sikh community in Kuching decided to build a Gurdwara Sahib on Oct 1, 1910.

The government agreed to contribute 0.37 acres to serve this purpose.

As for the building fund, all Sikhs in Kuching were made mandatory to contribute at least one month’s salary.

The double storey wooden building was finally open on Oct 1, 1912.

Then this building was demolished to make way for the new golden-domed temple in 1982.

21.Kuching Central Prison was older than Kuala Lumpur’s Pudu Prison.

Kuching Central Prison was built in 1882 while Pudu Prison was built in phases by the British between 1891 and 1895.

Kuching’s prison was demolished in 2010. By December 2012, all buildings within the Pudu Prison complex were completely demolished.

22.The Sarawak Club was first established as a public club and an accommodation house.

Being established in 1876, the club is now one of the oldest private membership clubs in Malaysia.

However, the Sarawak Club used to be both a club and a lodging house.

“The Club, a comfortable stone building, was founded by the Government a few years ago, and contains bedrooms for the use of outstation officers when on a visit to Kuching. A lawn-tennis ground and bowling alley are attached to it, and serve to kill the time,” Harry de Windt wrote in his book On the Equator (1882).

23.There was a ladies club which was located at the corner of Khoo Hun Yeang Street and Barrack Road.

Archer in his book pointed out that the club in those days was very masculine, stating “rather in the style of the famous notice in the Jesselton Club ‘No dogs or women admitted’”.

Hence, the very few women of Kuching formed a club on their own in 1896.

They even had a place to play croquet. Then in 1908, the building was demolished to make way for the Government Printing Office.

Then the ladies was given another club house; between back then Aurora Chambers and Sarawak Museum.

24.Kuching is the second town in Malaysia to have urban water supply after Penang.

When two small lakes were dug out in 1895 to serve as reservoirs, Kuching became the second town in Malaysia to have piped water supply after Penang.

According to Ho Ah Chon in his book Kuching in Pictures 1841-1946, before this all water had to be carried by the tukang ayer (water carrier) in kerosine tins from the nearest little stream before.

The reservoirs stopped operating in the 1930s.

25.The first ice factory in Kuching was opened on Aug 18, 1898.

At that time, one pound of ice cost two cents to ordinary residents, and one and a half cents to ice cream vendors.

26.The first building in Sarawak to use a precast concrete floor system is the Old Government Treasury and Audit Department Building.

Completed in 1927, the building is similar to the Old Kuching Courthouse architectural-wise.

The building was later used by Bank Negara Malaysia.

27.Meanwhile, the first building in Sarawak to use reinforced concrete is the Pavilion Building.

Completed in 1909, the Pavilion Building was used as Medical Headquarters as well as hospital for the Europeans until the mid 1920s.

28.Hong Leong Bank was first started in Kuching back in 1905.

It was first registered under the name of Kwong Lee Mortgage and Remittance Company.

The company granted loan against the security of export commodities such as pepper and rubber.

29.CIMB has its origin roots in Kuching.

Bian Chiang Bank was established in Kuching by Wee Kheng Chiang in 1924. In its early days, the bank focused on business financing and the issuance of bills of exchange. It was renamed Bank of Commerce Berhad in 1979.

It is one of the various bank that formed CIMB (Commerce International Merchant Bankers).

Wee also founded United Chinese Bank in 1935. It is now known United Overseas Bank or UOB.

30.The first branch of Chartered Bank in Borneo island was opened up in Kuching back in 1924.

The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China established its first branch in Malaysia on Beach Street, Penang in 1875. Today, it is the oldest branch of any bank in Malaysia.

Then in 1888, they opened another branch on Jalan Raja, Kuala Lumpur.

When the bank opened its branch in Kuching in 1924, it was their first branch on Borneo island.

In 1985, the Chartered Bank in Malaysia changed its name to Standard Chartered Bank that we know today.

31.The first wireless station was installed in 1916.

The first wireless station in Kuching was established when two large steel pylons were put up not far from St. Joseph’s School.

Then, the first messages were transmitted from Kuching to Penang and Singapore on Oct 25, 1916.

32.The first Kuching Airport was only consisted of two grass-surfaced runways, each 800 yards long.

The airfield was officially opened on Sept 26, 1938. When the Japanese invaded Kuching, the runways were slightly destroyed. Although the Japanese rebuilt them, the airfield was destroyed by Australian bombing.

33.Bako National Park is the oldest national park in Sarawak and the second oldest in Malaysia.

Established in 1957, Bako National Park covers an area of 27.27 square kilometers at the top of the Muara Tebas peninsula at the mouth of the Bako and Kuching Rivers.

However, the area has been a reserve since 1927 when it was formerly known as Muara Tebas Forest Reserve.

Before this, these places in Kuching were…

34.Jalan Taman Budaya was originally named Pearse’s Road.

The road first named after Charles Samuel Pearse who worked in the Treasury. He joined Sarawak Service as a cadet on July 5, 1875 and later appointed cashier on Sept 1 the same year. He was appointed as Treasurer on May 1, 1877. Pearce retired on pension on 1898 and passed away in 1911.

35.Jalan Stephen Yong was originally named Jalan Wee Hood Teck.

From 1968 to 1973, the road was named Jalan Wee Hood Teck. He was the son of United Overseas Bank founder Wee Kheng Chiang.

It was later renamed as Jalan Stephen Yong after Tan Sri Datuk Amar Stephen Yong Kuet Tze. He was a former Malaysian cabinet minister.

36.Kuching High School was first known Min Teck Middle School.

The school was founded in 1916 by Kuching Teochew Association as Min Teck Junior Middle School.

37.Kai Joo Lane was known as sa lee hung or lane of zinc sheets in Teochew or Hokkien.

According to a report by The Borneo Post, the two rows of 32 shops along Kai Joo Lane were built by a Teochew businessman named Teo Kai Joo (1870-1924) in 1923.

When these shops were first built, the buildings were made of red-brown bricks with zinc sheet roofing. Hence, the name sar lee hung.

38.The site of Kuching’s Open Air Market was a reclaimed tidal creek.

While most people often referred it as Open Air Market, the building is in fact named Tower Market.

It derived its name from the remnant tower belonging to the Old Kuching Fire Station.

Even before there was a fire station, there was small creek named Sungai Gartak flowed through the area.

The creek was reclaimed in 1899.

The road Jalan Gartak was named after it.

39.The site of Old General Post Office building was once served as a police station and Rajah’s stable.

Built in 1931, the majestic building which served as a post office was designed by Singapore’s Messr. Swan & Maclaren Architects.

Swan & Maclaren were responsible of designing many Singapore’s historical buildings including Raffles Hotel (1899) and Saint Joseph’s Cathedral (1912).

Before this, the site was a police station and Rajah’s stables.

40.Padang Merdeka was once called ‘The Esplanade’.

According to John Ting in his paper Colonialism and the Brooke Administration Institutional Buildings and Infrastructure in 19th Century Sarawak, the area was established in 1920.

“It was originally reclaimed from swampy land and configured as a municipal park called ‘The Esplanade’. The rectangular park had paths that ran diagonally from the corners and a bandstand. The bandstand’s location made it in appropriate for parades and it was demolished when Sarawak became a colony,” Ting stated.

41.The site of Kuching Old Courthouse once stood a Lutheran church building.

A reverend named Father Rupe from the German Lutheran Communion built a two-storey wooden building on the site in 1847.

He planned to have the ground floor as a place of worship while he lived in the upper floor.

Just right after the building was finished, Rupe returned back to Germany.

James Brooke took over the building then and turned it into a hall for the administration of justice.

The remains of the brick steps of Rupe’s original building is still under the floorboard.

Kuching during and after Japanese Occupation

42.During WWII, the first Allied submarine in Pacific to sink a warship was the Royal Netherlands Navy HNLMS K XVI and the incident took place in Kuching.

On Christmas Eve 1941 about 65km off Kuching, the submarine torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer Sagiri.

The destroyer’s aft magazine caught was fire and exploded sinking the ship with 121 of the 241 personnel aboard killed.

43.Batu Lintang Camp was unusual because it housed both Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian internees.

Operated from March 1942 until the liberation of the camp in September 1945, the site was originally British Indian Army barracks.

44.St Thomas School was used as a labour camp.

The Japanese reportedly even tried to built a swimming pool there but it was never completed.

45.There were four military brothels in Kuching during the Japanese occupation.

According to Ooi Keat Gin in the book the Japanese Occupation of Borneo 1941-1945, these four locations were Borneo Company Limited manager’s bungalow, Chung Wah School Pig Lane (now Park Lane), St Mary’s School Hostel and Chan’s family mansion at Tabuan Road.

The inmates of these brothels were Korean, Japanese as well as Javanese.

46.Yokohama Specie Bank opened a branch in Kuching during the occupation in early 1942 in the former building of Chartered Bank.

The Yokohama Specie bank was a Japanese bank founded in Yokohama, Japan in the year 1880.

After the end of WWII in 1946, its assets were transferred to The Bank of Tokyo. Naturally, the branch in Kuching closed down after the war had ended.

47.The Sarawak Museum thankfully suffered little damage during the war because the Japanese official in charge.

In the book ‘Glimpses of Sarawak between 1912 and 1946’, John Beville Archer recounted what took place after WWII.

“At first, I was given the Sarawak Museum office and become involved in listening to all sorts of requests and appeals. One of duties was trying to collect what I could of the Rajah’s property. Strange enough, the Japanese had done no damage to the Astana and its contents were almost intact but scattered. For instance, I managed to find the Rajah’s insignia, the State Sword and other relics. The Museum lost very little; this was because the Japanese official in charge of it for the last two years was, it is said, an Oxford University graduate.”

48.Darul Kurnia was the site where anti-cession movement protesters demonstrated against ‘Circular No.9’.

After the war ended, many joined Datu Patinggi Abang Haji Abdillah and Datu Patinggi Haji Kassim to fight against cession of Sarawak to Britain.

After realising that most of the members of the movement were civil servants, the colonial office issued ‘Circular No.9’ on Dec 31, 1946.

The circular warned civil servants that it was illegal to join in political movements.

The peak of the anti-cession movement took place on Apr 2, 1947 when 338 civil servants submitted their resignation letters.

On the same day, they all stood on the ground of Darul Kurnia to show their protest.

Located at Jalan Haji Taha, Darul Kurnia is a colonial style mansion built in the 1930s by Datu Patinggi Abang Haji Abdillah.

49.There are at least five war and hero memorials in Kuching.

These memorials include the Clock Tower at Jalan Padungan, the Sarawak Volunteer Mechanics and Drivers at Tabuan Laru, Heroes Monument at Sarawak Museum ground, World War II Herous Grave at Jalan Taman Budaya and Batu Lintang Camp Memorial at the Batu Lintang Teacher’s Education Institute.

50.Fort Margherita has flown four different flags under four different administrations.

The first flag was of course Brookes’ Sarawak flag, then the Rising Sun during WWII.

When the state became a crown colony, it was the Union Jack and now our very own Sarawak flag.

Joseph Middleton might be an unfamiliar name to Sarawakians today, but he was actually the first police officer of Sarawak.

He was one of the two boys who departed England with James Brooke on the Royalist in 1838.

Unfortunately, there is a little we know about Middleton during his first arrival to Sarawak.

However, we do know that he was referred to in 1852 as ‘Constable’.

It is also known that he married a local woman. One record showed that he had a son named Peter who was baptised in Kuching on Dec 3, 1848.

Apart from this, we know that he was almost killed during the Bau rebellion.

Joseph Middleton was one of the three targets of the Bau Rebellion

On Feb 18, 1857, some 600 Chinese came down through the Sarawak River to attack the White Rajah in Kuching.

By the time the group had reached Kuching, Brooke already fled from his home.

This did not stop the rebels from burning down properties including Brooke’s house.

According to The Gospel Missionary issued in June 1884, the Chinese announced they did not want to make war on the English or the Malays, only on the Rajah’s government.

The report stated, “It did seem as if it was chiefly a rebellion of revenge, for the only three people they had been anxious to kill were the Rajah himself, and Mr Crookshank, and Mr Middleton, who were the chief constable and the magistrate who had sentenced the offending Kunsi and actually done the flogging. If they could kill these three they did not seem to care how many others they killed.”

Joseph Middleton during the Bau Rebellion

The rebels certainly did not care how many they killed that fateful night as in the end, they took the lives of Middleton’s two young children.

The Sarawak Gazette revisited the event in an article published on Mar 1, 1929.

It stated, “Two little boys, John and Charles Middleton, aged six and four years, were killed and ‘the fiends kicked the little heads with loud laughter from one to another’. Richard Wellington, a clerk in the Borneo Company, lost his life in gallantly attempting to defend Mrs Middleton and her children.”

So where was Middleton when his house was attacked?

According to Brooke who published his own narrative of the event in the Wellington Independent on Sept 5, 1857, Middleton’s house was one of the earliest places where the attack took place.

The Rajah wrote, “He (Middleton) escaped with difficulty. His poor little wife hid in a bakery till the burning rafters fell about her, and from her concealment saw the assailants kicking about the head of her eldest child. The mother was paralyzed; she wished, she said, to rush out but could not move. The youngest child was murdered and thrown into the flames.”

Joseph Middleton and the second class Europeans in Sarawak

Other than the Middleton family’s tragic fate during the rebellion, there was no significant information about the constable.

According to archivist Loh Chee Yin who wrote for the Sarawak Gazette in 1960-70s, Middleton presumably still held the roll of Constable until his death in Kuching in 1866.

Middleton is unlike some of Brooke’s early officers whose names are immortalised through street names in Kuching such as Crookshank.

Hence, it is easy to forget there was a man named Middleton who came to Sarawak from England as a boy and lived here till his death.

Perhaps it was because Middleton was considered a “second-class European” in Sarawak at that time.

During the resistance led by Syarif Masahor in 1857, Bishop Francis McDougall wrote a letter to his brother in-law.

McDougall narrated in the letter, “I hear that there has been a regular panic at Sarawak among the wives of the second-class Europeans, who all packed up and wanted to start for Singapore, but their fears have been allayed, and only Mrs Middleton, who suffered so much in the insurrection, persists in going.”

The so-called ‘caste system’ among the Europeans in Sarawak is believed to have started due to the different systems of salutes during Brooke time.

At that time, there were three forms of salutes given. The first class was full arms salute, the second class was arm across body to rifle butt, and third class was simply attention.

Those who were entitled for the first class salute included the Bishop, the Commandant of Sarawak Rangers, the Treasurer and the Principal Medical Officer.

Posts such as Magistrates, Superintendent of Works and Surveys Department, Medical Officers, Inspector of Police and Prisons were given the second class salute.

Finally, the third class salute was given to the junior officers and cadets.

The Sarawak Gazette reported, “It is said that this system of salutes caused a sort of caste system among the Europeans since the local people began to refer to them as first, second and third class Europeans instead of officials.”

Middleton, who was sometimes referred to as the Police Inspector, fell into the second-class European category.

Regardless, as Loh pointed out, Middleton had “the distinction of being the first police officer in Sarawak.”