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MV Krait, the Japanese fishing ship that was used against the Japanese

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If you want to raid the enemy’s harbour and blow up their ships without getting caught, what better way to do it than using one of the enemy’s own vessels?

MV Krait is a wooden-hulled vessel that was used in a raid against Japanese ships anchored in Singapore Harbour during the Second World War (WWII).

Codenamed Operation Jaywick, the mission was carried out by a special task forced called Z Special Unit.

They are mainly made of British and Australian soldiers who had escaped Singapore before its surrender.

The history of MV Krait

After the Fall of Singapore in 1942, civilians made their escape from the island on all kinds of boats and ships.

In the middle of the chaotic scene, an Australian master mariner named Bill Reynolds managed to salvage a little Japanese fishing boat.

The ship’s name was Kofuku Maru. Reynolds used her to rescue civilians fleeing the island and at one point evacuating over 1,100 people from ships sunk along the east coast of Sumatra.

Kofuku Maru eventually reached Australia and was handed over to the Australian military. The Allied forces then renamed her Krait after the small but deadly snake.

MV Krait and Operation Jaywick

Major Ivan Lyon, whom Reynolds came across with during his rescue work, became very interested in the Japanese vessel.

He conceived the idea of raiding Singapore Harbour using Kofuku Maru. Both Lyon and Reynolds realised that if the vessel could get out of Singapore unnoticed then she could get in unnoticed as well.

On Sept 2, 1943, eleven Australian and four British army and navy personnel as part of the Z Special Force went on board MV Krait left Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia heading to Singapore.

Today, blackface is considered rude and offensive since it was used to mock enslaved Africans. However, these operatives dyed not only their hair black but their skins as well for their disguise. The skin dye later caused many skin problems for them causing irritation and reactions to sunlight.

The crew even flew a Japanese flag and wore sarongs to look like the local fishermen.

MV Krait finally arrived off Singapore on Sept 24. There, six of them left the boat to paddle 50km to a small island near the harbour.

Then on the night of Sept 26, the men used folboats to paddle into the harbour and placed limpet mines on several Japanese ships.

The mission was successful, sinking six of the Japanese ships. The raiders waited until the commotion to die down before returning to Krait on Oct 2.

In the meantime, MV Krait spent two weeks circling in the South China Sea to avoid suspicion and waiting to return for the pre-arranged pickup.

On their way back to Australia, MV Krait was almost approached by a Japanese auxiliary minesweeper who was on patrol. Lucky for them, nothing happened and the Japanese did not suspect a thing. On Oct 19, the Krait arrived safely back at Exmouth Gulf.

Krait crew
Crew of the MV Krait during Operation Jaywick, 1943. Credit: Public Domain

The price of Operation Jaywick

The raid had caught the Japanese with their pants down. They never thought the Allied forces would attack Singapore.

Hence, their suspicion laid on the locals. The price for the successful Operation Jaywick was unfortunately paid by the blood of civilians and civilian internees who were captured and tortured by Kenpeitai (Japanese military police).

It went down in history as the Double Tenth Incident or Double Tenth Massacre since it occurred on Oct 10, 1943.

The Kenpeitai arrested altogether 57 civilians and civilians internees suspecting them to be involved in a raid on Singapore Harbour.

However, none of them had participated in the raid or even had any knowledge of it. In the end, 15 of them died in Singapore’s Changi Prison.

MV Krait after Operation Jaywick

After the success of Operation Jaywick, MV Krait was used continuously by the Australian military throughout WWII.

When the Japanese official surrendered on Ambon, Indonesia in September 1945, she was there to witness the historical event.

After her service, she was sold to the British Borneo Company at Labuan and operated off Borneo for few years.

In 1964, MV Krait was purchased as an Australian Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol vessel. In the same year, she was dedicated as a war memorial.

Since 1988, she has been displayed to the public at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney.

Since the success of MV Krait on Operation Jaywick, the Australian Commando Unit traditionally used the names of venomous snakes for their vessels.

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A curious case of sleep hollow in Bintangor in 1937

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The Sarawak Gazette has published many eyebrow-raising stories since its first publication in 1870.

Most of these incidents took place in Sarawak while others happened in other countries.

One of the strange incidents that was reported in the gazette took place in May 1937.

The headline of the report was “Asleep for a Week”. Is it possible for a person to sleep for one whole week?

Under certain circumstances, it is possible. The medical term for it is sleep hollow, not Sleepy Hollow (Tim Burton’s gothic supernatural horror).

The only known case of sleep hollow was reported in the remote village of Kalachi in Kazakhstan. The first case was reported in March 2013, after which the disease disappeared for some time before re-emerging in mid-2015.

Kazakh officials later discovered the disease was caused by carbon monoxide, along with other hydrocarbons as a result of flooding of an abandoned Soviet-era uranium mine nearby. These gases spread into the village air, causing sleep hollow among the villagers.

Kazakhstan may not have been the only place where sleep hollow has occurred.

Here is the report about a possible case of sleep hollow published in the Sarawak Gazette in July, 1937:

On May 1st, it was reported in Binatang (today Bintangor) that Sa’at bin Taha, master of the sailing vessel Mas Melayu, had mysteriously disappeared and his ship left Binatang for the coast without him.

An intensive search was made but no trace of him could be found, and it was generally agreed that he had tired of a seafaring life and had decided to retire into solitude on shore.

Great was the astonishment of the people of Binatang, therefore, when on May 7, Sa’at was found asleep in a sago godown.

After some minutes of strenuous effort the manager of the sago factory succeeded in awaking him. When he had been revived by copious draught of milk and broth, he immediately demonstrated a creditable sense of duty by enquiring where his ship was.

He was told that it had sailed a week ago, but he patiently explained to his dull-witted audience that this was impossible, as he had disembarked and visited the bazaar with one of the sailors on the previous evening.

It is firmly believed in Binatang, that Sa’at bin Taha had been asleep for a week.

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Can Sa’at be considered suffering from sleep hollow? Is it possible that the sailor accidentally inhaled some carbon monoxide? We might never know.

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The locust plague that hit North Borneo in 1919

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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.

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“As far as is known the only occasion on which they have appeared previously was about fifteen years ago in the Tenom district, when they died out spontaneously without increasing to large proportions.”

The 1919 locust plague started in Tempasuk (Kota Belud) at the end of December 1918.

“The insects rapidly increased in number- their multiplication being doubtless assisted by favourable weather conditions and by June of this year they head spread to Kudat and Mempakad on the north, Membakut and Kuala Penyu on the south and Parenchangan in the Interior residency on the east,” the report stated.

By June, the locust plague hit the river Bengkoka in the Marudu district, the Sipitang district and the river Lingkabao in the Sandakan residency.

Fighting against locust plague

Since the locals and administrators of North Borneo were not familiar with locust plagues, they initially did not know how to fight it.

Eventually, they came up with a very labour-intensive solving method.

The report stated, “The first method of destruction used was to drive the hoppers into traps composed of sheets by a strip of smooth oilcloth sewn near the top. A pit was dug at the apex of the trip and filled with water with a little crude oil on the surface; on falling into this the locusts were immediately killed.

Another method to kill them, especially when labour was scarce is to poison them. The vegetation on which they were feeding was sprayed with sodium arsenite ‘with molasses being added to make the poisoned substances attractive’.

These methods were successful in killing the locusts, save for small swarms that escaped their fates.

By the end of 1919, North Borneo was almost free of locust plague. However, patrols were still being maintained to guard against the possibility of scattered individuals multiplying into swarms.

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3 theories on Kayan migration to Borneo island

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Feuererzeugen bei den Kajan durch Reiben eines Strickes un ein Stuck weichen trockenen Holzes
When the Kayans are naming a child, or engaged in any special ceremony, such as going on the war-path, matches may not be used and fire must be made by drawing rattan backwards and forwards on a piece of soft, dry wood. Credit: Public Domain.

When speaking about Kayan migration, many would immediately think about the Kayan who migrated from Apo Kayan in North Kalimantan, Indonesia to Sarawak specifically to Baram and Upper Rajang rivers.

According to legend, the Kayan people are the forefathers of all smaller sub-ethnic Dayak people found along the Kayan River in Kalimantan.

Kayan river
Kayan river in North Kalimantan.

Many historians and ethnologists, however, have their own theories on Kayan migration before arriving in Borneo.

So where did the Kayan people come from in the first place before they found themselves on the island of Borneo?

Here at KajoMag, we look through the various notes and theories of Kayan migration:

1.Harrison W. Smith in Sarawak: The Land of the White Rajahs (1919)

About 100 years ago, a National Geographic writer and photographer visited Sarawak. The result of that visit is an article entitled, “Sarawak: The Land of the White Rajahs”.

This is what Smith wrote about Kayan migration, pointing out that they might have entered through southeastern Asia.

Perhaps the most interesting tribe in Sarawak and one of those least affected by contact with foreigners is the Kayan, which occupies the head-waters of the Baram and Rejang rivers, in the northerly part of Sarawak, extending also into Dutch Borneo.

These people for unknown generations have lived almost entirely isolated in the interior of the island. There are many reasons for believing they are of Caucasic origin, having entered Borneo from southeastern Asia, where they received infusion of Mongol blood and separated from the people of their their own race, who were the progenitors of the present Karen tribes of Lower Burma.

It appears that the Kayan came to Borneo by the way of Tenasserim, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra, later penetrating up the rivers of Borneo.

One notices the features of some Kayans that very strongly suggest Caucasic origin, this being particularly true of the upper or ruling classes, who would be most likely to preserve their racial stock uncontaminated by mixture with conquered tribes.

Many Kayans have very light skin, particularly those of the interior and those who have been little exposed to the sun. The tribe believes in a large number of deities, with one supreme being at the head, thus resembling the Greek mythology.

Many of the details of the methods of taking omens among the Kayans by the flight of birds and the examination of the entrails of animals present extraordinary points of similarity with the Roman methods of taking the auspices.

2.Charles Hose’s theory on three phases of migrations into Borneo

British colonial administrator, zoologist and ethnologist Charles Hose also had his own speculation on the origin of not only Kayan people but the Borneo peoples in general.

Writing for the preface of Hose’s Natural Man, Professor Elliot Smith suggested that the possibility of the transmission to Borneo of certain customs known among the ancient Egyptians, Romans, Babylonians, Estruscans and Persians.

Meanwhile, Hose proposed that there were three migrations into Borneo.

The first group is the ancestors of the Kayan people of central Borneo whom he suggested had migrated from the Irrawaddy Basin in Burma via Sumatra.

The Muruts had then followed from the Philippines or Annam. Lastly, the most recent arrival, which Hose supposed took place in the seventh century, were the ancestors of the Ibans.

Hose believed that they were brought from Sumatra as ‘pagan fighting men’ by Malay nobleman.

Additionally, Hose theorised that groups such as the Punans, Kenyahs and other smaller groups were then assumed to have been the original populations of the island ‘going back possibly to the time when Borneo was still continental’.

Other than the supposed racial and cultural differences within Borneo and the assumed similarities with populations outside Borneo, Hose had no firm evidence for his migration theory.

3.Ida Laura Pfeiffer’s comparison of the Dayak of Borneo and Seram Island

Ida Pfeiffer went down in history as one of the first female travelers of the world.

This Austrian explorer had journeyed an estimated 32,000 km by land and 240,000 km by sea through Southeast Asia, the Americas, Middle East and Africa including two trips around the world from 1846 to 1855.

In her travel book A Lady’s Second Voyage (1856), she commented on the similarity between the Dayaks of Central Borneo and the mountain Alforas of Seram island in current-day Maluku province of Indonesia.

She stated of the latter that their customs “agreed so much with what I had observed among the Dyaks that I feel convinced that the Alforas may be classed as their descendants of collateral relatives.”

While some writers believed the Borneo people came out of the west, writers such as Pfeiffer suggested that they came from the east.

This is due to their resemblance of their way of living to the tribes of Celebes and the more eastern islands such as New Guinea.

Regardless, all of these theories on Kayan migration to Borneo all have one thing in common that they are all just theories without any physical evidence.

They are all just based on the cultural similarities between Kayan people and the tribes at the other part of the world.

Do you know any Kayan migration theories we should know about? Let us know in the comment box.

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5 stories about the Sihan people you should know about

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Sungai Mujong

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 and Punan Aput, and not with other Punans.

In ‘Language Vitality of the Sihan Community in Sarawak, Malaysia’ by Noriah Mohamed and Nor Hashimah Hashim, the Sihan people, who identify themselves as Punan, migrated to Belaga from Namang River, after moving from their original settlement in Mujong near the Baleh River.So here are 5 stories about the Sihan people you should know about:

1.The ancestors of the Sihan people

A Sihan man named Jingom Juroh once told a story to Sarawak Museum about the ancestors of the Sihan people.

“I know that a spirit begot our first ancestor called Kato’o. He was born overseas. Kato’o was a brave hero who fought and won many wars against other people. Upon seeing his bravery his children began to become afraid of his actions. Knowing that his children worried about him, he ordered them to use only bamboo spears, and not with other kinds of weapons so that they could not harm him.

However, they killed him with the bamboo spears. After his death the bamboo spears which pierced him grew to become a high mountain. We do not know where this hill is, but according to our history it is somewhere overseas.

Kato’o sons immigrated from overseas. Their names were Belawan Jeray and Belawan Tiau. The two brothers lived in the Mujong. From Mujong Belawan Tiau led his followers to migrate eastward to Kapuas. Therefore in the Kapuas quite a number of Sian (Sihan) lived.

Belawan Jeray died in the Mujong. After his death his son named Maggay migrated to the Pilla and died there. After his death his son Gawit moved to Seggam and died there.”

Mujong is a tributory of Baleh river and Pilla is a tributory of the Rajang river.

2.Life of the Sihan people before they settled in the longhouse.

Unlike most indigenous groups in Sarawak, the Sihan people originally lived in huts like the Penan people.

They did not live in longhouses.

Jingom was 56 years old when he shared this to the Sarawak Museum in 1961: “We Sihan have never joined other races to live in longhouses. I remember that we start to farm when I had already grown up to about the age of thirteen years. We started to live in longhouses from the time we were taught to farm by the Kejaman chief Akek Laing alias Matu.”

He added, “During our nomadic days we have no other tool to use other than the axes. We got iron by bartering with the Kejaman our jungle produce such as rattan baskets and mats. Till this day though our people still can make baskets and mats, but we do not keep them because we sell them to the Kayan and others.”

The Sihan people also did not make blow pipes. Only after they traded blowpipes from the Penan did they hunt for birds and animals. Before that, they relied on fish as their source of protein.

Additionally, the Sihan people did not rear domestic pigs but chickens. With regards to fruits, they collected wild fruits when they were nomadic. They started to plant fruit trees after they settled in longhouses.

3.The legend of Batu Balitang

When the Sihan people were still living at Mujong, there was a man who went out shooting animals with his blowpipe.

As he roamed the forests, he did not find anything.

When he was on his way home, he saw a huge shining animal standing on the bough of a tree. It looked like a rainbow.

The man shot at it several times with his poisonous darts, but could not kill it.

The hunter returned to his hut to bring his friends for help.

While explaining to his friends what happened, they heard a very loud sound as if something falling from the sky.

Everyone, men and women alike, ran toward the source of the noise and found an animal lying on the ground.

Rejoicing over the fresh meat, they cut the animal up and cooked it. Everyone in the village ate the meat, except a pair of brother and sister.

Unbeknownst to the villagers, the animal they feasted on was a demon. That night when they slept, the demon’s wife came.

As she came, she danced from one home to another, looking for the people who ate her husband.

She found that all except two, had eaten her husband. Hence, she ordered the brother and sister to escape instantly and never look back.

The demon’s wife ordered them to go to a certain stream not far away on the left of the Mujong above their village. In order that they may know this place, on her way to the village the demon’s wife had cut a certain small tree as a sign.

The two siblings fled as directed. After they had gone, a great wind blew and a heavy rain began to fall. During the storm, the houses gradually became stone, becoming what has become recognised today as Batu Balitang.

After all the villagers became stones and boulders, the siblings got married and became the ancestors of Sihan people.

4.The truth about headhunting among the Sihan people

While most indigenous peoples in Borneo have a long history of headhunting, the Sihan people tried their best to avoid them.

However, they did fight against Iban and Bukitan headhunters about a century ago.

Many people were killed on both sides of the war.

The Sihan people reportedly did not value the heads of the enemies as trophies, even throwing them away.

5.The burial customs of the Sihan people

Immediately after a Sihan person dies, their bodies are cleaned with water. After that, the deceased is dressed in clothes made of tree bark.

All of their possessions like axes and baskets must be buried with them.

Unlike the Kayan who used to erect Salong, or burial poles, to bury their dead, the Sihan people will cut a tree for the coffin.

When it is complete, the coffin is placed inside for burial. The burial usually takes place on the second day after death.

Then two nights after the burial, a fire will be lit outside the house. The Sihan people believed that in the nights after the burial, the soul of the deceased will wander about intending to return to the house. As for offerings, they place sago by the fire.

The Sihan traditional belief is that when one passes away, thunder is usually sounded. With the sound of this thunder, it is believed that the soul of the deceased is carried away to heaven above.

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The Brunei Civil War and how it led to Sulu’s claim over Sabah

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The Brunei Civil War took place centuries years ago from 1660 to 1673. However, the consequences from this particular warfare seems to have an effect even to this day.

Adding on to the element of disbelief of this piece of history, the Brunei Civil War had, in fact, started from a cockfight.

The Brunei Civil War, a warfare which started from a cockfight

Pengiran Muda Bongsu, the son of Brunei’s 12th sultan, Sultan Muhammad Ali, had been indulging in a round of cockfighting with Pengiran Muda Alam, the son of the chief minister (only second to the sultan), Bendahara Abdul Hakkul Mubin.

The innocent cockfight turned bloody when Pengiran Muda Bongsu was defeated by Pengiran Muda Alam.

Pengiran Muda Bongsu, either being a super sore loser or entitled as the sultan’s son (perhaps both?) was so enraged by the loss that he stabbed Pengiran Muda Alam in the chest with his keris, ultimately killing him.

cocks 3519618 1920
When a cockfight turns bloody. Credit: Pixabay.

The wrath of a father

The bendahara was furious upon learning the death of his beloved son, marching his men to the palace to confront the sultan.

‘A tooth for a tooth’, Abdul Hakkul Mubin told the sultan, wanting to avenge his son’s death.

To this demand, various sources cite the sultan’s responses differently.

One source stated that Abdul Hakkul Mubin was denied the right to search the palace for Pengiran Muda Bongsu, while another source stated that the sultan had allowed him to do so.

Either way, the prince had made his escape and the bendahara could not find Pengiran Muda Bongsu.

Furious, Abdul Hakkul Mubin went amok, going into a killing spree which took the lives of everyone in the palace, including the royal family.

With the help of his men, Abdul Hakkul Mubin killed the sultan by garroting him to death.

The place where the sultan was slain is now known as ‘Marhum Tumbang Dirumput’, as his body was left lying on the grass.

Meanwhile, the bendahara took the throne, becoming sultan as he crowned himself the 13th Sultan of Brunei.

Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin’s reign

Naturally, the people were not happy that their new sultan had killed his way to the throne. In order to gain their trust, Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin installed the late sultan’s grandson – Pengiran Muhyiddin – as the new Bendahara.

It was not enough. The loyal followers of the late Sultan Muhammad Ali were not happy, imploring the now Bendahara Muhyiddin to fight against Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin.

A rebellion started by ‘mengarok’

Muhyiddin and his followers planned to create a disturbance at the palace and the houses in the area.

They started to ‘mengarok’, poking spears through the floors of the palace and houses.

When Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin turned to Muhyiddin for advice on what to do, he advised him to move his palace to Pulau Chermin.

The moment the Sultan moved out from the mainland to Pulau Chermin, Muhyiddin declared himself the 14th Sultan of Brunei.

No country can be ruled by two kings. Therefore, the battle between the two sultans began.

The war begins

After repelling several attacks from Muhyiddin, Abdul Hakkul Mubin eventually retreated to Kinarut, Sabah.

With help of local Bajaus and Dusuns, he managed to defend himself from Muhyiddin.

Abdul Hakkul Mubin reportedly lived in Kinarut for 10 years to defend his title.

In the final attack at Kinarut, however, Muhyiddin still failed to defeat Abdul Hakkul Mubin.

Then, Abdul Hakkul Mubin decided to return to Pulau Chermin.

It turned out to be a great strategic move for Abdul Hakkul Mubin. From there, he was able to control the food supply going into the mainland as the island is located near the mouth of Brunei river.

In the meantime, the people of Brunei were suffering as they could not go out to fish during the civil war.

Worried that the war would drag on, Muhyiddin decided to seek the Sultan of Sulu for help.

In return, Muhyiddin promised to hand over the eastern part of north Borneo as a reward.

Finally, Muhyiddin’s men successfully attacked Pulau Chermin, launching the final assault on Abdul Hakkul Mubin and his men.

Knowing that he would be defeated, Abdul Hakkul Mubin threw himself into the sea along with his crown.

North Borneo Dispute territory
Territory in the 1878 agreement from the Pandassan River on the north west coast to the Sibuco River in the south. Copyright: Public Domain

The Sulu Sultanate and their claim over eastern Borneo (current-day Sabah)

Meanwhile, the Sulu Sultanate was like that classmate everyone used to have who did not contribute to the group assignment but still had his share of the mark.

They reportedly did not help much in the final battle except by showing up at the last minute.

Regardless, the Sultan of Sulu still claimed his reward of eastern Sabah.

Meanwhile, Brunei, on their side, never recognised the claim and never released any official document to legitimise Sulu’s sovereignty of the area.

Fast forward to December 1877, Baron Gustav von Overbeck managed to convince the Sultan of Brunei to concede some territories to him to form the British North Borneo Company.

From there, he found out about the Sulu’s claim to the eastern territory of the area. Hence, he proceeded to obtain that part of territories from Sultan of Sulu.

Some historians believed that was when the real trouble of the North Borneo dispute began. Many believed that the eastern part of Borneo was never officially ruled by Sulu sultanate in the first place.

Overbeck reportedly wanted to ‘avoid’ future problems with Sulu Sultanate. Therefore, he had the Sultanate of Sulu to sign an agreement on January 22, 1878.

The problematic agreement which, depending on the translation, stipulated that North Borneo was either ceded or leased to the British company.

Today, the Philippines, presenting itself as the successor state of the Sulu Sultanate, retains a dormant claim on Eastern Sabah on the basis that the territory was only ‘leased’ to the British North Borneo Company in 1878.

Can you imagine how these international claims today, had originated from a cockfight?

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Mangkok Merah 1967, the Dayak-Chinese conflict in Kalimantan

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Mangkok Merah 1967, the conflict between the Dayak and Chinese in West Kalimantan

Chinese and Indonesians stand together Impressions of the Fight ... in Indonesia p11
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 came to power in 1966.

In the beginning of this New Order, one incident left a bloody mark in Indonesian history and it is called Mangkuk Merah.

The background factors of the conflict between the Dayak and Chinese

Suharto’s predecessor Sukarno denounced the new nation Malaysia back then, calling it a form of neo-colonialism.

He then secretly trained rebel communist troops from Sarawak known as the Sarawak People’s Guerrilla Army (Pasukan Guerrilla Rakyat Sarawak or PGRS).

They set up camps along the Kalimantan-Sarawak border with many Sarawakian Chinese crossing over to be part of the communist movement.

When Suharto rose to power, he ended the Indonesian-Malaysian confrontation and focused on fighting against communism.

By January 1967, the Indonesian military began to resettle 5,000 Chinese away from the Sarawak border.

The Chinese were no longer allowed to live within five miles of the border.

At that time, the Chinese, especially from West Kalimantan, were believed to be communist sympathisers. The military also believed that a number of them living near the border were from Sarawak not Kalimantan.

In Sarawak, a similar resettlement scheme was carried out in 1965 called Operation Hammer. The Chinese were resettled away from the Sarawak border in order to cut off the Communist rebels’ food and supplies.

The rumours that sparked the conflict between the Dayak and Chinese

In the book Malay and Chinese Indonesian, Dwi Surya Atmaja and Fazhurozi stated the anti-communism movement that began to take a bloody turn.

“A string of murders of Dayak people with unknown perpetrator happened in Ledo, Seluas and Pahauman, Bengkayang and almost all areas with sizable ethnic Chinese communities. This situation was used by the military to scapegoat PGRS as perpetrators of the murders,” they stated.

On top of that, the military allegedly spread rumours that the Chinese were anti-Dayak and all Chinese communists.

The military reportedly used the categories ‘Dayak’ and ‘Chinese’ to indicate loyal citizens and communists, respectively during this time.

Manipulated by the military and enraged by the murders, the Dayak asked for support from the former governor of West Kalimantan and a respected Dayak figure, Johanes Christomus Oevaang Oeray.

Then through a Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) Pontianak broadcast on Sept 21, 1967, Oeray allegedly threatened the Chinese people to leave their areas and move to nearest district town.

Later, on Oct 11, 1967, the Dayak villagers attended a meeting to prepare for what was called a ‘Gerakan Demonstrasi’.

Some historians do not believe that it was Oeray who made the broadcast, but somebody using his name.

However, some believed that Oeray purposely cooperated with the Indonesian military to regain his political footing after he lost his influence over the Dayak community when Suharto came into power.

Regardless, the Dayaks took the broadcast as the announcement of Mangkok Merah.

What is Mangkok Merah?

Dwi Surya Atmaja and Fazhurozi explained in their book what Mangkok Merah meant in the culture of the Dayak of Kalimantan.

Basically, it is the traditional symbol of starting a war.

“Mangkok Merah was used to unite the Dayak tribes if they felt their sovereignty was in great danger. The tribal chiefs usually sent a red bowl (mangkok merah) filled with charcoal, chicken feather, pig blood, and juang leaves, to be passed around from one village to another quickly. A Dayak figure explained that Mangkok Merah was used to call for people, as a communication symbol used in emergencies. When someone brought it from one tribe to the other, it means: come and help us.”

The violence

Following the announcement, a string of massacres took place in West Kalimantan. The peak of violence happened in November 1967.

The attackers started to murder Chinese people using hunting weapons and burning their belongings.

Chinese shops were vandalised and the bodies were lined up on the streets.

Describing the violence in one of her papers, Nancy Lee Peluso stated, “Some Chinese turned their homes and possessions over the Dayak or other Indonesian neighbours for safe-keeping, not knowing they would not be allowed to return. Others ran into the forests and plantations, fearful but hoping to maintain a watch on their land, homes and possessions. From November to January, crowds of Dayak men and boys, wearing red headbands and carrying elongated bush knives (mandau), homemade hunting guns and military-issue firearms, violently evicted all remaining Chinese from the rural areas.”

Most historians estimated the deaths ranged from 300 to 500 with thousands more becoming refugees. The highest estimated number of refugees is 117,000.

By early 1968, the violence finally subsided.

How the Dayak and Chinese conflict lead to Dayak and Madurese conflict

With thousands of Chinese removed from rural areas in 1967, you might think that there would be more lands for the Dayak occupied.

Writing in the book Golddiggers, Farmers and Traders in the Chinese Districts of West Kalimantan, Mary F Somers Heidues stated, “The New Order actively encouraged migration of settlers from crowded areas of Java, Madura and Bali to less-populated spaces in the Outer Islands.”

She added if the Dayaks who participated in the 1967 Raids hoped that the emptied lands and properties would fall into their hands after the Chinese fled, they were to be disappointed.

“Although Dayaks moved into the area, Dayak hegemony did not last long,” Heidues stated.

Many settlers relocated from Java-Madura, Bugis and Bali into the area in stages. Heidues, further stated, “In the end, the Madurese were to become a focus of resentment in 1997.”

As for the Chinese refugees, many of them resettled in towns such as Pontianak and Singkawang.

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How a liar caused the war between Luju, a Kayan warrior, and the Taman

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Here is a story of how a war in ancient Kalimantan broke out due to mistaken identity:

Kapuas river
Kapuas river.

There was a Palin man named Baring Ma’ Bojang. He married an Embaloh woman and moved to the village of Belimbis in the upper Embaloh river of Kapuas Hulu.

Both Palin and Embaloh are Dayak groups in Indonesian Kalimantan.

Baring was the brother of Rombonang, a Palin raja or leader.

One day, Baring decided to go on a journey to the Mahakam river in East Kalimantan in search of valuable beads.

He went with a large number of followers and he set up good connection with Luju, a member of the Kayan royalty and a warrior in the Mahakam.

There in the Mahakam, he stayed for a long time with Luju, eventually managing to obtain the valuable ‘lawang lukut’ beads.

Baring also asked Luju for seven of his Kayan villagers to show him the way back to the Kapuas from the Mahakam.

In return, Baring promised that he would send these men back with some valuables such as jars and lamps.

Luju agreed and Baring made his trip back with Luju’s seven men.

Luju and Baring’s broken promise

Throughout Baring’s stay in the Mahakam, Luju was under the impression that Baring was a Dayak Taman not a Dayak Palin.

Meanwhile, Baring was a renowned liar, and could not be bothered to correct Luju.

Baring also never had the intention to give Luju what he had promised.

On their way to Embaloh, Baring declared that the seven Kayan men were now his slaves.

Although they were enraged, the Kayan men could not do anything as they were outnumbered by Baring’s men.

To make things worse for the Kayan men, Baring planned to sacrifice the men along their route from Mahakam to Embaloh to ensure a safe journey.

By the time they had reach Embaloh, there were no Kayan men left among his party.

Luju declared war on the wrong people

Eventually, the news of Baring’s treachery had reached Luju at Mahakam. Furious, Luju spent the next three years recruiting men from the Mahakam, Tabang and Oga’ rivers .

Together with the Kayan of Mendalam river near Putussibau, Luju and his warriors attacked the Dayak Taman longhouses at night.

They sacked their homes and burned them to the ground.

As Luju attacked all the Taman longhouses, he never got as far as Embaloh where Baring was hiding.

The Kayans, satisfied with their attack and felt that the Dayak Taman had punished enough.

The Dayak Taman take revenge

The following year, Luju’s brother Kule returned to the Kapuas river with a peacemaking force.

He explained that Luju was tired of war and wished to restore peace between Taman and Kayan.

After Luju had returned to Mahakam, the Taman people had sent some raiding parties to attack the Kayans, but they were not as strong as the Kayans.

The Taman made peace with the Kayan but were still determined that they would avenge themselves against Baring who was the cause of this problem.

Baring, who seemed unaware of the vendetta against him, had ventured into the Taman area, and was subsequently ambushed by the Taman warriors who then took his head.

This caused a war between the Taman and Embaloh as Baring’s son, Bojang sought revenge.

The tribal war between the Taman and Embaloh reportedly continued until the Dutch came into the area.

This story is recorded by Victor T. King in his paper Main Outlines of Taman Oral Traditions.

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How did the Ibans near Kalimantan border cope with Konfrontasi

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People have been living along the border of Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia with Kalimantan, Indonesia for centuries.

When there was a conflict such as the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation which broke out between the two countries, it was unfortunate that they found themselves caught in between.

So how did the Sarawakians near Kalimantan border cope with Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation or Konfrontasi?

On Sarawak’s side of the border, Commonwealth forces were flown in to help protect the border.

Besides this, they employed Iban and other border-dwelling Dayaks as scouts. They were a local auxiliary force, widely known as ‘Border Scouts’.

On the other side of the border, Indonesian army also employed Kalimantan Iban scouts to aid in patrolling their side of border.

Before the confrontation, the Iban communities from both side of the border had been living peacefully with each other.

Most of them had relatives across the border as intermarriages were common between different Iban longhouses, regardless of nationalities.

After they were employed by their respective countries, how did they do their work while still keeping their own relatives safe?

First of all, not all of the Ibans became scouts willingly.

According to Michael Eilenberg in the book At the Edges of States, most Kalimantan Iban had no particular interest in Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation.

However, a group of Iban from the Lanjak area were recruited by force as scouts.

These unwilling scouts did their uttermost to prevent clashes between the different border patrols Indonesian and Malaysian.

Eilenberg wrote, “Former Iban scouts in Lanjak recount how they purposely led the Indonesian military patrols in circles around the Malaysian patrols in order to prevent clashes. In doing so, they avoided being forced to fight Iban kin employed as scouts by the ‘enemy’.

One very common strategy employed by Iban trackers was to use different kinds of signals to warn the oncoming Iban trackers employed by the enemy.

For example, they imitated animal cries or simply wore their caps backward as a signal that regular soldiers were following close behind.

Life at Kalimantan border while coping with Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation

Those who lived near the Kalimantan border during the confrontation remembered it as a period of restriction.

With military forces guarding both sides of the border, contact with relatives over the border was made difficult.

Even though the border was officially closed, some of the locals had reportedly continued their cross-border interaction such as trading and visiting relatives.

But of course, these were done at considerable risk of being caught in the line of fire.

Furthermore, several Kalimantan Iban families took more drastic moves.

They permanently immigrated to Sarawak to live with their Sarawakian families.

In the paper Straddling the Border: A Marginal History of Guerrilla Warfare and Counter Insurgency in the Indonesian Borderlands, 1960s-1970s which was also written by Eilenberg, the researcher came across many Kalimantan Ibans who had immigrated to Sarawak either during the Confrontation or during the later communist insurgency.

He wrote, “A senior Iban, originally from the Lanjak area but now a Malaysian citizen, conveyed during a visit to Kalimantan how, after immigrating to Sarawak, he was employed by British soldiers to fight the Indonesian army and later awarded an honorary military insignia by the Malaysian state for his courage in the fighting. Ironically before immigrating, the same person had been employed as a scout by the Indonesian forces.”

Malaysian Border Scouts comprising indigenous peoples of Borneo
Some 1,500 men from the indigenous tribes of Sabah and Sarawak were recruited by the Malaysian government as Border Scouts under the command of Richard Noone and other officers from the Senoi Praaq to counter the Indonesian infiltrations. Credit: Public Domain in Malaysia and US.

Getting close with the Sarawakians near Kalimantan border as a military strategy

Speaking of the British soldiers, blending in with the locals is part of the Commonwealth forces’ military strategy.

The Director of Operations in Borneo during the confrontation was General Sir Walter Walker.

General Walker once stated, “We set out to speak their language and respect their customs and religion. We sent small highly work among them, to protect them and share their danger, to get to know them and gain their confidence. These troops were as friendly, understanding and patient to the villagers as they were tough and ruthless in the jungle. We sought to give the villagers a feeling of security by day and night, through the presence of phantom patrols and through constant visits by the civil administration, the police and the army. We helped their agriculture, improved their communications and trading facilities, improved their water supply, provided medical clinics and a flying doctor service, established schools, provided transistor wireless sets and attractive programmes, and so on.”

Additionally, Walker saw winning popular support as ‘absolutely vital to the success of operations because by winning over the people to your side, you can succeed in isolating your enemy from supplies, shelter and intelligence.’

In the meantime, Captain David L. Watkins wrote in his paper Confrontation: the Struggle of Northern Borneo that unless villages along the border could be secure day and night from Indonesian intruders, they could be intimidated into providing the enemy aid.

“Although an armed patrol could not be posted in every village, frequent visits could be made, not only by soldiers, but by police and civil administrators as well. These visits had several purposes, two of which were to ‘encourage the loyal to give information and to discourage the few disloyal from doing anything that would disturb the uneasy peace’.”

The safety of the locals came first

At the same time, Walker emphasised that the security and safety of the local Sarawakians would always come first.

He once wrote his command, “went to any length to keep our hands clean. One civilian killed by us would do more harm than ten killed by the enemy.”

He added, “If the price a village had to pay for its liberation from the enemy was to be its own destruction, then the campaign for hearts and minds would never have been won.”

As much as the Commonwealth forces as well as the government wanted to protect its people, deaths are inevitable during war (although this war was never officially declared).

In the end of the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, the total number of civilian casualties are 36 killed and 53 wounded.

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Why did Indonesia give guerrilla training to Sarawak Chinese youths during Konfrontasi?

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During Konfrontasi or the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, Indonesia lent their support to Sarawak Chinese.

But why?

When the formation of Malaysia was proposed, President Sukarno-led Indonesia was not the only who opposed the idea.

The Sarawak Communist movement was also against the idea of Malaysia.

Instead, the Sarawak Communists supported the idea of unification of all Borneo territories to form an independent leftist North Kalimantan state.

They gained support from Sukarno who let the Sarawak Communist Organisation use Indonesian Kalimantan as a base to build up a guerrilla force.

Why did Sarawak Chinese youths turn to communism at that time?

The then Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister, James Wong might have the right explanation on why communism seemed to be attractive to Sarawak Chinese youths.

As what was reported by Sabah Times on Dec 28, 1963, Wong stated,

“As we all know some of the younger generation of Chinese in Sarawak have been much affected by the teachings of Communism. There are all sorts of reason for this.

Many young Chinese are proud of the achievements of Communist China and feel that what is good in China should be copied here. Others have had their sense of idealism twisted and misused by the Communist leaders in the country who teach that Communism is the only road to justice in this world.

Others are discontented because they cannot get good jobs or feel they are not making enough money or that they do not own enough land and that Communism will provide the answer to all their problems.

The older people do not subscribe to these ideas, but many of the older Chinese in Sarawak are people who, in China, never received a proper education.

They are overawed by the fact that so many of their children can claim to possess an education and they defer to the views of their youngsters. They are unable or unwilling to exercise the restraints and disciplines which parents should be able to exercise.”

The testimony of a young Sarawak Chinese

According to a Sarawak Tribune report which was published on Dec 8, 1965, a young Sarawak Chinese revealed his experience being recruited into CCO.

“About April or May 1962, subject to the propaganda and influence of a cadre of the clandestine communist organisation, I joined the Farmer’s Association under the Sarawak clandestine communist organisation. In August of the same year I was again recommended by my leader to join the Sarawak Advanced Youths Association, a secret communist organisation.
Later in November, I was sent by my leader to do racial work in Tebedu. Meanwhile a racial work cell for Tebedu area was formed with me as one of the cell members.

Our method of work was to make use of the SUPP (Sarawak United People’s Party) by asking the masses to join the party openly and then to absorb the better elements amongst the SUPP members into the Farmer’s Association.

In April 1963, our leader informed us that the organisation was prepared for armed struggle and wanted to send persons to receive military training in Indonesia. The Organisation wanted us to make a road from 23rd mile to Kampong Sidek in Indonesia via Tebedu.

The route was divided into four sections, and in May that year this new jungle track was completed secretly. On June 1st, the first batch of Sarawak youths of both sexes, about 40 in number, escaped to Indonesia by this jungle track.”

It was reported that harsh and contemptuous treatment by the Indonesians, as well as deprivations of jungle life had caused some of these Chinese to lose their ardour.

By the end of 1963, some of these Sarawak Chinese youths began to ‘trickle back into Sarawak’.

Those Communist exiles in Indonesia who have stayed behind, eventually would form the core of the North Kalimantan Communist Party’s two guerrilla formations.

The first one would be Sarawak People’s Guerrilla Force (SPGF) or Pasukan Gerilya Rakyat Sarawak (PGRS). Meanwhile, the second one was North Kalimantan People’s Army (Paraku).

With the assistance of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PGRS was formed Mar 30, 1964 at Mount Asuansang in West Kalimantan.

How many of the Sarawak Chinese youths were in Kalimantan?

According to Justus M. Van Der Kroef in The Sarawak-Indonesian Border insurgency, “Already by mid-1964 more than one thousand Sarawak Chinese, mostly youths had crossed into Indonesia to receive guerrilla training, subsequently returning with Indonesian terrorist units, while others affiliated with the TNKU (Tentera Nasional Kalimantan Utara).”

It is believed that Sarawak Chinese youths were still slipping over the border into Indonesia to train for guerrilla war against their home state as late as March 1966.

As for the sympathisers, Herald-Journal’s report on Sept 2, 1971 might had some explanation on why some Sarawakians were not totally against communism.

First of all, the communists actually helped the people in the fields and give them medical care.

Additionally, the report stated, “Some farmers and villagers almost never see a government official; often the Communists win simply by default. In rural areas, Chinese shopkeepers have found it safer to keep quiet and roll with the punches. They don’t resist if a guerrilla demands bicycles so the frames can be made into shotguns.”

There were other impacts of communists insurgency in Sarawak mainly due to the curfew implemented in the state.

Herald-Journal reported, “Babies died of malnutrition and of diseases that could be cured because their families couldn’t go out after help. Government teams offered some relief but not all people could be reached by the limited staff.”

In the meantime, the British Intelligence estimated that there might be some 24,000 Chinese Communist sympathisers at a point in Sarawak.

The end of communist insurgency in Sarawak

While the confrontation officially ended on Aug 11, 1966, the communist insurgency in Sarawak continued until 1990.

The number of communist operatives distinctly decreased in the 1973-1974 when Sarawak then Chief Minister Abdul Rahman Ya’kub managed to convince several of the insurgents to lay down their arms.

One of their leaders Bong Kee Chok surrendered along with 481 of his supporters.

The final peace agreement communist insurgency was ratified in Kuching on Oct 17, 1990.

That was when the last of the communist operatives officially surrendered, marking the end of communist insurgency in Sarawak.

Members of the SPGF NKNA and TNI taking picture together
Members of the Sarawak People’s Guerilla Force (SPGF), North Kalimantan National Army (NKNA) and Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) taking photograph together marking the close relations between them during Indonesia under the rule of Sukarno. Credit: Copyright Expired.

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