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The forgotten history of Travelling Dispensary No. 2 in Sarawak

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Since its introduction in 1973, the Flying Doctor Service has been providing basic health services to at least 37,000 patients annually in Sarawak‘s rural area.

The team usually comprises a medical officer, an assistant medical officer and two community nurses.

Covering at least 116 remote locations, these helicopters fly out from Kuching, Sibu and Miri.

Before the existence of the Flying Doctor Service, there was travelling dispensary which used boats to reach out to rural patients.

If you never heard of them, here are five things to know about the history of Sarawak Travelling Dispensary No. 2:

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1.Why is it No. 2, not No. 1?

Well, the Travelling Dispensary No. 2 was based in Samarahan and was the second floating dispensary built by the Sarawak Medical Department.

According to former senior hospital assistant Austin L Reggie, travelling dispensary no. 2 was under the charge of a travelling hospital assistant.

Writing for the Sarawak Gazette on June 7, 1949, Reggie pointed out the areas where the travelling dispensary no. 2 had visited.

“Since the beginning of June 1948, the dispensary has been paying weekly visits to the following places; Goebilt, Muara Tebas, Sambir, Tembirat, Beliong, Tambai, Kampung Baru, Muara Tuang, Kampung Melayu, Tanah Mirah, Segenam, Kanawit, Panchor, Sejingkat, Sebayor and Merdang.

“The Dispensary also visits Bako, Buntal and Santubong every fortnight since February, 1949.

“In March, it made up a trip to upriver villages, calling at Kampung Segedup, Batu Kawa, Rantau Panjang, Batu Kitang, Landeh and Siniawan.”

2.Travelling Dispensary No.1

Travelling Dispensary No. 1 was first started in Sibu in March 1948. The first area it visited was along the Igan river.

Since it was the first of its kind, many came to call it the Travelling Dispensary No.1. Manned by a hospital assistant, an attendant and a boat driver, it did not only serve as a mobile outpatient clinic but also as a river ambulance.

The staff attended to 3,792 patients in the first nine months of the mobile dispensary’s operation.

By 1949, the number of patients had increased to 13, 893.

3.Working on Sarawak Travelling Dispensary No. 2

“Although independent, the life of a travelling hospital assistant is not a rosy one, as some people may suppose it to be; for he is always kept busy administering to the sick during his travels,” Reggie stated.

He often skipped his lunch because he had no time to take it.

When he had attended to all of his patients at one village, he must leave and go to the next where there may be another big batch of sick persons waiting for treatment.

If there were any cases which were beyond his scope of knowledge, he either advised them to go to General Hospital for treatment or brought them using his boat.

Reggie explained, “The treatment is sometimes carried out on board the dispensary and sometimes in one of the kampung houses selected for the purpose by the headmen, especially when women and children present the greater percentage of cases.

The villagers are always willing to help in carrying the boxes of drugs, etc., to and from the dispensary when they are asked to do so.”

4.The villagers’ response

The villagers were well aware of the travelling dispensary’s schedule.

According to Reggie, they called them ‘perahu obat’. They even recognised the sound of the 22-horse-power engine of their boat.

“As soon as they hear the familiar sound of the machine they will come running down to the landing stage with bottles or other containers either for mixtures or ointments in their hands – some carrying sick children or other relatives on their backs for examination and treatment. Those who live on the opposite side of the river and those living some distance away where there are no roads, will come over by boats.”

5.The early effectiveness of Travelling Dispensary No. 2

Since its inception in June 1948 to the end of April 1949, the Travelling Dispensary No.2 had treated 15,498 Malay and Dayak as well as 4,506 Chinese patients.

Within that short period of time, the team successfully reduced the number of scabies, ulcers, ringworm problems and malaria cases in the Samarahan district.

With that, the department looked into having more boats and engaging more medical assistants.

According to an official record, at the end of 1967 there were 43 static and 14 travelling dispensaries serving in Sarawak.

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The intriguing military history of Rabaul during World War II

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If you are not familiar with Rabaul, it is a township in East New Britain province in the country of Papua New Guinea.

Located on the New Britain island, the town used to be an important settlement in the province until it was destroyed no thanks to falling ash from a volcanic eruption in 1994.

Looking back to its establishment history, Rabaul was built around the harbor area called as Simpsonhafen under the German New Guinea administration from 1884 until 1919. The British Empire then captured the township during the early days of World War I (WWI).

Life before World War II (WWII)

According to Ian Townsend writing for ABC Radio Nation in 2017, Australia was given a mandate to administer New Guinea as its territory after WWI. For most of the two decades between the wars, Rabaul was its Australian capital of New Guinea.

Townsend stated, “It (Rabaul) looked a lot like a Queensland town, with high-set wooden homes and wide verandahs, red roofs and gardens of frangipani and bougainvillaea.

Australian businessmen, public servants and planters walked the wide, shady streets in white suits and stopped at the pubs to drink Australian beer.”

The town even had a racetrack, picture theaters and an Australian school.

The dawn of WWII

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour on Dec 7, 1941, the country of the Rising Sun started to take control of some of the islands, including Borneo and the Philippines.

It was then expected that Rabaul would be on the list of targets. Hence, by the end of that December, the women and children (except for Chinese migrants and the local indigenous people) were evacuated.

Families were separated during the evacuation as about 2,000 Australian soldiers and male civilians were left behind in Rabaul.

The Japanese called the invasion Operation R and historians later on mostly referred to it as the Battle of Rabaul (1942).

On Jan 4, 1942, the Japanese carrier-based aircraft started its assault on the town particularly on its Vunakanau Airfield situated on a plateau just outside Rabaul.

By Jan 20, a force of over 100 Japanese aircraft comprising bombers, dive bombers and fighter escort, converged on Rabaul.

Commander Mitsuo Fuchida, who had controlled the attack on Pearl Harbour, led the Japanese force in the battle.

As the odds stacked up against the Australians, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) commander John Lerew sent a signal to RAAF HQ in Melbourne. He signalled the Latin motto “Nos Morituri Te Salatamus” (“We who are about to die salute you”), a phrase said by gladiators in ancient Rome before entering combat.

Sure enough, the Japanese invasion force quickly overwhelmed the small Australian garrison.

In the days following the invasion of Rabaul, the Japanese began mopping up operations starting on Jan 24.

The Japanese posted up and dropped from planes leaflets in English stating, “You can find neither food nor way of escape in this island and you will only die of hunger unless you surrender.”

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 The Adler River, in the Bainings Mountains on the eastern side of the Gazelle Peninsula, an obstacle to the Australian troops retreating from Rabaul after the successful attack by Japanese forces. This is the point where at least two parties of retreating Australian troops crossed the Adler River. The first party of twenty one men from the Anti-aircraft Battery Rabaul and the 17th Anti-tank Battery crossed here on 1942-01-26 securing a lawyer vine rope to cross the river. This image was taken in late January 1942 and shows some of the men of Sergeant L. I. H. (Les) Robbins’ party fording the river as they make their way south toward Palmalmal Plantation and rescue in April 1942. Credit: Public Domain.

Why the Japanese wanted to attack Rabaul?

There are many reasons why the Japanese decided to capture this island town. While Japanese captured towns such as Tarakan and Balikpapan in Indonesia and Miri in Sarawak for their oil and gas, they wanted Rabaul so that they could turn it into a major base.

According to Gordon L. Rottmah in World War II Pacific Island Guide, Rabaul provided an ideal location to base a fleet, air assets and command and control centres for the Japanese.

The site was strategic for them to direct, launch and support the conquest of New Guinea and the South Pacific region.

“It was centrally located, and initially at least, far enough from Allied bases to protect it from air and sea attack. It possesses one of the best anchorages in the region and held abundant sites for airfields,” Rottmah stated.

Besides, its location was significant because of its proximity to the Japanese territory of the Caroline Islands, a site of a major Imperial Japanese Navy base on Truk about 1,800 km northeast of New Guinea.

Under Japanese occupation

Once they had captured the town, the Japanese wasted no time in developing it. Rottmah pointed out that the Japanese airfield program in Rabaul was extensive, with Vunakanau becoming the main Japanese airbase.

They dug many kilometres of tunnels as shelter from Allied air attacks such as the bombing of November 1943.

Additionally, they also expanded the facilities by construction army barracks and support structures.

By the summer of 1943, there were more than 100,000 Japanese troops based in Rabaul.

Operation Cartwheel

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Map of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea, Papua and Bougainville 1942-45 showing sites of various battles and strategic locations. Credit: Public Domain.

With that high number of Japanese troops, how could the Allied forces possibly recapture the town?

Hence, instead of trying to capture Rabaul town, the Allies determined to neutralise Rabaul by isolating it and eliminating its airpower.

The Allied forced decided to bypass it by establishing a ring of airfields and naval bases on the islands around it.

The plan was initiated at the end of April 1943 in the codenamed ‘Operation Cartwheel’.

It called for General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Allied Commander in the South West Pacific Areas to approach Rabaul town from the southwest, through New Guinea and the southern Bismarcks.

Meanwhile, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz would advance through the Solomons, forming two pincers that would close in on the Japanese base.

The Allied forces involved were from Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the US and various Pacific islands.

On each island the Allied forces captured, they constructed air bases, allowing them to block any westward movement by the Japanese.

Operation Cartwheel, which stretched from 1943 to 1944, proved the effectiveness of a strategy of avoiding major concentrations of enemy forces and aiming to sever the Japanese lines of supply and communication instead.

The Neutralisation of Rabaul town

US Marine Airstrike on Rabaul
A photo taken from a Marine SBD during an airstrike on Rabaul, 1944. Credit: Public Domain.

Once the Allied forces managed to slowly isolate Rabaul, they began air raid attacks on it. Allied fighters and bombers continue to attack the town through 1944 and 1945.

The Allied forces began to call the attack on Rabaul town ‘milk run’. It is a phrase US Army Air Corps and UK Royal Air Force (RAF) aircrew used to describe any mission where minimal resistance from the enemy was expected.

Eventually, the Allied forces used Rabaul as a live-fire exercise to give aircrew some training and taste of combat before the real deal.

As for the Japanese, they suffered a lot during the campaign. First of all, they no longer had a base which they could threaten the Allied in the Solomons.

Secondly, they lost many of their experienced carrier pilots and aviation maintenance personnel.

The last Allied airstrike took place on Aug 8, 1945, only weeks before the Japanese surrender.

Australian Military Court

After the war from 1945 till 1951, Australian Military Courts convened in Maratoi, Wewak, Labuan, Darwin, Singapore, Hong Kong, Manus Island and Rabaul.

Overall, 300 war crimes trials took place with 190 of them convened in Rabaul.

By the end, 812 mostly Japanese and some Korean as well as Taiwanese alleged war criminals had been tried.

The charges included ill-treatment, murder, massacre, cannibalism and other violations of war laws.

In Rabaul, there were five command responsibility trials. Sometimes referred to as the Yamashita standard or the Medina standard, command responsibility is the legal doctrine of hierarchical accountability for war crimes.

It is an omission mode of individual criminal liability and the superior is responsible for crimes committed by his subordinates.

The command responsibility trials that convened in Rabaul were namely against Major General Hirota Akira, Lieutenant General Adachi Hatazo, Lt Gen Kato Rinpei, Gen Imamura Hitoshi and Lt Gen Baba Masao.

A Japanese Manga artist and his military history in Rabaul

Of all the WWII stories which came out from Rabaul town, one of the most interesting accounts must be the story Shigeru Mizuki (1922-2015).

He was a Japanese manga artist and historian, best known for his manga series GeGeGe no Kitaro.

In 1942, he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army and sent to New Britain Island.

There, he contracted malaria and watched his fellow comrades died from battle wounds and disease.

During one of the Allied forces air raid, Mizuki was caught in an explosion and lost his dominant left arm.

Being the only survivor of his unit, Mizuki was instructed to commit suicide, an order he considered ridiculous.

While in a Japanese hospital Rabaul, he made friends with the local Tolai tribe. They even offered him land, a home and an offer to marry a Tolai woman.

At first, Mizuki considered the offer to remain behind in Rabaul. However, after being rebuked by a military doctor for his plan, he eventually returned home to Japan reluctantly.

The aftermath of WWII

After WWII, Rabaul and the whole of eastern New Guinea was returned to pre-war administrator Australia.

At least 1,200 Australian soldiers and civilians died within the six months following the invasion.

While some died during the battles, about 160 were massacred in the jungle on Feb 4, 1942. About 800 soldiers and 200 civilian prisoners of war (most of them Australians) lost their lives on July 1, 1942.

They drowned when the prison ship Montevideo Maru which they boarded heading to Japan from Rabaul was sunk by an American submarine.

The saddest part is that most of the families of the civilians never really knew what happened to their loved ones who were left behind in Rabaul town.

These civilian men were never given the option of leaving in the first place.

Did they die during the battle, did the Japanese massacre them or were they in the sunken prison ship? With no proper records during the Japanese occupation, we will never know and their families will never have closure.

Fast forward to the present day, tourism is a now major industry of the town. It is popular for its volcanoes, flora and fauna and the culture of the Tolai people.

To top it all, its rich WWII history provides the town with plenty of historical sites to visit and shipwrecks to explore for scuba diving.

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5 things you should know about the Treaty of Labuan

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The Crown Colony of Labuan was a British Crown colony on the northwestern shore of the island of Borneo.

It came under the British after the Treaty of Labuan was signed between the empire and Sultanate of Brunei.

Apart from the main island, Labuan consists of six smaller islands; Burung, Daat, Kuraman, Papan, Rusukan Kecil and Rusukan Besar.

The island had belonged to the sultanate even since the reign of the first Sultan of Brunei Muhammad Shah (also known as Awang Alak Betatar).

Labuan originally was uninhabited but often used by Malay and Chinese sailors to shelter their ships from storms.

For the Brunei, Labuan was economically important as it was the gateway to the outside world.

Besides serving as a safe shelter, Labuan was strategically located to protect Brunei interest in the region.

As the trading activities and taxes in Labuan increased, the island’s revenues also increased.

Here are 5 things you should know about the Treaty of Labuan:

1.Why the British Empire was interested in Labuan?

The whole acquisition of the island was started by a man named James Brooke.

After he established himself as the first Rajah of Sarawak in 1841, Brooke began to assist in the suppression of piracy along the coast of Borneo.

During this time, he had persistently promoted Labuan to the British government. Brooke urged the British to establish a naval station, colony or protectorate along the northern coast to prevent other European powers from doing so.

The British government heard Brooke’s plea; it sent Admiral Drinkwater Bethune to look for a site for naval station and specifically to investigate Labuan.

Along with Admiral Edward Belcher with his HMS Samarang, the British envoy went to survey the area in November 1844.

In 1845, the British Foreign Office then appointed Brooke as a diplomat to Brunei and instructed him to cooperate with Bethune.

Basically, Labuan was considered as a safe shelter. Furthermore, it was strategically sited to protect the British interest in the region especially the China trade route.

Thanks to Brooke, the Great Britain start eyeing to take over Labuan.

2.Other foreign powers interested in Labuan

Besides the British, the United States (US) also showed interest in the island. In 1845, the US sent USS Constitution to Brunei in 1845 to discuss a Trade and access to coal deposits for American ships and business.

Then in November 1846, Captain Rodney Mundy, who was in-charge of the British Naval vessels on the northwest coast of Borneo, received instruction to proceed to Brunei. He soon arrived there with Brooke to discuss the acquisition matter.

The signing of the Treaty of Labuan on 18 December 1846
Picture shows British delegation packed with firearms at the palace of the Brunei sultanate circa 1846. The British navy lined up British warships near the Sultan’s palace with cannons ready to fire if the Sultan refused to sign the treaty. The Sultan had no choice but to sign the Treaty of Labuan on 18th December 1846 and forced to cede Labuan to Britain. The island later became a Crown Colony in 1848. Credits: Public Domain.

3.Under the Treaty of Labuan, the island was ceded to Great Britain and the Sultan of Brunei on Dec 18, 1846. Did the British threaten the Sultan of Brunei to sign the Treaty of Labuan?

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II officially signed the treaty on Dec 18, 1846, surrendering Labuan to Great Britain as a crown colony.

Brooke and Mundy signed it on behalf of the British.

The infamous part of the Treaty of Labuan is that the British convoy allegedly used threats to get the Sultan’s signature.

The sultan, of course had no choice to sign the treaty because there were cannons pointing at his face.

Frank Maryyat, the English sailor serving on HMS Samarang recorded what happened during the treaty signing in his book Borneo and the Indian Archipelago (1848).

At that time, the British entourage had already stayed in Brunei for a week and Brooke was getting restless.

Here is Marryat’s account of the Treaty of Labuan:

“Every day an interview was had with the sultan, but no definite answer had been obtained to our demands. On the 6th, however, it was resolved by our diplomatists that no more time should be wasted in useless discussion, but that the sultan must be once brought to terms; indeed, our own safety demanded it, for the popular feeling was so much excited, and the people were so indignant at our attempt to coerce their sultan, that we were in hourly expectation of an attack.”

At seven in the evening the party repaired to the audience chamber, leaving their arms behind them, for they felt that any effort from five Europeans to defend themselves against so many hundreds, would be unavailing, and that more would be gained by a show difference.

They landed at the platform, and the barge, in which were Lieutenant Baugh (since dead) and myself, was ordered to lie on her oars abreast of the audience chamber, and to keep her 6-pounder in which there was a fearful dose of grape and canister, pointed at the sultan himself during the whole of the interview.

It was an anxious time: the audience chamber was filled with hundreds of armed men, in the midst of whom were five Europeans dictating to their sultan.

The platforms outside was crowded with the wild and fearless Muruts; not a native in the city but was armed to the teeth, and anxious for the fray.

We, on our parts, were well prepared for fearful vengeance; the barge was so placed that the assassination of Mr. Brooke and the Europeans would have been revenged on the first discharge of our gun by the slaughter of hundred; and in the main street lay the steamer, with a spring on her cable, her half ports up, and guns loaded to the muzzle, awaiting, as by instruction, for the discharge of the gun from the barge, to follow up the work of death.

The platform admitted one of the steamer’s guns to look into the audience chamber, the muzzle was pointed directed at the sultan, a man held the lighted tow in his hand. Every European on board had his musket ready loaded, and matters assumed a serious appearance.”

4.The day that the British flag was hoisted in Labuan on December 24, 1846

Owen Rutter in British North Borneo: an account of its history, resources, and native tribes narrated what happened on the day Labuan was officially declared as a British crown colony.

Rutter wrote, “To crown, all after many delays, the British flag was hoisted in Labuan on Dec 24, 1846, by Captain Mundy, the Sultan having concluded a treaty by which the island was ceded forever to Great Britain.

It was a gala day. The Iris and Wolf dressed ship and fired royal salutes; a party of bluejackets and marines was landed, and Pengiran Mumin, the Prime Minister of Brunei, together with many chiefs and a multitude of natives, watched the proceedings, their boats, anchored near the beach, being bedecked with flags and banners.

A clearing had been made in the jungle, and Captain Mundy in a short speech explained to all assembled that the objects of Great Britain in taking over Labuan were the suppression of piracy and the encouragement of commerce.”

5.Labuan becoming a free port after the cession

After the signing, Brooke was knighted and later became the first British governor of Labuan.

On July 13, 1848, Brooke announced in the Singapore Gazette on the opening of the new colony of Labuan.

According to the announcement, Labuan was to be a free port without duties on imports or exports.

Here is the part of the announcement:

It is hereby notified, that her Majesty’s colony of Labuan will be opened to settlers and other immigrants from and after the first day of August next, and that all persons being well and peaceably disposed thereafter coming to reside within the said colony and its dependencies shall receive the protection of the laws, as subjects of the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

While the British’s method of convincing the sultan is considered an extortion and illegal at the present time, Labuan in the end of the day fell into the hands of Great Britain.

From 1890, Labuan came to be administered by the North Borneo Chartered Company before been reverted to British government rule in 1904.

By Oct 30, 1906, the British government proposed to extend the boundaries of the Strait Settlements to include Labuan.

The proposal took effect from Jan 1, 1907 with the administration area being taken from Singapore which was the capital of the Strait Settlements.

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The trial of Japanese general Masao Baba for the Sandakan Death Marches

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The Borneo Campaign of 1945 was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area during World War II (WWII) to liberate Japanese-held British Borneo and Dutch Borneo.

The Allied forces called it Operation Oboe and it was a series of amphibious assaults between May 1 and July 21.

On the Allied forces’ side, the Australian I Corps under Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead conducted the assault. Meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese forces had Vice-Admiral Michiaki Kamada leading the naval garrison and the 37th Army under Lieutenant-General Masao Baba guarding the island.

Initially, the campaign was planned to involve six stages of landing. Eventually, the landings took place in four; Tarakan, Labuan, Balikpapan and North Borneo (Sabah).

During the campaign, Baba organised anti-guerrilla operations in the interior of Borneo island as an act retaliation against the Allied forces. After a series of attacks, the campaign and the war were finally put to an end after the Japanese surrendered.

On Aug 15, 1945, Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Imperial Japan. He formally signed it on Sept 2 bringing WWII to an end.

Later on, all Japanese forces were instructed to surrender, including Baba.

He turned over his sword to Major General George Wooten of the Australian 9th Division as a sign of surrender on Sept 10, 1945 in Labuan.

The place where Baba surrendered in Labuan near Layang-layang beach is now fittingly known as Surrender Point.

Australian troops land from USS LST 560 at Labuan on 10 June 1945
Australian troops land from USS LST-560, at Labuan Island in Brunei Bay, 10 June 1945. Credits: Public Domain

The aftermath of Borneo Campaign 1945

After North Borneo was liberated from Japanese forces, the war crimes that took place during the war began to be unveiled.

The most heinous war crime which happened in Sabah during WWII was none other than the Sandakan Death Marches. These were a series of forced marches in Borneo from Sandakan to Ranau.

It resulted in the deaths of 2,434 Allied Prisoners of War (POWs). By the end of the war, of all prisoners who had been incarcerated at Sandakan and Ranau, only six Australians survived.

It is widely considered to be the single worst atrocity suffered by Australian servicemen during WWII.

After the war, Baba was officially discharged from the Imperial Japanese Army in April 1946.

As the head of Japanese forces in Borneo toward the end of the war, Baba was suspected of being involved in Sandakan Death Marches.

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Lieutenant-General Masao Baba (centre), at Labuan airstrip on his way to sign the official surrender document on Sept 10, 1945. Credit: Public Domain.

The trial against Masao Baba

Afterward, Baba was arrested in January 1947 and brought to Rabaul, Territory of New Guinea for trial under the charge with command responsibility for the Sandakan Death Marches.

During the war trial which began on May 28, 1947, the official charges against Baba were “while commander of armed forces of Japan… unlawfully disregarded and failed to discharge his duty as a commander to control the conduct of the members of his command whereby they committed brutal atrocities and other high crimes.”

Even though the first order for the march (which took place in January 1945) had been given before Baba took over the command of the 37th Army, he admitted that he was fully aware of the condition of the POWS.

He even ordered a reconnaissance of the jungle route which the prisoners were to travel.

However, Baba failed to alter the orders for the march after this reconnaissance.

The court report stated, “The accused received a report of this march early in 1945, in spite of which report he ordered the evacuation of the remaining 540 prisoners over the same route in May, 1945.

“This second march proved even more disastrous than the first. Only 183 prisoners reached Ranau and of these another 150 died there shortly after their arrival.”

Unfortunately by the end of July, only 33 of the POWs survived. Then, the worst thing happened. The officers-in-charge executed the remaining 33 prisoners on Aug 1, 1945.

Basically, he was accused of not preventing the Sandakan Death Marches from happening and failed to control his subordinates from killing the remaining 33 POWs.

Masao Baba’s defense

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October 24, 1945. Sandakan prisoner of war camp, Sandakan, North Borneo. A few months after it was vacated and demolished by retreating Japanese troops, little remains of the burnt-out camp. In an area of No. 1 compound (pictured) the bodies of 300 prisoners of war were discovered. They were believed to have been those men left in the camp after the Sandakan death marches to Ranau. Each grave contained several bodies, in some cases as many as 10. Australian and British personnel were murdered and buried here. Australian War Memorial ID Number: 120461 Photographer: Burke, Frank Albert Charles.Credits: Public Domain.

Baba pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. With regard to the marches, Baba pleaded that the evacuation of the POWs camp at Sandakan to Ranau was of operational necessity.

As the camp was near the seashore, hence an allied landing was to be anticipated. In fact, the Allied troops did land there a few months too late. They landed in July 1945 after the camp had been evacuated.

Additionally, Baba during the trial defended that the Japanese army were themselves short of food and medical supplies. Furthermore, many of the guards also died during the marches.

The trial record also stated, “The accused gave evidence of the measure he had taken to secure provisions and medical supplies for the second march and said that he had done his best to provide for the prisoners.

“With regard to the killing of the 33 survivors at Ranau on 1st Aug, he claimed that by that time Ranau was cut off from his headquarters as a result of the allied landings and that he, therefore, could no longer exercise any effective control over the officers there who had previously been under his command.”

On top of that, Baba gave evidence that he did not hear of the murders until after the cessation of hostilities. This fact was proven to be true and the order to kill the remaining 33 POWs did not come from Baba.

The verdict on Masao Baba

Meanwhile, prosecutor Major Dick pointed out that under international law that a commander of armed forces at war has a duty to control the conduct of the members of his command.

He continued, “And that if he deliberately, of through culpable negligence, fails to discharge that duty, and as a result of such failure members of his command commit war crimes, he is guilty of a violation of the laws and usages of war.”

Summing up the trial, the judge said, “It can be argued that the killings were the result of the marches. Indeed, they could not have occurred without the movement of the prisoners but they were not, I feel, a natural result of these marches. It is, therefore, the court to consider whether they were due to failure of the accused in his duties as a commander.”

Eventually, according to the Sydney Morning Herald on June 6, 1947, the court reached its verdict of guilty after deliberation of 12 minutes. The sentence on Baba was announced after a recess of only two minutes.

Baba was sentenced to death and eventually executed by hanging on Aug 7, 1947 in Rabaul.

Masao Baba
The Argus reporting on the trial of Lieutenant-General Masao Baba.

Masao Baba failing to protect his own soldiers

Looking back at Baba’s military career with the Japanese Army during WWII, he first commanded 53rd Division in Sumatra, Indonesia. He held the post until Sept 25, 1943 when he was appointed commander of the 4th Division also in Sumatra.

He was then transferred to Dec 26, 1944 to Borneo, only less than a year before the war came to an end.

Being unfamiliar to his new working environment, did Baba underestimate the treacherous jungle path of Borneo that he continued with the order of his predecessor? Maybe he thought the 265 kilometres from Sandakan to Ranau was through a flat, thin jungle? Furthermore, is it because he was transferred to a new unit that he failed to control his subordinates?

Regardless, his decision not to cancel the first march and to order the second march resulted in the deaths of not only POWs.

Dick Braithwaite and Lee Yun Lok pointed in a paper called Dark Tourism, Hate and Reconciliation: The Sandakan Experience that many Japanese soldiers died during the marches.

They wrote, “The relocation of military units from one side of Borneo to the other, such as on the death march route, was something that generated much resentment among the Japanese soldiers. This resentment was no doubt taken out on others, including POWs and local people. The remains of Japanese suicides were found hanging in the jungle for many years after the war.”

The casualties number of 2,434 during the Sandakan Death Marches only covered the POWs. Today, we may never know the exact number of Japanese soldiers who died during the marches.

In the end of WWII, of the 25,000 Japanese soldiers based in Sabah, very few returned to Japan.

While the Australian Military Court sentenced Baba to death for failing to protect POWs, he as the commanding officer undeniably failed to protect his own men.

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Looking back to a Melanau berbayoh ceremony at Balingian in 1947

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The berbayoh ceremony is a type of traditional healing ritual practiced by Melanau pagans.

Since many Melanau have embraced Christianity and Islam, such ritual is rarely in practice.

According to the former Mukah district officer W.G. Morison, the berbayoh ceremony is performed for minor ailments while the berayun is reserved for more serious cases.

The purpose behind these rituals is to cure the sickness by exorcising the spirit which is supposed to have entered the body of the patient.

Even those days, only few Europeans had witnessed a berbayoh ceremony, Morison was one of the few who managed to observe one.

Here is the account of the berbayoh ceremony in which the former district officer witnessed in Balingian:

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A candle is one of the tools needed in a berbayoh ceremony on top of a gendang (drum) and parang. Credit: Pixabay.

A group of relatives of the patient were seated at one end of the room; one of these, a woman, was the drum (gendang) beater who beat her drum in quick time on and off throughout the performance.

At the other end of the room by herself, except for the bayoh and the bayoh’s assistant, lay the patient.

In this case both the bayoh and her assistant were women, as also was the patient.

First of all a candle was lighted and at the same time the bayoh and her assistant knelt down by the side of the patient and moved the lighted candle backwards and forwards over her body searching for the cause of the sickness.

The light was then put down on the floor and the bayoh and her assistant knelt down and sat back on their heels.

Up to the present the drummer had been silent but she now started playing her drum; quickly and softly at first, but getting louder as the movements of the bayoh became wilder.

As the drum commenced, both the bayoh and her assistant started to sway from side to side, at the same time emitting a “hissing” sound through their teeth; this was barely audible at first but increased in volume as the swaying grew more pronounced.

Finally the bayoh, withe her eyes closed, rose to her feet and began to dance round the room, slowly at first but rapidly increasing in vigour and speed.

At the height of the dance the bayoh burst into snatches of wild singing, then suddenly the drums stopped and the bayoh, equally suddenly brought her dance to an end.

Drawing the poisons out of the body

The bayoh opened her eyes and walked slowly over to her patient. Having reached her, both the bayoh and her assistant sank to their knees and began to chant, invoking the spirits to help her exorcise the evil spirit inhabiting the body of the patient. After awhile the chant was brought to an end and the massaging was taken over by the bayoh herself.

The bayoh had apparently now found the root of the sickness for, placing her lips over the supposedly affected part, she started to draw out the poison of the spirit inhabiting the body.

Every few movements she would cease this operation and crawl away to spit out the poison and then return for further efforts.

The whole process from the swaying and hissing, the dancing, chanting and massaging was repeated two or three times.

The use of parang in the berbayoh ceremony

Finally, after one period of dancing, a chopper or parang was produced, the bayoh first held it by both hands above her head (one hand held the blade and the other the handle), then in this manner, she approached her patient.

The parang was then held in the bayoh’s right hand and passes over the patient were made, from the head down to the feet, the handle of the parang being an inch above the patient’s body; at the same time that this was going on the bayoh’s assistant was massaging the patient.

Having done this once or twice the bayoh took up the candle and swathed her head in a skirt or sarong; then, holding the light close to her head, she pulled the sarong down over her face.

This was done twice and then she extinguished the light by putting the flame into her mouth. This ended the ceremony.

The berbayoh ceremony in Mukah

In Mukah the performer is also known as a bayoh. Here the patient may be at a distance from the other people in the house or may actually be surrounded by them.

In Mukah, apparently the bayoh is generally the sole performer- without an assistant and without a drum beater other than himself.

He, or she, starts off by beating the drum in the same quick time as mentioned above in the description of the ceremony witnessed at Balingian.

As the bayoh beats the drum he or she also begins to sing, invoking other spirits to help come and cure the patient.

The bayoh then stops the drum beating and a candle is lighted.

A search is then made of the body of the patient, first with the aid of a candle and then by massaging the body with the hands.

At the same time the spirit causing the sickness is asked which part of the body it is inhabiting.

Having located the source of the trouble the bayoh will then begin to remove the poison from the infected spot by drawing the flesh between his two hands.

As he does this he will make a loud ‘sucking noise’ with his mouth. This operation will continue for a few minutes, after which the bayoh may get to his feet and walk round his patient, sometimes singing but without the accompaniment of the drum.

In Mukah this part of the ceremony does not appear to be essential and is, I understand, frequently left out.

Its inclusion would appear to be entirely a matter for the bayoh to decide.

The next stage of the ceremony is always included and consists of another bout of massaging and smoothing the body over with leaves of tuba, tebwawa and flowering stem (mayang) of the pinang palm.

After this the bayoh may again start his drum to call up further if considered necessary. The whole process may be repeated several times before the ceremony is brought to a close.

Have you observed the berbayoh ceremony before? Share us your experience in the comment box.

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Legend of Melanau hero Tugau against the first sultan of Brunei

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According to Melanau folklore, Tugau is a demigod chief whose cough could be heard 60km away.

There are several accounts written about this legendary hero. In the Oya Melanau by Stephen Morris, Tugau was said to be the son of Rajah Kiangan, the ruler of the sky. Meanwhile, Tugau’s grandmother was the daughter of the Rajah Yang, ruler of the world below.

He emerged from an egg along with a white fighting cock with one black feather at its tail and a cobra.

A human couple found him by accident and raised him as their own child.

He grew up to be a warrior and the chief of his people in Rutus river, the tributary of Igan.

Here is an article about Tugau by A.E. Lawrence who was the Bintulu resident in the early 20th century.

In this version of the legend, it tells the story of how Tugau went against Alak Betatar. Also known as Muhammad Shah, he was the first sultan of the Brunei Sultanate possibly from 1363 to 1402.

This legend of Tugau was first published in the Sarawak Museum Journal in January 1911 and republished again in the Sarawak Gazette on Sept 1, 1948:

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Batang Igan.

Tugau lived in the Rutus, a large tributary of the Igan. To this day many stories and legends about Tugau and his relations are told by the Melanaus from Matu to Bintulu, especially in those families which are descended from or any other chiefs famous in his day – of his miraculous birth, his size and strength- of his death at the hands of his own people, etc.

Remains of the belian post of Tugau’s house are still to be seen on the banks of the Rutus, and below them, if any man is brave enough to dig there, is hidden an enormous treasure of gold, besides the bones of the slaves sacrificed according to custom when the posts of a new house are erected.

Besiong, a near connection of Tugau, was also a famous person, and had many adventures, miraculous and otherwise.

Besides ruling over his own people at Rutus, Tugau had great influence in many other districts along the coast.

Kedahat, Chief of Oya, was related to him and acknowledged his supremacy. The Mukah chief, Busi whose burial post is still to be seen in the Tillian river, although the run at the pot containing his bones has long since been lost, was married to a near relation Tugau, who could count on the Mukah people following him to war if he required them.

Tutong (currently one of the four districts in Brunei), under its chief Beniban, and Belait (the largest district in Brunei) then ruled by a man named Jam, were also friendly to Tugau, so that he really had a quite a large and powerful, if somewhat scattered, following.

Tugau against Alak Betatar

Thinking that he was strong enough to overcome the rising Brunei power, Tugau sent a message to Alak Betatar demanding tribute and submission from him.

This was refused, and Alak Betatar in return made the same demands from Tugau, with the alternative of war if he did not yield to them.

The answer was prompt enough, as, without waiting for Brunei to take the aggressive, Tugau’s brother-in-law, Besiong, raised Tutong and Belait, and made a raid into the territory.

Here they met a Brunei force under Pateh Berbi and Semaun, also said to be a brother of Alak Betatar, and were repulsed, falling back again on Tutong and Belait.

There the Bruneis attacked and beat them; but Besiong, with a few followers, made his escape by boat, and sailed down coast as fast as he could to get back to his brother-in-law at Rutus, report his failure, and raise the country.

Besiong reached the Rutus safely, but before he and Tugau could collect all their followers or send word to the neighbouring districts, Pateh Berbi and Semaun, who had followed by sea from Tutong with all their people, were upon them.

Thus taken by surprise Tugau was beaten and made full submission to Alak Betatar through his brothers, promising to pay the tribute demanded.

Alak Betatar’s men conquer Mukah and Oya

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Mukah river

Having got Tugau into their power, Pateh Berbi and Semaun did not give time for any possible combination of the neighbouring Melanau chiefs, but went straight for Mukah, the most populous Melanau settlement remaining.

There, they were again successful, beating the chief, Busui and receiving his submission also.

These two decisive victorious countries, as Kedahat Oya and several other chiefs submitted without attempting resistance.

Alak Betatar therefore was now ruler, at least nominally, over all the coast districts from Brunei to the Igan, with the exception of Bintulu, the story of whose submission is somewhat different.

It appears that none of the Bintulu villages were very near the sea and it so happened that when Pateh Berbi and Semaun returned to Brunei from their conquering expedition, no Bintulu people were about in their boats off the mouth of the river, so that the Brunei fleet, although on the lookout for other settlements to conquer, did not guess that the place was inhabited.

Alak Betatar conquers Bintulu

Later on Alak Betatar sent an expedition along the coast by sea with express orders to find and subdue any settlement they might come across.

Even then they would have sailed past the mouth of Bintulu river, thinking it uninhabited, but for an accident.

As they passed by, someone saw fresh banana leaves and stems floating out to sea, and called attention to them.

The leaders decided to go upriver and find out who had planted those bananas, and paddling inland for some time, came across on a large Melanau village, finding several more later on.

The Bintulu people would seem to have been shyer and wilder than other coast Melanaus, for whenever the Bruneis came near a village to land, all the inmates took to the jungle.

However, the Brunei people gradually coaxed them back and gained their friendship by presents and other means finally making them subjects of Alak Betatar, and appointing a man to rule over the district, which before had been divided up among several petty chiefs, each holding his own village.

The aftermath

Under the Brunei rule, Tugau, Busui, Kedahat and other chiefs were allowed to go on ruling their own people. However, there were some conditions. Above all, they had to acknowledge Alak Betatar as their supreme ruler and pay him a yearly tribute.

Some time later, Alak Betatar and his country converted to become an Islamic state. Then, the native Melanau chiefs were slowly replaced by the Pangerans (princes) from Brunei who married into the families by the men they superseded.

If it weren’t for Tugau challenging Alak Betatar in the first place, would these areas of Igan and Oya rivers fall under Brunei rule? Or even without Tugau being so ambitious, had Alak Betatar always aimed to conquer the northern coastline of Borneo? Is there really gold buried under the remains of Tugau’s house? We may never know.

Regardless, the areas which Tugau once had influence over continued to be under the Sultanate of Brunei until James Brooke took over in 1860.

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The haunted Miri ferry that allegedly led to killing sprees in the 1940s

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The haunted Miri ferry that allegedly leads to killing sprees in the 1940s

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If you are not familiar with the trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, it is the first known court case in the United States where the defense sought to prove innocence based upon the defendant’s claim of demonic possession.

Apparently, Johnson was possessed by a demon that had initially resided in an 11-year-old David Glatzel. The family had even enlisted the aid of Ed and Lorraine Warren (yes, the couple featured in Annabelle, The Conjuring etc.) and priests to perform a formal exorcism on David, after which it was believed that it fled and took up house in Johnson’s body, which later was claimed to have driven Johnson to stab his landlord, Alan Bono.

Johnson was eventually charged with a reduced first-degree charge of manslaughter for the killing of his landlord, serving five years of a 10-20 year sentence.

Meanwhile here in Malaysia, there was an urban legend back in the 1940s that a haunted ferry was the trigger behind a handful of murders.

The murder cases

In 1947, a Chinese Muslim man named Mat Aseng went amok. He killed eight persons and wounded four others.

The method of assault was not mentioned in the Sarawak Gazette report.

Nobody really thought much into it until the night of New Year in 1948 when a man named Abdul Hamid stabbed and killed a 19-year-old Malay girl living at Sungai Merbau.

He escaped but eventually captured on Jan 3, 1948.

His defence was that he did it while suffering from a nightmare. The Miri Resident’s Court rejected his defence and eventually sentenced him to death.

Abdul Hamid later appealed to the Supreme Court but his appeal was dismissed.

The allegedly haunted Miri ferry

So what did these two cases have in common? Both men had the exact same job. They were both drivers working on the same ferry owned by Shell Limited Oil (S.O.L).

The gazette reported, “The Abdul Hamid killing immediately gave rise to a feeling, among the Malays, that the Company ferry was possessed of some evil spirits, and it was decided, that in order to prevent further troubles descending on the ferry crews, action should be taken.”

Hence, a “cleansing ceremony” took place under the permission of S.O.L.

The report further stated, “The ferry was stopped for about half-an-hour in mid-stream and all the ferry crew shifts partook of a makan selamat, “buru bala,” on the ferry and various prayers were recited.”

Was the ferry really haunted? Or was it mere coincidence that the drivers of the ferry committed murders in less than two years? Let us know in the comment box.

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Iban childbirth customs recorded by Rev William Howell

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Every culture has its own customs and taboos during childbirth.

These customs and tradition mainly have one sole purpose; to protect the mother and her newborn baby from harm.

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Here are Iban childbirth customs as per recorded by Rev William Howell:

When the time of delivery is come and while she is in travail, two or three midwives are called to her assistance to accelerate the birth of the child.

As soon as the child make its appearance into the world, a signal is given by beating a bamboo receptacle with a stick, or a brass gong is struck or maybe a gun is fired to announce that a child is born in the house.

Immediately follows a religious ceremony, a fowl being waved over the heads of all present, including the infant and its mother. The fowl is then killed and the blood is smeared on the foreheads of those present.

After the mother and the child are washed and dressed, the afterbirth is deposited in a plaited bag and hung on a tree either in their cemetery or in their tembawai (the site of their former house). The infant is sprinkled with a compound of pinang (betelnut) and lawang, is bandaged and made to lie on the spathe of an areca palm, a cloth is put round it and a Dayak sheet hung over it.

The husband or whoever takes away the afterbirth to bury or hang on tree is solemnly warned by the mother not to look to the right or to the left as he leaves the room, or the child might squint.

One of the women who assisted at the birth washes the child and cuts the umbilical cord.

She is afterwards with a parang, an entadu plate, and a long piece of the black tina (black split rattan worn around the waist).

The mother is seated with her back against the blazing fire; she drinks freely ginger tea to facilitate her discharge.

The bathing of the newborn

As soon as the umbilical cord has dropped off, the infant, for the first time, is taken to the bathing place.

The man who carries the child takes a fowl with him. As soon as they come to the bathing place the fowl is killed and a wing is cut off.

If it be a male child this wing is tied on with a piece of red thread to a spear, and if the child be the other sex this wing is tied on to an implement used by Dayak women in weaving (lelatan). On the fourth day the spear or the lelatan, as the case may be, is taken to the house.

As the mother sits with her back to the fire in the room holding in her hands the handle of a native adze (bliong) she presses it to her stomach to assist the course of nature.

For twenty-four hours she is not allowed to drink water, but if she does, it must be very little and first warmed lest fever should set in.

Her first food is light and simple. The husband goes out to get certain kinds of fish which is first smoked before it is eaten.

The mother is not allowed to sleep for twenty-four hours after giving birth to a child, not is she even allowed to lie down. One would think that after such a fatiguing time, a rest was most essential and to be deprived of it would be detrimental to health. Strange to say it is not so.

Can you imagine for the woman not being able to lie down or sleep for twenty-hours after giving birth?

Let us know what other Iban childbirth customs that you know more about in the comment box.

Read more about Iban pregnancy taboos here.

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What you didn’t know you needed to know about Sarawak’s first ice machine

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An ice machine, ice maker or ice generator is an appliance to make ice. Today, you can find a refrigerator in every household in Sarawak to store food and make ice cubes.

However in the olden days, an ice machine was even rarer than an endangered animal.

Have you ever thought who bought the first ice machine in Sarawak?

Here are five things you need to know about Sarawak’s first ice machine according to archivist Loh Chee Yin:

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1.The second White Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Brooke was the first one to make an enquiry of an ice machine.

Charles wrote to the Borneo Company Limited London asking them to make an enquiry about an ice machine while he was in Singapore.

Here is the content of the letter which dated on May 27, 1897:

Dear Sirs,
I should be much obliged if you would make inquiry about an ice making machine for Sarawak capable of making from half a tonne to one tonne a day. Should Mr Ellis the Civil Engineer not have left, he might give you an opinion about such a machine and examine and see one in action, and have explanations how to work it from the makers.

I have long contemplated setting up such a machine to supply ice to the community at as cheap a rate as possible, and as the government have control over water, land, and also have competent engineers, we can do it more reasonably than any other party.

Three days later after writing this letter, Charles wrote another letter to his London agent, The Woodhead & Co.

He wrote, “Would you find out what kind of ice machine would us in Kuching to supply from half to one ton of ice a day. Mr Ellis, if he meets our terms could look out for the best kind and could information about working it, and also could information about working it, also could see it worked. If the Sarawak Government purchase, it would be under his superintendence. Please send a telegraph price etc.”

2.The Brooke government even announced the purchase of ice machine in The Sarawak Gazette.

Apparently, buying an ice machine in the 19th century was such a big deal that it had to be announced in the paper.

This was what was written in the announcement which was published in October 1897:

“The Government have ordered an ice machine from England, which will produce a ton of crystal ice per diem. This machine, which will be a great boon to the community, should be in working order by the end of this year.”

3.Sarawak’s first ice machine finally arrived about A YEAR after it was ordered.

Again, the Sarawak Gazette reported in September 1898 the arrival of the ice machine.

“The long expected Ice Machine arrived on the 26th June and the first tonne of ice was turned out on the 18th August.

The temperature of the brine was 30o at 9.30am on the 18th and 1½ tonnes of ice were made by the same time on the 19th. The machine was running for 28 hours to obtain this result, which must be considered very satisfactory in view of the fact that it was the first run and that, in consequence, several stoppages had to be made for adjusting the machinery. The lowest temperature reached on this occasion 19o or 13o of frost, but, we understand, that later observations show that a temperature of 11o or 21o of frost, was obtained.

Everyone in the country is to be congratulated upon this acquisition, not only for the comfort of having always iced drinks but far more for its invaluable aid in sickness and accident.

This came home to all when its value was seen in the most unfortunate accident which occurred to Mr Gibson, when ice was at once applied to the fractured part and the inflammation and pain of a broken limb very much reduced.”

4.Who maintained the ice machine?

In the beginning, the Public Works and Survey Department was in-charge of the ice machine’s maintenance.

As years passed, there was an increase in demand for ice in Sarawak.

Then, a new four-tonne ice machine was ordered in 1926 and started operations in 1927.

On the Jan 1, 1937, Sarawak Electricity Supply bought the ice plant for $30,000 and took over the ice production.

5.How much did the ice cost?

Ice was sold to the contractor at $1.00 per 100 lbs. In 1933, the figure was increased to $1.05 and again to $1.10 in 1934.

In 1935, the price was $1.13 and $1.19 in 1936. In the meantime, the sale price to the public remained at $1.25 per 100 lbs.

The selling of ice provided for a decent amount for the Brooke government in those days. For example from 1929 to 1933, the government earned $24,296.76 in profit for selling ice.

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Refrigerators for home domestic use were first invented in 1913. However, the world only saw the mass production of refrigerators after World War II. As technology had become more advanced and Sarawakians, including services such as eateries and hospitals, began to afford their own refrigerators, there was no need to have a government-operated ice machine anymore.

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How a quarrel between two friends became their last in Battle of Lintang Batang 1853

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The Battle of Lintang Batang was one of the many skirmishes which took place between the Skrang Iban led by the famous warrior Rentap and the Brooke government of Sarawak.

One of the historical significance of this battle was that a government officer named Alan Lee was killed and beheaded. His friend William Brereton, however, survived the battle.

Allegedly, Lee’s head was nicknamed “Pala Tuan Lee ti mati rugi” (Lee’s head who died lost).

Dayaks in their war dress
Dayaks in their War Dress . Credits: Public Domain.

James Brooke recruiting Alan Lee and William Brereton

According to Cassandra Pybus in White Rajah: A Dynastic Intrigue, Lee and Brereton were recruited in 1848, making them some of the earliest European officers to work in Sarawak.

Pybus stated, “Returning from England in 1848, the Rajah brought much-needed reinforcements: Spenser St John, the son of an old friend, was to be the Rajah’s private secretary; Charles Grant was to be his personal secretary; and Brooke Johnson was to be aide-de-camp and hold the title Tuan Besar. Brooke Johnson, who had changed his name by deed poll to Brooke Brooke, arrived almost immediately after the Maeander, on another ship which also carried Henry Steele and Alan Lee, young recruits with an eye for adventure.

A further recruit was Willie (William) Brereton, whom the Rajah had affectionately taken under his wing as a 13-year-old midshipman on the HMS Samarang, stranded in Kuching for several months in 1843.

Now Willie was 18 and he too had given up the naval life for the Rajah of Sarawak. In Kuching all these young men made a jolly group around James Brooke, creating what Harry Keppel wryly called “The Rajah’s bower”.

Brereton was in-charge of Fort James at Skrang while Lee was heading Fort Lingga near the mouth of the Batang Lupar.

The Battle of Lintang Batang according to Steven Runciman

There are several accounts recorded on what happened during the Battle of Lintang Batang 1853.

In The White Rajah: A History of Runciman from 1841 to 1946, Steven Runciman pointed out the battle took place when Rajah was in Sambas.

Runciman wrote, “Early in the spring of 1853 Brooke (James) heard of a pirate fleet setting out to intercept it. It may be that he was deliberately misled; for the real trouble broke out elsewhere. The main agent in reviving Saribas piracy was a chieftain called Rentap. He had, even after the battle of Batang Maru, opposed the idea of any compromise with the Europeans; and he had proved his mettle and won great prestige by conducting a profitable raid against a Chinese village near Sambas and by defeating the praus sent by the Sultan of Sambas and the Dutch to pursue him.

“He particularly resented the Skrang Dyaks, whose most influential chief, Gasing, had made close friends Brereton and was now a loyal supporter of the Rajah.”

With the Tuan Besar away off the coast to the west, it was a good moment for Rentap to attack the Skrang. This news reached Brereton, who summoned Lee from Lingga to his aid.

They collected as many loyal Iban and Malay followers they could.

Lee wished to remain on the defensive in the fort at the mouth of the Skrang. However, Brereton insisted on moving to the stockade up the river.

When Rentap’s fleet appeared around the river, the government fleet immediately attacked them.

Brereton hastily joining the fight, found himself running straight into Rentap’s main fleet which was hidden behind the bend.

Lee followed to rescue Brereton and there was a sharp battle.

“Brereton just escaped with his life, but Lee was mortally wounded,” Runciman wrote. Rentap’s son-in-law Layang reportedly killed and beheaded Lee.

As for the battle, heavy fire from the stockade then forced Rentap’s warriors to retreat upriver. There, they came under attack from another Iban chief who was on Brooke’s side. In the end, 20 longhouses of Rentap’s supporters were burned.

Why did Lee decide to attack?

Meanwhile, J.B Archer, the last chief secretary to Rajah Vyner Brooke wrote briefly about what goes behind the battle in The Sarawak Gazette on June 1, 1948.

According to Archer, Brereton accused his friend Lee of cowardice for refusing to advance upriver and attack the enemy.

Lee, who was in command, suspected that Rentap and his men had prepared an ambush and did not want to walk into a trap.

“On the last evening the two had a violent quarrel and the next morning Lee, exasperated by his friend’s taunts, ordered an advance. Exactly as he had foretold happened. The Government forces were surrounded and outnumbered and Lee, up to his waist in water, met a valiant death defending himself with his sword against Dayaks all around him,” Archer wrote.

He added, “Brereton escaped but, they say, never forgave himself for his share in the disaster and died a year or two later.”

According to Archer, Lee was his ancestor. He pointed out, “I have tried many times to identify his smoked head which has been hanging in some Skrang Dayak longhouse as a trophy for nearly a hundred years.”

While Archer was not able to recover his ancestor’s head, he was able to recover Lee’s sword.

Both Lee (without his head) and Brereton were buried in the old Kuching cemetery overlooking Bishopsgate road.

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