Browse Tag

History - Page 8

5 things you should know about sumpit or blowpipe of Borneo

Published on

‘Sumpit’ or ‘sumpitan’ are what we call the blowpipe or blowgun in Borneo. Some communities in the Philippines and Sulawesi also refer to the blowpipe as ‘sumpit’.

In fact, the first written description of sumpit can be found in the works of Italian scholar and explorer Antonio Pigafetta in 1521 who visited the Palawan people.

He wrote, “”Those people of Polaoan (Palawan) go naked as do the others: almost all of them cultivate their fields. They have blowpipes with thick wooden arrows more than one palmo long, with harpoon points, and other tipped with fishbones, and poisoned with an herb; while others are tipped with points of bamboo like harpoon and are poisoned. At the end of the arrow they attach a little piece of softwood, instead of feathers. At the end of their blowpipes they fasten a bit of iron like a spearhead; and when they have shot all their arrows they fight with that.”

Just like the Palawan’s sumpit, the blowpipe in Borneo commonly has a spearhead attached to the end.

Putussibau 16
A traditional blowpipe which also works as a spear.

Traditionally, the sumpit is used for hunting and in fights against the enemy. Today, they have become souvenirs or treasured family heirlooms.

Here are five things you should know about sumpit or blowpipe of Borneo:

The pagan tribes of Borneo a description of their physical moral and intellectual condition with some discussion of their ethnic relations 1912 14598123498
Kenyah man lashing spear-blade to a blowpipe. Circa 1912. Credit: Copyright expired.

1.The reason why people of Borneo use sumpit

Have you ever wondered why the Borneo natives chose the blowpipe over the bow when it came to hunting?

According to author Peter Metcalf, in the nineteenth century, ethnologists were curious why people who advanced using iron tools did not adopt or come up with the bow.

The reason lay on topography and landscape. Metcalf wrote “For hunting, they (bows) are ineffective because the dense vegetation seldom allows a clear shot.”

“For pigs or deer, a combination of dogs and spears brings the best results. In regard to small game in the lower branches of trees, such as birds and monkeys, they are easily shot with darts.”

Furthermore, the bow is difficult to shoot at such steep angles. And once you lose your arrows, it is impossible to recover them in the thick Bornean thick jungle.

2.The materials of the blowpipe

Generally, blowpipes are made from bamboo. However, there are some made from wood.

A blowpipe can be made from one to three pieces joined together.

The length of this weapon usually depends on the user. The typical length is about 1.2 to 1.6m and 2 to 3cm in diameter.

Danau Sentarum Festival 4

3.How to make blowpipe darts

Thick wooden or palm leaf-rib darts are generally used in war.

Also known as damak, the dart is basically a single pointed sharp needle.

The needle is plugged into a cork-lie cushion with bird feathers to allow the blowgun to float constantly toward the target.

Then the tip of the damak is dipped in poison.

4.How to make blowpipe dart poison

According to Herwig Zahorka in his paper “Blowpipe dart poison in Borneo and the secret of its production”, the poison is generally produced from the latex of the Antiaris toxicaria tree which belongs to Moraceae (fig family).

He started, “This latex contains a variety of toxic chemical compounds. The principal toxic agent is a steroid glycoside known as beta-antiarin. A lethal dose is only about 0.1mg per kg weight of a warm-blooded animal.”

On how to make them, Zahorka explained, “To dehydrate the milky latex into a paste, a long, carefully implemented procedure is essential because the steroid glycoside compound is extremely heat-sensitive.

“Therefore, hunters perform the dehydration of the latex by using a young leaf from the small Licuala spinosa palm. The leaf is folded into a boat-shaped container to hold the latex at a carefully determined distance over a small flame for one week. This is possible because the young Licuala leaf is astonishingly fireproof and durable. If the latex were heated at too high a temperature, the glycoside compound would crack and its toxicity would be lost.”

5.How long does it take to kill using the blowpipe

Andrew Horsburgh who was in Sarawak from 1852 to 1856 as a missionary published a book called Sketches in Borneo (1858).

Regarding our local sumpit, he wrote, “The arrows are dipped again into the poison immediately before using and are used in hunting as well as in war, and kill not only birds and squirrels, but also large animals such as orangutans. To animals the poison proves fatal, because they cannot pull the arrow out of the wound; but men suffer little inconvenience from it, as their comrades can always extract the missile before the poison has been absorbed by the system. Squirrels and small animals drop a few minutes after they have been struck, but orangutans frequently clamber about among the trees for a whole day before the poison takes effect upon them as to bring them down.”

You might be interested in

Sumatra Railway, the death railway you probably never heard of

Published on

Junyo Maru was one of the many Japanese hell ships during World War II. It was used to transport Prisoners of War (POWs) with bamboo cages built in to imprison them.

When it was attacked and sunk on Sept 18, 1944 by British submarine HMS Tradewind, it became the world’s greatest sea disaster at the time.

During her last voyage, she was packed with 1377 Dutch, 64 British and Australian and eight US POWs along with 4,200 Javanese romusha.

After the sinking, only 680 survived with 5,620 dead.

But the horrific fates of these 680 survivors did not end with the sinking of Junyo Maru as hell awaited them at the Sumatra Railway.

Sumatra Railway

The survivors were sent to work on the 220km Muora-Pekanbaru railway, which also became later known as the Sumatra railway.

The Japanese wanted to use it to transport coal and troop between Muora and Pekanbaru.

Along with the Junyo Maru survivors, there were over 120,000 romusha together with 6,500 Dutch POWs, 1000 POWs and the rest 300 POWs from the US, Australia and New Zealand.

The first group of labourers to work on the railway were the romushas who started in April 1943.

However, the Japanese became anxious and wanted to speed up the construction.

They then brought in the first group of POWs on May 19, 1944.

All of them were housed in 18 camps located along the railway.

Sumatra Railway in comparison to Burma-Siam Death Railway

When you hear mention of a ‘death railway’ during WWII, one immediately thinks of the Burma-Siam Death Railway.

Similar to the Sumatra Railway, the Burma-Siam Railway was built by the Empire of Japan from 1940-1944 to supply troops and weapons in the Burma campaign.

Overall, 60,000 Allied POWs and 180,000-250,000 romusha were forced to work on the railway.

In the end, about 90,000 labourers died along with more than 12,000 POWs.

Lizzie Oliver in her book Prisoners of the Sumatra Railway wrote, “Although the Sumatra Railway was half the length of the Burma-Siam Railway (220 kilometers vs 414 kilometers), it took almost the same number of months for POWs to complete (15 vs 16).

“Progress was approximately sixteen kilometers per month slower on Sumatra than in Burma and Siam. This slow progress each month indicates specific difficulties for those on Sumatra, two of which dominate the narratives of former POWs.

“First, the terrain on Sumatra was foreboding. The railway construction had to navigate through a ‘chain of mountains’, the rolling hills of volcanic and sedimentary rocks and the swampy and jungle-covered lowlands characterised by long rivers, sandbanks and mudflats. Second, having already been incarcerated, malnourished and forced into hard labour for over two years beforehand, the initial general condition of the Sumatra Railway workforce was poorer that that on Burma-Siam (the building of which began relatively early in captivity).”

Life on the Sumatra Railway

All the same, working on Sumatra and Burma-Siam railways were equally deadly.

One of the survivors of Sumatra railway, George Duffy once wrote, “Indeed death was no stranger there. We were overworked, underfed, provided with little medicine, and subjected to constant physical and mental abuse by our Japanese overseers.

“A hospital for malaria, dysentery, pellagra and beriberi patients existed in name only. It was simply a dilapidated bamboo-framed, thatched roof barracks where the sick were placed to await their eventual death.”

One of the few doctors treating the POWs was military surgeon W.J. van Ramshorst from The Hague.

The good doctor was brave enough to confront the Japanese army about the death rates of the prisoners.

He told them, “Camp 2 has about eight hundred patients. Around one hundred men die each month. If things continue as they are, all patients will be dead in eight months time.”

To this, the Japanese replied, “Your calculations are correct. That is exactly our goal.”

Liberation comes to Sumatra Railway

August 15 will always be remembered as V-J Day or Victory over Japan Day. It is a day the Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end.

It was also the day that Sumatra Railway officially completed. There was even a completion ceremony organised by the Japanese army.

Henk Hovinga in his book The Sumatra Railroad: Final Destination Pakan Baroe described how the prisoners welcomed the news of their freedom.

“For all prisoners, liberation after three and a half years of captivity was a moment they would never forget. Yet each man experienced that day in his own individual way. Some cried, other laughed, prayed or cursed.

“They had suffered too much to be only thankful that it had finally ended. Many were deadly ill or dying and could no longer grasp the magnitude of the news of their liberation.

“Others were too apathetic or too bitter to respond spontaneously. In every camp along the railway the moment of liberation was a different experience. And even prisoners living together in the same camp cherished different memories of the moment when the Japanese surrender was announced.”

Dr van Ramshorst for instance, remembered the day liberation as just another ordinary day.

“We all received as double ration of rice. After a couple of days, we were allowed to leave the camp, but still had to return. I walked leisurely to Pakan Baroe (Pekanbaru), visited the post office and asked the crazy question if I could send a telegram to my wife on Java. And strangely enough that was possible. I paid ten cents per word. In the meantime, the Japs had become friendly, but fearfully nervous. After they had burned all camp documents, some of them asked me if they should commit suicide. And I answered them: ‘Yes, if it is your custom to commit harakiri, then that is the best thing to do…”

What happened to the Japanese after the war?

It is not sure how many, if any, Japanese who actually took Dr van Ramshorst’s advice.

However, it is certain many Japanese army along with their Korean guards were prosecuted for war crimes they committed during the construction of Sumatra Railway.

Captain Ryohei Miyazaki who was responsible for the 18 camps along the railway was sentenced to death on May 30, 1948.

The man who was responsible for food and provisions General Yamamoto was sentenced to death on Dec 30, 1948.

Meanwhile, the chief medical officer Colonel Fukaya was executed on Dec 30, 1948.

Many of the guards received prison sentences ranging from 5 to 20 years of imprisonment.

What happened to Sumatra Railway after the war?

image 20150810 11107 h9jm14
Liberated prisoners distributing rice rations to campmates. Pakanbaroe, Sumatra, 1945. AWM 019382. Courtesy of Australian War Memorial.

After all the blood, sweat and tears put into the railway, in the end it was never fully utilised.

For a railway built for war purposes, the first train ride on the Sumatra Railway was used to transport former Dutch POWs from Muoro to Pekanbaru driven by a Japanese corporal.

The train derailed from its track but the passengers helped to get it back on line.

Then in early 1946, the last group of the Japanese railway engineers in Sumatra boarded the train from Muoro to Pekanbaru.

Since then, the railway between Muoro and Pekanbaru was never used again.

Many parts of the railway have been claimed back by nature as the areas are now overgrown by jungle.

It is even hard to see the remnants of the railway, as many of the parts have been removed for scrap.

In the end, the railway took the lives over 100,000 labourer including about 703 POWs.

Many of them died due to accident, sickness and abuse as well as execution by the Japanese.

You might be interested in

Why were Dayak volunteers sent to Malaya in 1948?

Published on

We have heard of stories of how Sarawak Rangers assisted in the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) when Sarawak was a British Crown Colony.

And we have read stories of how Dayak climbers assisted in scientific expeditions all the way to New Guinea.

But did you know why did Dayak volunteers were sent to Federation of Malaya in 1948?

If you are familiar with Ghostbusters’ theme song, part of the lyrics goes

“If there’s something strange,
In your neighborhood
Who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters!
If there’s something weird,
And it don’t look good
Who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters!”

As for the Malayans 80 years ago, they called the Dayak people from Sarawak to help when something happened in their neighbourhoods.

Dayak volunteers to the rescue

Dayaks in their war dress

In 1948, the federation of Malaya requested Sarawak to send a ‘limited number of Dayak Volunteers to assist in operations against bandits.’

According to the Sarawak Gazette, these volunteers reportedly arrived in Malaya in two groups.

However, it was not reported where or how these Sarawakians completed their missions.

The report in the gazette also pointed out, “This is not the first time that Dayak volunteers have served in Malaya.”

In 1936, a ferocious ape terrorised the Weld Hill district (now Bukit Nanas) near Kuala Lumpur.

The animal ‘made a nuisance of itself by attacking and biting children and adults and all attempts to destroy the animal failed’.

Then two Dayak men from Sarawak arrived to the rescue and captured the ape.

The ape’s stuffed remains were reportedly exhibited in the Kuala Lumpur Museum back in 1948.

The Dayak people were known for their skills living in the jungle and tough terrains. Their knowledge of plants and animals was wide and their hunting skills were commendable.

Combining these traits, the Dayak people in those days made good trackers be it, tracking animals or humans.

Thus, it is no surprise why when Malaya had problem with thieves and a raging ape, the first people they turned to for help were the Dayak people.

You might be interested in

How an Indonesian folk song became the center of communism propaganda

Published on

“Genjer-genjer” is an Indonesian folk song written in the Osing language about a plant called genjer.

Also known as yellow velvetleaf, genjer (Limnocharis flava) can be found in countries such as Indonesia, South America, Sri Lanka, India, Cambodia and Malaysia.

When the songwriter came up with “Genjer-genjer” it would later became one of the most taboo songs in Indonesian history.

An Indonesian folk song written during the Japanese occupation

Muhammad Arief first recorded the song during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies in 1942.

The musician who was from Banyuwangi town in East Java, musically arranged it for the angklung, a Sundanese musical instrument made of a varying number of bamboo tubes.

Since genjer was considered a poor man’s food and would usually be eaten when there was no other food left, Arief used it as the inspiration for his song.

He wanted to tell the story of the people of his town who had to depend on genjer for food due to Japanese oppression during World War 2(WWII).

However, the Japanese occupation government used the song as propaganda to encourage the Indonesians to sacrifice their food as crops were given to the soldiers.

“Genjer-genjer”, an Indonesian folk song continued to be used for propaganda

Fast forward to post independent Indonesia, “Genjer-genjer” became well known in mainstream music.

Fueling on the fame, the song was covered by famous artists such as Bing Slamet and Lilis Suryani.

Watch Lilis Suryani’s version of the song here.

At first, the song was used by some political movements to criticise President Sukarno’s Guided Democracy.

It was a political system in place in Indonesia from 1957 until 1966 based on the traditional village system of discussion and consensus, instead of the normal democracy.

With the support of military, Sukarno proposed a cabinet representing all major political parties including the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI).

Due to the popularity of “Genjer-genjer”, PKI also used this song to promote communism.

Since then, a simple folk song to reflect the state of poverty became a major tool in communism propaganda.

The peak of propaganda

The infamous 30 September Movement was a major turning point in Indonesian history.

It took place on the evening of Sept 30, 1965 when a group of militants captured and executed six of Indonesia’s top military generals.

The movement proclaimed itself as Sukarno’s protectors, punishing those who were planning a coup against the president.

Even to this day, the true motive behind 30 September Movement is still unknown.

The first and most famous group to be blamed behind the massacre was the PKI.

PKI, however, claimed that it had nothing to do with them but was entirely an internal army affair.

Later in 1971, political analysts Benedict Anderson and Ruth McVley in their article widely known as
the Cornell Paper also believed the killing of six Indonesian generals was due to internal military issue.

Regardless of who mastermind the killing, there was one thing for sure, the public believed that the communists to be specific, PKI was behind it.

But what did “Genjer-genjer” have anything to do with the killings?

Genjer-genjer and the Lubang Buaya myth

Lubang Buaya is a suburb located in Cipayung district, East Jakarta. It is infamously known as the murder site of six generals.

There were plenty of myths and false reports surrounding the deaths of the six generals.

One of the most popular was that Gerwani members were using the “Genjer-genjer” song to train to kill the generals.

Gerwani or Gerakan Wanita Indonesia (Indonesian Women’s Movement) was a woman organisation affiliated with PKI.

It was started aiming to fight women issues such as gender equality and labour rights but shifted toward communism in 1960s.

This led some of the founding members such as prominent journalist S.K. Trimurti to leave Gerwani.

Soon enough, stories of how Gerwani women had been engaged in orgy with their victims and then torturing, mutilating and fondling the generals’ genitals before killing them circulated.

And they did this allegedly while singing the song “Genjer-genjer”.

Nevertheless, some believed the alleged killings by the Gerwani was a deliberate sensation orchestrated by the Indonesian army to depict communist women were immoral.

Furthermore, autopsy reports stated the generals had died due to a gunshot wounds with no signs of mutilation or torture.

The ban on the Indonesian folk song, genjer-genjer

Another rumour has it that a musical sheet for the song “Genjer-genjer” but with different lyrics from the original was found at the murder scene.

Regardless of whether this was the truth or not, “Genjer-genjer” became a taboo song.

After the Sept 30 Movement, the new Indonesian government banned the song.

The ban ended in 1998 with President Suharto’s resignation.

Muhammad Arief and TikTok

Perhaps the reason behind “Genjer-genjer” being closely associated with communism lies on Muhammad Arief, the original songwriter.

He was allegedly connected to Lekra (Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat), a cultural organisation affiliated with PKI.

After 30 September Movement tragedy, anti-communism sentiment was on the rise resulting in what we now know as the Indonesian Communist Purge.

From 1965 to 1966, thousands of people were captured and killed including PKI members, Gerwani women, communist sympathisers and alleged leftists.

One of them was “Genjer-genjer”’s songwriter, Muhammad Arief.

According to his son, he was taken by police military in 1965. The last the family heard was that Arief was imprisoned in Malang city.

Till today , nobody knows what actually happened to “Genjer-genjer”’s songwriter.

In 2021, the song made waves among younger generation but not because of any propaganda.

Thanks to TikTok, the Indonesian folk song became popular again as users played “Genjer-genjer” in front of their grandparents to see their reactions.

Most of the TikTok videos showed how the elders glared or scolded the TikTokers for playing the song.

If Arief was still alive, what would he think about his song today?

You might be interested in

The rise and fall of Bulungan sultanate, a Muslim kingdom with Kayan roots

Published on

Today, the Kayan people of Borneo are known to practice mainly Christianity. Most of them have left their traditional belief called bungan and shamanism.

However, did you know that hundreds of years ago, a Muslim sultanate called the Bulungan sultanate was allegedly founded by a Kayan princess from Apau Kayan who had married a Bruneian?

Centuries ago, a great number of Kayans moved to east Borneo. There, they began the ethnogenesis of the Bulungan people when they converted to Islam.

The sultanate is located in the existing Bulungan Regency in the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia.

The center of the sultanate is today’s Tanjung Selor town which is the capital of both the North Kalimantan province and Bulungan regency.

During the peak of its reign, the sultanate territory spanned the eastern shores of North Kalimantan up to Tawau, now Malaysian Borneo.

The history of Bulungan sultanate

According to Bernard Sellato in his paper Forest, Resources and People in Bulungan, the history of the kingdom started from a group of Kayans who settled near the coast.

He stated, “This Dayak group, the Kayan Uma’ Apan, moved from Apo Kayan in the 17th century down the Kayan river, settled near Long Peleban (middle Kayan river), and then moved farther downstream to the Binai river, near the coast.

“There, a Kayan princess, marrying a visiting nobleman, Lancang, allegedly from Brunei (c.1650), started a dynasty of Indianised kings, which later was centered near Tanjung Selor. A century later (c.1750), this dynasty converted to Islam, and a long line of sultans, vassals to the sultan of Berau (himself a vassal to Kutai), followed until the 1850s, when the Dutch began interfering in local affairs, trying to eradicate piracy and the slave trade.”

Another account of the founding of Bulungan kingdom stated that it was founded by Kuwanyi, a Kayan aristocrat from Uma Apan of Usun Apau.

He was known for his leadership and bravery. Kuwanyi had a daughter named Asung Lawan. She then married a Brunei prince named Datu Mencang. It was under the reign of Asung Lawan and Datu Mencang, the kingdom became a Muslim sultanate.

Meanwhile, another origin story behind the Bulungan sultanate is more on the fantasy side.

Long time ago, there was a childless Kayan leader who found an egg and a bamboo.

He brought both home and the the egg and bamboo turned into a baby girl and and a baby boy respectively.

According to this legend, the boy and girl later founded the Bulungan kingdom.

Either way, it is widely understood that Bulungan sultanate is rooted from the Kayan people.

Kayan river
Kayan river in North Kalimantan.

A Norwegian’s visit to Sultanate of Bulungan

Carl Sofus Lumholtz (1851-1922) was a Norwegian explorer and ethnographer.

In 1913, he started an expedition to explore Dutch Central Borneo to learn about the culture in the area.

One of the few accounts about Sultan of Bulungan back then can be found in Lumholtz’s book, Through Central Borneo; an account of two years’ travel in the land of the headhunters between the years 1913 and 1917 (1920).

He wrote:

“Two days later, among mighty forests of nipa-palms, we sailed up the Kayan or Bulungan river and arrived at Tandjong Selor, a small town populated by Malays and Chinese, the number of Europeans being usually limited to two, the controleur and the custom house manager. It lies in a flat swampy country and on the opposite side of the river, which here is 600 metres wide, lives the Sultan of Bulungan.

I secured a large room in a house which had just been rented by two Japanese who were representatives of a lumber company, and had come to arrange for the export of hardwood from this part of Borneo.

Accompanied by the controleur, Mr. R. Schreuder, I went to call on the Sultan. He was a man of about thirty-five years, rather prepossessing in appearance, and proud of his ancestry, although time has so effaced his Dayak characteristic that he looks like a Malay. Dato Mansur, his executive, met us at the landing and escorted us into the presence of the Sultan and his wife, where were offered soda water and whiskey, and we were remained an hour. They are both likeable, but the Sultan appears rather nervous and frail, and it is rumoured that his health has suffered as a result of overindulgence in spiritualistic seances.

He gave an entertaining account of natives living in the trees on the Malinau river. As it had been impossible for me to obtain cartridges for my Winchester rifle, the Sultan was kind enough to lend me one of his before we parted, as well as two hundred cartridges.”

Lumholtz’s visit to the Sultanate of Bulungan took place sometimes in December 1913.

Sultanate of Bulungan under Dutch colonisation

The Dutch signed with the Sultan of Bulungan a Politiek Contract to impose their sovereignty over the kingdom in 1850.

By 1893, there was a Dutch government post set up in Tanjung Selor.

Under the Dutch control, the sultan was forced to hand over control of the remoter regions of the Bahau river, Pujungan river, and Apo Kayan.

Then in 1881, the British North Borneo Chartered Company (BNBC) was formed, placing North Borneo (present-day Sabah) under British jurisdiction.

Tawau, which was previously reigned over by Sultan of Bulungan, was claimed by BNBC.

After long negotiation with the British, the Dutch finally recognised the British borders in 1915 which is basically the border between Sabah and North Kalimantan now.

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Groepsportret met Maulana Mohamad Djalaloeddin Sultan van Boeloengan op zijn troon TMnr 60041528
The rulling class of the Bulungan Sultanate (taken c. 1925-1935). Credit: Creative Common

Bulungan sultanate during Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation

Ultimately, the connection between the kingdom and Malaysia played a role in the fall of Bulungan.

After World War II had ended and many countries were freed from Japanese occupation, Indonesia gained its independence from the Dutch.

Unlike many sultanates in Borneo which were abolished after independence partly due to many sultans and their families being executed by the Japanese, the Sultanate of Bulungan retained its power.

Then Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation took place in 1963 because Indonesia opposed the creation of Malaysia.

During this time, the Sultanate of Bulungan was accused of being supportive toward Malaysia.

In April 1964, it was reported that a document was found proving the ties between Bulungan aristocracy and Malaysia.

It stated that the Bulungan royal family would proclaim a merger with Sabah and subsequently Malaysia.

Furthermore, the aristocrats were seen to be visiting Sabah frequently. However, many believed the visits were just because they had relatives in Tawau.

In the same month, the Indonesian army allegedly found arms in the former palace of the sultan. By now, they strongly believed that sultan and his followers would take part in the Confrontation but would lean on the Malaysian side.

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De sultan van Bulungan en zijn echtgenote Borneo TMnr 10001599
Abdul Jalil of Bulungan with the Queen consort (1940). Credit: Creative Common

The massacre of Bulungan royal family

Later, an order came out to arrest all members of the Bulungan royal family.

When the army arrived at the Bulungan palace on July 2, 1964, they came under the pretense of just an ordinary official visit.

Naturally, the royal family provided a feast for the army that night to welcome their visit. The Sultan had no idea what the army had planned.

In the dawn of July 3 while the family and their servants were sleeping, the army surrounded the palace.

They then proceeded to capture everyone in the palace including the sultan.

Burhan Djabler Magenda in his book East Kalimantan: The Decline of a commercial Aristocracy narrated the fate of this aristocracy.

“The aristocrats were separated into several groups. All the male members were put into one group and into one boat, while the women and children were placed in a separate boat. They were supposed to be transported first to Tarakan and from there taken to Balikpapan. This plan never materialised,” he wrote.

Instead, off the shore of Tarakan, all about 30 of them in total were gunned down by their own guards.

There, their bodies were thrown into the sea. The soldiers also burned the palace to the ground and the fire lasted for two days and two nights.

Amal Beach Tarakan 2
Amal Beach of Tarakan

The end of the Sultanate of Bulungan

While there were many different accounts about the massacre, one thing for sure was that many members of the Bulungan royal family were executed in July 1964.

Among the immediate family of Sultan Bulungan, one son was in school in Malang during the incident.

However, he was later arrested in Balikpapan and was never heard of again.

Another two sons were able to survive because they managed to escape in time. They fled to Tawau and became Malaysian nationals.

In 2017, the descendants of the Sultan revealed to an Indonesian newspaper their intentions to return to their homeland by giving up their Malaysian nationalities and become Indonesian.

As dead men cannot speak, there was no definite proof that the Bulungan royal family was supportive of Malaysia to this day which cost their lives.

Even if they were, many agreed that killing the whole family including women and children was an extreme move by the army.

Regardless, the massacre of Bulungan royal family marked the end of the sultanate.

You might be interested in

5 female journalists that everyone should know about

Published on

Today, the journalism industry is tainted by the wild spread of fake news and the oppression against the media.

Plus, the digital age of information has not been entirely favourable towards journalism.

On the good side, news and information are easier and faster to dispense to the wider crowd.

At the same time, plagiarism and infringement of ideas take place faster and in a larger scale than we have ever imagined before.

While a good number of journalists are still taking pride in pursuing original stories, other so-called digital content creators are taking pleasure in rewording others’ articles.

Moreover, the online violence female journalists has increased ‘significantly’ according to UNESCO’s latest findings.

The UNESCO report carried out by the International Center for Journalists surveyed more than 900 female journalists from 125 countries. It found that nearly three-quarters of these female journalists had experienced online abuse.

The study also found that a quarter of those surveyed had been physically threatened. The reasons behind these threats include covering elections or conflicts, women’s rights or for reporting stories that identified as ‘male coverage’ such as sports. These reasons mostly are not the same reasons behind threats against male journalists.

Additionally, the contribution of female journalists have been always overshadowed by their male colleagues.

write 3994024 1280

With that, let us remember these five female journalists whose writings have contributed to society and even influenced the course of history:

1.S.K. Trimuti

S K Trimurti 12 July 1947 KR

Indonesian journalist Soerastri Karma Trimurti (1912-2008) was also known as S. K. Trimuti.

She started her career as an elementary school teacher during the 1930s.

In 1936, the Dutch authorities arrested her for distributing anti-colonial leaflets.

Trimuti later was imprisoned for nine months at Bulu Prison in Semarang, Central Java.

Her arrest became a turning point in her life. Upon her release from prison, Trimurti quit her job as a teacher and became a journalist.

In order to avoid being arrested by the Dutch, Trimurti used different pseudonyms in her articles.

When World War II (WWII) broke out, the Japanese took control of her country.

During this time, Pesat, a newspaper she published together with her husband, was banned by the Japanese.

Unfortunately, Trimurti was also arrested and tortured by the Japanese.

After Indonesia achieved its independence, Trimurti ventured into politics.

She became Indonesia’s first Minister of Labour.

Today, there is a journalism award named after her called the SK Trimurti Award. The award is to recognise journalists’ efforts in fighting for gender equality in Indonesia.

2.Chit Estella

Today, Chit Estella is known for playing crucial part in the founding of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and of Vera Files.

These two are Philippines’ most prominent independent investigative journalism organisations.

Her work circled mostly on writing on government corruption and human rights violations.

At one point of her career, Estella was the editor in-chief of Pinoy Times. It was a Filipino tabloid that catalysed the ousting of Philippine President Joseph Estrada.

Sadly on May 13, 2011, the veteran journalist was killed after a bus slammed into the taxi that she was riding in Quezon City.

Her name is now among the 19 inscribed on the Monument of the Heroes Memorial Wall in Quezon City. The memorial is dedicated to those ‘who defied risks and dedicated their lives for the cause of truth, justice, peace and freedom of the Filipino people’ during Ferdinand Marcos’ regime.

This was in recognition of Estella’s early work as a journalist during the Martial Law period, a stunning 14-year period of one-man rule under Marcos spanning 1972 to 1986.

3.Daphne Caruana Galiza

This Maltese writer, journalist and blogger was a well-known figure for her works in investigative journalism.

Daphne Caruana Galizia’s reports focused on government corruption, organised crime, nepotism and money laundering.

Due to her writings, she was threatened and intimidated almost on adaily basis.

On Oct 16, 2017, a bomb which was placed in her car exploded, killing her immediately while she was driving.

As of November 2019, four men were arrested in connection of Galizia’s murder including Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech.

He was the owner of 17 Black Limited, a mysterious shell company Galizia had been looking into just before her untimely death.

In honour of Galizia, the European United Left-Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) Award for Journalists, Whistleblowers & Defenders of the Right to Information was established in 2018.

4.Lin Zongsu

Lin Zongsu

Lin Zongsu was born in Fujian Province in 1878, she was tutored by her mother at home as a child.

In 1902, she began her studies at the Patriotic Girls School of Shanghai.

As a student, she co-founded the first women student’s association called the Mutual Love Society.

The organisation published their views in the journal Jiangsu. It was through this journal Lin began her writing career, advocating for women’s rights.

After finishing her study, she started to work at her brother’s newspaper called the Chinese Vernacular News.

Lin also became an associate editor for the Daily Alarm. She wrote mostly about women’s rights during her career as a journalist.

In the end, both of the newspapers were forced to shut down in 1905.

After that, Lin went into politics, founding the Women’s Suffrage Comrades Alliance in 1911.

Her advocacy might be taken for granted today, but it was a significant move for women’s rights as Lin and other women in her organisation were fighting for women’s right to vote.

In 1913, democracy was suppressed under the Yuan Shikai regime in China.

Lin decided to leave the political world as well as China and moved to Singapore where she became teacher and ran a boating business. The money she earned was used to finance her brother’s newspaper in China.

After a decade in Singapore, Lin moved back to China where she passed away in 1944.

Today, she is remembered as one of China’s first female journalists and newspaper editors as well as a notable feminist activist.

5.Na Hye-sook

She was considered the first professional female painter and the first feminist writer in Korea.

Na Hye-sok published Korea’s first feminist short story, Kyonghui in 1918 at the age of 22.

It was about a woman who returns home to Korea from Japanese university to be confronted by people around her who do not believe in female education.

The short story resonated with Na’s life because at that time she was still studying at Tokyo Women’s College of Arts. She was taking a Bachelor of Arts in Western Painting, the first Korean woman to do so.

Na returned to Korea a year after she published Kyonghui.

Upon her return together with four other women, Na launched the first issue of Sinyoja or New Woman.

It was the first ever magazine for Korean women.

Na herself wrote several articles arguing about the practicality of Korean female dresses.

Japanese authority who ruled Korea at that time, shut down Sinyoja after only four issues.

The writer continued to write ‘controversial’ articles while juggling her career as a painter.

In the end, her article in the Samcheolli magazine in 1934 called ‘A Divorce Confession’ became Na’s most controversial write-up.

She openly talked about her sex life, pointing out that her former husband had not sexually satisfied her.

The painter also criticized male-dominance in Korean society in the article.

Her most eyebrow-raising statement was that she advocated domestic partnership before real marriage to take place.

After her article was published, the conservative Korean society was not having it. From then, nobody wanted to hire her to write, or buy her paintings.

Despite her wealthy upbringing, Na ended up living in poverty and spending her last years on charity.

She passed away alone on Dec 10, 1948 in a hospital. To this day, no one knows the location of her grave.

Her name became a phrase to reprimand young girls interested in literary or artistic aspirations as the scolding “Do you want to become another Na Hye-sok?” became widely used.

Thankfully, since then Na has been acknowledged in South Korea for her painting and writing with a retrospective featured at the Seoul Arts Centre in 2000. Even Google celebrated her 123rd birthday in 2019 with a doodle.

You might be interested in

Pipe smoking in the olden days of Borneo

Published on

When it comes to traditional or the ‘old school’ way of smoking in Borneo, most people are familiar with the technique of wrapping the tobacco in a dried banana leaf before lighting up.

However, the oldest traditional form of smoking in the world is actually pipe smoking.

Even though pipe smoking in Borneo was less practiced compared to the traditional cigarette, it doesn’t mean it was not there.

Here are some descriptions of pipe smoking in the olden days of Borneo:

1.Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)

When British naturalist Wallace was 31, he travelled through the Malay Archipelago including Borneo from 1854 to 1862.

Besides collecting specimens for his work on natural history, Wallace also observed the local culture.

Wallace once wrote in his book about pipe smoking, stating, “The Dyaks’ favourite pipe is a huge hubble-bubble, which he will construct in a few minutes, by inserting a small piece of bamboo for a bowl obliquely into a large cylinder, about six inches from the bottom, containing water, through which the smoke passes to long slender bamboo tube.”

2.Dayak smoking pipe in the Mahakam

Carl Alfred Bock (1849-1932) was a Norwegian author and explorer.

From 1878 to 1879, he travelled from Sumatra to Dutch Borneo under the authority of the then governor-general of the Dutch East Indies.

Based on his exploration, Bock wrote the book The Headhunters of Borneo; A Narrative of Travel Up the Mahakkam and Down the Barito, Journeyings in Sumatra (1882).

In the book, he described what a Dayak aasmoking pipe looked like.

“The Dyak pipe is a very peculiarly constructed instrument, consisting of a stout bamboo cylinder, about twenty-two inches long and one and a half inches in diameter, which contains water to cool the smoke ; inside this tube is placed a piece of split rattan filled with fibre, which absorbs the nicotine ; about one inch from the end of this tube is inserted, at right angles, a slender carved piece of ironwood, about eight inches in length, and bored with a hole rather more than a quarter of an inch in diameter ; this constitutes the bowl, which contains only a very small quantity of tobacco. The Dyak, however, never takes more than half-a-dozen puffs at a time, as the Java tobacco which is generally used is very strong, and the smoke is always swallowed. Cigarettes, made of a little tobacco rolled up in a small piece of banana leaf, are largely used. The use of opium is, in some districts, rapidly extending among the rich Dyaks.”

3.Owen Rutter

Speaking of a travel writer, Owen Rutter (1889-1944) was one of the prominent ones during the early 20th century,

From 1910 to 1915, Rutter was serving with the North Borneo Civil Service. After serving in the army during World War I, he travelled extensively around the world including Borneo, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Canada and the United States.
Describing about smoking pipe of a Murut in his book British North Borneo: an account of its history, resources and native tribes (1922), Rutter stated:

“The pipe is a fearful contrivance, and is guaranteed to turn the most hardened European smoker green. It consists of a cylinder of bamboo twelve to eighteen inches long with a small brass or wooden bowl about an inch from one end. Into this bowl, which is about a quarter the size of an ordinary pipe, the Murut crams his tobacco, lights it, and then, having taken one or two enormous puffs down the bamboo mouthpiece, inhales violently.

“The air is choked with the reek of native tobacco and there arise great clouds of smoke, followed by a sound of coughing and expectoration. Immediately after all this you notice that he lays the pipe aside. The smoke is over. Mercifully so, for no pipe and a few smokers could endure so drastic a performance for very long.”

4. Did pipe smoking indicate a Chinese-occupied Borneo?

William Maunder Crocker was the Governor of British North Borneo from 1887 to 1888.

Unlike other Europeans who had observed pipe smoking among the locals, Crocker claimed, “I have never seen nor heard of any Bornean tribes who smoke pipes.”

However, English geologist Frank Hatton who worked in British North Borneo had two pipes in his possession before he died on Mar 1, 1883.

Frank Hatton

Commenting on the Hatton’s pipes, Crocker wrote, “They must be peculiar to that one tribe, the Tungara people. All the natives of Borneo smoke, almost from the moment they leave their mothers’ arms. They roll the tobacco in a palm leaf to smoke it and it has a very fine flavour. But pipes, this is the first time anybody has ever heard of pipes in Borneo.

“These two pipe-relics of Frank’s last expedition, are made of hard red wood, and have bamboo stems. They are much the same kind of pipe as that used by the Chinese, who only put in a pinch of tobacco.

“The discovery of these pipes suggests another piece of evidence favourable to the belief that at some very remote period Borneo was partially settled and occupied by China.”

5.The law against taking away a pipe

Whether part of Borneo was ever occupied by China is a story for another day.

One thing for sure is that there is a native law that still exists to this day regarding the Bidayuh traditional bamboo water pipe, sirubok.

According to Sarawak native law Adat Bidayuh 1994 Section No 56, whoever damages, contaminates or takes a away a sirubok from a pingudung (rest stop) shall provide one hundred fruit as pingasung, or some form of restitution for a breach of the adat.

So if you see a sirubok lying around, be a model citizen and treat it like you would any piece of public property – with respect.

You might be interested in

Remembering the attack on Semporna town in 1954

Published on

The attack on Semporna town in March 1954 is considered one of the major incidences of Sabah cross-border crimes.

A group of 30 armed Filipino pirates with two policemen and four others were killed.

The news of the attack travelled fast, especially among European communities.

In a news report by Reuters published on Mar 31, 1954, stated that, “One European, one police sergeant and two constables were killed when an unknown number of men in two boats, believed to be Filipino pirates from the South Philippines, raided the small town of Semporna, on the east coast of North Borneo, last night.

“The pirates, who were well armed with automatic weapons, tried to rob the town but were opposed by the small police force of 14 men.

“The European killed in the exchange of fire was the Assistant Conservator of Forests of Tawau (Mr Barnard).

“The North Borneo police, headed by residents of the east coasts, are scouring surrounding waters for the pirates.

“Semporna has been raided a few times by pirates in the past but last night’s raid was the most serious.

“Nearby waters are haunts of murderous Sulu and Moro pirates who find protection in the multitude of islands.”

Semporna police station

The beginning of the attack on Semporna town

So what actually happened on that fateful day? How did the European Mr Barnard get caught in the fire between the police and the pirates?

The answer lies in a special report by Sabah Forestry Department.

Mr Barnard or Thomas Robert Barnard, to be precise, was the District Forestry Officer (DFO) of Lahad Datu.

He was in Semporna to carry out grading work at a log pond, about half a mile from town, owned by a prominent timber merchant Pua Din Kok.

Barnard went there with Timber Inspector Ahmad Nawi, along with boatman Damsik and his assistant.

They arrived at 5.30pm and they moored their boat at the Customs jetty where the Police Station and the Forestry Checking Station were also located.

While Ahmad was securing the boat to the jetty, he suddenly noticed two suspicious boats.

As the boats came closer, Ahmad realised the men on board were armed with automatic firearms and parangs.

Realising that the men were Filipino pirates, Ahmad immediately warned Barnard and the others.

Together with the boatmen, Ahmad jumped into sea and swam towards the mangrove trees nearby to hide.

Barnard, however, took out his shotgun to fire at the pirates, who at this moment already started to shoot at the police station.

While he managed to kill a pirate and wound another, Barnard was unfortunately shot in the back and died on the boat.

The shootout at Semporna Police Station

The pirates then proceeded to attack Semporna police station with intent to take control of it.

At the same time, the police who had heard the gunshots from the jetty were returning fire.

During the attack, the officer in-charge, Sergeant Sagar Singh was slashed in the neck. In other reports, it was stated that he was shot.

Regardless, Sergeant Singh was attacked while trying to unlock the firearms safe to retrieve more weapons and ammunition.

With the attack on the sergeant, the pirates got hold of the weapons and ammunition in the safe.

For the next three hours, the pirates looted the town, robbing the locals at gunpoint.

They finally left at about 8.45pm that same evening.

Besides Barnard and Sergeant Singh, the attack took the lives of a Chinese tailor, a 12-year-old Bajau boy and another two police constables.

The aftermath of the attack on Semporna town

After the bloody incident, BNBC set up an armed force of marine police in North Borneo.

They proved themselves to be an efficient organisation as they successfully patrolled and kept order in North Borneo waters in subsequent years.

Meanwhile, Barnard’s courageous and selfless act was posthumously awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery.

You might be interested in

3 things we learn from W.H. Treacher’s British Borneo: Sketches of Brunai, Sarawak, Labuan and North Borneo (1891)

Published on

Sir William Hood Treacher (1849-1919) was a British colonial administrator in Borneo and the Straits Settlements.

In Selangor, he was at the Anglo Chinese School in Klang on Mar 10, 1893.

His career in Borneo started in 1871 when he arrived in Labuan to be the acting Police Magistrate.

In 1873, Treacher became Colonial Secretary of Labuan before going on to be the first Governor of North Borneo (1881-1887).

Based on his career in Borneo, Treacher wrote a book ‘British Borneo: Sketches of Brunai, Sarawak, Labuan and North Borneo’.

His writings circled around his own experience as a colonial officer as well as the books and research that had been previously written about Borneo.

However, Treacher’s spellings for Malay words might take a second or two to understand.

For example, ‘chukei basoh batis’ is actually ‘cukai basuh betis’ or ‘the tax of washing feet’. Similarly, ‘mantri’ is menteri (minister).

Sir william hood treacher

Here are three things we learn from British Borneo: Sketches of Brunai, Sarawak, Labuan and North Borneo (1891) by William Hood Treacher:

1.The important role of Chinese immigrants in British Borneo

In 1881, the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) ran a census on North Borneo and found the native population was considered to be unsuited to meet the requirements of modern development.

They estimated the number of indigenous people to be 60,000 to 100,000.

In order to increase the population, the government realised they needed to push on immigration, particularly from China.

Noting the importance of Chinese immigrants, Treacher stated,

“The frugal, patient, industrious, go-ahead, money-making Chinaman is undoubtedly the colonist for the sparsely inhabited islands of the Malay archipelago. Where, as in Java, there is a large native population and the struggle for existence has compelled the natives to adopt habits of industry, the presence of the Chinaman is not a necessity, but in a country like Borneo, where the inhabitants, from time immemorial, except during unusual periods of drought or epidemic sickness, have never found the problem of existence bear hard upon them, it is impossible to impress upon the natives that they ought to have “wants,” whether they feel them or not, and that the pursuit of the dollar for the sake of mere possession is an ennobling object, differentiating the simple savage from the complicated product of the higher civilization.

[…]“The Chinaman, too, in addition to his valuable properties as a keen trader and a man of business, collecting from the natives the products of the country, which he passes on to the European merchant, from whom he obtains the European fabrics and American “notions” to barter with the natives, is also a good agriculturist, whether on a large or small scale; he is muscular and can endure both heat and cold, and so is, at any rate in the tropics, far and away a superior animal to the white labourer, whether for agricultural or mining work, as an artizan, or as a hewer of wood and drawer of water, as a cook, a housemaid or a washerwoman.

“He can learn any trade that a white man can teach him, from ship-building to watchmaking, and he does not drink and requires scarcely any holidays or Sundays, occasionally only a day to worship his ancestors.

2.How famous Hugh Low was among the locals

Sir Hugh Low (1824-1905) was another British colonial administrator and naturalist.

From 1848-1850, he was the Colonial Secretary of Labuan.

Then in 1851, Low made the first documented ascent of Mount Kinabalu.

For Treacher, being associated with Low was a life-saving thing.

“His (Sir Hugh Low) name was known far and wide in Northern Borneo and in the Sulu Archipelago. As an instance, I was once proceeding up a river in the island of Basilan, to the North of Sulu, with Captain C. E. Buckle, in two boats of H. M. S. Frolic, when the natives, whom we could not see, opened fire on us from the banks.

I at once jumped up and shouted out that we were Mr. Low’s friends from Labuan, and in a very short time we were on friendly terms with the natives, who conducted us to their village.

They had thought we might be Spaniards, and did not think it worth while to enquire before tiring.”

Read about Hugh Low here.

3.The origin of the name ‘Sabah’?

How the name ‘Sabah’ remains uncertain to this day. Some believe it came from a type of banana called ‘pisang saba’.

Treacher may not provide the definitive answer either, but he worked hard to explore the possibilities.

“Some explanation of the term “Sabah” as applied to the territory—a term which appears in the Prayer Book version of the 72nd Psalm, verse 10, “The kings of Arabia and Sabah shall bring gifts”—seems called for, but I regret to say I have not been able to obtain a satisfactory one from the Brunai people, who use it in connection only with a small portion of the West Coast of Borneo, North of the Brunai river.

“Perhaps the following note, which I take from Mr. W. E. Maxwell’s “Manual of the Malay Language,” may have some slight bearing on the point:—”Sawa, Jawa, Saba, Jaba, Zaba, etc., has evidently in all times been the capital local name in Indonesia. The whole archipelago was pressed into an island of that name by the Hindus and Romans.

Even in the time of Marco Polo we have only a Java Major and a Java Minor. The Bugis apply the name of Jawa, jawaka (comp. the Polynesian Sawaiki, Ceramese Sawai) to the Moluccas. One of the principal divisions of Battaland in Sumatra is called Tanah Jawa. 

Ptolomy has both Jaba and Saba.”—”Logan, Journ. Ind. Arch., iv, 338.”

“In the Brunai use of the term, there is always some idea of a Northerly direction; for instance, I have heard a Brunai man who was passing from the South to the Northern side of his river, say he was going Saba.

“When the Company’s Government was first inaugurated, the territory was, in official documents, mentioned as Sabah, a name which is still current amongst the natives, to whom the now officially accepted designation of North Borneo is meaningless and difficult of pronunciation.”

You might be interested in

Know the true story behind Oscar-nominated film Sandakan No. 8 (1974)

Published on

Sandakan No. 8 (1974) is a Japanese film directed by Kei Kumai which focused on the ‘karayuki-san’.

‘Karayuki-san’ is the Japanese term for young women forced into sexual slavery in the 19th and early 20th century. Directly translated, it means ‘Ms. Gone-To-China’, although it was expanded to ‘Ms. Gone-Abroad’ as it saw these young women being trafficked to Southeast Asia, Manchuria and even as far as San Francisco.

The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1975. (It lost to Akira Kurosawa’s Dersu Uzala.) 

Sandakan No.8 2

The plot of Sandakan No.8

The film starts with journalist Keiko Mitani (Komaki Kurihara) who is researching the history of Japanese women who were sex slaves in Asian brothels during the early 20th century.

While researching, she finds Osaki (Kinuyo Tanaka), a former karayuki-san who lives in a shack in a rural village.

Osaki agrees to tell her life as the film goes into a flashback to the 1920s.

Poverty-stricken circumstances led to a young Osaki (Yoko Takashi) being sold by her family to work as a maid.

The location? Thousands of miles away in Sandakan, British North Borneo (present-day Sabah).

Osaki thought she was going to work in a hotel. As it turns out, the establishment was actually a brothel called Sandakan No.8.

She is forced to work as a prostitute at Sandakan No.8 until World War II. During her stay at the brothel, she has a short-lived romance with a poor farmer.

When Osaki finally returns to Japan, her brother and his wife who have bought a house using the money she sent them, turns her away. Osaki’s life can never be normal again due to her past at Sandakan No.8.

In the epilogue, Osaki tells Keiko about a graveyard established for prostitutes who died in Sandakan.

Later, Keiko makes her way to Borneo looking for the cemetery. When she finds the graveyard, Keiko realises that all of them were buried with their feet pointing in the direction of Japan.

It is a gesture to condemn their ancestral home for abandoning them.

Sandakan No. 8 is based on the book “Sandakan Brothel No. 8: An Episode in the History of Lower Class”

When author Yamazaki Tomoko interviewed a former karayuki-san, she gave her the pseudonym – Yamakawa Saki – to protect her identity.

Yamazaki met her by accident during a trip to Amakusa in 1968 while researching on karayuki-san. After a series of interviews with Osaki and her friend Ofumi, Yamazaki wrote the book “Sandakan Brothel No. 8: An Episode in the History of Lower Class” (1972).

Although it was Yamazaki’s first book, it instantly became a national best-seller, with her work considered as a pioneer work on karayuki-san. It was later followed by “The graves of Sandakan 1964” and “The Song of a Woman Bound for America 1981”.

The real-life Osaki was born around 1900. Shortly after her birth, her father died leaving her mother struggling to feed three children.

Osaki’s mother then remarried, this time to her own brother-in-law, moving in with her new husband and his six children. For the most part, however, her mother left Osaki and her siblings to fend for themselves.

In order to survive, Osaki’s brother sold her to a procurer for 300 yen. Osaki had also agreed to go because her best friend was going too. She was only 10 years old.

When Osaki first arrived at Sandakan, she worked as a cleaner in the brothel on Lebuh Tiga in Sandakan.

After she turned 13, she was forced to take on customers.

Osaki’s life at Sandakan No.8

Later, she moved to Sandakan No. 8, also known as Brothel No.8, which was unusually owned by a woman named Kinoshita Okuni. She was also known as Okuni of Sandakan who treated her girls well.

Before coming to Sandakan, Okuni was a live-in mistress to an Englishman back in Yokohama. After he left Japan for good, she moved to Sandakan to open a general store and a brothel.

Osaki became a live-in mistress to an Englishman in Sandakan after seven years working at the brothel.

Interestingly, the arrangement was a facade to hide the fact that the Englishman was having an affair with another Englishman’s wife.

Little is known about the Englishman. Osaki called him “Mister Home” and he worked at Dalby Company which owned a shipyard in Sandakan back then. Mister Home also had a wife and children back in England.

Nonetheless, Osaki was happy with the arrangement. She still received money from Mister Home to send it back to Japan and she no longer took customers at the brothel.

Unfortunately, just like the film, Osaki was rejected by her elder brother and the rest of her family upon her return to Japan.

So where is Sandakan No.8?

Just like Keiko in the movie, Yamazaki made her way to Sandakan in the 1970s.

To her disappointment, there were no traces left from Sandakan No.8 or any other brothels.

However, she did find an old graveyard which is now called Sandakan Japanese Cemetery.

It was founded in 1890 by Osaki’s boss, Okuni. She built it to pray for the souls of Japanese who died in Sandakan.

And just like in the movie Sandakan No.8, they were all buried with their feet pointed in Japan’s direction.

You might be interested in

1 … 6 7 8 9 10 … 31