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The Geneva Conventions are four treaties and three additional protocols which establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. Basically, the treaties define the basic rights of wartime prisoners for both civilians and military personnel. In other words, just because you have conquered a country, it doesn’t mean that you can do whatever you […]
Captain Lionel Matthews might not be a familiar name for Sarawakians but during World War II (WWII) he was executed by a firing squad on Mar 2, 1944 in Kuching. After the war, he was posthumously awarded the George Cross. It is the highest award for heroism or courage in the face of the enemy […]
According to Dusun mythology, Kinharingan is a creator deity who came from a rock in the middle of the sea with his sister/wife Munsumundok. In one version of the legend, Kinharingan and Munsumundok walked across the water, perhaps like Jesus in the Bible, until they arrived to the house of the god Bisagit. Bisagit gave […]
Outram Prison was one of the earliest prisons in Singapore. Originally, it was known as Pearl’s Hill Prison before being called Outram Prison or Outram Road Prison. Completed in 1882, the jail complex had five blocks for male criminals; four for natives and one for European. Other buildings housed the female prisons, hospitals, employees’ quarters, […]
‘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. […]
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? […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
