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5 stories about the Sihan people you should know about

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5 stories about the Sihan people you should know about

With less than 300 Sihan people in Sarawak (as of 2012), any stories about their legends, customs and histories are very precious and important.

As recorded by Benedict Sandin in “Notes on the Sian (Sihan) of Belaga” for the Sarawak Museum journal, the Sihan speak the same language with Punan Bushang and Punan Aput, and not with other Punans.

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

1.The ancestors of the Sihan people

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They did not live in longhouses.

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

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

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

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

3.The legend of Batu Balitang

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4.The truth about headhunting among the Sihan people

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

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

Many people were killed on both sides of the war.

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

5.The burial customs of the Sihan people

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

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

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

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

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

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

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5 amusing Sarawak stories as recorded by colonial officer Ian Urquhart

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The Crown Colony of Sarawak was established in 1946 right after the dissolution of the British Military Administration.

On Sept 16, 1963, it was succeeded as the state of Sarawak through the formation of the Malaysian federation.

Unlike other Crown colonies, Sarawak was perhaps the most unique one. Sarawak continued its pre-existing institution of government with minor changes.

The Council Negri which was established under the Rajah Brooke’s 1941 constitution, retained its functions with the rajah being replaced by a British governor. As for the governor, he was required to consult with the council to exercise his power.

In the meantime, Sarawak was divided into five divisions with each overseen by a resident. Each division was then divided into districts which were overseen by district officers.

While a number of Brooke officers remained at their posts, the Colonial office in London also sent officers to serve in Sarawak administration.

One of the first batch British officers arrived in Kuching to work as Colonial Service Administration Cadet was Ian Urquhart.

During his retirement in the mid-1990s, he started to write his memoirs, finally completing them shortly before he died in June 2012.

Urquhart always hoped that his memoirs would be freely available for those who shared his love for Sarawak and its people.

Thus, his family published it on the internet making it available for everyone to read.

Amusing, funny and downright entertaining, the book offers a rare view of Sarawak during its colonial days.

For instance there was one Penghulu Puso from Belaga who had the opportunity to meet Lord Louis and Lady Mountbatten in 1946.

“Looking at her many medal ribbons he had exclaimed ‘What a brave woman. She must have taken many heads’. It was a remark that pleased her greatly,” Urquhart wrote.

He also shared how much the then Governor-General of British territories of Southeast Asia Malcolm MacDonald loved Kapit and its people.

5 amusing Sarawak stories as recorded by colonial officer Ian Urquhart
Urquhart once called Fort Sylvia his home/office when he was posted in Kapit.

Urquhart once overheard MacDonald say to Anthony Abell (the third British governor of Sarawak), that “If I could lead my life over again, I would have liked to be District Officer of Kapit.”

What makes his memoirs endearing is his observation of the commonplace things we see in everyday life, for example, “In my opinion, two of the most unpleasant sounds in this world are those of an Iban or Foochow woman who has a grievance and intends to express it long and loud, as I have known to my cost when hearing court cases.”

On a serious note, Urquhart also shared some behind-the-scene stories of Sarawak historical incidents such as the assassination of Sarawak governor Duncan Stewart and anti-cession movement.

5 amusing Sarawak stories as recorded by colonial officer Ian Urquhart
Sarawak anti-cession demonstration. Borneo Asian Reports [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

For KajoMag, here are at least 5 stories that we find entertaining in Ian Urquhart’s memoir entitled Sarawak Anecdotes (2012):

1.The Brooke officer who was almost executed.

Since Urquhart came to Sarawak after World War II (WWII) ended, there was a handful of Japanese occupation stories he collected, especially from those who have interned.

Here is an interesting story of how a Brooke officer escaped execution:

“Willie Tait, the Rajah’s Postmaster-General of Sarawak, was a genial Yorkshireman. On leave once, he has picked up after an enjoyable party by a policeman in London late at night as he leaned on a lamp post for support. The copper asked him who he was and thought he was joking when he said ‘The Postmaster-General of Sarawak’ and carted him off to gaol for the night to sober up. As the Japanese were invading Kuching and most of his staff had fled. Willie bravely took over the wireless and continued tapping out news to the British forces in Singapore of what was happening in Kuching until he was found by the Japanese. With some other British, he was taken to the Astana and locked up there.

Because of his activities with the wireless, Willie was then taken out onto the lawn to be shot. Being a practicing Roman Catholic, he turned to his executioners and requested that he be allowed to make his peace with his God before he was despatched. His request was granted and he took as long as he possibly could in kneeling down and confessing his sins and praying many prayers to the Lord to save him, failing which that his soul be kindly dealt with, until eventually the Japanese interrupted him saying he had had long enough.

The Postmaster-General regretted that the Lord had apparently ignored his prayers to save him but them said to the Japanese that surely they could not expect him to die with a full bladder. This request was also agreed to, and he wandered over to a tree and took as long as he could over this important performance. At last it seemed that the Lord must have heard his prayers, for a lone British plane appeared over Kuching and the Japanese hastily returned their prisoner to his prison after which, apparently, they had so many other matters to think about that they forgot to execute Willie! Interestingly, no one has been able to identify which plane it was that saved Willie or why it was there.”

2.The haunted hill of 10th Mile Kuching

This is a story Urquhart’s brother in-law R.W. (Bill) Large told him. He was a police officer in the Sarawak Constabulary during Brooke administration.

During the war, he joined the 2/15th Punjab Regiment and posted in Sarawak. However, he was captured and held as prisoner-of-war (POW) in Java.

After the war ended, he returned to the Sarawak Constabulary and eventually married Urquhart’s sister.

Here is the story Bill told Urquhart about the haunted hill at Kuching-Serian Road:

“Before the war, the Serian Road from Kuching was being maintained and the Public Works Department (PWD) engineer in charge told some of his local labour force, mostly Land Dayaks, to go up one of the many small hills near the 10th Mile, but they refused saying the hill was ‘hantu’, i.e a spirit haunted it.

To show them that this was nonsense, he himself went up the hill and, after a long time, several of the men, tremblingly and keeping close together, decided to look for him. They found him with a high fever and brought him down near death’s door. As a result, an RC (Roman Catholic) priest found some of his flock were wavering and so he went up the hill, with the same result as the P.W.D engineer.

During the war, a company of the 2/15th Punjabs under a British officer (none of whom had heard the story of haunted hill) sent a patrol up it. In no time, they returned down again helter skelter as stones from no visible source were being hurled at them.

It took a big party with beating gongs to go up and recover the arms which some of the soldiers had dropped in their panic.”

It would be interesting to know the exact location of this haunted hill.

3.The prison break that went wrong.

Urquhart also made friend with J.B. Archer, the Chief Secretary for the third Rajah Vyner Brooke.

According to Urquhart, he learned a lot about Sarawak from Archer. Over a drink in the Sarawak Club, he shared a story that took place at Kuching Round Tower which was used as the Rajah’s gaol.

“A Chinese was incarcerated in this building. He worked out to this satisfaction that, if he made a hole in the roof of his cell, he would be able to escape. Eventually, he somehow acquired a suitable tool and working at night, he started to carry out his plan. The trouble was that he had misestimated where to make his escape hole. Above him was a cell with three Chinese women prisoners in it.

They were surprised to hear noises under the floor even more surprised when a small hole appeared in their floor, which was widened and a man’s head then appeared.

He was disappointed at what he found but made the hole big enough to get his body through, and then started to investigate whether there was any chance of escaping from women’s room.

But having been starved of male company for a long time, they had other ideas and drew lots. The winner insisted that the mad had sex with her which he did. Then lady no. 2 said it was now her turn. This started him, but he managed to satisfy her. However, when it came to no 3’s turn, he was unable to perform and in a dudgeon she ungallantly shrieked out loud enough to be heard by the gaolers that she was being raped!”

4.Mrs Hoover’s soup

Reverend James Matthew Hoover was an American missionary in-charge of Foochow immigrants during Brooke’s time.

With his fluency in the Foochow dialect, he was the official representative in all dealings with the government.

He married his wife Mary Young in 1904, a British teacher in Penang who later joined him in Sibu.

Here is a story about Mrs Hoover’s soup:

The Chinese in Sibu were very hospitable and those that were well off would give quite large dinner parties, consisting of anything from eight to 24 courses.

Usually the food was presented in a bowl or on a dish, placed on the table and then each guest used his chopsticks or spoon to remove from it what took his fancy and put it in his own bowl or direct into his mouth.

Most of these dishes were soupy or savoury and after a bit one’s spoon would inevitably be coated with a layer of fat, however much one had licked it.

In Sibu the habit was that the last dish of the meal would consist of something sweet such as a large bowl of tinned peach slices or of litchis (lychees) in syrup. Before the final dish was put on the table, a bowl of very hot water was placed there in which the guests could rinse their spoons or chop sticks.

I soon learnt to watch out for the arrival of this bowl and be amongst the first to clean my spoon, as after several people had done so, there was a nice layer of fat on the surface of the water.

Pre-war, Mrs Hoover, the wife of the American Methodist bishop, was intently engaged in talking to her neighbour and so failed to note the arrival of the bowl of hot water.

Eventually she turned round, dipped her spoon several times into the bowl, which had been well used for the cleansing of spoons, and, watched by the startled Chinese, took several spoonfuls of semi congealed fat in, by now, warm water and poured them into her bowl, whose contents she proceeded to consume, saying, as she finished the last spoonful, how much she enjoyed Chinese soups.

With carefully concealed regret, the polite Chinese then felt obliged to do as she had done and from then on in Sibu the bowl of hot water was known as ‘Mrs Hoover’s soup’.

5.His Excellency Anthony Abell and his Special Branch man.

After Duncan Stewart’s assassination, security was predictably tight around the next governor Anthony Abell.

In his memoir, Urquhart shared one incident when he had to accompany the governor.

“I was accompanying the Governor, Sir Anthony Abell, who was sitting on a longhouse floor in my district. He got to his feet, picked up a toilet roll and said “I’m off. Please ensure no-one follows me.”

When he returned he was laughing and told me what had happened.

He had found a nice little area of bushes close to one another that gave him some privacy and was squatting down and starting to commune happily with nature, when, to his annoyance, he heard the mistakable grunting of a pig that had realised that a choice meal might soon be available.

The pig came indecently close so as to catch His Excellency’s droppings before any rival pig could do so. This, H.E. found inhibiting.

He looked around for a suitable stick within reach with which to whack the pig on its snout, but to his annoyance could not find one. At that moment, a nearby bush quivered, and a length of arm emerged with a suitable stick for His Excellency.

It was the arm of the Special Branch man, whose instructions had been always to keep within sight of the Governor but to do so inconspicuously.

Until that moment the Governor had not realised that each time previously that he had left a longhouse with his toilet roll, the Special Branch man had also been there.”

Besides his experiences and stories as well as gossips he heard during his service in Sarawak, Urquhart also recorded his comments on Brooke’s administration and his observance of the local people.

For Sarawakians and history enthusiasts, the book is definitely a must-read.

You can read Sarawak Anecdotes: A Personal Memoir of Service 1947-1964 here.

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Numbul and Bedukun, the Bisaya traditional healing ceremonies

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Before there were doctors and nurses, the people of Sarawak relied on traditional healing ceremonies to cure sickness.

Every ethnic group has its own healing ceremony, for example the Ibans have their pelian and the Melanau turn to berayun and berbayoh to heal the sick.

For the Bisaya people in the Sarawak, their traditional healing ceremonies are called numbul and bedukun.

The numbul ceremony

It is the custom of the Bisaya that if a woman is sick, a numbul ceremony is held in order to cure her.

According to Benedict Sandin in his paper The Bisaya of Borneo and the Philippines, the word numbul means a curing ceremony for a sick woman officiated by a female shaman.

Benedict wrote, “To carry out the ceremony, a female shaman wears a petticoat, sarong, cloak and bracelets. From the wrist to the elbow of her silver are nine silver buttons.”

As she starts her invocation chants, the shaman sits at the centre of the gathering of people who beat the gongs at the open veranda of the house.

The invocation chants last from dusk till dawn. As she chants her songs, she summons the soul of the patient to return quickly from where it has wandered away.

If the patient can be cured, her soul will come back as summoned by the shaman.

What happens if she cannot be cured? Then her soul will never again come back to her.

The moment the soul comes back, the shaman catches it with her hand and places it carefully on a white piece of calico cloth. Then she places it on the head of the patient.

Numbul and Bedukun, the Bisaya traditional healing ceremonies

What happens if the numbul ceremony fails?

After the shaman has successfully performed her numbul over the patient, the latter and her family are assured that she will be cured from her current illness.

If her soul did not return to her, another numbul ceremony can be officiated by the same shaman.

The shaman before this can still perform the numbul over the same patient up to three times.

If the patient still cannot be cured, another female shaman should be called upon to perform the numbul ceremony for her.

In the meantime, many people are invited to attend the numbul ceremony. The whole night they will partake in food and drink at the house of the patient’s family.

At the end of the ceremony, the shaman declares that every member of the patient’s family and those who stay in the same house must not do any outdoor work for three days.

Besides this, the shaman also strictly prevents any visitor who come to the house to bring with him a knife which has resin (malau) in its handle.

Any visitor found bringing such weapon will be fined according to the customary rules of the numbul ceremony.

Bedukun ceremony for a sick man

If a man is sick, the Bisaya family usually calls for a dukun (medicine man) to come to cure him.

For this ceremony, the dukun does not necessarily wear ceremonial dress as does the female shaman and he recites no long chants for the patient.

The dukun performs the ceremony only for about one hour. During this time he only blows (taurik) the air to the painful spot of the sick man’s body. Additionally, he recites a special spell (puchau) over the place of the patient’s pain.

Just like the numbul ceremony, the dukun declares that all members of the patient’s family must not do outdoor work for three days.

At the same time, he forbids all visitors to the family’s house to bring with them a knife which has resin in its handle.

Although we may not practice Sarawakian traditional healing ceremonies, it is always important to at least remember them.

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

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

But why?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The testimony of a young Sarawak Chinese

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How many of the Sarawak Chinese youths were in Kalimantan?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The end of communist insurgency in Sarawak

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

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

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

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

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

Why did Indonesia give guerrilla training to Sarawak Chinese youths during Konfrontasi?
Members of the Sarawak People’s Guerilla Force (SPGF), North Kalimantan National Army (NKNA) and Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) taking photograph together marking the close relations between them during Indonesia under the rule of Sukarno. Credit: Copyright Expired.

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Was the first contact between James Brooke and the Kanowits a peaceful one?

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The name of Kanowit town comes from the earliest ethnic group who settled in the area, the Kanowits. Today, they are often referred to as Melanau Kanowit.

Their first contact with the British took place in 1846 when the steamer, the Phlegethon, commanded by James Brooke and Captain Rodney Mundy sailed up the Rajang River.

Brooke would have been 43 years of age at the time, and would have been Rajah of Sarawak for four years since the Sultan of Brunei had granted him the title.

Was the first contact between James Brooke and the Kanowits a peaceful one?
James Brooke

On June 29, they arrived in the area that we know now as Kanowit town.

Imagine the Kanowits’ reaction watching an unfamiliar vessel came to shore with people of different skin, eye and hair colour on board… it would have been bound to create some havoc at that time.

So did their first meeting turn out a peaceful one or was there some blowpipe action going on?

Was the first contact between James Brooke and the Kanowits a peaceful one?
The Steamer Phlegethon and the Boats of Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane’s Squadron, Repelling an Attack from the Forts at Borneo Proper, By Captain Thomas Cochrane (1789–1873), Phlegethon, 8 July 1846. Credit: Creative Commons

The answer lies in Mundy’s journal as he describes their first encounter with the Kanowits as follows:

Shortly after noon our pilots pointed out the neck of land round which, in a small bay, was situated the village of Kanowit, and above the trees we caught sight of numerous flags, and the matted roofs of houses.

The admiral (Rajah James Brooke) now ordered the steamer to be kept as close as possible to the over-hanging palms; and with our paddle-box just grazing their feathery branches, we shot rapidly round the point, and the surprise was complete; so complete, indeed, that groups of matrons and maidens who, surrounded by numerous children, were disporting their sable forms in the silvery stream, and enjoying, under the shade of the lofty palms, its refreshing waters, had scarcely time to screen themselves from the gaze of the bold intruders on their sylvan retreat.

It would be difficult to describe the horror and consternation of these wild Dayak ladies as the anchor of the Phlegethon dropped from her bows into the centre of the little bay selected for their bathing ground.

The first impression seemed to have stupified both old and young, as they remained motionless with terror and astonishment. When conscious, however, of the terrible apparition before them, they set up a loud and simultaneous shriek, and fleeing rapidly from the water, dragged children of all ages and sizes after them, and rushed up their lofty ladders for refuge; then we heard the tom-tom beat to arms, and in every direction the warriors were observed putting on their wooden and woollen armour, and seeking their spears and sumpitans.

In ten minute all seemed ready for the fight, though evidently more anxious to find the extraordinary stranger inclined for peace. Meanwhile, the steamer swinging gradually to the young flood, and so drawing her stern within a few yards of the landing-place, brought into view the whole of the under part of the floor of this immense building erected at the very brink of the stream; for the piles on which it was supported were forty feet in height, and although at this short distance, had these savages chosen to attack us, a few of the spears and poisoned arrows might have reached our decks, it was evident that their own nest thus raised in the air, though containing 300 desperate men, was entirely at our mercy.

The chief, who was a very old man, with about thirty followers, then came on board. He was profusely tattooed all over the body, and like the rest of his savage crew, was a hideous object. The lobes of his ears hung nearly to his shoulders, and in them immense rings were fixed. Round his waist he wore a girdle of rough bark which fell below his knees, and on his ankles large rings of various metals. With the exception of the waistcloth, he was perfectly naked. We knew that this old rascal and the whole tribe were pirates downright and hereditary.

Having dismissed our visitors, we all landed and some of us mounting ladders of these extraordinary houses, presented ourselves as objects of curiosity to the women and children. I could stand upright in the room, and looking down at the scene below, might have fancied myself seated on the top-mast cross-trees. Having traversed every part of the long gallery thus level with the summits of the trees, and distributed the few gifts we had to bestow on the women and children, we turned our backs on the pendant human skulls, and retracing our steps to terra firma, immediately proceeded to the Phlegethon.

Unfortunately, the forty foot high longhouse which Brooke and Mundy visited is long gone. Additionally, we can hardly see a Kanowit man with full-bodied tattoos and long ear lobes these days.

Was the first contact between James Brooke and the Kanowits a peaceful one?
Sir Rodney Mundy by Grillet Jr, albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s. Credits: Creative Commons

If only the Kanowits knew how Mundy thought and described of them then, would their first encounter have been a peaceful one?

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The Lun Bawang legend of a giant man named Temueng

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Long time ago, there was a giant man named Temueng and his friend named Pengiran who first lived at Kemaloh in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The Lun Bawang legend of a giant man named Temueng

According to legends, these people were believed to be the ancestors of Lun Bawang people.

Benedict Sandin in his paper The Bisayah and Indigenous Peoples of Limbang, Sandin recorded the life journey of this Lun Bawang legendary hero.

“Temueng and Pengiran were much ashamed that they could not defeat in battle chief enemy named Yada. Therefore Temueng moved from Kemaloh to Punang Trusan, and Pengiran also moved and settled at Illot, now in Indonesian Borneo,” Sandin wrote.

The life of Temueng

Legend has it that owing to the extraordinary size of the body, Temueng could easily eat one whole pig per meal. He was also rumoured to be a very strong man.

Meanwhile, Abdul Karim Abdul Rahman in his paper History of the founding of Brunei Kingdom Based on Oral Tradition (2016) pointed out that Temueng was Upai Semaring’s son.

He is another giant who is a Lundayeh legend from the Krayan Highlands, Kalimantan.

The Lun Bawang legend of a giant man named Temueng
Upai Semaring hill, where he allegedly lived in Krayan Highlands.

When he lived in the Ulu Trusan, he carved a number of rocks and the posts of his house were all made of rocks which are still intact at that location to this day.

According to Sandin, while at Punang Trusan, Temueng lived at the present day Semado Nesab village.

His house there was surrounded by wide and deep drains for protection against invasion by his enemies.

While Temueng was living at Long Lopeng, hundreds of Kayan came to attack him. Also known as Luping, Long Lopeng is a settlement in the Lawas division.

When the enemy came, he was reportedly at ease smoking his pipe.

But when they came, he knocked each one of them on the head with his pipe and killed them all.

A giant bigger than Temueng?

Another story circles around Temueng; one day Temueng went out hunting animals in the forest.

He found a huge coil of rattan which could be used in a fish trap.

Thinking that the coiled rattan cane was a leg ornament, he put his leg into it.

But the coil was bigger than Temueng’s leg, and this frightened him. Temueng immediately thought there was a giant bigger than him living in the area.

While Temueng was not afraid of those who were smaller than him, he was afraid of people bigger than him.

Terrified, he fled from Long Lopeng and down the Trusan river to live at the foot of a mountain near Long Merarap. It is believed that is where he stayed until he died.

The Lun Bawang people after the death of Temueng

It is unsure how Temueng died but the Lun Bawang people still remember him even many years on after his death.

In memory of his settlements on the upper Trusan river, the Lun Bawang people from Kemaloh moved to the lands between the headwaters of Trusan and Limbang rivers.

They moved there in small groups, each group gradually followed by others.

Expanding their territory, they moved down the Trusan till they were attacked by the Kayans.

According to Sandin, the Lun Bawang successfully repulsed the Kayans, driving them away.

To this day, the Lun Bawang still settle in various areas of Lawas and Limbang regions.

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Pigs reared in Batu Lintang Camp had better food than the POWs

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When Batu Lintang camp was liberated on Sept 11, 1945 by the Australian 9th Division, the camp population was 2,024.

Overall, there were 1,392 prisoners of wars (POWs), 395 were male civilian internees and 237 were civilian women and children.

There were two death orders found among the official Japanese papers at the Japanese-run internment camp. Both papers described how to execute every POW and internee in the camp.

For unknown reasons, the first death order which was scheduled on Aug 17 or 18 was not carried out.

Meanwhile, the second order was scheduled on Sept 15, four days after the camp was liberated.

While Batu Lintang POW Camp was able to escape mass executions, it does not change the fact that hundreds of POWs died there during World War II (WWII).

Pigs reared in Batu Lintang Camp had better food than the POWs
Flying over the prisoner of war camp (POW) in Batu Lintang at a low height, RAAF Beaufighter pilots reported sighting white POWs, clad in khaki shorts, who excitedly waved as the RAAF aircraft flew over to drop leaflets announcing Japan’s surrender. Credits: Public Domain (Copyright expired). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C242106

The war crime trials against the Japanese officers of Batu Lintang Camp

Pigs reared in Batu Lintang Camp had better food than the POWs
Th Sydney Morning Report’s headline on Batu Lintang POW Camp trial news.

On Dec 18, 1945, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on the war crime trial held against the Japanese soldiers in-charge of Batu Lintang Camp.

Lieutenant R. Balzer, the prosecuting officer, told the court that between 600 and 700 POWs including Australian officers of the Eight Division, died in Batu Lintang Camp.

The prisoners died due to starvation, brutal assaults, and denial of available medical supplies.

They were suffering from all kinds of diseases such as malaria, beriberi, dysentery, dengue fever, diphtheria, scabies and skin infections.

The four accused were Captain Takeo Nakato and Motoi Tokino and Lieutenants Ojima and Yamamoto.

The news report stated, “Lieutenant Isaki, giving evidence against his own countrymen, said the only meat the prisoners received was pig’s heads. All the prisoners were in bad condition, while the Japanese were in excellent condition. He admitted that 400 Allied prisoners had died of malnutrition in the last 12 months of the war.”

Meanwhile, Colonel W. Lempriere showed the court medical evidence stating that if 2,000 survivors, including 170 Australian officers, had not received medical attention and proper diet, the majority would have died within three months.

One victim had the incredible weight of 3st 4lb (about 20kg) when rescued, and was still in a dreadful condition.

Balzer accused the defendants of ‘unmitigated sadism’ and of making a carefully calculated plot slowly to kill off the prisoners.

Moreover, Balzer claimed that the diet fed to the camp’s pigs was more nutritious than the food given to the prisoners.

In the end, the four officers were found guilty on all charges and sentenced to deaths.

So how bad the was the condition on Batu Lintang Camp?

Fred Bindon was a private in the Australian Army when he was captured in Singapore. He was then sent to Batu Lintang camp.

There, he convinced the Japanese Army officers that he was a cook. He was then allowed to be a cook in the kitchen.

Taking this opportunity, he would steal food and give it to the other prisoners and internees.

His granddaughter, Paula Mcloughlin told the Borneo Post in 2017, “Sometimes he was caught for stealing food. He had some bamboo scars underneath his nails and he said that was very torturous.”

In the meantime, Eric Oliver was another POW imprisoned at Batu Lintang Camp. He was a warrant officer in the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF).

He was forced to ditch his plane in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra after being shot up by the Japanese.

Oliver was then captured and imprisoned in Changi Jail before he was sent to Kuching.

According to Lancashire Post, Oliver was on grave digging duty during his imprisonment.

He buried up to ten of his comrades every day towards the end of his incarceration.

Oliver’s misery did not end with the war, he went home suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Sometimes, he woke up in the middle of the night crying telling his wife, “I keep thinking about the lads who died.”

By June-July 1946, the bodies in the cemetery at Batu Lintang camp had been exhumed. They were then reburied in the Labuan War Cemetery.

Besides the officers, the Australian war crime court also charged 45 guards (mostly Formosan), suspected of ill-treating prisoners at the Batu Lintang camp.

The court acquitted three of the guards and sentenced the remainder to terms of imprisonment ranging from one year to life.

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A Bisaya legend of how a sago tree came into existence

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A Bisaya legend of how a sago tree came into existence

A Bisaya legend of how a sago tree came into existence

Every culture has its unique legends and most of these legends were used to explain things surrounding them.

These legends usually circle around how certain plants or animals were discovered or came into being.

Sometimes, they also explain why some creatures or plants are not found in the area.

For example here in Borneo, we have a legend of how paddy was discovered or why there are no tigers on this island.

Here is a Bisaya legend of how a sago tree was discovered as recorded by Benedict Sandin in his paper The Bisayah and Indigenous Peoples of Limbang (1972):

One day, there was a very poor Bisaya man who went into the jungle to look for anything to eat, as no one in the village would give him food.

After he had wandered for about 10 days in the jungle, he nearly died of starvation until he came across a woman who spoke kindly to him.

After staying with her for sometime, they got married.

(Now here is where things in their marriage get somewhat bizarre.)

When it was time to eat, the man was served sago pellets by his wife which came out from her private parts.

On seeing this, the man asked his wife, “Why do you give me dirty stuff?”

To this the woman answered, “You may kill me if you wish.” Furious, the man killed her with his knife.

But before she died, she advised him that whenever he wished to eat sago, he should make a small hole in the ground so that the sago pellets could easily come out from the earth.

After she had finished giving her advice, she died instantly in the hands of her husband.

Immediately after she had died, a small sago tree grew from that spot, becoming the first sago tree to grow in that part of Limbang region.

Think about this legend the next time you are having your sago.

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Get to know the three principal sources of Iban augury

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Where were omens believed to have come from? Get to know the three principal sources of Iban augury

In Iban augury, believers rely on different ways to receive indicative omens when making a decision or taking an action.

The omens can be deliberately sought or accidentally encountered.

According to Clifford Sather in his paper Iban Agriculture Augury (1985), the Ibans viewed augury as a form of spiritual communication.

Animals such as birds are what the Iban described as the earthly manifestations of gods and spiritual heroes.

“In entering the physical world, they assume the outward form of natural species, always appearing to mankind the same form whenever they present themselves. Thus, each species has a specific connection with the spiritual world, and it is largely in terms of these connections that individual omens are interpreted and function, from the Iban point of view, as media of communications,” Sather stated.

But where do these omens come from? Here are what Sather pointed out as the three principal sources of Iban augury:

1.Singalang Burong

The first and most important is Singalang Burong. In the world of Iban mythology, he is the most powerful of the Iban deities, the god of war and male prowess.

He used seven omen birds to give warnings and guidance for his people.

The seven omen birds are rufous piculet (ketupong), banded kingfisher (embuas), scarlet-rumped trogon (beragai), Diard’s trogon (papau or kalabu), crested jay (bejampong), maroon woodpecker (pangkas) and white-rumped shama (nendak).

Get to know the three principal sources of Iban augury
Kingfisher

These seven birds are the crucial omens in Iban augury.

Each of the seven bird omens has its own meaning. For example, the appearance of beragai during clearing of field when farming is considered auspicious.

2.Orang Panggau

Another major source of Iban augury are reptiles associated with the spiritual heroes or Orang Panggau.

Sather stated, “The world of the Orang Panggau represents an ideal image of the traditional society of the Iban themselves; its inhabitants are conceptualised as dwelling in a riverine land (menoa Panggau), present in this world but invisible to man except in dreams.”

Moreover, they frequently act through dream revelations.

Orang Panggau are often associated with knowledge of useful plants and traditional skills. Through dreams, they come to aid of craftsmen and warriors giving their helpful advise.

In the meantime as omens, they appear as snakes to become the guardian of the Iban people.

Sather listed four snake omens which are sent by Orang Panggau. These are cobra (tedong), python (sawa), coral snake (kendawang) and king cobra (belalang).

The presence of these augury snake means danger to humans hence it is advisable to return home and take a day off.

Overall, the appearance of snake omens are generally inauspicious. It forewarns of a family death, serious illness and a sign to choose a new farms it.

Get to know the three principal sources of Iban augury

3.Simpulang Gana

Like Singalang Burong, Simpulang Gana is a major deity in Iban mythology. He is the god of agriculture and custodian of the earth.

He presides over rice-farming on top of sending farming omens.

Sather stated, “The earth is Simpulang Gana’s personal domain. Thus he has a special connection with rice fields and associated with him are a number of animals and insects especially linked with the earth.”

His principal augural emissaries are belangkiang lizard, hairy caterpillar (ulat bulu), tarsier (ingkat), loris (bengkang), monitor lizard (menarat), mouse deer (pelandok), porcupine (landak), barking deer (kijang), bear (beruang), wild boar (jani) and sambar deer (rusa).

For instance, it is generally considered auspicious to discover either loris, tarsier or belangkiang lizard when clearing a new farm site.

Interestingly, Sather pointed out, “The belangkiang lizard should be cut open, and is acknowledged, as a rule, only if eggs are found inside its stomach. The number of eggs is said to equal the number of paddy bins the farmer can expect to fill at the time of harvest.”

Get to know the three principal sources of Iban augury

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What happened to the 300 prisoners of Labuan POW camp during WW2?

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What happened to the 300 prisoners of Labuan POW camp during WW2?
Flying over the prisoner of war camp (POW) in Batu Lintang at a low height, RAAF Beaufighter pilots reported sighting white POWs, clad in khaki shorts, who excitedly waved as the RAAF aircraft flew over to drop leaflets announcing Japan’s surrender. Credits: Public Domain (Copyright expired). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C242106

When it comes to prisoner-of-war (POW) camps in Malaysian Borneo, most people immediately think of Batu Lintang in Kuching and Sandakan POW camps.

What is less known is that Labuan had a POW camp for some time during World War II (WWII).

The purpose of Labuan POW Camp

By 1944, the Japanese military decided to build an airstrip on Labuan to give additional air cover for Brunei Bay.

Captain Nagai Hirawa was appointed to command the Labuan POW Camp. He arrived in Labuan with 300 British POWs from Sandakan on June 16, 1944.

Another 200 POWs arrived from Kuching on Aug 15, 1944.

According to post-war investigation report, the camp was originally sited on the grounds of the Victoria Golf Club.

However due to the constant air raids by Allied forces over the waterfront area, the campsite was moved to a new compound 3 miles north of the harbour.

It was here that the POWs were kept until they departed for Brunei on Mar 7, 1945.

Tracing the steps of the prisoners

Agnes McEwan and Campbell Thompson summarised briefly the footsteps of POWS in Labuan.

“In August 1944, Tom Tadman, Charles Shun, John Parker and Frederick Wain were among a group of 300 sent to Labuan to construct an airfield intended for the defence of a fleet anchorage planned for Brunei Bay,” they stated.

Reportedly, life was not too bad for the POWs. Things changed in October that year when the Allies began bombing airfields in the region, including Labuan.

The Japanese started to reduce rations for the prisoners and then the death tolls began to increase significantly.

On Jan 23, 1945 Captain Nagai left for Ranau and his place was taken by Sergeant Major Sugino.

McEwan and Thompson wrote, “By March 1945, 188 of the prisoners taken to Labuan had died. Due to the proximity of Allied shipping, the remainder began the move back to Kuching.”

On their way to meet deaths

Captain Nagai claimed that POWs were given quinine for their malaria. Even so, with the lack of food combined with heavy labour that they were forced to do, it came as no surprise why many of them did not survive.

The group arrived in Brunei on Mar 8, 1945 and remained there until the beginning of May.

By this time, only 82 men arrived from the initial 300.

From there, the remaining 82 men were taken to Kuala Belait and on to Miri on May 28.

Then on June 8, the POWs had now been reduced to 46. The Japanese ordered them to make their way into the jungle along a rough track where they rested for two days.

McEwan and Thompson stated, “There the Japanese officer in charge, Sergeant Major Sugino, received news that the Australian 9th Division had landed at Brunei Bay, only 125 miles away. As a precaution against the prisoners being rescued, Sugino decided to put into operation the Final Disposition – the murder of all POWs.”

They were shot to death and their bodies buried by the guards.

In search of one of the soldiers continues

In 2017, the Telegraph reported on how a retiree living in London had spent much of the past 75 years looking for his brother’s grave.

Len Tadman talked about how he and his two sisters had visited Singapore and Borneo five times trying to retrace his brother’s steps.

So what happened to Len’s brother, Tom Tadman?

McEwan and Thompson in their book revealed some of the fates of these prisoners of Labuan POWs camp, including Tom’s.

Tom, or Lance Bombardier Thomas Tadman, died in Brunei on Apr 3, 1945. His cause of death is unknown.

Meanwhile, others who were part of the Labuan group like Gunner Charles Shun, Staff Sergeant John Parker and Gunner Frederick Wain who died in Labuan at different times throughout 1944 to 1945 were also never recovered.

What happened to Labuan POW camp?

What happened to the 300 prisoners of Labuan POW camp during WW2?
Military police guard four Japanese officers of the Borneo Prisoners of War and Internees Guard Unit, outside the Australian 9th Division Headquarters where they were to appear at a war crimes trial, Labuan Island, December 1945. AWM 123170

Soldiers of the Australian 24th Brigade landed in Labuan on June 10, 1945. They quickly captured the harbour and main airfield.

Meanwhile, the Japanese offered little resistance as they were greatly outnumbered.

When the Australian forces arrived at the abandoned Labuan POW camp in June, they only found unmarked graves.

After the Allied forces liberated POW camps in Batu Lintang and Sandakan, they started to round up the Japanese soldiers and their Formosan guards responsible for abuses and killings.

They housed them in the former Labuan POW camp site and turned the site into a military court.

Labuan became one of the 16 locations of the war crime trials held between December 1945 and January 1946.

During one of the trials, Sugino was charged with having ‘caused to be killed 46 POWs at Miri on June 10, 1945’. He was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Of the 300 POWs who had left for Labuan in 1944, not even one was left alive. Hence, none was left to tell their stories of what really happened at Labuan POW camp.

What happened to the 300 prisoners of Labuan POW camp during WW2?

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