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The history of water fluoridation in Sarawak uncovered

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Did you know that water fluoridation was first introduced in Sarawak in 1962? That was even before the state became part of the Malaysian federation.

Fluoridated water contains fluoride at a level that is effective for preventing cavities.

In the US, water fluoridation started in 1945 while the first state in Malaysia to install the system was Johor in 1957.

The number one reason for introducing fluoride to the public water supply was to prevent dental health problems.

So how does it work? The water works the surface of your teeth. It creates low levels of fluoride in saliva which reduces the rate that your tooth enamel de-mineralizes. At the same time, the water help to increase the rate of tooth enamel remineralizing in the early stages of cavities.

According to a Sarawak Gazette article published on Jan 31, 1962, the incidence of dental decay was very high.

“Decayed, missing and filled teeth are the accumulated ill effects of this decay and it constitutes a major dental health problem. Surveys carried out by a dental officer of the Medical Department among Simanggang school children have confirmed this high incidence. The suffering which decayed teeth can cause is only too well known. The extent to which the ability to chew and speak is affected and the disfigurement they cause, are common knowledge.”

Introducing water fluoridation to Sarawak

Sarawak used sodium silicofluoride in its water plants because “of safety in handling and relatively low solubility in water (0.8 per cent).”

The article further explained, “The chemical contains 60 per cent available fluoride and is therefore, added to the water supply in quantities of 1.2 parts per million part of water to give the required 0.7 parts of fluoride. Many types of dosing equipment are available but that selected for Sarawak is a simple displacement doser designed by the Hydraulics Branch of the Public Works Department and constructed in Brooke Dockyard.”

A simple metering device was installed to adjust the dosage of solution to the water passing through the plant.

For precautionary measure, the water plant operator back then regularly checked the fluoride level of the water at intervals of less than one hour.

On top of that, they also sent bulk samples of water bi-weekly to be analysed by the Chemical Bacteriological Laboratory.

To assure all Sarawakians, the article stated “One may ask of, despite all these precautions, it is possible to obtain an accidental toxic does. The answer is an emphatic ‘no’. It has been estimated that one person would have to drink about 500 gallons of water fluoridated to 0.7 parts per million a day in order to receive a toxic does.”

Overall, the cost of fluoridation equipment and installation to water authorities in Sarawak was estimated between $500 to $1500.

Additionally, the recurring cost of treating the water with fluorides was 0.04 cents per 1000 gallons.

This was considered to be a small cost to improve the dental health of Sarawakians.

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The history of illegal gambling and chap ji kee in Sarawak

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More than a hundred years ago, chap ji kee or chap jee ki was a famous gambling game in Sarawak. Today, you can be thrown in jail for playing the illegal gambling game of chap ji kee.

What is chap ji kee

It is believed this game started in Johor in the early 1890s before spreading to Singapore, Malaya and eventually Sarawak.

Based on the 12 game pieces from Chinese chess, each piece was assigned a number.

The gamblers then lay bets on a combination of two numbers from 1 to 12. Hence, there were 144 possible combinations.

The numbers could also be replaced with other characters such as animals or Chinese characters.

There were few ways to bet; firstly one could bet on the combination of numbers in a particular order. Winners could earn winnings up to 100 times their bets.

Secondly, the gamblers could bet two numbers to appear in either order. Win this and you get paid up to 50 times the stake.

Or gamblers could bet on one single number from either draw and get paid 20 times their stakes.

Another popular form of playing chap ji kee involved gamblers placing their bets on gaming tables and using Chinese playing cards. This version was known as chap ji kee pangjang or long chap ji kee.

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The longer version of chap ji kee used Chinese playing cards in their bets. Photo by Pixabay.

At first, chap ji kee was played on a board or table with gamblers staking their bets in person.

Slowly, the game evolved into collecting bets from gamblers at their homes or on the street. This was to avoid detection of authorities who prohibited the game.

In Singapore, the game was called the “housewives’ opium”. Bored housewives turned to the game as a way of bringing more excitement into their lives and provide some distraction from their daily responsibilities.

Although the women in general did not play for high stakes, the little winnings they had was satisfactory enough to buy something nice for themselves or their children.

Chap ji kee in Sarawak

In Sarawak, gambling was legalised by the Brooke government since it provided a large revenue to the state.

Some historians believed that the Brooke government could hardly do without opium and gambling.

Apart from needing the money, it was also a way for the government to keep the activities under their radar.

Back then, the Brooke government would not have had enough resources to enforce any anti-gambling laws.

At first, these gambling dens, just like the opium farms, were run by the government.

On July 1, 1885 under the issue of the Farms Order, the government opened a tender to private contractors for periods of three years.

The first company to receive the tender was Ong Ewe Hai & Co. It had the exclusive rights to open and keep gambling houses. Furthermore, they were allowed to license the opening and keeping of gambling houses within the district from Tanjung Datu to the Sadong river.

Back then, the government even assigned two policemen to keep the peace at these gambling houses in Kuching.

At first, there was no restriction on the opening hours of these gambling houses or the age of gamblers.

So young and old were welcomed to throw in their money at any given time of the day.

Restrictions on gambling

By the late 1920s, Kuching Chinese community leaders started to petition the government to put tighter rules on gambling.

Finally, the government announced their tighter restrictions in a notice which was published in the Gazette on December 1928.

The notice stated that from 1st January, 1929, public gaming would only be permitted in the following streets in Kuching; Carpenter Street, India Street, Bishopsgate Street and China Street.

On top of that, chap ji kee and those under 16 years of age were not allowed to gamble in Kuching and throughout the first division.

1929 was also the year when public gambling in Kuching would only be allowed from 4pm to 6am.

By 1930, the prohibition of chap ji kee and of gambling by those under the age of 16 was extended to the whole of Sarawak.

If gambling was legal, why was chap ji kee illegal?

According to The Sarawak Gazette writer Loh Chee Yin, it was not surprising that chap ji kee was prohibited as it caused the greatest misery among the people.

“There is no skill in the game and the dividend is high – a $1 bet will give you a return of $10, and $10 will yield $100 and so on if you are lucky,” Loh wrote.

He continued, “I remember the scene of a Chap Jee Kee den operated at a shophouse along Wayang Street during Japanese occupation period. Twelve Chinese characters were painted on a table measuring about 5 feet by 8 feet.

“The banker sat on one side of the table with two assistants standing around. Twelve similar characters were carved on ‘chips’, which were kept in a sack made of thick cloth. The banker placed his hand inside the sack and selected the character he wanted by feeling with his finger, similar to the Braille used by the blind! The chip was then hidden inside a wooden box about the size of a match box, then placed on top of the table. Each better started to put his bet on the character that he thought was in the box. Finally the banker revealed his chips and paid accordingly. The result was written on a small blackboard hung up in front of the shop. One session took about fifteen minutes.”

Chap ji kee back then and today

Loh also shared stories of gamblers sleeping in the graves of their relatives in the hopes that the dead would reveal a favourable word or a result of a chap ji kee game.

“All dreams during the night were closely examined to see whether they had any relations to the twelve characters. The bankers in their turn, made offerings to their gods, asking for protection against the spirits which might reveal the secret of his words. In short; hell of a mess,” he shared.

While chap ji kee is still a form of illegal gambling to this day, the variation of this game might be still played in private and isolated circles today.

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An Iban legend about the immortal Garai and his blowpipe

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Here is an Iban legend from the Batang Ai area as recorded by N.S Haile on Aug 31, 1954 in the Sarawak Gazette.

A long time ago, there was an Iban Balau man named Garai.

One day, Garai went out hunting in the Klingkang Range with his blowpipe where he bumped into a very large spirit known as Antu Gayu.

Despite the blowpipe in the spirit’s hand, Garai was not frightened by Antu Gayu as he stood his ground.

Looking at Garai’s bravery, Antu Gayu challenged him, saying, “Let us see who can stick his darts into that rock. Whoever is successful will kill the other.”

Antu Gayu then pointed at a sheer sandstone cliff located in the Klingkang range.

Garai agreed, letting Antu Gayu go first.

While the spirit was selecting three of his strongest and sharpest darts, Garai excused himself and disappeared into the babas (bushes).

It did not take him long to find a pedalai tree from which he tapped some of the sticky rubber, and wound it around the tips of his darts before returning to the spirit.

Antu Gayu shot his three darts first. Although his darts were spirit darts which are much stronger and sharper than human darts, they still could not shatter the rock.

Meanwhile, Garai’s darts stuck into the rocks thanks to the pedalai rubber.

“It seems I’m the winner. You can see my darts have all stuck in. Well, nothing remains to be done but to kill you,” Garai said to the spirit.

The spirit immediately showed himself a coward as he tried to bargain for his life.

Garai’s reward after winning the competition

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Antu Gayu tried to offer Garai some gold to which he replied he already had plenty.

The spirit then offered him some jars and gongs and Garai also said he had plenty.

“Well then, some medicine to make you a strong walker,” Antu Gayu said.

Garai responded, “I already am a strong walker, I can go farther and faster than anyone else in this area. I think it will be the best if I just kill you.”

Again, Antu Gayu negotiated offering him the charm that would make Garai irresistible to women.

To that Garai answered that he was a happily married man, so he did not need the charm.

Finally, the spirit offered him something that he took into consideration: eternal youth.

“You’ll never get old! Never die! What do you think of that?” Antu Gayu asked.

Garai in the end agreed, “If you can make me stay young forever, I won’t kill you.”

The Antu Gayu then produced a small knife and he asked Garai to swallow it.

After feeling assured that it would not cause him any harm, Garai did as the spirit told him to do.

“Now, you will never get old. Unless, you told anybody the reason for your everlasting youth and of how you put me to shame with your blowpipe, then you will die,” said the spirit.

How the immortal Garai spent his life

So Garai went on living his life day by day without getting older. When his wife got too old, with her consent he took a younger woman as his new wife. And he continued to outlive seven of his wives.

His grandchildren and great-grandchildren all became older than him.

Like all curious grandchildren, they wondered at his immortality, and begged him to let them know his secret. After being persuaded by them, the immortal Garai decided to tell them the truth, resigned himself to death.

But first, he asked them to prepare a big feast to celebrate the end of his life.

So pigs and chickens were killed and cooked while tuak (rice wine) were brewed.

Once all the feasting was done, Garai began to tell his story on how he gained his immortality.

As he finished his storytelling, the knife that he swallowed flew out from his throat.

Suddenly there was a flash of lightning and the immortal Garai met his end by being turned into stone. Shaped like a man but smaller, people began to call it “Batu Garai”.

Legend has it the stone is now kept by the people of Marakai in Kalimantan, and that it is locked in a chest. Some people believe it has extraordinary medicinal and therapeutic properties.

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How Dayak peacemaking ceremonies were carried out during the 19th century?

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Modern day peacemaking usually has some hand-shaking gesture and official announcement in front of the media if it has gathered public interest.

In 19th century Sarawak, peacemaking ceremonies back then were somehow more interesting.

It usually involved some kind of tajau (jar) being exchanged and sometimes even human sacrifice.

Here, KajoMag looks back at how Dayak peacemaking ceremonies were carried out in the olden days of Sarawak:
1.They rip each others’ harvests to the core.

This Dayak peacemaking method was reportedly practiced by people living along the Sadong river.

The first White Rajah James Brooke stated in his personal journal, “When peace is made between them, one tribe visits the other, in order to feast together; and on these occasions, whatever the number or visitors may be, they are at liberty to use the fruits of their hosts without hindrance. At their pleasure they strip the coconuts off the trees, devour and carry away as much as they can, without offence. Of course the hosts in turn become visitors, and pay in the same coin.

“All the Dayaks are remarkably tenacious of their fruit trees; but on the occasion of the feast, beside taking the fruit, the visitors fell one tree, as a symbol of good understanding; of course it is only once that such liberties are taken or allowed. At other times it would be an affront sufficient to occasion a war.”

A Dayak peacemaking ceremony that could cause another war did not exactly served its purpose. Perhaps that is the reason why the second White Rajah Charles Brooke put an end to this tradition during his reign.

2.They sacrificed a slave as a sign of peacemaking

Well, this is a Dayak peacemaking ceremony that you definitely will never see again.

Resident O.F. Ricketts once described a Murut peacemaking ceremony where a human sacrifice involved.

He wrote, “Occasionally feuds have been settled between two tribes, the aggressors having made full compensation in payment of jars, brassware, and two slaves. It was custom to kill one of these slaves to make up for the relative lost.”

3.They sacrificed some pigs

Charles witnessed many peacemaking ceremonies during his reign. One of them took place between the Ibans from Undup and from Dutch Borneo (Kalimantan).

During the ceremony, both sides agreed that the first to draw their weapon on another in the future must be fined eight jars.

Then they sacrificed some pigs with the blood sprinkled around the ceremony. Some even took the blood home to sprinkle at their houses. This was to wash away any evil tendencies there might be hanging in the atmosphere and to appease the spirits.

4.They exchanged weapons between themselves

Just like the Iban, the Kanowit people also sacrificed a pig during their peacemaking ceremonies.

Spenser St. John recorded, “A pig was placed between the representatives of two tribes who after calling down the vengeance of the spirits on those who broke the treaty, plunged their spears into the animal and then exchanged weapons.”

The representatives then bit each other’s blades to complete the ceremony.

5.They poured the blood of fowl on themselves

St. John also witnessed a ceremony where two men who were feuding would never look at each other even when they were in the same house.

He wrote, “They refused to cast their eyes upon each other till a fowl has been kill and the blood sprinkled over them.”

The second White Rajah recorded in his book Ten Years in Sarawak that although fowl was involved in the Dayak peacemaking ceremony, no blood was sprinkled over those who were present.

They waved fowls over the heads of the guests for those who came to the ceremony “to conduce to good and friendly feeling and to prevent either party from quarreling and fighting.”

Schwaner Een Bilianfest der Dayakkers van Soengie Pattaym Jahre 1846
Dayak Festival in a traditional Longhouse, 1846, Dutch Borneo. Illustration by C.A.L.M. Schwaner. Credits: Public Domain.

Regardless of how the signs of peacemaking were made, the ceremony usually ended with festivities.

Do you know any other ways how Sarawakians hold their peacemaking ceremony in the olden days? Let us know in the comment box.

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Ong Kee Hui’s letter on the Wangkang festival in Sarawak

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The Wangkang festival is a unique event aimed to pick up evil spirits and wandering souls believed to be responsible for sickness and epidemics, ultimately to cast them away and bring peace to the world.

Back in the 1930s, Kuching and Malacca were the only two towns outside of China in which this festival was held.

How did the festival come to Sarawak in the first place? On Feb 2, 1937, a man named Jee Eng Fui from Simanggang wrote an open letter to Ong Kee Hui in The Sarawak Gazette.

Jee asked the latter two questions; how did the Wangkang festival come to be a customary procession among the Chinese at Kuching once every two years? And was there anything concerning it in Sarawak history?

Jee added that he had heard one version of Wangkang festival origin in Sarawak. An old man told him that one morning the old Rajah (it is unsure which Rajah) used his telescope to look towards the mouth of the Kuching river.

The rajah then saw a very curious junk and he became very anxious to see it when it reached Kuching.

However, the junk never came. He searched for it with his telescope again but saw nothing.

The next morning, the rajah looked into his telescope in the same direction and saw the junk again.

This time, he sent a search party to the river but they returned without finding anything.

The rajah told his Chinese friend about the story who had then informed him that he must have seen a Wangkang.

That was how the rajah came to know about Wangkang rite and procession. He then allowed the Chinese community in Kuching to hold the Wangkang festival.

Ong, who later became a prominent politician and founder of Sarawak United People’s Party replied Jee in an open letter published in The Sarawak Gazette (Apr 1, 1937).

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Do you have any photos of Wangkang Festival happening here in Sarawak? Share with us in the comment box.
Here is the content of the letter on the origin of Wangkang Festival in Sarawak:

“Dear Mr Eng Fui,

It has given me much pleasure to receive your letter dated the 15th instant. Your enquiries are of considerable interest to me and I only hope you will excuse the delay in relying.

As a result of enquiries which I have made from my grandfather, Mr Ong Tiang Swee, supplemented by information gathered from my uncle Teck Khoon, I am able to answer your queries. I think you now know how the Wangkang procession started in China, but in case you do not, I will give a brief account of its origin.

A certain Emperor (Ban Lek?) in the Ming Dynasty was a most sceptical man in matters spiritual, and even went so far as to question the powers of his spiritual adviser (Teo Thian Soo).

He demanded some sort of proof of this man’s supernatural powers, and put forward a scheme to set the adviser’s powers to the test. He had a big tunnel dug, fully ventilated and well provisioned, and in the tunnel he put forty of his officers of the rank of Chin Soo.

Over the tunnel the spiritual adviser was told to use all his powers and try to kill the officers inside.

The challenge was accepted, and as a result all the forty officers were killed.

The revenge of the dead

The Emperor was satisfied but not so the spirits of the victims of the experiment.

They haunted the palace and pestered the Emperor, who had no peace of mind.

The cruelty of the whole thing invoked the vengeance of the power above, and China was visited by an epidemic of cholera, which killed a large number of people.

At last the Emperor had to appease the spirits of the forty Chin Soo and make some sort of treaty with them.

The Emperor promoted them all to the rank of Wang and empowered them to visit every district in his kingdom as his representative.

He also gave out that all honour and respect had to be accorded them wherever they went, if not, they could wreak their vengeance on the people of the locality.

The spirits were satisfied, and on an appointed day with much ceremony they were given a public send off on their long, long voyage that was to have no end in a junk especially made for them.

And thus was started the first Wangkang procession in China.

The letter then continued on how it came to Sarawak:

The story of the old Rajah and the Chinese junk he saw has no connection with the origin of the Wangkang procession in Kuching.

What actually happened was that a serious epidemic of cholera broke out in Kuching; hundreds of people died, and as there were so many people dying each day no proper burial could be given them.

As a result, the whole town reeked with the terrible smell of the dead.

The Rajah (Charles Brooke) was at loss to know what to do. The older Chinese, recalling what had happened during the Ming Dynasty in China, came to the conclusion that the forty Chin Soo must have reached Sarawak at last, and the epidemic of cholera was an indication that they were here.

So steps were taken after a public meeting to entertain the visiting spirits, and to send them away with all honour and respect.

Thus was started the first Wangkang procession in Sarawak.

The epidemic was then so bad that the Rajah really did not care a pin what people did so long as normal conditions were restored, so no objection was raised and it transpired (whether it was coincidence or not, we cannot say), that the epidemic stopped some time after the procession.

An arrangement was then made with the spirits concerning their next visit, and that was how the ten years’ interval came into being.

I need hardly add that there has been no epidemic of cholera in Sarawak since. Firm believers attribute this to the effect of the Wangkang procession.

Personally, I think that the real cause of the epidemic has been removed, namely a bad water supply.

Kuching was in the old days dependent on the river for water, and you can imagine how dirty river water can be especially during dry season.

No wonder there was cholera!

Now with the supply of good and pure water we have from Matang such a state of affairs no longer exists, and chances of serious epidemics are remote.

Yours sincerely,

Ong Kee Hui

Fast forward to today, the festival became recognised as Malaysia’s National Intangible Heritage in 2013, has been submitted to Unesco to be recognised as intangible cultural heritage.

Read more:

How to cure Cholera According to Old Sarawakian Traditions

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How the cobra got its venom according to a Kedup legend

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Local folktales and legends commonly have an answer for everything. Although they are not scientifically correct, it is still entertaining to know how some things came about from a mythical point of view.

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How did this snake get its venom? Credits: Pixabay
Here is a legend of how the cobra got its venom according to a legend recorded from Ulu Kedup, Sarawak:

Long time ago, there was a black fish called the ikan dudok. This fish was the most poisonous of creatures, so much so that if a man’s shadow even fell on a pool in which the ikan dudok was lurking, the man would immediately die.

The cobra, although a wise and cunning beast, in those days had no weapons of defence, but wore in the centre of his head a bright jewel.

One day, the cobra sidled up to the pool where the ikan dudok lay and hissed. “Oh black fish! Are you not ashamed of the deaths you caused? You are a stupid fish, unfit to have this virulent poison which you use so indiscriminately.”

The cobra then asked the fish to give its poison in exchange for the bright jewel on his head.

Then the cobra reared up his head in the sun and the fish saw the sparkling jewel.

He agreed to the exchange, vomiting out the poison on a handy leaf. In the meantime, the cobra gave up its jewel (which of course, was not a real diamond).

“Good!” said the cobra, “Now I promise you that I will not spread death with this poison as you have; I will only strike men in their eyes or on their big toe.”

Thus to this day, the cobra rears up proudly to search for his victims’ eyes. Meanwhile, the legend also explains why you can find a white stone in the head of every ikan dudok.

As for the leaf that the fish chose to vomit on, its poison is called daun api. One can get a painful rash with just a brush from this leaf.

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The local Kanowit version of the Fox and Steele murders

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After two of Brooke’s officers – Charles James Fox and Henry Steele – were murdered in 1859, the government named two suspects behind the crime.

They were Saweng (sometimes spelled Sawing) and Sakalai (sometimes spelled Sekalai).

So who were they and what drove them to kill the officers?

Here is what the local Kanowit people believed happened in the Fox and Steele murders:

This version of the story was told by Jaro Lamit who was a former chief of Kampung Bedil, Kanowit. He told the story to The Sarawak Gazette in September 1963 when he was already in his mid-eighties.

In the olden days, there were many tribes living in Kanowit, including the Kanowit tribe. The Kanowit people were more populous in this area than the other tribes.

Two of their chiefs were Saweng and Sakalai. Sakalai, however was a Melanau from Matu by birth.

According to Jaro, the site of the secondary school at Kanowit in the 1960s used to be where two longhouses stood.

“In those days the Kanowit people were divided into three ranks; Raja (aristocrats), Panyin (middle class) and Dipan (slave). The aristocrats lived in the middle apartments of the longhouse; the middle class (panyin) lived on either side and the slaves (dipan) lived with the families of the aristocrats. They worked for the aristocrats and everybody lived at peace,” Jaro stated.

Then a beautiful girl named Nyalade came into the picture. Saweng only had eyes on Nyalade and wished to have her hand in marriage.

However, Nyalade had her own mind, telling Saweng, “If you are really a brave man and invulnerable, you go and cut off the heads of the two white fowls on the other side of the river.”

Nyalade was actually refusing to marry Saweng because he already had a wife and two children.

Saweng, nonetheless, felt ashamed and threatened with Nyalade’s dare. He then told his people to pack all their belongings and make refuge at Kabah river (Nanga Kabah) where they built a stronghold.

Determined to prove his bravery, Saweng and a few of his men – including Sakalai – went to the fort where Fox and Steele stayed.

Jaro told the gazette, “Before they reached the Fort, Saweng said to Sakalai and his friends, ‘When I begin to chew betel nut, you will kill those Europeans.’ When they reached the Fort, Saweng began to chew betel nut, and Sakalai and his friends took their parangs and killed them.”

Fox and Steele Kanowit Bazaar
Kanowit bazaar in 2016.
The aftermath of the murders
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The double homicide of the Brooke officers had led the Brooke government to send punitive expedition against the Kanowit people. Credit: Pixabay.

After the news of the murders reached the White Rajah, the Brooke government sent a punitive expedition to Kanowit.

They made the fort into a stronghold and attacked the surrounding villages with their guns and cannons.

Meanwhile, Saweng and his followers made their escape to Kabah river to their stronghold.

The Ibans that the Brooke recruited knew about this so they followed them to the stronghold. Some of these Ibans were once allies to Saweng.

After a ferocious fight between Saweng and his men against Brooke and his Iban warriors, Saweng’s troop started to break apart.

As many of his followers died during the battle, those who came from Matu, Igan and Mukah to fight went back to their own homes.

Even some of the Kayan and Bukitan people who helped him perished during the battle.

Saweng, however did not falter. He attempted to escape up the Rajang river to the Iran river. There, he fought another fierce battle with the Brooke troops.

Jaro said, “The water of the Iran river became red with blood. After a long fight at the Iran river, Saweng and his followers could not longer stand the heavy fire of the Rajah’s party, and escaped to the Pelagus river where they again made a stand.”

Saweng and his followers continued to fight through the Brookes as they made another escape to the Kejaman longhouse at Tuju Metahap, near the Belaga bazaar today.

There, he made the Kejaman longhouse as his stronghold. Legend has it that he hung a mat in front of the house in order to protect it. It was said that none of the bullets fired on the longhouse were able to penetrate the magical mat.

Nonetheless, many of the Sekapan and Kejaman people paid the price for harbouring Saweng and his men.

Saweng’s final escape to Anap

After staying with the Kejaman people Tuju Metahap, Saweng then went to Anap.

When Saweng and his followers fought against the Rajah’s expedition, his children Gadap and Metalai were actually still living in Kanowit.

Upon learning about this, the Rajah reportedly sent a letter to Saweng in Anap telling him that his children were under arrest.

In order to free his children, Saweng decided to surrender himself to the Rajah in Kuching. There, he was put in jail.

They tried to put him to death by different kinds of methods such as stabbing and shooting but all failed.

The Kanowit people believed he had some power that made him invulnerable.

According to Jaro: “In the end Saweng said to the Rajah, it is painful to have your men trying to kill me like this, and it will be better for me to die quickly. Saweng then asked the Rajah to kill him himself and the Rajah took his dagger and killed Saweng.”

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That one time a dragon caused a flood in Belaga in 1942

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Different cultures around the world have attributed mythical creatures as the cause of meteorologic phenomenons or natural disasters like flood and earthquake.

For example, in Japanese mythology, the Namazu is a giant catfish that causes earthquakes with his tail.

Meanwhile, the thunderbird in Native American culture is believed to have the ability to produce thunderstorms and rain.

Here in Sarawak, there was one heavy flood which the locals believed had been caused by an angry dragon.

The Sarawak Gazette reported on a flood in Belaga which startes on Feb 21, 1942 and lasted for five days.

Apparently, the Kayans blamed the Kenyah Badeng whom they said tried to tie a dragon to a farm hut with rattan.

They said the dragon was about the size of an areca palm tree with a body resembling a snake with scales, horns and legs.

Somehow, the dragon managed to escape from its ties and wreaked vengeance on the people of Belaga by sending them the biggest flood they had ever experienced.

Belaga
Belaga town in 2017.
Worst flood ever recorded in Belaga?

According to the gazette, to anyone who happened to be in Belaga at that time, the feeling was that the downpour of rain before and during the flood was enough to drive away people and dragons.

“The flood was actually caused by the heavy downpour of rain up to the Sungai Belaga and Balui at the same time and the Giam (rapids) obstructing the flow of an abnormally large volume of water.”

The report continued, “Thoughthe flood was 15 feet high from the Kubu (fort) ground floor, many buildings on a lower ground level were submerged. Those who built of lighter materials were floated away as soon the flood reached the roof top. It was strangely amusing to see the newly erected Government Dispensary moved away like a tortoise.”

Some of the village houses were anchored to the nearby trees using rattan while a few Kayan longhouses washed away by flood like steamships with cats and dogs still inside.

The shophouses in Belaga bazaar were reported to still be more or less intact but did not escape some damage.

Before this, other floods that had been officially recorded in Belaga took place in Jan 28, 1934 (estimated at 8 feet high) and Mar 24, 1887 (estimated at 4 feet).

However, it is unsure if these floods were also caused by an angry dragon.

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Four covert operations by Z Special Unit in Borneo during WWII

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For those who survived, they kept their silence for 30 years. Nobody knew what they did during World War II (WWII).

For those who died during their missions, nobody, not even their families knew about their sacrifices or the nature of their deaths for those 30 years.

They were part of Z Special Unit, a joint Allied Special forces unit formed to operate behind Japanese lines in Southeast Asia.

The operatives were mostly from Australia while others were British, Dutch, New Zealand, Timorese and Indonesian.

After the war ended, the special military unit operatives were sworn to secrecy and not allowed to tell anyone of their experiences until 1980.

While their best known missions were Operation Jaywick and Operation Rimau (both of which involved raids on Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour), these operatives also carried out covert operations in Borneo.

Here are at least four covert operations run by Z Special united in Borneo during WWII:
Z special unit
Members of Z Special Unit at their base at East Arm, near Darwin. Credits: Australian War Memorial.
1.Operation Python

As all Z Special Unit’s operations were covert and secretive, not much has been revealed to the public even almost 80 years since the war has ended.

This included Operation Python which took place from 1943 to 1944. The mission’s objective was to set up a wireless station near Labian Point in Sabah and undertake covert operations reporting on the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Sibutu Passage and the Balabac Strait of the Sulu Sea.

The overall operation was divided into Python I and Python II. During Operation Python I, the Z Special Unit operatives landed along Labian Point in early October 1943. Besides setting up a wireless station there, they also supported and provided equipment for Filipino guerrillas.

In January 1944, Operation Python II took place with the objective of organising the native population for guerrilla warfare.

Unfortunately, these early operations did not yield significant results.

2.Operation Agas

A total of 44 Z Special Unit operatives took part in Operation Agas in carrying out guerrilla warfare against Japanese in North Borneo (present day Sabah) with the support of locals.

Operation Agas was split into five operations, starting in March 1945, continuing up to September and October 1945.

While the operations were able to supply reliable information to Australian forces, they did little rescue mission-wise.

For example, Agas 1 operatives provided information about the Sandakan Death March but there were no rescue missions for the prisoners of war (POWs). The death march subsequently resulted in the deaths of 2,434 POWs.

Nonetheless, the intelligence gathered during Operation Agas helped the Allied forces during the Battle of North Borneo which was fought between June 10 to Aug 15, 1945.

3.Operation Semut

While Operation Agas was executed in North Borneo, a similar covert mission was undertaken in Sarawak called Operation Semut.

There was four operations undertaken under Operation Semut. Overall, the operation reportedly caused the deaths of 1,500 to 1,700 Japanese from March to October 1945.

Under this operation, the Z Special Unit members trained and supplied the locals with weapons to help conduct surveillance and sabotage behind enemy lines.

Unlike Operation Agas, the intelligence gathered during Operation Semut was not entirely helpful as the locals could not differentiate between facts and rumours.

4.Operation Platypus

Just like any other operations undertaken by Z Special Unit, Operation Platypus aimed to gather intelligence and train local peoples as resistance fighters against the Japanese.

The operatives were inserted in small groups into the Balikpapan area of Dutch Borneo (present day Kalimantan).

There were 11 operations altogether in Operations Platypus with the first part of the operations carried out on Mar 20, 1945.

The last operation took place on July 22, 1945 where the operatives used folboats to reconnoitre and pinpoint prospective target areas.

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5 things you should know about Sarawak’s flags throughout the years

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Did you know that the current Sarawak flag was inspired by the state’s old flag when it was under the reign of the White Rajahs?

Over the years, there have been several changes to the Sarawak flag with the current design becoming official in 1988.

And who could forget the Trisakti that was designed and first hoisted by the then Chief Minister of Sarawak Abdul Rahman Ya’kub in 1973?

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The Trisakti flag: The blue was supposed to symbolise Sarawakians being unified in pursuit of national aspirations; the red to symbolise their perseverance and determination; and the white to reflect honesty and purity.

The current design retains the same colour scheme as the flag of the former kingdom, except with two significant changes. The cross was replaced with two diagonal bars while the crown was substituted with a nine-pointed star.

Here are 5 things you should know about the history of previous Sarawak flags before all these changes:
1.Before there was an official flag, there was the flag of St George.
Brooke Personal standard
Brooke’s personal standard was the flag of St George’s Cross. Photo credit: The Sarawak Gazette.

When the first White Rajah James Brooke came into power, he originally used St. George’s Cross as the state’s flag.

It was a red cross on a white background in the form of swallow-tailed pennant. James flew this flag over his first fort at Berlidah, not far from Siniawan.

2.The first official Sarawak flag was designed by James Brooke.

Finally in 1845, James decided to give Sarawak a flag of its own. However, he only hoisted it three years later on Sept 21, 1848.

The flag was made up of a half blue and half red cross of his Armorial Bearings on a yellow background.

So what did the first White Rajah do after there was an official Sarawak flag? In 1845, he applied to the British Ministries for Foreign and Colonial Affairs in order for them to recognise Sarawak by allowing a Protectorate flag to be displayed.

However, it took the British government 15 years (January, 1864) to recognise Sarawak as an independent state and another 35 years (June, 1888) before Britain expressed its protection.

James was reported to have regretted that the flag did not contain a quartered Union Jack (like you see in today’s New Zealand and Australian flags).

3.Was it blue or purple?
Sarawak flag Blue or Purple
The first official Sarawak flag caused some debate over whether it was a blue and red cross or a purple and red cross. Photo credit: The Sarawak Gazette.

The only recorded account of the first hoisting of the Sarawak flag can be found in “Letters from Sarawak” in 1851 by Harriette McDougall, the wife of Bishop McDougall.

She wrote a letter to her son Charley who was at school in England, which was later published to help raise missionary funds in Sarawak.

Unfortunately, Charley passed away a year after this letter was written due to a blow from a cricket ball.

Going back to the Sarawak flag, this was what Harriette wrote to her son:

“The Sarawak flag is a purple and red cross, out of Sir James Brooke’s armorial shield, on a yellow background, yellow being the royal colour of Borneo. It was given by the Rajah to his people on his return from England in 1848 and I remember well what a grand occasion it was. HMS Meander was at Sarawak (the old name for Kuching) at the time, and their band played ‘God save the Queen’, as the flag was the first time hoisted on the flag-staff before the Rajah’s house.

All the English (probably only men) were assembled there, and a great crowd of natives, Malays and Dayaks, whom the Rajah addressed in the Malay language telling them the flag which he had that day given them would he hoped, be their glory and protection, as the flag of England had been hers. The Malays listened with love and reverence to his words and from house across the river, I could hear their acclamation.”

Although Mrs McDougall here pointed out that the flag was a purple and red cross, the second White Rajah Charles had clarified in a letter that the cross was in fact blue and red.

But that did not stop many of the early writers from the late 19th century stating that the colours were purple and red.

4.The first recorded official notification regarding the Sarawak flag was issued on May 7, 1870.

According to archivist W.J Chater, the first official notification regarding the Sarawak flag was concerning the dimensions of the flag.

It also stated, “Black bunting to be used in place of blue” denoting the change from the cross’ blue colour to black and quash the rumours that it was purple instead of blue.

  • Sarawak flag
    Sarawak flag from 1870 till 1946 and 1963 to 1973.
5.The three bodies that first used Sarawak flags officially

While it is common to see the Sarawak flag hoisted up in front of government buildings these days, back in the olden days the Rajah first gave the Sarawak flags to three bodies, namely the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (S.P.G) in 1871, the Borneo Company in 1874 and the Roman Catholic Mission in 1906.

The Roman Catholic Mission hoisted the Sarawak flag for the first time on Vyner Brooke’s birthday (Sept 26, 1906).

Meanwhile, the Kuching branch of the Borneo Company Limited hoisted the flag only for a short time. Then they refused to do so reportedly because they found ‘it was too ugly’ and the blue border being a Chinese sign of mourning might have been considered unlucky for business.

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