The Hornbill Tribune: Sarawak News, Old & New (Issue No. 1)

Our friend Nick and others suggested it might be useful to have a series that captures key newsworthy events from Sarawak for those who haven't been back for some time. Not just the current events, but even some that happened a while back but perhaps are still not known by all. So in this first edition, I have some news from almost 3 years ago as well as some from last week.

Sarawak Club burnt down

On 27 July 2006, Sarawak’s oldest club, the Sarawak Club, was razed in an early morning fire. Here are some pictures of the blaze and smouldering remains.

The fire is believed to have started from one of the club’s restaurant kitchens at about 3.30am and quickly spread to the rest of the building. Three fire engines and more than 20 firemen were unable to save the building.

The club which was to have celebrated its 130th anniversary in Sept 2006 had several restaurants and bars, four squash courts, a badminton hall, library, gymnasium and meeting rooms. Its main hall, which was part of the original building dating back to the 1860s, was also burned down. Many historical documents and artefacts were also lost. Fortunately there were no casualties. I'm not sure if the cause of the fire was ever conclusively ascertained.

The club, which has almost 3,000 members, moved to its present premises at Jalan Taman Budaya in the 1960s. The club was started in 1876 during the Brooke era, and served as a gathering place for senior government officers.

Anyway, some of you may have memories of pleasant times visiting the old Sarawak Club at the top of Golf Links Road. I myself never went there much when I was in school, but I do remember cycling past almost every week day.

The new Sarawak Club buildings were completed and re-opened in July 2007. I'll let some of you who are in Kuching comment on the new premises versus the old.

The Spring Mall opens

In 10 Jan 2008, a new lifestyle mall called The Spring Mall opened in Kuching. It was the second shopping mall to open in Kuching, but was the largest, with a wide variety of choices for high-fashion labels, entertainment and foods.

The new Spring shopping mall is situated along a main thoroughfare along Tabuan Jaya, in south Kuching. The two-storey mall has 350,000sq ft of space and 1,500 car-parking bays, with entrances/exits from all four directions.The RM150 million project was designed by a New Zealand-based architectural firm, Warren & Mahoney.

According to the marketing blurb, The Spring will give Sarawakians as well as visitors to the Sarawak a rewarding shopping experience, with a wide range of retail choice. I visited to the Spring last year - wandered around a bit, browsed in MPH Bookstore and sat for a while at Starbucks. As I enjoyed my ice blended mocha and watched the crowds walk by, it struck me that with the advent of shopping malls like these, Kuching would never be quite the same homely little town where one shopped at individual shops at specific streets, and where the shop owner and helpers knew not only you but often your siblings, parents and in some cases grandparents. Ahh, the price of progress ...

Wife of Sarawak CM passes away at 68

On 29 April 2009, Datuk Amar Laila Taib, wife of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, died at her residence at Demak Jaya, Jalan Bako here at 3.40pm yesterday. She was 68.

Family sources said Laila, Sarawak’s First Lady who was born in Poland, had battled cancer for the past few months.

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Well, that's it for the first edition of The Hornbill Tribune. Do give your feedback and inputs.

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