Lipp Kee in Mulu and Brunei

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Gunung Mulu National Park, located near Miri, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that encompasses incredible caves and rock formations in a mountainous equatorial rainforest setting. The park is famous for its caves and the expeditions that have been mounted to explore them and their surrounding forests, most notably by the Royal Geographical Society Expedition of 1977 - 1978, which saw over 100 scientists in the field for more than a year.

New Photos from Mulu

CLK has just sent me the photos taken during their Mulu visit, so here they are ...

All ready for a wet adventure ... the long boat ride upstream in Mulu park

The swimming was great!

At the Clear Water cave outlet

Who are these masked people?

No, inot masked bandits from Mulu jungles. Simply trying to reduce the glorious "aroma" of the bat droppings in the caves.

Candlelit dinner at the resort

The swimming pool at the resort

Parting shot of the Mulu Resort

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New Photos from Brunei


After Mulu, LK nd family headed to Brunei. Here are more photos ...

Post Durian feast ... YUM !

Kampung Ayer or the Water Village

CLK's other house in Brunei? No, that's the mosque and parliament house

The girls love the ice kacang ... YUM again!

Well, that's all folks!
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Lipp Kee in Miri

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Our intrepid man in Miri, Leo Sia, sent in these two photos showing Lipp Kee and family in Oil Town.

Where was this taken?

Two slightly mature Red Crossers (Crescenters?) reunited ...

Can someone help name the individuals in the line-up ...

Next stop Mulu ?
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Sarawak Regatta 2010

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Dato' AM sent this over yesterday ... live action from the Sarawak River? It seems NST won a couple of trophies. Well done!

Looks like lots of excitement. Anyone else went to watch? Any more photos you can contribute ?

I was suggesting that maybe next year, the Boys of St Joe 1976 can enter a boat too. Provided the organisers will permit a special design that has added width and can take slightly more weight, in order to accomodate our current physique.
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On the Riverfront

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For those who live abroad and haven't been back to Kuching for a while and not seen what the riverfront (where the buildings accomodating the poultry and vegetable markets used to be) now look like, this posting is for you ...

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Although I'm still saddened by the demolition of the historic wet market buildings along Gambier Road, and the hardship this caused many traders who had sold their ware there for generations, I must admit the Sarawak River scene from the new frontage is quite peaceful and beautiful.

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Name the Town

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Here's a little quiz to test how well you know your Sarawak. If you have been travelling around the towns and cities of our great state, some of these statues and monuments should be quite familiar to you. I must admit that when Leo Sia first sent these photos to me, I was completely stumped by some of them. It just goes to show that I've got to do a lot more sightseeing within Sarawak.

Out of the following, let's see how many you score (one is an obvious giveaway, of course) ...

Town 1

Town 2

Town 3

Town 4

Town 5

Town 6

Town 7

Town 8

Town 9

Town 10

An added incentive is that the first one who gets all ten absolutely correct will receive some automotive accessories. So what are you waiting for ? Send your attempts to me at jslyong@hotmail.com .
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Perspectives of Sarawak History

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I came across this familiar looking book in the library recently ...

It brought back memories of our history lessons in Form 2 or Form 3. I'm sure most of us went through this book during that time. I recall reading stories of exciting battles and uprisings and rebels and pirates.

Of course at that time, the White Rajahs and the British were portrayed as the good guys, and the baddies were Rentap (the Iban chief of Bukit Sadong fame), Sharif Masahor (the Melanau warrior) , Liu Shan Bang (leader of the 1857 Chinese Uprising) and Rosli Dhobi (who assasinated the second British governor Sir Duncan Stewart in 1949).

Nowadays the history books, written during a more confident Malaysian era, tell a slightly different story. The White Rajahs and British are exposed as imperialist exploiters of our innocent land and people, whilst Rentap, Masahor, Liu and Rosli Dhobi are local heroes, fighting for their people and way of life.  I found some interesting website links on Rentap , Sharif Masahor, Liu and Rosli Dhobi that you might want to check out ...

It all goes to support two important lessons that I've heard from different people: "History is written by the eventual victors" and also "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter".  Both good points to remember to give yourself greater perspective as you read about events of the past, and even as you observe current happenings around the globe.

On Sarawak history, I suppose the truth - if there's any such thing - lies somewhere in between these two extremes. Few people are really 100 percent good just as no one is ever totally evil. It's usually not a case of simply black or white, but many shades in-between.
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Historical Diversion: Rajah Charles Brooke's Lost Descendents

Recently Leo sent me an interesting Borneo Post article, entitled "Tracing her roots in Sarawak". Those of you based in Kuching may have read it. Basically an American woman from Richmond, Virginia, by the name of Deborah Falls Lockhart, traced her ancestry to the Second Rajah, who had had an illicit relationship with a Malay woman from the Simanggang area (now Sri Aman).

Such exciting stuff, don't you think? We certainly never read about this aspect of the White Rajah regime during our school history lessons.

Anyway read it for yourself. I would have hyperlinked it to the Borneo Post website, but I can't seem to find the article there ... so I thought it would be easier to reproduce it here for your reading pleasure. Remember, I did attribute it to the journalist and paper :-)


Tracing her Roots in Sarawak

by Doreena Naeg

IT TOOK her 30 years to realise her dream of visiting Sarawak, the country her great, great grandfather once ruled. With the help of the Internet, she learned more about the Land of the Hornbill half a globe away her home in the US.

Deborah Falls Lockhart, 54, savored the dream, which she shared passionately with her family. It was like a fairytale that could only happen in the movies. A simple, middle-class American family suddenly discovering they are descendents of a ruling family in a faraway land sounds a tad fantastic to be true.

But that’s exactly the historical blood-link with Sarawak on the part of Lockharts from Richmond, Virginia. Deborah is the great, great grand daughter of Charles Brooke, the second Rajah of Sarawak.

“My mother used to tell us stories of my great, great grandfather and his family in the island of Borneo,” Deborah recalled.

And she and her siblings would listen spellbound to such narratives from the then mysterious East.

Charles Brooke had a secret affair with a Malay woman, Dayang Mastiah, from the rural town of Simanggang, now known as Sri Aman.

It was a relationship doomed from the start. Sad and tragic, two lovers were forbidden to have a relationship by social taboos — he was a caucasian from an aristocratic (in Sarawak’s context) family while she, a native from a small village in the Second Division.

Their lives were worlds apart and to make matter worst, he was a Christian and a married man with a family.

There was no way the relationship could have any ending, much less a happy one, but Dayang Mastiah did bear Charles a child, called Isaka (his real name).

Nobody knew about Isaka’s existence until an American writer unearthed the story and wrote about it many years after the Brooke era.

Isaka was not supposed to exist. Ranee Margaret, Charles’s wife, was adamant the child remained unknown since he was a threat to her two sons — Betram and Vyner — inheriting the Raj.

The Ranee arranged for the child to be adopted by an Anglican priest, Reverent Pastor Dykin, who brought him back to the United Kingdom and raised him at the Barator House, Sheetor. Isaka was renamed as Esca.

Rev Dykin, together with his family and Esca, migrated to Canada where the love child of Charles Brooke grew up. Esca married a Canadian named Edith Webster Ottawa and the couple was blessed with three daughters, and a son, named Cyril who had only one child, Barbara Anne Brooke.

Esca’s family-line did not stop there. Barbara had two daughters, Kathleen and Deborah and a son, Mark, who bears a strong resemblance to Esca.

Deborah never doubted the credibility of her family tree — she had no reason to. There was a booklet on the history of the Brookes being passed around the family members that gave her the background knowledge she needed.

Together with her sons, she surfed the Internet for more information about the Brookes and her ancestors. What she learned deepened her desire to see the faraway land, supposedly liberated by her ancestors.

“Once we started the search, people from all over gave us feedback on the Brookes. It’s sort of joined up the dots. That helped us a lot in our quest.”

She also poured over old publications in the museum archive for more background information before making her maiden voyage to Sarawak.

The knowledge that she was a descendant of an affair that took place generations ago did not deter her; in fact, the intrigues of her heritage fuelled her curiosity. She wanted to know and see for herself the environment, people and place that gave her life.

Nor is she ashamed of her past, having accepted her fate. In fact, looking back, Deborah is humbled that her linage had played a big role in the history of Sarawak.

Deborah’s children, Charles David, 24, Colin Richard, 22 and Garrett, 19, were as enthusiastic as their mother, if not more, about the trip to Sarawak.

“Our friends in college find it too fantastic to be true; they just couldn’t believe it,” said Colin, rationalising his family is too ordinary — like any typical American family — to have any connection with a ruling family.

After years of research and contemplation, Deborah and her husband, Greg, and their three boys packed their bags and headed to the Far East in June, 2009.

“It is both a family vacation and a journey of discovery,” she confessed.

On her first trip to the Far East, Deborah made it mandatory to visit the place her ancestors had helped build and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

Though a total stranger to Kuching, she was swept by a sense of belonging when she disembarked from the plane at the airport.

It was strange, Deborah recalled, but the feeling of nostalgia was eminent and she never felt like a stranger in this unfamiliar land.

Apart from the warmth and friendliness of the local people, there was also this feeling that somehow, somewhere, a special relationship had always linked her to the place.

“No one knew about my relationship with Sarawak except my travel agent and a few people in the Sarawak Tourism Federation but yet when we went around and shopped, there were many people who asked us if we could take pictures with them. It was as if they knew.”

Deborah knew finding her roots in Sarawak would be like looking for a needle in a haystack if she didn’t have any guide, so she sought the help of her travel agent who then, arranged for local historian, Lim Kian Hock, to meet her.

Lim is also the advisor to the Sarawak Tourism Federation.

“We didn’t know what to expect and thought it would be in our best interest if someone could clue us in on my ancestors’ story,” Deborah said.

Besides sight-seeing, the Lockharts also looked forward to meeting the other side of their family but due to time constraint, were only able to meet one of them. The meeting took place in Kuala Lumpur before the family arrived in Sarawak.

Deborah also wished to have a peek at her great, great grandfather’s birth certificate though she did not put too much hope in it because of the circumstances surrounding his birth.

“It would be nice to see it though I’m fully aware of its possible non-existence.”

Although they had a tight schedule, the Lockharts toured the places built by the Brookes — the former courthouse, now the tourism complex, the Astana, the Sarawak Museum and Gambier Street where they shopped for souvenirs.

They also met Lim and president of the Sarawak Tourism Federation, Wee Hong Seng.
Lim briefed them on the country’s history and what the Second Rajah had contributed to its physical structures.

“The country and its people are exactly what I have imagined all this while — warm and friendly,” Deborah confessed.

She plans to organise a family reunion of the Brookes in Sarawak and also return for a longer visit to reconnect with the Asian side of her family.


Events like these certainly make history come alive, don't you agree? And having read this makes me even more enthusiastic on my genealogy project. Maybe I'm descended from some ancient emperor of China :-)

To conclude, may I also warmly welcome the Lockharts to the Sarawak family!
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Old Stamps, Old Coins

How many of you collected stamps or coins when you were young? I remember I did for a while, although I have no idea where they all are now ...

Well, here are some samples of old Sarawak stamps which, if you still have in your possession, might fetch a bit of money in an auction or sale?

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There were also the so-called "First Day Covers" that people used to book or queue up for. Do you remember those?

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Then there were old coins, especially those from the Brooke era which some say can be pretty valuable. I'm no expert, but these are some samples. Perhaps it's time to check your old piggy banks ...

Stamp and coin collecting were some popular hobbies that some of us - especially those who couldn't find dates for the weekend - had in those days.

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Perhaps now the once dateless will find that they are now owners of some valuable treasures and get to have the last laugh ... all the way to the bank?

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A Historical Detour: The Sarawak Story in Sheepstor

Today this blog gets a bit more serious and sophisticated as we make an interesting historical detour, courtesy of our surgeon friend James Kuo.
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James lives in Plymouth, in the county of Devon in southern UK. This is not far from a certain small town called Sheepstor, a beautiful little village set in lovely countryside on the western edge of Dartmoor.
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The picture below shows Sheepstor Church.

So why are we so fixated on this little town? Hold on, it'll become clearer in a minute. First put on your glasses and look at the tiny reddish rectangular object on the right side of the church grounds, near to the further wall. Do you see it?

Well, here's the same reddish object at close range ...

Can you guess yet? Well, these are the graves of James Brooke (1803-1868), Charles Brooke (1829-1917) & Charles Vyner Brooke (1874-1963), the three White Rajahs of Sarawak. [Kuo, I know the red grave is James Brooke's final resting place. Can you remind me again which one is Charles' and which Charles Vyner's]. Boys & girls, remember your Sarawak history lessons back in school?
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After returning to England in 1863, Sir James Brooke bought a home in Sheepstor. His house was called Burrator House. Here's the front gate. Pity we can show it to you as it is now private property.


Hanging prominently inside Sheepstor Church is a "Pua Kumbu" or ceremonial blanket, which was presented in 1996 by Dr James Masing, then Asst Minister of Tourism, as a gift from the people of Sarawak. Indeed many Sarawakian names can be seen in the visitors book at the church, as they pay their respects to the three generations of Brooke who were so influential in the early development of Sarawak.





Well, I hope you enjoyed that historical journey. Thanks again to James Kuo for making the trip to Sheepstor and supplying these photos. Kuo, your former history teachers would've been proud of you. They might even excuse you for those warm afternoons when you dozed off in their class.

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