The name of Sarawak still evokes romance rather than reality. While Rajahs and Borneo headhunters ring more bells than 125,000 square kilometers of hills, jungle and swampland just north of the Equator. In this land of abundant rainfall, innumerable rivers weave their way over the state’s boundaries into Indonesian Kalimantan and provide routed into remote jungles areas.
Borneo is also a Kelabit agricultural center, a Malay fishing village, an Iban longhouse, a Punan jungle camp, a Melanau sago factory and a Bidayuh rice field all at once.
Borneo is also a Kelabit agricultural center, a Malay fishing village, an Iban longhouse, a Punan jungle camp, a Melanau sago factory and a Bidayuh rice field all at once.
The days of the reign of the White Rajahs and head-hunting have now passed. Since 1963, Sarawak has been a member of the Federation of Malaysia, and traces of colonialism soon began to disappear under the struggle to form a modern state. With colonialism’s end, some of the old serenity went too, accelerated by the advent of the oil industry, Kuala Lumpur’s interest in developing the state, and the logging disputes in recent years. Without doubt, Sarawak is undergoing great changes.
Sarawak’s long tradition of open hospitality is what makes city or jungle travel so genuine. A traveler can find himself made welcome in a Kuching market where Chinese women offer free samples of their wares, and also at an Iban longhouse, where he may sit with the chief over a glass of the heady, home-brewed tuak, the ubiquitous rice wine of Sarawak.
Tourism has begun to grow up in a somewhat disorganized and unpredictable fashion. While some tour operators offer a genuine experience, taking you inland to visit caves, longhouse and national parks in small intimate groups, others with little understanding of tribal pride and dignity will take you to commercialized longhouse close to the capital, where the inhabitants will perform dances and “exhibit” their way of life for you. The experience seems demoralizing, and smacks of the clumsy in the 1950s and 1960s.
It is far better to strike out on your own, or to visit some of the reputable tour operators recommended destinations. The real challenge of Sarawak is a trip upriver to visit the “real” longhouses and settlements of the Kayan, Kenyah, Murut, Iban, Kelabit, and Punan people.
Sarawak’s long tradition of open hospitality is what makes city or jungle travel so genuine. A traveler can find himself made welcome in a Kuching market where Chinese women offer free samples of their wares, and also at an Iban longhouse, where he may sit with the chief over a glass of the heady, home-brewed tuak, the ubiquitous rice wine of Sarawak.
Tourism has begun to grow up in a somewhat disorganized and unpredictable fashion. While some tour operators offer a genuine experience, taking you inland to visit caves, longhouse and national parks in small intimate groups, others with little understanding of tribal pride and dignity will take you to commercialized longhouse close to the capital, where the inhabitants will perform dances and “exhibit” their way of life for you. The experience seems demoralizing, and smacks of the clumsy in the 1950s and 1960s.
It is far better to strike out on your own, or to visit some of the reputable tour operators recommended destinations. The real challenge of Sarawak is a trip upriver to visit the “real” longhouses and settlements of the Kayan, Kenyah, Murut, Iban, Kelabit, and Punan people.
Two weeks is a minimum for a trip upriver to areas far from the commercial and touristic world. You can start first at the Tourist Information Center in Kuching, but probably the best sources of information will be people you meet on the river or at small river towns such as Kapit and Belaga. Most likely they will be from the Iban and other tribes, many of whom have a tradition of going berjalai or walkabout and may decide to join you. You’ll need a guide to take you to the smallest and most interesting little streams, as well as food sticks and gifts for your longhouse hosts. Food items and things for the children are most acceptable.
This kind of trip can become rather expensive, with many people wishing to tag along as paid “guides”, so be prepared for some bargaining. All those who have done it with good preparation claim that there is nothing like weaving your way through the jungle on Sarawak’s highway – the river.
Although there is a fairly good network of roads in and around Kuching, these are minimal at best as you head inland. A road has been cut between Sibu and Kuching but it is much faster to travel by express boat or plane. Most travel around state will be by boat, canoe and small aircraft. Malaysian Airlines has an extensive network around Sarawak. Traveling to a place in Sarawak is certainly more than half the fun!
This kind of trip can become rather expensive, with many people wishing to tag along as paid “guides”, so be prepared for some bargaining. All those who have done it with good preparation claim that there is nothing like weaving your way through the jungle on Sarawak’s highway – the river.
Although there is a fairly good network of roads in and around Kuching, these are minimal at best as you head inland. A road has been cut between Sibu and Kuching but it is much faster to travel by express boat or plane. Most travel around state will be by boat, canoe and small aircraft. Malaysian Airlines has an extensive network around Sarawak. Traveling to a place in Sarawak is certainly more than half the fun!
It seems extraordinary that a white man once ruled in this land of jungles and tribal traditions, yet this came about, unusually for colonial history, not by force but by invitation.
The young debonair James Brooke, whose admiration for Sir Stamford Raffles lured him to the East, forsook the cocktail parties and fashionably dressed women of Singapore for a trip to Borneo.
Aside from a brief stint in the Indian Army, James held no titles among the British foreign legion, but his charisma embodied the romance of a cultured Englishman in search of adventure, and what he lacked in rank, he made up for in personality. He was also a diplomat and a strategist, assets which, aside from his awe-inspiring appearance, earned him almost by accident the sole rule of all of Sarawak.
The young debonair James Brooke, whose admiration for Sir Stamford Raffles lured him to the East, forsook the cocktail parties and fashionably dressed women of Singapore for a trip to Borneo.
Aside from a brief stint in the Indian Army, James held no titles among the British foreign legion, but his charisma embodied the romance of a cultured Englishman in search of adventure, and what he lacked in rank, he made up for in personality. He was also a diplomat and a strategist, assets which, aside from his awe-inspiring appearance, earned him almost by accident the sole rule of all of Sarawak.
When James Brooke’s ship The Royalist wound its way upriver to Kuching in 1839, Sarawak was suffering. Rebellions against the brutal extortions demanded by the Brunei overlords, as well as struggles between Malays and Land Dayaks, were increasing everywhere. Returning a year later, Brooke was asked by the Sultan of Brunei to help settle these disputes.
To the complete amazement of all, Brooke managed to talk both sides into agreeing upon a truce, but even more incredible to the Brunei overlords was his insistence that the lives of the rebels are spared and that they are allowed to return to their villages. Thus, Brooke gained the friendship of the Dayaks, the Malays and the Chinese.
In return, the Sultan offered him the title of Governor and Rajah of the Sarawak region, thus initiating the “rule of the White Rajahs”. The novelty of Brooke’s rule become its essence; justice without favoritism.
If it was the peculiar genius of James Brooke that conceived Sarawak as a state where a handful of Europeans should guide numerous Eastern races to a life of harmonious peace, then it was his nephew, Charles Brooke, who succeeded him, and sealed its reality.
To the complete amazement of all, Brooke managed to talk both sides into agreeing upon a truce, but even more incredible to the Brunei overlords was his insistence that the lives of the rebels are spared and that they are allowed to return to their villages. Thus, Brooke gained the friendship of the Dayaks, the Malays and the Chinese.
In return, the Sultan offered him the title of Governor and Rajah of the Sarawak region, thus initiating the “rule of the White Rajahs”. The novelty of Brooke’s rule become its essence; justice without favoritism.
If it was the peculiar genius of James Brooke that conceived Sarawak as a state where a handful of Europeans should guide numerous Eastern races to a life of harmonious peace, then it was his nephew, Charles Brooke, who succeeded him, and sealed its reality.
Unlike James, who lived in a nimbus of international glamour, Charles was reserved in manner and difficult to approach. He had accustomed himself to months of loneliness as a district officer in the jungle where he lived among Dayak friends. Throughout his reign, he cultivated a betel nut plantation at the back of the Astana (palace) which provided gifts for his Dayak chief guests. He was in fact more relaxed in their presence than at a stiffly formal gathering of European officials.
Typical of his taciturn nature, Charles Brooke proposed marriage to the young Margaret de Windt by handling a note while she was playing the piano. The note read:
“With a humble demean
If the King were to pray
That you’d be his Queen,
Would you not say nay?”
To her parents’ horror, Margaret agreed to become Ranee of Sarawak. Margaret wrote several books about her life there and accompanied her husband on journeys upriver where her gentle kindness to her native hosts did much to create goodwill. Living with Charles Brooke can’t have been easy, but he held great respect for Margaret, and when a fort was built in Kuching, he named it after her.
Charles Brooke was a benevolent despot who insists on having his hand in every affair, right down to choosing the marble slabs which were to be used for the fish stalls in Kuching Market.
Typical of his taciturn nature, Charles Brooke proposed marriage to the young Margaret de Windt by handling a note while she was playing the piano. The note read:
“With a humble demean
If the King were to pray
That you’d be his Queen,
Would you not say nay?”
To her parents’ horror, Margaret agreed to become Ranee of Sarawak. Margaret wrote several books about her life there and accompanied her husband on journeys upriver where her gentle kindness to her native hosts did much to create goodwill. Living with Charles Brooke can’t have been easy, but he held great respect for Margaret, and when a fort was built in Kuching, he named it after her.
Charles Brooke was a benevolent despot who insists on having his hand in every affair, right down to choosing the marble slabs which were to be used for the fish stalls in Kuching Market.
He commissioned the design of all public building, supervised the construction of the Astana, chose the paint color for the Fort Margherita and was involved to the Philippines to select a suitable conductor for the municipal band and personally determined all of its music. Missives were directed by him to his district officers in the outback, insisting among many other things that they should never be caught sitting in an easy chair.
Until the last years, Rajah Charles Brooke would rise with the five o’clock gun, dress in white trousers and a blue serge coat, with a sprig of honeysuckle in this buttonhole, and proceed ceremoniously to the court house across the river, where he had the last word. He also spent some time in the Treasury, and though the accountants quivered beneath his sharp eye, Sarawak has never been so prosperous. Nor was it ever peaceful for so long. During his reign too, the first oil was found at Miri in 1895, and the Sarawak Oil Company set about exploiting it in 1910. Rubber was also introduced as Sarawak’s first real cash crop.
At 86, Rajah Charles Brooke still oversaw national affairs in the morning and took a 3 kilometers walk in the afternoon. When he died in 1917, a significant era of white rule ended.
Several years later, his eldest son Charles Vyner Brooke, some European officials, Malay aristocrats, Dayak chieftains and Chinese merchants congregated outside the Old Court House to honor the man who had devoted 65 years of his life to the rule and care of Sarawak, 49 of them as Rajah. As the Iban chief Penghulu unveiled the obelisk memorial, the first airplane ever sighted in Sarawak appeared. Several of the guests were sure that the spirit of the old Rajah had returned.
Charles Vyner Brooke’s rule was to be short-lived, as the state of Sarawak was handed over to the British Crown in 1945. With the formation of the Federated States of Malaysian in 1963, Sarawak discarded the epoch of the White Rajahs, save for the stories which are still retold at night in the longhouse.
Until the last years, Rajah Charles Brooke would rise with the five o’clock gun, dress in white trousers and a blue serge coat, with a sprig of honeysuckle in this buttonhole, and proceed ceremoniously to the court house across the river, where he had the last word. He also spent some time in the Treasury, and though the accountants quivered beneath his sharp eye, Sarawak has never been so prosperous. Nor was it ever peaceful for so long. During his reign too, the first oil was found at Miri in 1895, and the Sarawak Oil Company set about exploiting it in 1910. Rubber was also introduced as Sarawak’s first real cash crop.
At 86, Rajah Charles Brooke still oversaw national affairs in the morning and took a 3 kilometers walk in the afternoon. When he died in 1917, a significant era of white rule ended.
Several years later, his eldest son Charles Vyner Brooke, some European officials, Malay aristocrats, Dayak chieftains and Chinese merchants congregated outside the Old Court House to honor the man who had devoted 65 years of his life to the rule and care of Sarawak, 49 of them as Rajah. As the Iban chief Penghulu unveiled the obelisk memorial, the first airplane ever sighted in Sarawak appeared. Several of the guests were sure that the spirit of the old Rajah had returned.
Charles Vyner Brooke’s rule was to be short-lived, as the state of Sarawak was handed over to the British Crown in 1945. With the formation of the Federated States of Malaysian in 1963, Sarawak discarded the epoch of the White Rajahs, save for the stories which are still retold at night in the longhouse.