Some of you (especially the non-Malaysians) might be wondering where Sarawak is. Well, Sarawak is located on the Borneo Island, the third largest island in the world that resembles as a hen. So, from the map above, the state of Sarawak resembles as a hen's wing (including Brunei), whereas Sabah resembles as a hen's head and Kalimantan resembles as the lower part of the hen's body.
Sarawak is known as Land of the Hornbill (because there are so many hornbills, I think...), and Sabah as Land Below the Wind (protected from monsoon winds by Mount Kinabalu, regarded as the highest mountain in the ASEAN region). Teo and Yorath (1994), in their book entitled Journey Through Borneo, mentioned that the official name of "Brunei Darussalam" literally means Brunei Abode of Peace, and comes from an Arabic translation of the title Country of Lasting Tranquility, given to Brunei by the Chinese in the 1400s. Unfortunately, the nickname for Kalimantan is unknown.
The capital of Sarawak is Kuching, which means Cat in English. There is also a cat museum in Kuching City, regarded as the one and only cat museum in the world. As you can see from the map above, other states also got their unique names for their state capitals, such as Pontianak (which means Vampire) in Kalimantan, Kota Kinabalu (which means New China Town) in Sabah (Kota Kinabalu was formerly known as Jesselton), and Bandar Seri Begawan (which means Retired Nobleman's Town - I thought it was Town of the Blessed/Ascetic) in Brunei Darussalam.
In the past, Sarawak is one of the British colonies in the far east until September 16, 1963 (the date when Sarawak and Sabah gained their independence from Britain through Malaysia). And Sarawak is also the only Malaysian states that have their own king during the colonial time, famously known as The White Rajahs - James, Charles, and Vyner from the Brooke family. I wonder whether their family line still exist until today... hehehe... My kampung folks (especially the older generations) also have fond memories of living together with the English people (known as Nyamba Branda in Bidayuh Biatah language, which is literally mean "white man") last time. Unfortunately, most of their real names are unknown, except nicknames such as Pada Ruwih (Fr. Christopher Goldson Louis), Mbuk Dawan (literally translated as "Grandma of Padawan" - Sr. Nicole/Nichol/Nichol?), and Mbuk Benok ("Grandma of Bünük"). Most of them Christian missionaries and dressers serving the entire Penrissen area. According to my mum, Queen Regina Elizabeth II also once visited the Penrissen area (and Sarawak in particular) around 1950s (at that time, Penrissen area is one of the major rubber estates in Sarawak, and rubber estates at that time famously known as Potok Raja or Rajah's Rubber), right after her coronation as Queen of England. Well, long live to the Queen, because she's still in our people's hearts, just like the late Princess Diana (especially my mum, who is their greatest admirer...)
And, if you happened to visit Kuching City one day, you will notice that most of the buildings are still favouring the colonial style... just like the old days. Kuching City is really a wonderful place to be... great museums, great esplanade/water front, great river (although it is quite murky), great cultural village, great handicraft stores, great longhouses, great urban forests (?!), great highland resort, and everything's great! I bet you... come to Kuching (and Sarawak in particular) and enjoy your holiday there! By the way, the Mount Mulu National Park (MMNP) in northern Sarawak is famous for caving adventures. The 12 listed caves found in MMNP are among the biggest in the world. One of the caves, famously known as the Sarawak Chamber, can accommodate up to 40 Boeing 747 jet planes at a time... For further information, please visit this web site.
Well, I think that's all for now (because I have some other sections to cover actually... hehehe...), so if you need more information on Sarawak, I suggest that you should also surf to this web site, which is quite reliable! Happy hunting folks...
Additional notes (added on Nov.
13, 1999)
I perceived that the Queen did
not make a visit to the state on June 2, 1953 since there is no other factual
evidence (such as photographs, etc.) to support the claim. However, the
Coronation
Open Air Service as reported by Hon. Ho Ah Chon might be due to the
event that held in Buckingham Palace and transmitted by broadcasting through
Sarawak radio station(s). The Queen, however, have visited Kuching, the
capital of Sarawak on March 2, 1972 with his husband, Duke of Edinburgh,
Prince Phillip, together with their 21-year old daughter, Princess Anne.
This reliable information was obtained from the Sarawak Government Almanac.
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