The Tribes of North Borneo

 
Base on scientific findings, Borneo was connected to the Asian mainland known as the Sundaland. When the sea level rose, during the melting of the Last Glacial Maximum, about 20,000 years ago, Borneo was suddenly separated from the rest of Asia. The early humans stuck in this island are believed to be Australoid or Negrito, base on the stone tools and artifacts excavated and discovered in the caves of Borneo. About 3000 years ago, another wave of migrations from Asia arrived at Borneo. Many researchers are certain that these new arrivals have much in common with the present local people of Borneo. Some of the researchers believed the new migrants interbred with the early people of Borneo. But another theory described that many of the Negrito left Borneo when the new people arrived, moving further east into the Pacific.

 The actual origin of the Tribes of Borneo is still a mystery. It is not that conclusive. To my opinion, personally, I tend to believe that 3000 years ago, Asiatic tribes from mainland Asia came to Borneo via Vietnam. They settled not only in Borneo, but also in Philippines, Taiwan, Japan and Celebes. Why I say this, is because the cultural tradition, especially their costumes and musical instruments bore a strong resemblance to tribal culture from Indo-China (Northeast Burma, Northern Thailand, Southern China, Laos). In the 15th Century, many Chinese traders came to Borneo and settled on this island. Many of them inter-married with the locals and thus contributed to the rich culture of the Borneo Tribal people. Today, the local indigenous are called Kadazan, Dusun, Rungus and Murut in North Borneo, and Iban, Kayan, Kelabit and Melanau in Sarawak. Many of them are highly educated, being very successful in their careers. Many of the older folks still live in the rural areas, but living comfortably as subsistence or commercial farmers.

The first English romance-thriller from Borneo
AVAILABLE AT  AMAZON OR BARNES & NOBLE     
Search also THE EURASIANS by Don Peter ebook

 

   

SUNSET OVER BORNEO

 

The above picture is taken from the Oceanus Waterfront, Jesselton city center. Sunset is the daily disappearance of the sun below the western horizon as a result of the earth rotation. Sunset creates unique and often intense glow of orange and red colors of the sun and surrounding sky. Sunset colors are more brilliant than sunrise because the evening air contains more particles than morning. Because of these airborne particles, the ray of the sunlight with shorter wavelength such as blue and green are filtered out leaving the longer wavelength to reach the viewers eyes.

Different travel magazines justified different places as their preferred top 10 best sunset locations in the world, and on many occasions, Jesselton is mentioned as one of them. Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu) is the capital of North Borneo (Sabah).

Another view from Oceanus

View from Sunset Bar, KGC Tanjung Aru

Another view from Tanjung Aru

View from Signal Hill

View from Karambunai Resort beach

The first English romance-thriller novel from Borneo
PLEASE CLICK AMAZON or BARNES & NOBLE

THE TROPICAL SAKURA

For centuries, the Japanese had been fascinated by the symbolism of the Cherry Blossom or Sakura. They are mystified by the fact that the tree flowers bloom with extreme beauty and then, death so quickly. That is why they associate the Sakura to mortality. Many songs, both traditional and pop had been dedicated to the Cherry Blossom.

In the tropic, the closest resemblance to the Cherry Blossom is the Tabebuya. It originated from Brazil but now it is common in Southeast Asia. Since the western part of Borneo experience dry season from March to April, Tabebuya tends to bloom during this period. It tends to produce so much flowers during the end of the drought, and stop during the approaching wet season. When Tabebuya blooms, its such an inspiring sight and many people will stop by to take picture of the flower's brief life; just like the Cherry Blossom. 

For flowering plants, please contact Likas Flora at 088-424532 or e-mail at likasflora@yahoo.com

LIGC: Playing in the Jungle

For my readers who wish to contact or share any experiences and articles with me, please do write to me at donaldrosli@hotmail.com or to my Facebook Donald Peter or Donald Rosli. 

In my article about Sabah Golf and Country Club (SGCC), I mentioned how hard the course is. BUT wait till you play at Labuan International Golf Club or LIGC! Without many ponds to boast, yet this course is one of the toughest I had encountered. On a hill overlooking the South China Sea, it is both challenging and beautiful located in the middle of the secondary jungle. LIGC covers about 200 acres and she has a motto, "Tee-Off with Mother Nature"! It is located 15 minutes drive from Labuan town, Victoria. I had the greatest opportunity to talk to one of their architect while the course was still under construction. I was appalled by the way the developer bulldozed the pristine midget forest and asked him how he feels. He sigh and said, "we have to develop in order to protect"!  He told me that the remaining real jungle is better than concrete jungle. It is unfortunate, but I have to agree with him.

The club is owned by the Labuan Corporation and it is the only 18 hole golf course in Labuan. What makes this course tough is the jungle and ravine covering the left and right side of the fairways, ready to consume your balls. If you are a player using new Pro-V balls, I advise you: keep it for other courses. Otherwise you will have heartache losing 10 balls or more in this lovely place. This is a ball picker's paradise because lost balls are so common.

The course is actually not that difficult. The problem is players tend to be carried away with the apparent easiness. That is the deception created by the course. Actually, many of the fairways are relatively short. With a good drive, even a high handicappers could reach the green in two. But players tend to have problem if the green is too close, but not close enough to chip. Here  is where we test our pitching skill, unsure with which iron to use. That is where the frustration burst when we fail to land it in two after a beautiful drive! And to make matter worst, the chances of landing in a nearby ravine close to the green is always there. But indeed I cannot deny, LIGC, which commenced in 2013 is one of the best course in Borneo.

The above picture is the clubhouse overlooking the South China Sea. The view is awesome. 

The above picture is the pond close to the first hole. Two oriental darter birds basking in the sun. 

All the pictures above showing the fairways in the midget secondary forest of Labuan. 

VICTORIA: The Capital of Labuan

Victoria, or Alexandrina Victoria who was born in 1819, was the Queen of the British Empire from 1837 to 1876 ascending the throne at the age of 18. She is also known as the Empress of India, a title she fondly used. Even though United Kingdom was already a Constitutional Monarchy long before her reign, she did wield some influenced over British Government policies. She ruled the Empire for more than 63 years and it was known as the Victorian Era. The Empire was at its height and experienced a tremendous development in science, art, culture, economy and politics. In 1846, Captain Rodney Mundy witness the ceding of Labuan by the Sultan of Brunei to the British Crown renaming the island Victoria.

Now, the name Victoria is also known as the capital of Labuan. Sadly, it is renamed Bandar Labuan. In the early days of Victoria (Bandar Labuan), right until the late 1980's, Labuan was the hub of Barter Trading. Filipino boat traders used to bring copra and other agricultural products to Victoria, and they brought back electronic goods, canned foods and even bakeries such as breads. However, as trading became more complex and traders more informed, Barter Trading became obsolete.

Nowadays Victoria experienced a boom in 3 and 4 stars hotels not only to cater for the tourists from the mainland Borneo (including Brunei) but also the growing oil boom. When the oil price was hovering around USD 100 or more, there was still tremendous shortages of hotels. I like these small and medium size hotels because most of them offer reasonable price. Besides it is extremely clean and the air-con and hot water are reliable. I hate hotels which always experience a breakdown while putting on smelly towels and bed sheets. However, since last year, there have been a drop in occupancy for hotel rooms due to the falling oil price.

I consider Victoria to be a food paradise because of the influenced of Chinese, West Malaysian Malays and Brunei. Each of them had a unique style of cooking, and Labuan is the best place to experience them. Tourist should try out the "Ambuyat", the traditional Borneo delicacy made from sago but what is worrying the culture of eating Ambuyat is dying, especially among the younger generations who are more incline to eat fast foods. To me, it is tasty, and it is disappointing to see it disappear one day.

Victoria is also the center for free duty shops offering free duty products such as liquors, cigarettes and chocolates and this is another attraction for tourists and offshore expatriates and workers. In the mainland, taxes for these products are extremely high and even ban in Brunei (except chocolates). I once saw a British tourist marveled at how ridiculously low the price of  beer cost in Labuan in 1998, when Malaysia at that time faced the currency depreciation due to the Asian Financial Crisis. Nevertheless it is still comparatively cheap now. Another unique feature of Labuan is its colorful night clubs and pubs.

The above pictures shows the 5 stars Labuan Mariner Hotel (top), and one of the smaller 3 stars.

The above pictures shows the duty free shops (top) and the night life (bottom) in Labuan.

 

LABUAN: The Nostalgic History

When I was a small boy, every end of the year, during the school holidays, I always visited my grandparents in Labuan. The most interesting story I heard was that huge amount of Ming vase which was discovered at Pulau Enoe, that used to be a small island (now part of the Labuan Island due to reclamation works). This shows that there were Chinese traders or probably settlers here in the 1500's. Besides the Chinese, the early people of Labuan might be Kadayan farmers and Bruneien fishermen.

On 18th December 1846, James Brooke signed a treaty with the Sultan of Brunei, Ali Omar Saifuddin, thus establishing British influence over Labuan. The British hoisted their flag on this island on 24th December 1846. The Sultan ceded Labuan to the British probably due to the menacing pirates, which he couldn't handle. To him, only the British could bring peace and stability to this region. This was also why the British had a keen interest in Labuan: they need a naval base to suppress piracy. Below is the famous iconic pictures of early Labuan, the signing of the treaty with Brunei and the raising of the Union Jack on that island.

In 1848, the island became a Crown Colony and in 1907, Labuan became a part of the Strait Settlement that include Singapore, Malacca and Penang. The British planned to make Labuan into a port rivaling Singapore but the location of the island was unsuitable and the plan was abandoned.

In 1941, the Japanese invaded Labuan and renamed her Maeda. My great-grandfather, Haji OKK Awang Besar used to tell me stories about the Japanese occupation. He witnessed the Japanese was harsh master but far less dedicated to terror compared to the German Nazi. They are cruel, rather than brutal. They bullied more than they murdered. He told me he once cycled into a restricted area, one late evening in 1944. Immediately he was shouted at by a young Japanese sentry. The soldier scolded and lectured him in broken Malay. He asked him turn back. He said, " I fear for your safety: from the Kempetai!" The Kempetai were Japanese military police who commit most of the cruelty that gave the Imperial Army a bad name. The Japanese surrendered Labuan to the Allies in June 1945. The British came back to rule Labuan.

In 1963, Labuan together with North Borneo and Sarawak was given independence by the British. Labuan became part of North Borneo (Sabah). In 1984, Labuan was given away by the Sabah State Government to the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. So upset was the people of Sabah that they brought down the ruling Berjaya Government in 1985, who made this fateful decision.

The above picture is the view of Victoria (named after Queen Victoria), the old name of Labuan Town.

 

Menumbok: Gateway to Labuan

Menumbok is the sub-district of Kuala Penyu (literally mean the Bay of the Turtle), which is located in the southwest of North Borneo (Sabah). Most of the people here are farmers and fishermen, and many of them are also involved in the "water taxi" ferrying passengers using high speed boat from here to Labuan. Much of Menumbok is covered with coconut plantations, but it is giving way to the more productive palm oil. The activities of this small town are mostly geared to cater for the travelers going to and coming from Labuan and hence we see a lot of restaurants and "car motels". The motels are meant for housing the vehicles so the owners can travel to Labuan freely using speedboat. The motels charges 5 Ringgit per day for un-shade vehicles and 10 Ringgit for the shaded one.

The above picture shows one of the car motels. Actually, all these used to be residential houses, but the business of housing the cars are too lucrative to overlook. During the school holidays, these motels are totally packed with cars forcing the latecomers to turn back and give up travelling to Labuan.


The Menumbok town became active with visitors when the price of airplane shoot up in the mid 2000. Before this, it was extremely cheap to fly to Labuan from Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu) and thus many feels traveling via Menumbok is a waste of time. However, when the plane ticket increased 300% and more, only then Menumbok became relevant. From Menumbok, there are two types of transportation to Labuan, by speedboat which cost 15 Ringgit per person, or using the Ro-Ro Ferry, which carries both people and vehicles. It is much slower, but travelers only need to pay 5 Ringgit. Vehicles are usually charge 50 Ringgit or more depending on the cargo we carry.

This is the Menumbok water village. Many of the people here operates the water taxi (speedboat) as their source of income. The water village is very common found all over Borneo. Most of the dwellers here are Brunei Malay Muslim. The water village created big problem for the Spanish when they invaded Brunei in the mid 1600.

The first English romance-thriller from Borneo
AVAILABLE AT AMAZON OR BARNES & NOBLE      
Search also THE EURASIANS by Don Peter ebook