Part of the south state of Malaysia is called Sarawak, which is joined by the border with Indonesia and Brunei. The capital city of Sarawak is Kuching, which is the largest city on the island of Borneo and has the seventh largest population in Malaysia (population 580,000), behind Kuala Lumpur, Subang Jaya and a few others. The status of "city" was given to Kuching in 1988.
The name Kuching comes from the word "cat" which is a Malay word - the Malay spelling these days for cat being kucing. However, there is another explanation for the city name still bandied about and that is the Indian name for port which is "cochin". After all, it is said that Kuching was first inhabited by Indian traders and not by the Chinese as you may expect.
In 1841 the Sultanate of Brunei, who at the time owned the whole of Borneo, ceded Sarawak to the British explorer James Brooke due to his help in stopping a rebellion against the Sultanate. Kuching then became Brooke's headquarters and the Brooke family ruled Sarawak for almost the next 112 years.
On December 24 1941, Kuching was surrendered to the Japanese forces and Kuching and Sarawak remained part of the Japanese Imperial Empire until 11th of September 1945, when the Japanese surrendered it. Just 3 miles outside Kuching at Batu Lintang, the Japanese operated a POW civilian internee camp where many of the previous British residents were kept in harsh conditions.
In 1946 once the British regained control over Sarawak, the last Raja - Sir Charles Vyner Brooke ceded it to the British Crown. However, Indonesia, which was governed by President Sukarno, wished to regain control of Sarawak and there was an undeclared war fought with the British to do so.
The British retained control and in September 1963 gave it independence. Sarawak, along with Sabah, North Borneo and Singapore, all combined to form the Federation of Malaya in 1963, although Singapore was expelled from the Federation in 1965 and became the independent Republic of Singapore thereafter.
As a side note, before European rule and domination the Republic of Singapore back in the 1600's by Dutch and then the Portuguese, the highly affluent Singapore was a simple Malay fishing village, which is such a contrast to todays powerhouse.
The name Kuching comes from the word "cat" which is a Malay word - the Malay spelling these days for cat being kucing. However, there is another explanation for the city name still bandied about and that is the Indian name for port which is "cochin". After all, it is said that Kuching was first inhabited by Indian traders and not by the Chinese as you may expect.
In 1841 the Sultanate of Brunei, who at the time owned the whole of Borneo, ceded Sarawak to the British explorer James Brooke due to his help in stopping a rebellion against the Sultanate. Kuching then became Brooke's headquarters and the Brooke family ruled Sarawak for almost the next 112 years.
On December 24 1941, Kuching was surrendered to the Japanese forces and Kuching and Sarawak remained part of the Japanese Imperial Empire until 11th of September 1945, when the Japanese surrendered it. Just 3 miles outside Kuching at Batu Lintang, the Japanese operated a POW civilian internee camp where many of the previous British residents were kept in harsh conditions.
In 1946 once the British regained control over Sarawak, the last Raja - Sir Charles Vyner Brooke ceded it to the British Crown. However, Indonesia, which was governed by President Sukarno, wished to regain control of Sarawak and there was an undeclared war fought with the British to do so.
The British retained control and in September 1963 gave it independence. Sarawak, along with Sabah, North Borneo and Singapore, all combined to form the Federation of Malaya in 1963, although Singapore was expelled from the Federation in 1965 and became the independent Republic of Singapore thereafter.
As a side note, before European rule and domination the Republic of Singapore back in the 1600's by Dutch and then the Portuguese, the highly affluent Singapore was a simple Malay fishing village, which is such a contrast to todays powerhouse.
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Learn more about the south east island of Malaysia and stay in one of the Kuching Hotels. Check out one of the very best hotels at Damai.
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