Sarawak belongs to the island of Borneo and is one of two Malaysian states on the island. Also known as Bumi Kenyalang ("Land of the Hornbills"), Sarawak is situated on the north-west of Borneo. Sarawak is actually the largest state in Malaysia while the second largest is Sabah - the neighboring state.
The capital of Sarawak is Kuching which has a population of around 600,000 people - mostly Malays and Chinese. The name Kuching literally means 'cat' (kucing) in the Malay language, although there are two other lines of thought. Kuching comes from an Indian word which means port; or Kuching comes from Chinese Cantonese word for "old place".
Back in 1841 Borneo was ceded to the British by the then owner and ruler - the Sultanate of Brunei. The new ruler was named James Brooke, who was known as an adventurer of the time. I suspect thats a bit of an understatement. James Brooke helped the Sultanate to over-throw a rebellion, thus gained the lands for himself as a gift. The Brooke family ruled there for almost all of the forth coming 112 years.
On December 24th in 1941 however, Kuching and Sarawak were given up to the forces of the Japanese during World War II, under the control of whom it remained until September the 11th 1945 at the end of the war. The territory and city were handed back to British control.
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.
Highly successful with regards to financial control and extremely low crime rates, its hard to believe that before European rule which began back in the 1600's, Singapore was a simple Malay fishing village.
The capital of Sarawak is Kuching which has a population of around 600,000 people - mostly Malays and Chinese. The name Kuching literally means 'cat' (kucing) in the Malay language, although there are two other lines of thought. Kuching comes from an Indian word which means port; or Kuching comes from Chinese Cantonese word for "old place".
Back in 1841 Borneo was ceded to the British by the then owner and ruler - the Sultanate of Brunei. The new ruler was named James Brooke, who was known as an adventurer of the time. I suspect thats a bit of an understatement. James Brooke helped the Sultanate to over-throw a rebellion, thus gained the lands for himself as a gift. The Brooke family ruled there for almost all of the forth coming 112 years.
On December 24th in 1941 however, Kuching and Sarawak were given up to the forces of the Japanese during World War II, under the control of whom it remained until September the 11th 1945 at the end of the war. The territory and city were handed back to British control.
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.
Highly successful with regards to financial control and extremely low crime rates, its hard to believe that before European rule which began back in the 1600's, Singapore was a simple Malay fishing village.
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