Malaysia Day September 16

The red hibiscus is the national flower
of Malaysia

September 16 is Malaysia Day. On this day, the people of Malaysia remember and celebrate the time, 47 years ago, that the people of Sarawak, Sabah, Malaya and Singapore joined together to form the new country of Malaysia. (Singapore withdrew 2 years later)

Today is public holiday and there will be music, dance, singing and poetry performances to celebrate.

I'm off to Brunei today. An hour's flight from Kuching will take me into the country ruled by the Sultan. 

Tribal long house in Sarawak

In the mountain jungles of Sarawak, many people of the indigenous (native) tribes or groups still live in traditional kampongs (villages).

One family's living space in a longhouse

We visited a longhouse of the group known as the  Bidayuh. (say bid-eye-oo) The longhouses are built on stilts and are made mainly of bamboo. Each longhouse is divided into many separate family living spaces. Each family has it's own living, cooking and sleeping space. Often grandparents live in the home with the family.

Long ago the Bidayuh were headhunters.
We saw these old skulls kept in the longhouse!

Each day the children go to school and the parents go to work in the jungle as farmers, or go to jobs in towns nearby. For some indigenous children school is boarding school. These kids stay at the school for week days and travel back to the kampong for the weekend.The school day for kids in Sarawak starts at 7.30am and finishes at about 1pm. The main school holidays are In November and December.

There is also a holiday for kids at the end of the Muslim holy time of Ramadan. All the people of Sarawak, including those who are not Muslim, the Christians and the Buddhists also enjoy this 2 or 3 day celebration known as Eid ul-Fitr.
You can read more about the festival of Eid ul-Fitr on kidcyber 

South from Kuala Lumpur to Malacca

Friday September 24

Built by the Dutch when they ruled  Malacca
from 1641 to 1798

Travelled to Kuala Lumpur yesterday after a day in Sandakan. Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia. About a 150 kilometers south, and half way to neighbouring Singapore, is the Malaysian State of Malacca. Malacca is a World Heritage Site, which means it has great importance for the country and the rest of the world.
Apart from the native tribes, the Chinese were the first people from the rest of the world to visit and settle in Malacca. They came to mine tin, a valuable metal long ago. Then came the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch (from the Netherlands). Later the British took control of Malacca. Each of these settler groups built around the port area. To see these buildings was the reason for our visit.
There were churches, temples, mosques, forts, a lighthouse, and streets of houses built hundreds of years ago. Most of the buildings are now used by the Chinese as shops, restaurants, warehouses and as places to live.

On the drive south, we saw hectare after hectare of palm tree plantations. These palm trees produce fruit which is collected and crushed to make palm oil. Palm oil is an important product that Malaysia exports (sells) to other countries. Palm oil plantations are to be found all over Malaysia, including in Sarawak and Sabah. The forests are have been cleared so that palm oil can be produced. This is bad news for the wildlife, their habitat I'd being destroyed and many are becoming endangered. The orang-utan is one species threatened by deforestation.

High rise city buildings: Kuala Lumpar

On the way back, the weather changed and we were caught in a wild, tropical rain storm. One minute the sky was clear, but then suddenly sheets of rain lashed the car and it was like driving in fog. After a few minutes the rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun. The sky cleared and we were driving on dry road.

Kuala Lumpar is a very large, modern, busy city. About 3 million people live and work here. Most people live in high rise apartments, but there are single family houses too. On our trip we saw many new housing estates.

To see the orang-utan

Wednesday 22 September
We took an early morning flight from Kota Kinabalu across the island of Borneo to Sandakan on the east coast. Sandakan is a port city on the Sulu Sea. Nearby is the famous Sepilok Orang-utan rehabilitation centre and sanctuary. The sanctuary was set up to help orphaned orang-utans whose mothers had abandoned them or been killed. (Much of the rainforest where the orang-utan lived has been cleared and tbe timber sold. In other places rainforest is cleared away so that palm oil trees can be planted. So, the orang-utan have lost a place to live and their food supply). You can read a kidcyber page about orang-utans here

This orang-utan swung out of its nest
and down to the feeding platform

The people at the centre care for these young orang-utans, by feeding them, keeping them safe and by teaching them the skills they will need to learn before they can be set free into the wild.
The orang-utans that live in the sanctuary are free to build their nests in the trees and gather their own food, but twice each day they are fed bananas and other fruits by the sanctuary workers. Visitors are able to watch as the orang-utans come out of the forest for this food.
There is now an attempt to save some areas of forest for the orang-utan so that the species can survive. And there is an awareness that tourists will come to see the forest and the wildlife, which means jobs for people and money for the businesses that provide services for the tourists. No one would come to Malaysia to see palm oil plantations!

To Mount Kinabalu

Tuesday September 21
Early this morning we set out towards the highest mountain in Malaysia. Mt Kinabalu rises 4095 metres. To reach the foothills we crossed the ridges of the Crocker Range. On the sloping hillsides farmers cut terraces into the hills and plant all kinds of vegetables such as cabbages, pumpkins, beans and cauliflower. These vegetables are sold in roadside market stalls and to shops and markets in the towns and cities of Sabah. The area around the mountain is a State park and has a world famous botanic gardens containing hundreds of different species of orchid.

Carnivorous pitcher plants grow here. Pitcher plants have leaves that hold a liquid that attracts insects and small animals that become trapped when they fall into the funnel-like opening in the leaf. They are then eaten by the plant!

You can see the vine on which the Raffelesia keithii grows
and the bud of a new flower about to open.
photo copyright www.kidcyber.com.au

Another plant that flowers here is the world's largest: the Raffelesia. The flowers can grow to be almost a metre across. We were lucky to find one in bloom! Its a Raffelesia keithii, the species of Raffelesia that grows in Sabah in Borneo.
The flower lasts for just a few days and then rots into slime.
You can read about another species of Raffelesia that grows in Indonesia, here on kidcyber

We saw some lizards on the trunks of the tall trees in the rainforest as well as many butterflies.

It was a long way from the city to the mountain, more than 40 kilometres along winding mountain roads. On the way back we were caught in rush hour traffic as the people of Kota Kinabalu left the city after work. A long, slow trip!

Kota Kinabalu

Monday September 20.

A mosque in Kota Kinabalu

Today we arrived in Kota Kinabalu the capital city of Sabah, the second of the two Malaysian States on Borneo that are part of this trip. About 400 000 people live in the city which is on the coast of the South China Sea. The are 5 islands not far away. Inland there are mountains. The highest is Mount Kinabalu which we will visit tomorrow.

About 32 different ethnic tribes make up most of the population (3.2 million) of Sabah. Most people are Christians, but there are Muslims, Buddhists and other religious groups. So we have seen churches, temples and mosques.

This man prepares fish for the barbeque

To shop, people can go to large, modern shopping malls, small stores, or open air food markets. At the markets fresh food is cooked and can be eaten there or taken home. Barbequed fish and chicken are popular meals. Sweets can also be bought. We tried deep fried banana slices, as well as sticky rice sweetened with sugar syrup and served with fresh mango.

There is a large university in this city. Thousands of students come from all over Malaysia and other parts of the world to study here.

Kotu Kinabalu city was destroyed during World War 2. Only two buildings from before 1940 remain. Australian soldiers were here during the war with Japan, and many were killed. There is a memorial park here to remember them.

Proboscis monkeys and other wildlife

Sunday in Brunei
Found only in Borneo, these strange looking monkeys have long, orange noses. The male's nose hangs longer than the female's, which is pointy.
At four o'clock we were taken up the Brunei River to where the proboscis monkeys live in the mangroves. At this time, a couple of hours before sunset, the groups of monkeys that live together, can be seen, along the river's edge, feeding on the young shoots of the mangrove plant. We watched as they swung and climbed from tree to tree.

A viper  in the rain forest.
Deadly I was told!

On the trip we also saw a crocodile lying on the muddy river bank, as well as large monitor lizards that live in the mangrove forests and can climb trees. Long- tailed macaques were feeding and playing too. The local people don't like these naughty monkeys because they eat their crops. But they are fun to watch!

Saturday in Brunei

Changing the guard
at the Sultan's palace

Toured the city today visiting the national museum and the museum of royal regalia. The royal regalia is a collection of clothing and jewelry used by the Sultan and his wives. The Sultan is the ruler of Brunei. He has two wives. They live with their children in a palace with 1788 rooms!
The chariots used to carry the Sultan to his coronation and to celebrate his 25th year as Sutlan were also in the museum. The Sultan's family have ruled Brunei for more than 700 years. The present Sultan is the 29th Sultan of Brunei.

The Sultan's entrance
to the mosque

Most of the people of Brunei are Muslim. They worship in a mosque. We visited the largest mosque in Brunei, with room for over 5000 people to pray. The mosque was built by the Sultan as gift to his people. The Sultan has a lot of money, and was at one time, the richest man in the world. The money comes from the sale of oil and gas that is pumped up from under the sea.
The Sultan also uses the money to pay for the education, medical needs and housing of the Brunei people.

After lunch, we visited the water village. Thousands of people live in this village, in houses built on stilts over the water of the Brunei River. The first people to settle in this area hundreds of years ago built houses in this style. To cross to the mainland to their jobs, and to shop, the village people take fast motorboats called water taxis. The children go to schools which are also built on stilts over the water. There are also village medical clinics and mosques.

On the way home we stopped at a farmer's market where fresh fruit and vegetables are sold. Local produce included jackfruit, pawpaw, watermelon, sweet potato, leafy green vegetables, and dried prawns, anchovies and mussels. Long tailed macque monkeys played in the trees nearby, hoping to be able to steal some of the fruit and vegetables from the market stalls.

Ulu Temburong National Park Brunei

Friday 17 September

Longboats as river transport
in the national park

My visit to Brunei's Ulu Temburong National Park started with a 45 minute speed-boat ride up the Brunei River, and then, after a short car ride to the river, I was taken in a longboat further up river, over rapids and fast flowing water to the national park. An exciting, and sometimes wet, ride! Monkeys (long -tailed macaques) were playing in the trees alongside the river.

After arriving and climbing up the river bank, the real climbing began. First there was a wet and muddy track (in a rainforest it is always wet!) up hill, followed by 1200 steps that lead the climber 380 metres up the side of the mountain. The smallest squirrel in the world, the Pygmy squirrel, lives in the forest, along with pangolin, pythons, wild boar and hornbill birds. My friend and traveling companion, Fay, reminds me that there were also many beautifully colored butterflies.

Once we got to the top of the track, there was a 45 metre tower to climb so that you could see over the top of the forest canopy. A spectacular view!
Coming down the path was more difficult than going up...much slipping and sliding! And by now my legs were getting very tired!

Standing in the pool
as doctor fish nibble at our feet

After lunch, spicy chicken curry, rice and hard boiled eggs, we got back into the longboat and went to another part of the river where we left the boat and walked up a stream to reach a small waterfall. In the pool at the base of the waterfall we paddled, and small fish called doctor fish came and nibbled at the dead skin on our feet. A very odd feeling, but not a bad one!

To protect this rainforest environment there are no people living there, the only way in and out is by boat (there are no roads) and visitors cannot hunt, fish or chop down trees. The government hopes that the forest with its plants and animals will be there for future generations to enjoy.

To Kuching

The flight to Kuala Lumpur from Melbourne took 8 hours. Then I took a second plane to Kuching, the main city of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo.

Kuching may have been
named after a cat-like animal

Some people say that Kuching is named after a cat-like animal that was seen by the first white Rajah of Sarawak. The animal, he was told, was a Kuching.

About 600000 people live in Kuching. The main industry is drilling, off-shore, for oil and gas. Tea, coffee, tropical fruits, and rice are grown in Sarawak.
The city spreads out along a river. The banks of the river are lined with parks and are popular wih the people who stroll in the shade of the tropical trees. The weather is hot, about 32C and very humid. September is the end of the wet season.

For lunch, I had a Sarawak laksa, a soup-like meal with noodles, chicken and prawns. Hot and spicy!

Visited the local museum, which was built-in the 1800s. There were displays of houses that were once built by the headhunting tribes that lived in the hills. The heads of enemies were cut off in battle and then hung inside the house of the chief.

Kuching is a popular place for tourists from other parts of Malaysia, Australia and from European countries.

Where in the world is Borneo?

The island of Borneo is shown in red

I am visiting the Malaysian part of Borneo 

I will also visit the independent nation of Brunei. It is marked in green on the map.