Travel For Fun

The south eastern island of Malaysia is made up of Sarawak and Sabah, which are part of Borneo – the third largest island in the world. Borneo is split between three countries – Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. The capital city of Sarawak is Kuching, which is the largest city on Borneo with a population of almost 600,000 people, mostly Malays and Chinese.

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 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.

The last British Raja of the territory – Sir Charles Vyner Brooke – ceded it to the British Crown, which at the time was ruled by King George VI, the father of the current Queen Elizabeth. It remained under British rule even though there was an undeclared declaration of war by President Sukarno of Indonesia, who wished to regain the territory.

In September of 1963 the British declared Sarawak’s independence at which time Sarawak, Sabah, Singapore and North Borneo all joined to form the Federation of Malaya. Singapore was expelled from the Federation only 2 years later to become the financial powerhouse it is now, and very much dominated by the very hard working Chinese.

Strangely enough and as a side note, the island of Singapore before European settlement was a simple Malay fishing village. Hard to imagine and a far cry from what it is now!

Furthermore, Malaysia has dozens of island and loads of coral reefs which makes it ideal for the snorkel diver or even the avid swimmer. Surfing is popular here too. Its an enchanting country. It is home to a wide variety of birds – the forests being home to around 450 different species, thereby attracting many bird enthusiasts to the country.

Turtle Island Park Turtle Island Park is situated in the Sulu Sea, just off the east coast of Sabah. There are three gorgeous islands that make up the Turtle Island Park – Selingan, Gulisan and Bakungan Kechil Islands. As the name of the island suggests, its all about seeing the turtles laying their eggs and seeing them in their natural habitat. The best time to visit these islands is when the sea is calmest – between July and October. (more…)