I read about Sir James Brooke when I was five years old. I followed my second sister, M L Chong, who taught all subjects in a huge primary school at twenty fourth miles Serian Road( known as old road at present). Most family members said I had chance to meet more friends in a country side primary school.
The education regulation was strict to let six years old and above to study primary one in those years. In a country side school, the headmaster was greatly respected by all people around that area. That was part of the reason I got a chance to start schooling when I was five years old in the year 1957.
The historical stories were writen by people from United Kingdom. That time, pirates related mainly to people who fought against Sir James Brooke. After thirty years, I read the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great from Greece. The pirate said to the King,
' Around mediteranean sea you have many ships and fighters so that you are called King even you killed more people than me. I have only one ship and few men that is why people called me pirate.'
That statement, though not exactly true, had imprinted a search of objective angle of view and there were many great historians who could offer us more solid facts for truth of civilization.
Sir James Brooke was finally buried at the Sheepstor church at Dartmoor of Southern England after many years of hardwork in Sarawak Kingdom. According to his friends, he was loved by his friends and people since he had tried his best to improve the living of the people of Sarawak. Many people joined the venture in Sarawak and the population grew rapidly.
Those who took part at the burial ceremony witness many people cried and then every body wiped tears as they recalled the good deed their hero Sir James Brooke had done for them and the world.
I mentioned this to my S. M. Bong, the artist, violinist, Durian farmers and the talkertive story teller, during an afternoon tea with Boh Tea, milk and one cube of sugar. He started to recalled the story of his hero Mr. S P Liew:
S. P. Liew and his gold miner men and women stayed at Sambas till the celebration of Duan Wool festival ( literary means mid-noon festival as the legend related to all people went to the river of Chu 2,000 years ago to help the primeminister of Chu, who drown himself at the river next to the capital to protest the weak emperor using crooked gang's idea and ill treated the common people)
During the year with La Nina weather factors, traditional culture of China is to keep the best blankets available for prompt utilization to keep the whole family warm and prevent frozen to death. The day fifth of the fifth Chinese farmer's calendar month signify the best chance to welcome warm Spring. That happened for thousand of years and proven to be a valuable tradition and the culture reflect cul;ture derived from living experience.
Culture is living.
S P Liew disciplined himself in planning the best time table for the group to act in order to survive. The following year, 1853 was a realtively peaceful year as the previous year of the Dragon had released all the Dragon anger as they believed. Almost all people found an excuse for the previous bad Dragon year. They always belived that Dragon year would eventually lead to good years.
The price of Gold apprciated gradually and there were signs of properity. The starvation of 1839 was hadrly remembered by anybody in Sarawak. Those years of starvation eventually led to aggravation of Malay uprising against the ruler of Brunei, th country that prospered since the time of Admiral Cheng Ho ( also known as Zheng He of Ming Dynasty of China).
During his initial visits and attempts to help the Governor of Sarawak from Brunei, Sir Jmes Brooke tried to pacify the uprising by a peaceful negotiation method. War has started before Sir James Brooke sailed his Royalist battleship to Sarawak ( in 1839, only a small portion of north western part of Borneo was names as Sarawak under the rule of Sultan of Brunei.)
It was the political skill of Sir James Brooke to balance the power of Chinese Gold Miners who self governed upper stream gold mines area with the largest concentrated population in Sarawak. The uprising war of Sarawak local Malay and native group eventually stopped due to continous poor economy and starvation, and peace restored in 1840.
Inflation was always around human civilization as long as there is trading activities. Cost of living was high and the income was relatively low. It was noted that there was certain understanding or agreement made to let the Gold Miner kept pat of their wealth and their freedom without much interference from the Sir James Brooke and the Brunei Sultan Group. After the peace of 1840, the local Malay of Kuching Sarawak improved their living standard and their link with Sir James Brooke.
The initial reasons of harsh rule of Brunei Governor, captured of native Malay girls as slave by the 1835 gang from the friends of governor was hardly recalled by the people. It was a new environment with strong army, well equiped battleship Royalists and fifty eight war ships armed with modern weapons and army include people from Kuop ( now Kuap area of Sarawak). Sir James Brooke became King and ruled Sarawak with significant development.
Every development linked with a price, and the expenses was relatively high in Sarawak. Tax collection was the only solution to plan for the future Sarawak administration and development. Tax applicable tot he natural resource included famous Antimony ( native name for the metal was Sarawek which meant Antimony. The silvery colour metal mined from sandy area, especially Tonglong basin linked to poetic description of mining in sandy river, as Chinese Hakka related the action as mining through the sand}
Every person( per head) was taxed four Real annually and it was recorded in the diary of the tax collector (the Collection in Gedong, third largest town in Sarawak 1859).( One Strling pound then converted to One Real of Sarawak currency. One US dollars then converted to one point six Sarawak Real. Gold price in Sarwak was thirty Real). The tax had been carried out for many years before the quoted date of this particular diary.
The people gradually became restless and they could have written the situation before the uprising of Mau San Gold Miners before 1857.
S. M. Bong recalled what he learned,
' That year the weather was very bad indeed. They Liew and his fellow gold miners fought against the Angry Dragon year. 1857 was the year of Roster. Heavy tax, levy, tax per capital head of every household added more burdens to their lively hood.'
S. M. Bong lowered his voice as if he was dreaming,
' That year 1857, they had no choice but tried to keep themselves alive. They gathered knives, hoes, Sharpened Bamboo sticks and trusted their human body and ordinary body of fresh and blood.'
' Some of them were over confidence with their Kunfu ( Martial art). Their nightmares started when their uprising met Canon of King Brooke's army. The Iban 'soldiers of Brookes new Allies were famous fighters.
The whole area of Mau San was burned and all living things killed. S P Liew's young beautiful wife and their three yers old daughter and 6 months old son fled to the limestone mountain and showed her people the passage to the limestone inner caves.
the river was tainted red with blood. The wind was crying hard and the rain poured with waterfall. The women formed fighers group and guarde the entrance. They destroyed the waves of attacks from the Rajah's troop.
The next day, the whole place was surrounded by troops formed by the paid soldiers of native Iban from North East Zone, Dayaks from Kuap region and natives from Kuching. With the mighty riffle snipers accracy, all Miners teenage daughters and their relatively young mothers and small children and nfants were forced to escape to deeper zone of the caves and left the guarding to the strongest martial art ladies.'
' Fire were ignited and all might pushed towards the giant cave. the smoke created by the green leaves and tree branches created suffocating agony.'
'ill this very day, the place is called Ghost cave. The skeletons of mainy female, old people, young lasses, and infants were scattered on the floor of that cave at Mau San( now Bau town).'
S M Bong continued, ' It is possible to see skeleton held tightly together like the Pompeii of Vesuvius Italy, collapsed against the wall of Ghost Cave in Sarawak.'
That was the golden lesson of the Golden land-----peace is gold.
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