LIFE UNDER BROOKE OCCUPATION (PART 1) Many people revere Sir James Brooke as the “founder of Sarawak” but records all pointing to him as an invader whose only interest was to get at Sarawak’s natural resources. Mark Twain had described a typical colonist as: “Their mouths were full of pious hypocrisies while they went around filling their looting baskets.” On countries like Brunei, a hypocritical James Brooke writes: These unhappy countries afford a striking proof how the fairest and richest lands under the sun may become degraded by a continuous course of oppression and misrule. Whilst extravagant dreams of the progressive advancement of the human race are entertained, a large tract of the globe has been gradually relapsing into barbarism.” All what he wrote should be ignored because it was exactly the “oppression and misrule” by him and his successor had caused Sarawak “to relapse into barbarism.” He and other White Rajahs had condemned generations of our natives to be totally uneducated and to live in poverty. Those who wrote the Sarawak Fiction tried to white wash on why the country stagnated and no progress was made by the natives in a century of Brooke rule. So they invented such impressive phrases like the people were ruled by “enlightened paternal despotism” and these kindly white men refused them to be exploited by foreign big plantation companies. Their stories do not hold water because they excluded many facts. They never mentioned the White Rajahs not providing education to the natives. They did not disclose how the natives were exploited for their fighting prowess only. They never disclosed that all the forts barricaded them in “conservations;” so that they could not relocate themselves to better agricultural locations. They never mention about the Divide and Rule system which segregated then away from the coastal town areas. Covered up was the hatred generated by the many punitive expeditions resulting in very unstable condition in the country. Potential foreign investors were aware of the possible vengeful retaliations from those who had family members or friends killed by the Brooke troops. To conceal their indifference to the human rights of the people under their charge, the colonists could write very fancy cover-up stories. James Brooke’s Journal so impressed an admirer that he writes: “Every page, nay, almost every line, in his journals and letters, bears witness to his profound compassion for the despised and downtrodden Dyaks.” When arrogant victors write history, they glorify might over right. There is no place for justice or fairness. Their distorted narratives make us dummies to our own history. Sarawak Fiction so confused many people that they could not differentiate between good and evil, friend and foe or right from wrong. One simple example is even though James Brooke conquered Sarawak with his cannons, some locals, instead of calling his conquest, Occupation Day, are claiming it as their Independence Day. People do not acquire their independence from a pirate who came here to occupy this land and enslave the people. The colonist plundered the riches of the land without leaving behind any infrastructures, schools or clinics. It is mind boggling that some people are still regarding those who shackled the people as their saviour. The reason for people so concerned about our “independence day” is purely political. If Sarawak was not “independent,” they were ready to twist the truth to suit their story. James Brooke himself also wanted recognition from Britain but it was never forthcoming, mainly it being blocked by the 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty. Despite that, the Sarawak Fiction says his was a king of his own domain. He was only a Rajah of the Brunei Sultanate. The 1857 Commission of Inquiry findings said he governed the vassal state of Sarawak for Brunei. The inquiry actually unmasked him when his fantasy disintegrated on closer examination. As a Brunei Rajah, he was found to be the Governor of Labuan. As a Brunei Rajah he was also Consul to Brunei and Special Agent to Sarawak. It is like him being appointed ambassador to his own country. There was so much conflict of interest so he had to give up all his British appointments. James Brooke hailed from the East India Company, an organisation which forced opium down the throats of the people they conquered. The person he most admired was Sir Stamford Raffles. This founder of Singapore is another ruthless colonist who showed little regards for natives lives when he was invading Java. Thousands of innocents perished. Imperialists at the time thrived on the fertile soil of drug addiction, ignorance and poverty, James Brooke had no time to take care of any independence for any one. He just see to it the people buy his opium and obey his orders. No nation ever recognised “independent Sarawak” which never set up a consulate in any foreign nation. The one single nation that our own Government Almanac says recognised Sarawak is the U.S.A. This is non-factual. This claim was already debunked by the Press a long time ago. An American, who was among “one of the little band of adventurers who followed the fortunes of the Americans to Borneo in 1865” wrote in 1879 to a Singapore newspaper so as to let him “correct a few trifling irregularities” in an earlier letter. (see picture of the news). He writes: “The Unites States never made a Treaty with the Rajah of Sarawak. Mr. Joseph Balestier, when Consul at Singapore, went on a kind of a roving expedition among the Native Sates of the Malay Archipelago, offering to make treaties with the Orang Kaya of nearly every native village he could find. “One or two of his treaties were ratified by the Government after proper enquiries had been made; the rest were shelved. “In utter ignorance of the fact that Sarawak was a tributary, not a Sovereign State, he proposed to make one with its then de facto ruler. His propositions were not accepted by Sarawak, nor would they, probably, have been endorsed by his Government had Sir James Brooke listened favourably to them.” Clearly Sarawak in 1868 was still a “tributary, not a Sovereign State.” But this “recognised by the US” claim is still being used by myth writers to buttress their “independent country” fallacy. Brooke admirers only accept what they selectively wanted to believe in and reject whatever evidences that prove otherwise. But we locals need to make a choice; accept Brooke as a conquering colonist or to accept the myth that he was a “monarch” peacefully appointed as a “rewarded” for putting down a rebellion. Take a look at the map of Sarawak he was “rewarded” – just the real estate between Santubong and Siniawan. Comparing Brooke Occupation with Japanese Occupation, the Japanese even win by a nose. Unlike the Brookes who side-lined them, the Japanese brought the natives into their administration. They even provided schools and teachers for the local children to learn Japanese language and culture. The Brookes did not even teach the natives how to count or speak English. THE LOOT GATHERING ROUTE James Brooke came here just to get at the natural resources. We can trace from his “loot gathering” route on what he was up to. He first robbed Brunei of her richest antimony producing province and then, on behalf of Britain, occupied Labuan Island for its coal mines. The Royal Navy helped him seize the Saribas, Skrang and the Rejang rivers for the gutta percha. In his last years he returned here from England to attack Mukah and took over the whole Fourth Division. This time, he did it without the normal pretext that it was a pirate country. His piratical objective was to seize Brunei’s remaining major export item: sago. Like his uncle, Rajah Charles Brooke also forcibly annexed Brunei’s Trusan and Limbang provinces for the rice. Their piratical actions speak louder than their fancy words. Myth believers never consider the White Rajahs as criminals. People who rob and assault others are criminals. In this case, they were pirates who expanded their activities on sea to land. Sir James Brooke was trying to rob Brunei down to its last bag of sago. The Straits Time Weekly editorial of 1887 enlightens us by saying: “the Rajah of Sarawak has inflicted a grave injury on the Sultan of Brunei.” When oil was discovered both in Sarawak and Brunei, Rajah Charles Brooke saw the pressing need to grab the oil fields. He was in a rush to finish off the Brunei Sultanate to get what he wanted. His flotilla of gunboats and his headhunting militias were ready. But he had to compete with the British North Borneo Company (Sabah) and a new player who came on the scene; Britain herself. At the time, the Royal Navy was beginning to use gunboats powered by liquid fuel engines. Britain was not going to let Sarawak monopolising all the oil fields. Brunei as a British “protectorate” was in effect, just a colony. They could take whatever they wanted. The British did not forget Sarawak’s old fields either. In the end, the Third Rajah, for a huge sum of cash, also let Britain colonised Sarawak. When the big players were at each other’s throat over the loot, the colonial subjects had absolutely no say in the dealings. To claim that Sarawak was an Independent country is totally meaningless. As time moves on, the world situation required that all colonies be set free. The British was smart enough to do it via the formation of Malaysia. In this way, they could continue to ship out however much oil they want. As evident from some web blogs and the mass media, some people are still dreaming to relive those “good old days under the White Rajahs.” Had they were more acquainted with history, they would take heed from the Rajah Vyner Brooke who said the good old days were only for a few white men, not for them. It is pointless for any native to share whatever “Independence” illusions they have. Under British rule, Sarawak was finally being administered by a proper government. The people would begin to have schools, roads, clinics, health facilities, clean water, etc. To many, colonisation became a necessary evil. The Brooke Dark Dynasty was finally buried and done with. But the damages they had done to a people throughout a century could never be fully repaired. Sarawakians who benefitted the most were the hard working Chinese. They brought in their own medical sinsehs and teachers to run their own-built schools to make sure every child growing up would be able to read, write and calculate. Many natives living near their towns were able to share their education and herbal medicines. During Brooke Rule, the people of various ethnic groups spoke their own languages. But under the British, English became the common language for communication. Being able to understand each other is the main reason for the racial harmony we enjoy today. Most Malaysians are ignorant of the terrifying slaughters committed here. Most books on the Brookes covered up these disgusting war periods. For the first half century of Brooke rule, the war of resistance against the Brooke incursions was as intense as could be. The battle dust did not fully settle until the 1930’s. Sarawak Fiction tries to say Brooke brought peace to a savage land and this country prospered from an increase of trade. But he actually brought in decades of civil war tragedies in which we only see Dayaks fighting Dayaks, Malays fighting Malays, cousins fighting cousins, etc. Sarawak Fiction meticulously concealed the butcheries of the natives which occurred in places like Bau, Pidi, Siniawan, Buso, Tundong, Batu Kawa, Singe, Kuching, Lingga, Rembas, Patusan, Paddi, Beting, Paku, Sungei Lang, Debak, Unduk, Batang Ai, Kanowit, Sibu, Julau, Sarikei and many more, not forgetting Beting Maru. Some places are not marked on today’s maps anymore because they had been obliterated. The British Navy 32-pounder cannons flattened many towns like Marudu and even the Brunei Capital itself. Besides the well documented Saribas, Skrang and Beting Maru massacres, some notorious slaughter incidents are also well-known to the local residents. Bau, the name of a town spelt Bow in our old maps was re named following the 1857 ethnic cleansing of all the 3,500 hapless Dayako Hakka dwellers here. Numerous headless rotting bodies emitted a stench so bad that natives from miles around avoided going there. So the stinking town is now Bau, meaning nasty odour. For the same reason, a nearby village is Buso which in Malay means a rotting stench. We also can add in a notorious Ghost Cave at Bau in which a few hundred women, children and the aged were decimated. Some Facebook readers were unhappy with what I wrote about their idols. As an ex-journalist, personal popularity is less important than be able to call a spade, a spade. A piece of shit prompts the reaction: this really stinks! It is not pleasant to drag out the Brooke skeletons from the cupboard. I have no axe to grind while fingering out the baloney. Sarawak Fiction is still spreading. The Brooke admirers never stop churning out more fantasies and the popular media is still obliging them in spreading their wrong info. The result is that most national heroes that we know, including Rentap and Dolby are still being sneered at. WHAT ARE THE LIES? I often get goose pimples when I read that James Brooke had “always wanted to take over the country in a peaceful way” or that he was “the best of men.” A recent web quotation attributed to him reads: “Sarawak belongs to the Malays, the Sea Dayaks and Land Dayaks, the Kayans and other tribes, not to us. It is for them that we labour; not ourselves.” Newspaper critics at the time were already calling him the “lip service philanthropist.” Sarawak Fiction promotes the fable that he brought Christianity here. But years before his arrival, the Lutherans had already built a missionary building on the Kuching water front. They were active for a while after James Brooke became the district governor. The Iban speaking German missionaries came here from Pontianak with their Dayak translation (phonetic) of the Holy Book. Their plan was to work in Dayaks areas. At least one of their missionaries was stationed here in 1844. On the arrival of the Borneo Mission missionaries in 1848 Brooke was already fully occupied in battling the Malays and the Dayaks. The local resistance was most intense because they were trying to protect their sovereignty. Many refused to pay their head and longhouse taxes to a foreigner who provided them with nothing of value. The final picture of our past is far from completion. We still have to find answers to some important unconfirmed facts. For example, it is said that rebel Malay leader, Datu Patinggi Ali fought along-side James Brooke because he was promised that Sarawak rule would be returned to him when the colonist died. Brooke had broken that pledge by appointing Capt Brooke Brooke his heir. This became one of the root causes of the Malay Rebellion. (Capt Brooke Brooke was later disinherited when Sir James Brooke had tried to sell off Sarawak behind his back.) There are also reports that James Brooke had married a Brunei princess and even had a daughter with her. This could mean he was a Muslim convert. It also means that he could not attend church service as a Christian. Rajah Charles Brooke also married a Muslim and had a son whom he exiled to England while he was a boy. Sarawak was a hermit state under the Brookes but it likely was a Muslim state; one reason why the Rajah was so cool towards promoting Christianity. As I revealed previously, the moron Rajah Charles Brooke did not believe the Dayaks had any use for the Christian faith. He said in a newspaper interview: “the Dayaks do not understand Christianity, and they never will.” James Brooke often lied for political reasons. On this, the woman folks are more instinctive and straight forward. Writing home, the S.P.G. Bishops wife, Mrs. Harriette MacDougall says: “The Rajah is clever enough to make people see things in his light, but I fear the charm is broken here - ugly facts will be out. I cannot tell you how the Rajah has disappointed us, he cares nothing about Christianity and would only use us politically and kick us overboard if we did not suit his views.” Mrs MacDougall was an eye witness to Sir James Brooke’s killing of most of the S.P.G. Chinese Christians during the Chinese Rebellion. She also suffered privation during the rebellion as well as in the Malay Rebellion during which period the missionaries must carry side arms to protect themselves. With most of the populace against them, the Brookes sometimes set out to punish their enemies with a militia force exceeding 12,000 warriors. In one military operation, as many as 35 longhouses were set aflame and hundreds of inhabitants beheaded. Almost every one of our rivers was stained with blood in the course of their territorial expansion. Occasionally, when I walked down Ewe Hai Street or the Main Bazaar in Kuching, I imagine I could hear the terrified screams from those innocent Chinese men, women and children caught up by Brooke’s killers hot at their heels. The terrifying life under the White Rajahs could mean that after a punitive battle the innocent longhouse inhabitants were dragged from their hiding places and then had their heads chopped. Contributing factor to so much killings and bloodshed is because heads were the white man’s disgraceful mode of payment to his army. The Brooke warriors were also allowed Brooke approved looting of civilian properties. CASH FROM ANY SOURCE Most thoroughly blanketed by patronising writers is that Sarawak had become a drug addict’s paradise. For a century, the regime shamelessly made its fortunes from drug trafficking.. Sarawak was a distributing centre for opium until Japanese Occupation. Why didn’t we read more about this “trade” in their books? Brooke biased media reports never mention opium being transported on their shipping vessels. The white men also cunningly concealed it by calling it a “farm business.” Farm revenues sound quite respectable to the ear. The White Rajahs allowed drug runners to openly buy the forbidden drug here and then smuggled it to neighbouring countries like Kalimantan, Sabah, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam; even to Hong Kong. The British intervened, but the Rajah claimed it was Sarawak’s internal affair. This reminds us colonial schools could turn former colonial subjects into enemy collaborators. Christopher Columbus might be a great man in Spain, but the South American islanders had long stopped celebrating Columbus Day because they refused to honour his barbaric treatment of the Indians. Previously, Students had to sing praises to the tyrant, but not anymore. SARAWAK ALWAYS A HOSTILE PLACE Sarawak was never a very peaceful place under Brooke rule. When the Methodists brought in the 1,000 Foochow farmers to develop the Sibu area, an unknown number of newcomers just disappeared into the surrounding jungle. Fellow migrants believed their heads had been taken. This gives the lie to the Brooke claim that the headhunting tradition was “eradicated.” To Rajah Charles Brooke’s barbaric rational, controlling the people means to terrorise them into submission. For the long term, keeping the people illiterate was necessary to preserving head taking as the institutionalised cornerstone of his military service. Education and Christianity could sabotage or disrupt the supply of his militia manpower. It was countering their colonial interest to have schools or churches near the longhouses. It is hard for us to comprehend that over a century, there were hardly any school aged longhouse children reciting ABC’s or singing songs or playing football. For over 80 years, the heartless government did not bother to have an Education Department and neither was there a teacher training school. Contrary to most assumptions, English was not an “official language”´ for the people. Even though they deprived the people of their very basic human rights the fiction writers were audaciously praising the Brookes for their “paternal rule” but they never mentioned the inland Natives were also totally side lined. After a century, only seven non-Malay Native Officers were appointed to the Administration. The most disgraceful epitomising Brooke legacy was when the Dayak paramount chief represented Sarawak in signing the Malaysia Agreement in London. The much honoured choice was made by the Council Negeri, fully aware that he was an illiterate who could not speak or write English. There are some people who blamed him for “sign botak” as if it was his own fault. Of course, we could only fault the White Rajahs. Hatred for them was widespread throughout the fiefdom. The following newspaper article makes clear that after 40 years under their thumbs, the natives were still vigorously fighting them. In retaliation, the colonists instituted cruel and ruthless war expeditions. As violence bred violence, Sarawak was a land of terror, not just for the locals but also for the invaders. On being chased out from his Sadok holdout, Inland King Rentap vowed he would, for the rest of his life, never again see the face of another white man. This 1870 newspaper article gives us a true to life glimpse of a Brooke Resident living in one of the many forts. It clearly demonstrates that even though defeated in battle, the people were never defeated in spirit. The amber of hatred against the invaders never fully smothered but ended in many uprisings. The article reads:- “There was an element of danger always present. The tribes in the neighbourhood of the fort were probably friendly, but in the hinterland they could not be relied upon and in several stations the risk of attack was very real and one which could never be dismissed entirely from the Resident’s mind. “In May 1870, for instance, Messrs Skelton and Brooke Low assisted by a garrison of 13 Sepoys beat off a force of some 1,000 Kanowit Dayaks which suddenly attacked Sibu fort under the leadership of Lintong. “Apart from major “scraps” such as this there were continual raids and petty forays to be dealt with and there was also the rather disturbing thought that all through the tribes might happen to be peaceful at the moment there was nothing to stop them from “turning nasty” if they wanted to.” It continues to say it was dangerous even for an officer to go for a walk alone so “when he took the evening stroll he did so with an escort of fortmen armed with Synders.” Even when the lies are debunked most cosmetics were applied on the colonial idols. They also insisted the Dayaks were habitual pirates despite many testimonies given in the House of Commons that they were not. Over half a century ago, my journalism lecturer told his students that press releases must be taken with a pinch of salt. People issuing them often have no intention of telling the full story but rather to cover up something. Many Brooke books were just lengthy press releases Today, many people are still relying on these bias books to write about our past. They still repeat what the colonist masters told them that the Dayaks were pirates even though not one single European vassal was ever attacked by Sarawak pirates. One of the East India Company officers, whose letter was mentioned in Parliament, said this about the pirates: “During the sixteen months that I was stationed on the coast of Borneo, I never heard of or saw a pirate… “I learnt that small coasting vessels under the English flag had been in the habit of trading to and from Bruni for the last twenty-five years, and that they had never been molested.” Captain Daniell of the steam frigate Semiramis, also stationed on the coast of Borneo, wrote that he had never fell in with a Dayak pirate and he had “never heard of their having molested an English or foreign vessel.” Myth writers refused to accept the verdict of the 1854 Commission of Inquiry on the Beting Maru Massacre. They insisted Sir James Brooke was “totally exonerated from all the false charges” against him. Among those captured pirates was an eight year old girl with an arm blown off by the cannon. She was found among the many other injured persons. No one knew what happened to her and her fellow “pirates” later, but Sir James Brooke claimed there were no survivors and he never brought one pirate to trial any a court of law. His critics say the victims’ heads were all likely been taken by Sir James Brooke to pay his ancillary army. The Royal Navy, on the other hand, claimed £20,700 reward in Head Money. For his crimes, Sir James Brooke was, however, badly punished. His philanthropist mask as was finally torn off. After the Commission findings were out, no Royal Navy gunboats were allowed to visit Sarawak to help him attack his enemies any more. No one could again misuse the Royal Navy Head Money fund like he had done. He also lost all his three well paid (totalling £8,000 yearly) Government jobs; Special Agent to Sarawak, the Governor of Labuan and Consul to Brunei. Sarawak Fiction described him as just “an adventurer” to conceal the fact that he was a typical colonist who gained military experience serving for the East India Company. It camouflaged his objective of depriving Brunei of its antimony mines. Mythologists condone his fight-pirates excuse and accepted his mass killing acts. The London Times righteously pointed out his mass slaughter of the Sarawak natives was “unparalleled” in the annals of British warfare. The December 1866 issue of The Atlantic Monthly reveals that he was no “adventurer” and he took lengthy preparations for his colonising venture: - It reported: “he cruised three years in the Mediterranean, carefully selecting and training his crew. … And when his preparations were all complete, on the 16th of December, 1838, he set sail for Singapore, in the yacht Royalist, a vessel of one hundred and forty-two tons, manned by twenty men and officers, with an armament of six six-pounders and a full supply of small arms of all sorts. “Such were the mighty resources wherewith he began an enterprise which has ended in raising him to the government of a petty kingdom, and to almost sovereign influence over the whole empire of Borneo Proper.” (Continued: Part 2) Note: Details of the Commission of Inquiry, the Divide and Rule and the Opium Monopoly are found in my book: The White Rajahs…Myths Retold/Massacre of The Bau Hakkas. It is sold at the sourvinir stores at the Sarawak Museum, MyBookstore at Jalan Haji Taha, Bookstore at Sarawak Plaza and Benzamine Book Store, Carpenter Street, Kuching. (Pic 1) Brooke’s head hunting tradition was adopted by another white man during the Japanese Occupation. Tom Harrison, who later became our Museum Curator and a group of U.S. and Australians led 1,000 headhunters to fight the Japanese. They claimed to have killed or captured some 1,500 Japanese soldiers. A famous magazine published this photo of a war worker with a Japanese skull sent by her Navy boyfriend (Pic 2)The second press clip is from the Straits Time Overland Journal of 1879. It is another article writers prefer to ignore. It was written by a American who visited Sarawak in 1865. Read the article on what he said in refuting the Brooke claim that the country was recognised by the United States of America. (Pic 3) I am printing this map again to show that the country called Sarawak was only a small patch of territory some 50 miles by 70 miles. That is all the land James Brooke ruled over, not what the myth writers assumed, the whole Sarawak State.
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 09:52:27 +0000
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