Bidayuh Grandma & her Chinese family

Bidayuh women - Source: sarawakdotcom.blogspot


It is not uncommon a Chinese, in our current generation residing in Southern Sarawak, has an Iban or Bidayuh Grandma, and many are proud of their ethnic Grandma.

The Chinese influx to Sarawak increased in the early 1900s as the Brooke Administration encouraged immigrants to develop Sarawak in the agriculture & mining sectors; as the British gained dominance in the Straits Settlements & Western Borneo, more Chinese immigrants came in before WW2.

As in other pioneer frontiers, earlier immigrants were mostly men seeking more economic opportunities abroad as life in China was tough at that time; many had established families back home, and would likely return homeland as they accumulated desired wealth in the new land.

As more Chinese set foot in Brooke Sarawak and later the Crown Colony of Sarawak, many formed families locally & settled permanently.

Kuching, Sarawak early 1900s - Source: Sarawak Archives, Kuching

As male Chinese immigrants disproportionally outnumbered their ethnic women, many married local natives. As in Southern Sarawak where development & population concentrated, many married local ethnic Iban or Bidayuh women.

The formation of Bipolar World after WW2 and subsequent The Cold War, interactions between the Communist China and other Western states & colonies including Crown Colony of Sarawak was hindered.

The period of ‘isolation’ had naturally provoked more earlier immigrants to set foot deeper locally and reinforced further mixed ethnic relationship & marriage. 

Following the end of the Cold War, diplomatic relations was established in 1974 between China and Malaysia including Sarawak. Cultural interactions between the two places began to resume and strengthen.

By then, the earlier mixed ethnic families had perpetuated into 2nd & more generations, and Sarawak had long since established the kind of diverse ethnic groups and assimilated culture.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Zinc Roofing, Monsoon & the Fxxking Nites

Image
Kampong (village) life is a customary scene in many parts of Malaysia/Malaya and British Borneo, including Sarawak, before & after the War (World War II). As with the post-World War II economic boom, similar to other parts of the World before the mid-70s recession, the era of economic growth progressively helped Sarawak to transform from a rural Kampong lifestyle to a more urbanised standard of living. Many older residents still can remember the earlier Attap roofing (thatched roof using nipa palm leaves) and changes to zinc roofing in the 60s & earlier 70s. There were various nostalgic moments in those poor & happy old days as my older relatives used to recount in beer sessions. The one those old men kept repeating was the story of Zinc roofing & the Monsoon rains. Family size was big in those days, and many families lived in the same roof. There were not much entertainments at nights and most nights were quiet, especially after s
Read more

Raw Pork Fat Sandwich

Image
A slice of bread spread with lard - Source: Wikipedia In our time where obesity & overweight are common, and heart related disease remains top killer; many are cautious on excessive fat intake, and therefore it is even unthinkable to take in uncooked animal fat or raw pork fat. Source: mirror.co.uk During the 19th century & early 20th century, lard or rendered pork fat was popular & used similarly as butter in many parts of Europe & North America. In fact, in certain regions or time where vegetable oil or dairy fats were rare, lard was usually used as a substitute, as in WW2, or consumed as a spread on bread. The Ukrainian Salo, cured pork fat, is sometimes eaten raw, even during the slaughtering; the warm fat may be taken with a dip of salt & a shot of vodka. Ukrainian Salo - Source: tasteatlas.com In China, lard has always been a cooking staple for many centuries. A traditional simple Southern Chinese rice cuisine (or lard rice豬油拌飯) is the used of lard mixing with
Read more

Tua Pek Kong, Kuching - the Feng Shui Legend

Image
The Kuching Tua Pek Kong Temple was once seated on the best Feng Shui location in Kuching; as according to the Feng Shui principle, a hill at the back, a small and smooth flowing river in front (the lost Sg Kuching), and the best front view of the highest peak in the area, Gunung Serapi. The temple was built more than two centuries ago, long before James Brooke, the first White Rajah of Sarawak, arrived in Kuching. Like most Chinese temples, the temple prosperity affected and associated highly to the businesses, emotion and activities of the local Chinese community in the early days where majority were followers of Taoist related faith. It was also one of the few buildings that survived the 1884 the Great Fire of Kuching, where most Chinese believed was due to good Feng Shui. It was said that after the 1857 Chinese Insurrection in Bau, a gold mine township nearby, the Brooke Administration was worried about the Tua Pek Kong dominance and its influence to the local Kuc
Read more