Historical Interlude : Transport in Old Sarawak

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Today I received a number of interesting old photos from Nick Chin. He seems to have established a very good source somewhere in Satok. Thanks Nick. Keep 'em coming.

Anyway, I found that many of them relate to different forms of transportation. So different from what we see today. Anyway transportation is the theme of today's posting. See if any of the photos jog any memories. Or trigger in your mind something that certain elders in your family might have mentioned.

There were once three trains plying the Kuching to10th Mile route. The engines were named Bintang, Bulan and Jean. The train service was started in 1916 by the 2^nd Rajah, Sir Charles Brooke, shortly before he handed over the the 3rd Rajah, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke. The train station or terminus in Kuching was in front of the mosque (where there's now a car park), facing the Brooke Dockyard. Jalan Keretapi is so named because the railway  track actually went along it. There was no road back then, just the rail track.

Some time before the Japanese Occupation, the train service was discontinued by the British, and for a while the trains were kept in the terminus area (just over the fence from Lillian theatre). But during the Occupation, the Japanese restarted the train service for a while, and it was used to bring POWs to work (mainly around the 7th Mile area). Then they stopped this - probably thinking the POWs had too easy a life. Eventually the Japanese shipped the trains back to Japan for scrap iron.

I read somewhere that rickshaws first reached Kuching in 1895. Prior to that, there were only pony traps and bullock carts. There were never more than 50 to 60 rickshaws in Kuching, mostly pulled by Chinese men, and many of the pullers tended to be of the Henghua dialect.

My father told me that he noticed that sometimes on a steeper hill, the passengers had to get down and walk, as it was too much strain on the puller.All the rickshaws tended to be independent endeavours, but their machines tended to be serviced by a few "repair shops", who seemed to have some control over them (perhaps they provided loans?).

The history of Kuching airport goes back to the years after the Second World War when the British started planning an airport for the town. The airport at the 7th Mile was eventually opened on 26th September1950 by the British Governor Sir Anthony Abell. Judging from the many automobiles and crowd, it was quite a big occasion.

The ship "Rajah Brooke" usually plied the Kuching-Singapore route. It had 1st and 2nd Class cabins. Before it sailed, there was usually a party held on board, for people (mainly the Europeans in those days) to socialise and get to know each other.The trip from Kuching to Singapore normally took 2 days and 1 night.

Besides the "Rajah Brooke", there were other ships, with names like Marudu, Kajang, Darvel and Kimanis. This ship owners were either Sarawak Steamship, or later Straits Steamship. Besides Singapore, some of the ships, eg. Darvel and Marudu, sailed to British North Borneo (now Sabah)..

I don't have much to comment about this last photo, except that this building appears to me to be the Police Station (I might be wrong but it sure looks similar). Anyway I included the photo above because it shows two other forms of transportation - automobile and bicycles.

Well, over to you guys for more comments.