A glimpse of Bintulu public garden in 1961

( Note: The above pix is taken from the 1961 Bintulu Centenary Celebrations souvenier programme book, pg.50)

In the very early 1960's I used to frequent the only public garden in Bintulu at that time.  It was situated at Somerville Road as shown in the picture above.  As a young kid I used to pass the garden everyday on the way to school.  In the afternoon after school hours me and my friends from nearby kampungs played football at the open spaces next to the garden.  There is an interesting Singapore connection regarding the garden and how in later years I was involved in the landscaping of Bintulu with the introduction of the Tabebuia rosea trees to Bintulu using the Singapore connection.  The full story is  here.

Modern marriage ceremony - knowing you through cyber space.

Modern inter-racial marriage in Bintulu, 2008 

It is interesting to see how modern marriages can happen in Bintulu.  I attended an inter-racial marriage ceremony  in Bintulu in 2008.  Here's is re-posting from the blog my Kambatik World...>>>http://mykambatikworld.blogspot.my/search/label/Bintulu%20Divisional%20Mosque

Coins used in Bintulu in 1888

I have a rare coin in my collection which is a time capsule of the colourful Brooke's Dynasty rule in Sarawak during the middle of the 19th century. Before Sarawak was colonised, it was ruled by a British family and they gave up their dynastic rule to the British Crown after they found it impossible to run the state without much budget and a bigger administrative structure which could only be provided by The Empire.

The first 'White Rajah' or 'White King' was James Brooke and was succeeded by 'Rajah' Charles Johnson Brooke who ruled Sarawak from 1868-1917. During his rule Rajah Charles struck or minted the above copper coin, dated 1888. This coin is 3 cm in diameter.

Before the Brookes rule, Sarawak was under the Sultanate of Brunei which used coins of tin. However being of soft metal it wore easily. With a more modern British minting technology coins were then minted in copper like the one above.

For those who believe in the power of numbers like the number '8' among the Chinese, what is the significance of the triple 8 digit, I wonder?

( P.S.: BTW this coin is not for sale)

( This article is a re-post from my Kambatik World blog, follow the link here)

A Melanau Kampung by the Kemena River, Bintulu

A Melanau village by the Kemena River, Bintulu.

How do the Melanaus in Bintulu live ?  Here's a description..>>>

http://mykambatikworld.blogspot.my/2008/12/melanau-kampung-by-kemena-river-bintulu.html