The Malay Apple Tree

This is the Malay Apple tree ( Syzgium malaccense) in full bloom that I saw planted next to a Malay village house at Kampung Buntal, some 30 minutes drive from Kuching city. I have not seen one flowering for quite sometime now due to the fact that many of these trees have been cut down to make way for the construction of more houses in the villages. Thus the sight of this tree was a fast rewind to my childhood days when I used to hunt for birds frequenting them.
Malays like to plant them for their sweet edible fruits the size of apples. It would normally take about three months after flowering before the tree can bear fruits. They are medium sized trees ( 12-15 m) high and loves the full sun. The leaves are dark green and relatively broad. In many instances I prefer to eat the fruits semi-ripe as salad and can be dipped in soybean sauce ( ketchup) or shrimp paste (' belacan') for that extra 'umpphh'.
I always like to advocate that these trees be re-introduced into urban planting e.g. roadsides, parks and open spaces, school compounds etc because they are very attractive to birds and wildlife and have an attractive compact form. Propagation is easily done through seeds. The local name for the tree is 'Jambu Bol'.
The flowers are pink to light red and are attractive to wildlife especially starlings and wild doves.

Waterfront Scenes

Today as I walked along the Kuching Waterfront area I noticed the new DUN building ( Dewan Undangan Rakyat) surroundings are slowly being tidied up and grassing works are underway to control erosion and beautify the river bank . I guess upon completion, this building will be another tourist attraction for Kuching city. The building will house the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly - a law making and local governance body that ensures that the practise of democracy is kept alive and functioning in Sarawak. However the area around the building seemed lacking in any tourism -related facilities and presently is best viewed from a distance.

The tourist buzz is much lacking these days. Is it due to the global slump? River boats are parked by the pontoons but there are very few tourists to join the boat ride. The scenes looked economically eerie for today.

Tissue Cake ( Roti Tisu)

It was a surprise of sorts when I dropped by a coffee shop cum restaurant at Mile 7, Kuching- Serian Road called the 'Bombay Masala'. I ventured to attempt a unique snack called the 'Roti Tisu' loosely translated to mean ' tissue cake'. Well it was thin like tissue paper but managed to fold itself like a pyramid. A sugarly red solution was sprayed lightly from the peak and you dip the thin pancake into curry. Tasted good. On the right is the local 'Teh Tarik' which is tea plus milk, a local favourite for drinking while eating 'Roti Canai'- another popular pancake consumed by all age profiles and creeds of Malaysia. What will they think next to retain customers?

Creative Students

While shopping for books at the Spring shopping complex I bumped into a group of students from Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology. The students were busy clicking cameras as part of their 'Model Search' project. Anyone willing to be photographed and be in the limelight was welcomed. The Limkokwing University of Creative Technology is a global university with campuses in Malaysia ( Sarawak,Borneo included) , UK, China,Cambodia,Botswana and Lesotho. What's interesting is that a student of Limkokwing Borneo has the opportunity to conduct part of his/her studies in any of its campuses worldwide. A point worth noting in times of globalisation and a much flatter world where human resources should be exposed to a world of diversities and cultural exchanges early in their career training. At another corner I saw one student adept at sketching doing portraits and caricatures of willing shoppers, albeit at a small price.

Kuching Cannas

Kuching is a unique. For one it has two city authorities. The Kuching City North and Kuching City South both having one City Mayor each. Today I took a drive to the Kuching City South Building which is coloured blue as in the above picture. What delighted me was this wide row of cannas that is planted at the central road median leading to the building which is the headquarters of the Kuching City South administration. This is easily the longest stretch of cannas planting in Sarawak. It is about 200 m ( two hundred) in length. In my travels throughout Sarawak this planting plot is the longest I've seen for cannas so far. Three colourful varieties are planted here -Yellow, Orange and Red.
Cannas are native to tropical regions like Malaysia and South America. Cannas live exuberantly in the really hot sun and heavy rain partly due to its having soft and succulent stems requiring lots of water to keep the stems erect throughout the day. They are planted for their bright and large coloured petalled flowers that are a wonder if planted in big masses. However it is very important to remove spent flowers or stems as they might appear messy and not pleasing to the eyes. Being perennials they don't last too long probably 1-3 years with intensive care. Thus planting beds need to be refurbished with new manure and retilled to achieve best results.

The above shows two views of the central median with cannas as the center of attraction. Seen above are two other species that provide shirting to the canna beds. Firstly the golden leaves of the Golden Dewdrop ( Duranta repens) and the red coloured leaves of the Bloodleaf ( Iresine herbstii) both of which are low maintenance plants and suitable for open sunny locations and a survivor to heavy pruning.

A China Story

Entrance to the Carpenter Street with a unique 'Room on top of the Stairs'

We went around the 'China Town' area of Kuching yesterday to window shop for book shelves in particular the well known Carpenter Street - resident to the very early commercial carpenters of Kuching. Well, nearly the whole of downtown Kuching is a big 'China Town'. It was and is still now.

The Chinese has a strong grasp of all trades in the Malaysian economy ( 80%)and Sarawak is no exception. Thus 'China Town' enclaves are everywhere in Malaysia.
Traditionally when the Chinese set up shop in Sarawak, they lived, work and play within the close quarters of their shop. Walking around any China town one sees a microcosm of China - a nation of shopkeepers. Business is so intertwined in Chinese culture that this entrepreneurial spirit was what the British admired about them and the main reason why they imported them from as far away places like China to Sarawak in the nascent days of populating and developing the state. But that's all history. Now the Chinese form a distinct component in the racial makeup of Malaysia. There is however an interesting twist to this preoccupation with business. For many reasons the Chinese in Malaysia do not like to have big families and their reproductive ratio is low compared with other races. Thus we see in Malaysia the trend that by 2030 the population projection is 80% Malays( plus other native races) and 20% Chinese. On another level, I read often that due to the same low reproductive ratio, Singapore( having Chinese as the dominant ethnic group) soon will be having more foreigners than local staying within the tiny island state to the ratio of 1:2.

A colourful side lane to the Carpenter Street. Here old shop houses are increasingly modified to capture the growing tourism business. While furniture shop are still around newer business establishments include bed and breakfast lodgings or inns, handicraft or souvenir shops, travel agencies, gold and jewellery shops.

The old quarters of Carpenter Street. Narrow lane like above is typical of Carpenter Street and is reminiscent of the days of 3-in-1 concept of work, stay and play . This off shot lane is called 'Upper China Street'

Chewy Narcotic

A row of 'Pinang 'Trees ( Areca Catechu) with bunches of orange oval fruits.

In rural villages of Sarawak the sight of tall palms over topping the village landscape is a common if not typical scenery. Rural folks plant coconut and betel palms for their fruits. The betel nut palm is locally known as 'Pinang' and there is even a state in Malaysia that derived its name from the betel palm i.e. the island of Pulau Pinang ( 'Penang' in colloquial English), sometimes also known as 'The Pearl of the Orient' among tourism circles.

The betel palm ( Arecha catechu) is native to this part of the world including Indonesia. The palm is single-trunked and topped with a cluster of terminal fronds. Below the bases of the fronds are branches of the ripe fruits in colours of yellow, orange or red. To collect the fruits requires the skill of an experienced climber because the trees can reach a height of 12-20 meters high.

The fruits are sold ( see inset) as jungle produce items at many a local jungle produce markets throughout Sarawak. For landscaping purposes I feel that more betel nut palms should be grown in urban parks or open spaces in Sarawak. Presently they are being sidelined in favour of expensive imported palms, which I think is most unwise. Its narrow crown and slim trunk demand very little space and therefore suitable to be planted in small urban residential gardens. Furthermore its roots aren't too adventurous and yet withstand extreme wind velocities. I prefer to plant them in a small group of threes or fives forming a 'groove-like' composition.

CU of the betel fruit exposing the white-fleshed nut in the center, which is edible.

The Malays or native ladies of Sarawak ( my mother included) love to chew the nuts as a mild narcotic. The oval fruits is cut into half and the nut sliced thinly before it is chewed together with lime and betel pepper leaves ( Piper betel). There is a rich cultural tradition of consuming the betel nuts and betel leaves that survive to this day. The practise of consuming them is prevalent in marriage ceremonies, traditional healing rituals and many casual social gatherings.

From ripe seeds Pinang trees are easily propagated and the palms bear fruits throughout the year.

Selling Memories

A selection of old memories of Kuching from colonial buildings to personalities and places are sold here at Satok Sunday market.

If you go the the Satok Sunday market don't forget to drop by at a stall that sell memories. The stall owner sells old photographs of Kuching especially the romantic and adventurous early history of Kuching . The focus of the photographs are places in and around Kuching during the early days of Brooke rule, the Brooke's personalities or figures, events and historical buildings of the colonial period. Most of the photographs are laminated and a few are framed. Customers are local residents, visitors and tourists. I noticed his repertoire of photographs quite sizable . The first Rajah ( monarch) of Sarawak is James Brooke a British ex-soldier-cum-adventurer who was given the region around today's Kuching after he managed to quell a local rebellion there in 1841. Those were the romantic days. His picture is shown above at the bottom left row. There are accounts that because of this successful military adventure he was given the region around Kuching as reward. In the Malay language " Serah Kepada Awak" means "hand over to you", in short "Serawak" from which originated the state's present name "SARAWAK". That's history if you are willing to buy.

The above photograph shows the Ranee Margaret of Sarawak with aristocratic Malay ladies in Malay costume, circa early 20th century.

Charles Brooke was the nephew of the first Rajah who became the second Rajah of Sarawak after the death of Sir James Brooke. Charles Brooke married his 19 year old cousin Margaret de Windt hoping to have a heir to the Brooke monarchy. The Ranee Margaret became a popular and loved figure in Sarawak. She spent 17 years in Sarawak and gave birth to three sons. One of them , Vyner was to become the third Rajah of Sarawak in 1917, a week after the death of his father. The Brookes handed over Sarawak to the British crown ( colonial government) in 1946, a year after the Japanese were defeated from their short military occupation of Sarawak from 1941-1945. The colonial government ruled Sarawak from 1946-1963. In 1963 Sarawak, Sabah, Singapore and Malaya formed Malaysia and thereby achieved Independence from the British.

"Uptown Cat" Exhibition

The paintings displayed at the Lobby of the Kuching Cat Museum.


This afternoon I visited an exhibition of paintings by four Kuching artists on the subject of cats. The painting exhibition was held at the Kuching Cat Museum, located at the Kuching North City Building at Petrajaya. The word 'Kuching' in Malay means cat. Kuching is therefore very much a cat city. On display were various paintings executed in different media. It seems to me that this painting exhibition is the most contemporary on cats.

The above acrylic painting is done by Ramsay Ong on tree bark cloth of the 'Tekalong' tree or wild breadfruit tree. Tree barks are traditionally used as garments but here Ramsay uses it as a visual painting media rich in texture.

Stephanie Eng's work on acrylic depicting two cats.

Above, Narong Daun uses fabric dye on silk textile.

Michael Lim's batik rendition of the Malay civet cat.

April Shower

I just can't stop admiring the flamboyant April showers of Kuching.
The Golden Shower tree ( Cassia fistula) dripping in showers of gold and the Shower Orchid Vine ( Congea tomentosa) bursting its velvety sprays into the April air is indeed a pleasure to see. This is the kind of green investment that brings much reward as well as admiration of Kuching as a botanical or garden city. Well you can say that its ROI ( Return of Investment) is in the flow of tourists clicking their cameras and videos while touring its gardens, parks and other landscaped urban spaces.

The Golden Shower ( Cassia fistula) with drooping clusters of yellow flowers seen at a mini-park at Mile 7 town,Kuching,

While shopping at the Satok Sunday market this morning, I came across this large evergreen shrub often referred to as the Shower Orchid Vine ( Congea tomentosa) showing off its masses of lavender pink to mauve bracts from a residential house at the edge of the market. A closer look at the inflorescence's reveal sprays of small flowers in groups. Each group is made up of four velvety lavender pink bracts. The center flowers are tiny and insignificant. The Congea is a native to this part of the world i.e. Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar. However this species has been grown in many parts of tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world and happily naturalised there over time.

The Shower Orchid Vine ( Congea tomentosa) loves full sun and being a vigorous grower demands ample space.