Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia

History | Geography | Economy | Transport | Taxis | Water | Air | Education | Libraries

🇲🇾 Kuching, officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is situated on the Sarawak River at the south-west tip of the state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

Kuching was the third capital of Sarawak in 1827 during the administration of the Bruneian Empire. In 1841, Kuching became the capital of the Kingdom of Sarawak after the territory in the area was ceded to James Brooke for helping the Bruneian empire in crushing a rebellion particularly by the interior Borneo dwelling Land Dayak people who later became his loyal followers after most of them were pardoned by him and joined his side. The town continued to receive attention and development during the rule of Charles Brooke such as the construction of a sanitation system, hospital, prison, fort, and a bazaar. In 1941, the Brooke administration had a Centenary Celebration in Kuching. During World War II, Kuching was occupied by Japanese forces from 1942 to 1945. The Japanese government set up a Batu Lintang camp near Kuching to hold prisoners of war and civilian internees. After the war, the town survived intact. However, the last Rajah of Sarawak, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke decided to cede Sarawak as part of British Crown Colony in 1946. Kuching remained as capital during the Crown Colony period. After the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Kuching retained its status as state capital and was granted city status in 1988. Since then, the Kuching city is divided into two administrative regions managed by two separate local authorities. The administrative centre of Sarawak state government is located at Wisma Bapa Malaysia, Kuching.

Kuching is a major destination for tourists and the main gateway for travellers visiting Sarawak and Borneo. Kuching Wetlands National Park is located close to the city and there are many other tourist attractions in and around Kuching such as Bako National Park, Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), state assembly building, The Astana, Fort Margherita, Kuching Cat Museum, and Sarawak State Museum. The city has become one of the major industrial and commercial centres in East Malaysia.

History Sarawak was part of the Bruneian Empire since the reign of first Brunei sultanate, Sultan Muhammad Shah. Kuching was the third capital of Sarawak, founded in 1827 by the representative of the Sultan of Brunei, Pengiran Indera Mahkota. Prior to the founding of Kuching, the two past capitals of Sarawak were Santubong, founded by Sultan Pengiran Tengah in 1599, and Lidah Tanah, founded by Datu Patinggi Ali in the early 1820s.

Pengiran Raja Muda Hashimit later ceded the territory to a British adventurer, James Brooke as a reward for helping him to counter a rebellion. The rebellion was crushed in November 1840, and on 24 September 1841, Brooke was appointed as the Governor of Sarawak with the title of Rajah. It was not announced until 18 August 1842, following Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II's ratifying the governorship, and requiring Brooke to pay an annual sum of $2,500 to the Sultan. Since that time, Kuching became the seat of the Brooke government.

The administration was later continued by his nephew, Charles Brooke. As an administrative capital, it became the centre of attention and development. Improvements included a sanitation system. By 1874, the city had completed several developments, including construction of a hospital, prison, Fort Margherita, and many other buildings.

Charles Brooke's wife, in her memoir (My Life in Sarawak), included this description of Kuching: The little town looked so neat and fresh and prosperous under the careful jurisdiction of the Rajah and his officers, that it reminded me of a box of painted toys kept scrupulously clean by a child. The Bazaar runs for some distance along the banks of river, and this quarter of the town is inhabited almost entirely by Chinese traders, with the exception of one or two Hindoo shops… .Groceries of exotic kinds are laid out on tables near the pavement, from which the purchasers make their choice. At the Hindoo shops you can buy silks from India, sarongs from Java, tea from China and tiles and porcelain from all parts of the world, laid out in picturesque confusion, and overflowing into the street.

The Astana (Palace), which is now the official residence of the governor of Sarawak, was constructed next to Brooke's first residence. He had it built in 1869 as a wedding gift to his wife. Kuching continued to prosper under Charles Vyner Brooke, who succeeded his father as the Third Rajah of Sarawak. In 1941, Kuching was the site of the Brooke Government Centenary Celebration. A few months later, the Brooke administration came to a close when the Japanese occupied Sarawak.

During the Second World War, six platoons of infantry from 2/15 Punjab Regiment were stationed at Kuching in April 1941. The Regiment defended Kuching and Bukit Stabar airfield from being the destroyed by the Japanese. Defence was mainly concentrated on Kuching and Miri. However, on 24 December 1941, Kuching was conquered by the Japanese forces. Sarawak was ruled as part of the Japanese Empire for three years and eight months, until the official Japanese surrender on 11 September 1945. The official surrender was signed on HMAS Kapunda at Kuching. From March 1942, the Japanese operated the Batu Lintang camp, for POWs and civilian internees, 5 km (3.1 mi) outside Kuching.

After the end of World War II, the town survived and was wholly undamaged. The third and last Rajah, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke later ceded Sarawak to the British Crown on 1 July 1946. During the Crown Colony period, the government worked to develop and improve the infrastructure on Sarawak. Kuching was revitalised as the capital of Sarawak under the British colonial government. When Sarawak, together with North Borneo, Singapore and the Federation of Malaya, formed the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, Kuching kept its status as the state capital and was granted a city status on 1 August 1988. Kuching experienced further development throughout the years as the state capital. On 29 July 2015, Kuching was declared as "City of Unity" by One Malaysia Foundation for racial harmony that existed in the city because of cross-racial marriages, multi-racial schools, fair scholarship distributions, and balanced workforce patterns.

Geography Kuching is located on the banks of the Sarawak River in the north-western part of the island of Borneo. The limits of the City of Kuching include all that area in Kuching District containing an area approximately 431.01 km2 (166.41 sq mi) bounded from Gunung Lasak (Mount Lasak) in Muara Tebas to Batu Buaya (Crocodile Rock) in the Santubong peninsula following a series of survey marks as stated in the First Schedule of the City of Kuching Ordinance, 1988. As a simplification of the legal statute, the Kuching city limits extend from the Kuching International Airport in the south to the northern coast of the Santubong and Bako peninsulas; from the Kuching Wetlands National Park in the west to the Kuap River estuary in the east. The Sarawak River generally splits the city into North and South. The highest point in the city is Mount Santubong on the Santubong peninsula, which is at 810.2 m (2,658 ft) above sea level, located 35 km north of the city centre. Rapid urbanisation has occurred in Greater Kuching and the urban sprawl extends to Penrissen, Kota Sentosa, Kota Padawan, Batu Kawah, Matang, Samariang, Siburan, Tarat, Kota Samarahan, Asajaya as well as Serian which is located about 65 km from Kuching.

Economy Kuching is one of the main industrial and commercial centres for Sarawak. Many state-level, national-level, and international commercial banks, as well as some insurance companies establish their headquarters and branches here. The economy is dominated by the primary sector and currently by the tertiary-based industry as the state government wants to aim Sarawak to be transformed into a developed state by 2020.

There are 3 industrial areas in Kuching, namely Pending Industrial Estate (Mixed and Light Industries), Demak Laut Industrial Park (Mixed, Light, and Medium Industries), and Sama Jaya Free Industrial Zone (Hi-Tech and electronics industry). This is intended to boost the city's commercial and industrial activity to making it a major growth centre in East Malaysia, as well for the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area). Kuching hosted numerous national, regional and international conferences, congress, and trade fairs, such as the Malaysia Global Business Forum, Tomorrow's Leaders Summit, International Hydropower Association (IHA) World Congress, ASEAN Tourism Forum, and Routes Asia Conference. Besides, Kuching was chosen as a permanent host for the biennial Asean International Film Festival and Awards (AIFFA). These events are normally held at the Borneo Convention Centre.

Kuching Port Authority (KPA), established in 1961, started its operation at Tanah Puteh Port (Sim Kheng Hong Port) in 1975 with annual capacity of 350,000 tonnes. Its operations has since been shifted to Pending and Senari terminals with annual capacity of 2.9 million tonnes and 7 million tonnes respectively. KPA also controls Biawak Oil Jetty that handles petroleum products.

Historically, the Chinese have contributed to the city economy since their migration during the Brunei Sultanate period after the discovery of antimony ore and also during the Charles Vyner Brooke administration who encouraged the migration of the overseas Chinese to planting black pepper.

Transport Roads in the city are under the jurisdiction and maintenance of either the two local councils, i.e. DBKU (Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara) and MBKS (Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan), or the state's Public Works Department. Roads of the latter category are either state roads or federal roads.

Most major internal roads are dual-carriageways and the city is linked by roads to other towns in Sarawak. These roads are mainly federal roads maintained by the national Public Works Department. The city also famous for a number of roundabouts including the oldest and largest one, known as Datuk Abang Kipali Bin Abang Akip Roundabout. The roundabout are usually landscaped and were efficient to handling traffic congestion. However, traffic lights are more commonly used now as the city traffic continues to rise.

As the city is located near the equator, potholes have the tendency to develop on the roads during the monsoon season, usually at the end of the year due to coinciding with winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Roads leading outside of the city to the interior are of a slightly lower quality but are now being upgraded.

Highway routes from Kuching include: • FT 1-15 Kuching–Serian Highway • FT 801 Kuching Bypass • Kuching–Kota Samarahan Expressway • Tun Salahuddin Bridge Tun Salahuddin Bridge • Matang Highway.

Taxis There are two types of taxi operating in the city, the main taxi is the red and yellow while the larger is painted in blue, which is more comfortable but expensive known as the "executive taxis". In 2014, a smartphone taxi booking application named "GrabTaxi" was launched and making the city as the fifth area after Klang Valley, Cyberjaya, Putrajaya, and Johor Bahru that have the applications.

Water Kuching, like most towns in Sarawak, has connections to other urban centres and settlements by water transport. Between the banks of the Sarawak River, near the city centre, many 'tambang' (traditional roofed wooden sampan) can be seen carrying passengers from one riverbank to another. For those staying along the river banks, it is a short way to getting to the city-proper. The wharf for express boats servicing transport to further areas such as Sibu and Bintulu, is located in the east of the city at the Sim Kheng Hong Port (formerly known as the Tanah Puteh Port) in Pending.

Air Kuching International Airport (KCH) (ICAO Code : WBGG) is the main gateway for air passengers. The airport's history dates back to the 1940s and today the airport has undergoing many major redevelopment. The airport terminal is listed as the fourth busiest airport in Malaysia according to total passenger movements in 2013. Since 2009, the airport has grown rapidly with an increasing number of passengers and aircraft movement. It is the secondary hub for Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia while became the third hub for MASWings, which serves flights to smaller towns and rural areas in East Malaysia.

Education There are currently no public university campuses in Kuching, apart from the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences building situated next to the Sarawak General Hospital. The Sarawak state government moved the last remaining public university campus (Universiti Teknologi MARA) from Kuching to Kota Samarahan in 1997 in a long-term initiative to transform Kota Samarahan into an education hub. Kuching is home to three private universities: the Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, the only branch campus of Swinburne University of Technology outside Australia; Executive College; and UCSI University, Sarawak Campus which houses the Faculty of Hospitality and Management. A polytechnic and community college, both known as Politeknik Kuching Sarawak and Kolej Komuniti Kuching are also located in the city.

Other private colleges can be found through the city with most of the colleges are subsidiaries from universities and university colleges established in West Malaysia, such as SEGi College, Sarawak, Sunway College Kuching, Limkokwing Borneo, PTPL Sarawak, Wawasan Open University, Open University Malaysia, and Twintech College Sarawak. There are private institutions conducting franchised programmes from full-fledged universities (apart from running their own courses) such as SATT College (conducting franchised programmes from Universiti Teknologi MARA) and the Institute of Dynamic Management, Sarawak (conducting franchised programmes from Universiti Tun Abdul Razak). The International College of Advanced Technology Sarawak or ICATS is an institution created as the state government's initiative to enhance technical and vocational training education among school leavers. The college was established from the former INTI College Sarawak facilities. Operated by a state-owned subsidiary, ICATS focuses on producing human capital for the hi-tech sector, especially for the development of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy.

Libraries The Sarawak State Library is the major information resource centre and provides information services for the public and private sectors. The library serves Kuching and its outskirts as the main depository of public records. In addition, it administers, monitors, and facilitates the operations of 36 village libraries in the state funded by the National Library of Malaysia.

Other public libraries in Kuching include the DBKU City Library and village libraries such as in Bandar Baru Samariang, Kampung Samariang Lama, and Taman Sepakat Jaya.

Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia 
<b>Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia</b>
Image: Photo by Sasha India on Unsplash

Kuching was ranked #276 by the Nomad List which evaluates and ranks remote work hubs by cost, internet, fun and safety. Kuching has a population of over 325,132 people. Kuching also forms the centre of the wider Sarawak Kuching which has a population of over 705,546 people. It is also a part of the larger Sarawak Division.

To set up a UBI Lab for Kuching see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Kuching has links with:

🇮🇩 Bandung, Indonesia 🇰🇷 Guro, South Korea 🇸🇦 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 🇲🇾 Johor Bahru, Malaysia 🇨🇳 Jurong, China 🇨🇳 Kunming, China 🇮🇩 Pontianak, Indonesia 🇨🇳 Quanzhou, China 🇮🇩 Singkawang, Indonesia 🇨🇳 Zhenjiang, China
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license | Nomad

Antipodal to Kuching is: -69.667,-1.55

Locations Near: Kuching 110.333,1.55

🇮🇩 Bengkayang 109.664,1.069 d: 91.6  

🇮🇩 Singkawang 108.983,0.9 d: 166.6  

🇮🇩 Sekadau 110.888,0.022 d: 180.8  

🇮🇩 Sekadau Hilir 110.888,0.022 d: 180.8  

🇲🇾 Sibu 111.817,2.283 d: 184  

🇮🇩 Pontianak 109.333,-0.033 d: 208.2  

🇮🇩 Sintang 111.479,0.061 d: 209  

🇲🇾 Bintulu 113.033,3.167 d: 349.7  

🇲🇾 Miri 113.983,4.383 d: 513.3  

🇮🇩 Tanjung Pandan 107.75,-2.75 d: 557.7  

Antipodal to: Kuching -69.667,-1.55

🇧🇷 Tabatinga -69.929,-4.23 d: 19715.7  

🇨🇴 San José del Guaviare -72.643,2.572 d: 19449.9  

🇧🇷 Eirunepé -69.869,-6.664 d: 19446  

🇵🇪 Iquitos -74.32,-4 d: 19430.9  

🇨🇴 Florencia -75.6,1.6 d: 19268.2  

🇧🇷 Cruzeiro do Sul -72.667,-7.617 d: 19263.1  

🇨🇴 Villavicencio -73.633,4.15 d: 19243.1  

🇨🇴 Neiva -75.267,2.933 d: 19217.6  

🇨🇴 La Plata -75.3,2.983 d: 19211.2  

🇨🇴 Yopal -72.406,5.347 d: 19190.1  

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