Bau, Sarawak
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bau is a gold mining town[1] in the Kuching Division of Sarawak, Malaysia. Smuggling with Kalimantan is also important to the local economy.[2][3]
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[edit] History
On May 1, 1837, the Skrang Ibans invaded the Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuh settlement on top of Bratak Peak, killing over 2,000 Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuh men and taking 1,000 women captive. Panglima Kulow, head of Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuh community, and a handful of his followers survived the massacre. In 1841 Sir James Brooke, who was then the newly-installed White Rajah of Sarawak, was able to rescue some of the women taken captives. Each year on May 1, descendants of the survivors of the 1837 massacre hold Jagoi-Bratak Day on top of Bratak Peak in Bau in memory of their ancestors. A memorial stone was erected on May 1, 1988, to mark the day. [4]
[edit] Gold mining
Gold began being mined in Bau in the 1840s. It was discovered by Chinese miners from Pangkalan Tebang.[5] After the Chinese uprising in 1857,[6] the mining operations were gradually taken over by The Borneo Company with the last Chinese syndicate being bought out in 1884.[5] In 1898, The Borneo Company introduced the cyanide process for extracting the gold,[5] which led to increased environmental pollution. The mines were closed in 1921 because most of the easily reachable minerals had been removed.[7] But during the Great Depression Chinese miners continued to work the mines.[8] The mines were reopened in the late 1970s when world gold prices soared, but closed again in 1997 when the Asian financial crisis started.[9] However by 2002, Preston Resources began developing the mining operations formerly held by Malaysia's Oriental Peninsula Gold.[1]
[edit] Ecology
The limestone cliffs in the area support a wide range of endemic flora, including the rare pitcher plant Nepenthes northiana.[10]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b "Preston buying into Sarawak goldmine" Sydney Morning Herald 16 July 2002;
- ^ "Army Foils Attempts to Smuggle Rice, Timber" Bernama, The Malaysian National News Agency 18 June 2003;
- ^ "Malaysia minister warns of ban if poultry smuggling to Indonesia continues" BBC News 5 November 2005
- ^ "Descendants mark Jagoi-Bratak Day." New Straits Times 10 May 2000;
- ^ a b c Kaur, Amarjit (February 1995) "The Babbling Brookes: Economic Change in Sarawak 1841-1941" Modern Asian Studies 29(1): pp. 65-109, p.73
- ^ Chew, Daniel (1990) Chinese Pioneers on the Sarawak Frontier 1841-1941 Oxford University Press, Singapore, ISBN 0-19-588915-0
- ^ Lucas, N. A. (1949) "The Production of Gold in Sarawak" Sarawak Gazette issue of 1 February 1949
- ^ Wilford, G. E. (1962) "The Bau Goldfield" Sarawak Gazette issue of 30 April 1962
- ^ Staff (2000) "Gold Mining in Sarawak Loses Shine for Now" Bernama, the Malaysian National News Agency 10 December 2000
- ^ Hansen, Eric (October 2001) "Where rocks sing, ants swim, and plants eat animals: finding members of the Nepenthes carnivorous plant family in Borneo" Discover 22(10): pp.60-68;
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