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| Location | Jalan Gambier, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia |
|---|---|
| Designer | Denis Santry of Swan & Maclaren, Singapore |
| Type | Obelisk |
| Material | Granite |
| Width | 18 feet base diameter |
| Height | 24 feet |
| Beginning date | 1923 |
| Inauguration date | 13 October 1924 |
| Dedicated to | Charles Brooke, the second Rajah of Sarawak |
The Brooke Memorial, situated in front of the old court house in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, was commissioned in memory of Charles Brooke, the second Rajah of Sarawak, who ruled Sarawak from 1868 to 1917.
In 1917, on the death of Charles Brooke, the second Rajah of Sarawak, a memorial fund was established to invite public subscriptions for a suitable memorial, approved by Charles Vyner Brooke, the third Rajah of Sarawak, acting as patron, at a meeting on 15 September 1917. Several suggestions were discussed including the establishment of various charitable institutions, and a personal memorial to Brooke. [1]
In August 1922, the committee of the memorial fund reported that $68,617 had been raised, and it was decided, in addition to building a leper settlement, to allocate $20,000 for the erection of a personal memorial. [2] The commission to create the memorial was given to Denis Santry of Swan & Maclaren, Singapore, after approval of his proposed design with some minor alterations. The memorial was unveiled by the third Rajah of Sarawak on 13 October 1924. [3] [4] [5] [6]
The obelisk is in granite and has a height of about 24 feet with a base measuring 18 feet in diameter. On each of the four supporting pilasters are placed bronze tablets, by F. J. Wilkinson, showing the four predominant races of Sarawak, the Dyak, the Malay, the Chinese and the Kayan, between which are bronze tablets with descriptive inscriptions in different languages. [7] On the front is a profile of Brooke in marble, a replica of the bust of Brooke by Baroness von Gleichen, and armorial bearings of the Brooke family. [3] [4] [5]
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 on the Sarawak River at the southwestern tip of Sarawak on the island of Borneo and covers an area of 431 km2 (166 sq mi) with a population about 165,642 in the Kuching North administrative region and 159,490 in the Kuching South administrative region—a total of 325,132 people.
Sir James Brooke, Rajah[note]of Sarawak, was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868.
Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, full name Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke was the third and last White Rajah of the Raj of Sarawak.
The White Rajahs were a hereditary monarchy of the Brooke family, who founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak as a sovereign state, located on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo in Maritime Southeast Asia, from 1841 to 1946. Of British origin, the first ruler, James Brooke was granted the province of Kuching – which was known as Sarawak Asal – by the Sultanate of Brunei for helping fight piracy and insurgency among the indigenous peoples in 1841 and received independent kingdom status.
Abang Openg bin Abang Sapiee was a Malaysian politician who served as the first Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak from September 1963 to his death in March 1969. He assumed the newly established post following Sarawak's independence from Great Britain and the formation of Malaysia in 1963. He is the father to Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Abang Openg, the current Premier of Sarawak.
The dollar was the currency of the Raj of Sarawak from 1858 to 1953. It was subdivided into 100 cents. The dollar remained at par with the Straits dollar and its successor the Malayan dollar, the currency of Malaya and Singapore, from its introduction until both currencies were replaced by the Malaya and British Borneo dollar in 1953.
SS Vyner Brooke was a Scottish-built steamship that was both the royal yacht of Sarawak and a merchant ship frequently used between Singapore and Kuching. She was named after the 3rd Rajah of Sarawak, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke. At the outbreak of war with Japan the Royal Navy requisitioned and armed her. Japanese aircraft sank her in 1942.
The Raj of Sarawak, Kingdom of Sarawak or State of Sarawak, was a kingdom founded in 1841 in northwestern Borneo and was in a treaty of protection with the United Kingdom from 1888. It was formed from a series of land concessions acquired by the Englishman James Brooke from the Sultan of Brunei. Sarawak was recognised as a sovereign state by the United States in 1850, and by the United Kingdom in 1864. The territory of the kingdom is now the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
Syarif Masahor bin Syarif Hassan,1800(date unknown)(bruneian empire)- february 1890(singapore) also written as Sharif Masahor was a famous Malay rebel of Hadhrami descent in Sarikei, Sarawak state, Malaysia during the Brooke White Rajahs era in that state.
The Sarawak State Museum is the oldest museum in Borneo. It was founded in 1888 and opened in 1891 in a purpose-built building in Kuching, Sarawak.
The History of Sarawak can be traced as far as 40,000 years ago to the paleolithic period where the earliest evidence of human settlement is found in the Niah caves. A series of Chinese ceramics dated from the 8th to 13th century AD was uncovered at the archeological site of Santubong. The coastal regions of Sarawak came under the influence of the Bruneian Empire in the 16th century. In 1839, James Brooke, a British explorer, first arrived in Sarawak. Sarawak was later governed by the Brooke family between 1841 and 1946. During World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese for three years. After the war, the last White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, ceded Sarawak to Britain, and in 1946 it became a British Crown Colony. On 22 July 1963, Sarawak was granted self-government by the British. Following this, it became one of the founding members of the Federation of Malaysia, established on 16 September 1963. However, the federation was opposed by Indonesia, and this led to the three-year Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. From 1960 to 1990, Sarawak experienced a communist insurgency.
Borneo Company Limited, formed in 1856, was one of the oldest companies based in East Malaysia.
Ludvig Verner Helms was an adventurer, merchant, emissary, and author associated with South-east Asia, especially the Borneo Company in Sarawak. As a manager for the Borneo Company for twenty years, he developed and expanded trade for Sarawak in the country's infancy. He traveled extensively and encountered several notable personalities including Mads Lange, the kings of Cambodia and Siam, the White Rajahs of Sarawak, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Brigham Young. Helms wrote and illustrated an account of his adventures in 1882 titled Pioneering in the Far East and Journeys to California in 1849 and to the White Sea in 1878, providing firsthand accounts of Bali, California, Cambodia, Thailand, Sarawak, Japan, the White Sea, and their leaders during periods of significant historical interest.
The Crown Colony of Sarawak was a British Crown colony on the island of Borneo, established in 1946, shortly after the dissolution of the British Military Administration. It was succeeded as the state of Sarawak through the formation of the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.
Wee Kheng Chiang was a Malaysian Chinese businessman of Quemoy Bân-lâm Hoklo ancestry who founded the United Chinese Bank and Bian Chiang Bank. He was the father of Wee Cho Yaw, Chairman Emeritus & Adviser of the United Overseas Bank.
Jason Desmond Anthony Brooke FRAS is the grandson of the last Rajah Muda of Sarawak, Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke, and a prominent representative of the Brooke dynasty in Sarawak, modern-day Malaysia.
Chinatown is located at Padungan road, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The most notable streets in the Chinatown are Main Bazaar and Carpenter Street.
The Kuching Old Courthouse is a historical courthouse in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.
Kapitan China Ong Tiang Swee,, CSS known as the Grand Old Man, was a renowned businessman and philanthropist in Sarawak. Regarded as the most prominent and successful Chinese community leader in Sarawak, he was Kapitan China of Sarawak and President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, as well as an advisor on Chinese Affairs and confidant to Rajah Charles Brooke. He was also the first Chinese nominated to the Sarawak Council Negri in 1937. He played a significant role in the progress of the state and saw Sarawak through its infant stages of development.
Gerard Truman Magill MacBryan was a Scotsman who initially served as Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke's Private Secretary and curator at the Sarawak Museum, was notable for his involvement in the annexation of Raj of Sarawak by the British Crown and later meddled in Brunei's affairs, gaining the trust of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin through connections made in Kuching. In her book Queen of the Headhunters, Sylvia Brett, the last Ranee of Sarawak, introduces MacBryan as "a young man who was destined to play a sinister part in the history of the Sarawak Raj."