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Kuching
KNOWLEDGE OF Kuching
Kuching is the capital of the East Malaysian State of Sarawak. It is situated at the banks of the Sarawak River on the North-Western part of the island of Borneo. The longitude and latitude of Kuching is 01°33' N, 110°25' E. The population of about 1/2 million is made up of a mixture of Malays, Dayaks, Chinese and some Indians and other ethnic groups. The Chinese are made up of Fujianese (Hokkien) in the city areas and Hakka in the suburbs mainly. Other Chinese consist of Foochow (Fuzhou), Teochew, Hainanese, Cantonese, Henghua, etc.
The climate in Kuching is tropical, moderately hot and receives substantial rainfall. The average annual rainfall is approximately 4,000 mm or 160 inches. The wettest times are during the North-East Monsoon months of November to February. The average temperature is around 23°C in the early hours of the morning and rises to around 32°C in the mid afternoon. This temperature stays constant throughout the year.
Despite being the 7th largest city in Malaysia, Kuching still maintains a 'small town' feel. However, Sarawakians always refer Kuching as a "big and lively city" and can be well compared with the Malaysia's federal capital, Kuala Lumpur. Most Non-Sarawak Malysians will find this satement as ridiculous, as there's nothing that can be compared with Kuala Lumpur. In fact, parochial is still the name of the game, here! Much of Kuching used to be green, with tall overarching trees offering shade at the sides of the roads. However, in recent years, the feeling of being surrounded by tropical greenery has dissipated somewhat. Nonetheless, the city council still does a reasonably good job of maintaining a tidy, if somewhat manicured, landscape.
The administration of Kuching is divided into two administrative groups and even has two mayors. The northern section of Kuching is run by Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara or North Kuching City Hall while the southern section is administrated by Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan or South Kuching City Council. The reason to have two municipalities is because the North and south of the city only linked by two bridges, causing logistic problem if combined.
Sarawak was a part of the Sultanate of Brunei 200 years ago but as a reward for its help in putting down a rebellion, it was ceded to an English adventurer called James Brooke who ruled it as his personal kingdom. Kuching was made his capital and headquarters. The Brooke family ruled Sarawak until the end of the Second World War when the third and last Rajah, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke in turn ceded it to the British Crown in 1946. Sarawak and the British Commonwealth fought an "Undeclared War" with Indonesia to keep Sarawak from being absorbed into Sukarno's Indonesia. The British gave Sarawak independence in 1963 and together with North Borneo (Sabah) and Singapore, helped form Malaysia. (Singapore became independent soon after).
The origins of its name have never been clear. "Kuching" does translate into "cat" (although the official Malay spelling today in Malaysia and Sarawak for "cat" is "kucing"), in specific reference to the domesticated cat, but it may actually be a variation of the Indian name for "port" - "Cochin". Kuching was first settled by Indian traders who set up base at Santubong. Artefacts of Hindu origin can today be seen at the State Museum. The city has never been remembered for having a significantly larger population of cats when compared to others. In fact, the many cat statues, the Kuching Cat Museum and other association with cats have been part of a modern effort of tourism; many travel brochures refer to Kuching as "Cat City" or the "City of Cats". Otherwise, they hold no real meaning for the residents and are not considered by locals as romantic.
There are other theories which attribute the name to a fruit called "mata kucing" or "cat's eye"; it would seem that trees bearing this fruit used to grow in abundance by the river banks - where the city proper lies today. There was a hill in the heart of the old city called Bukit Mata Kuching which could have been as responsible.
The climate in Kuching is tropical, moderately hot and receives substantial rainfall. The average annual rainfall is approximately 4,000 mm or 160 inches. The wettest times are during the North-East Monsoon months of November to February. The average temperature is around 23°C in the early hours of the morning and rises to around 32°C in the mid afternoon. This temperature stays constant throughout the year.
Despite being the 7th largest city in Malaysia, Kuching still maintains a 'small town' feel. However, Sarawakians always refer Kuching as a "big and lively city" and can be well compared with the Malaysia's federal capital, Kuala Lumpur. Most Non-Sarawak Malysians will find this satement as ridiculous, as there's nothing that can be compared with Kuala Lumpur. In fact, parochial is still the name of the game, here! Much of Kuching used to be green, with tall overarching trees offering shade at the sides of the roads. However, in recent years, the feeling of being surrounded by tropical greenery has dissipated somewhat. Nonetheless, the city council still does a reasonably good job of maintaining a tidy, if somewhat manicured, landscape.
The administration of Kuching is divided into two administrative groups and even has two mayors. The northern section of Kuching is run by Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara or North Kuching City Hall while the southern section is administrated by Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan or South Kuching City Council. The reason to have two municipalities is because the North and south of the city only linked by two bridges, causing logistic problem if combined.
Sarawak was a part of the Sultanate of Brunei 200 years ago but as a reward for its help in putting down a rebellion, it was ceded to an English adventurer called James Brooke who ruled it as his personal kingdom. Kuching was made his capital and headquarters. The Brooke family ruled Sarawak until the end of the Second World War when the third and last Rajah, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke in turn ceded it to the British Crown in 1946. Sarawak and the British Commonwealth fought an "Undeclared War" with Indonesia to keep Sarawak from being absorbed into Sukarno's Indonesia. The British gave Sarawak independence in 1963 and together with North Borneo (Sabah) and Singapore, helped form Malaysia. (Singapore became independent soon after).
The origins of its name have never been clear. "Kuching" does translate into "cat" (although the official Malay spelling today in Malaysia and Sarawak for "cat" is "kucing"), in specific reference to the domesticated cat, but it may actually be a variation of the Indian name for "port" - "Cochin". Kuching was first settled by Indian traders who set up base at Santubong. Artefacts of Hindu origin can today be seen at the State Museum. The city has never been remembered for having a significantly larger population of cats when compared to others. In fact, the many cat statues, the Kuching Cat Museum and other association with cats have been part of a modern effort of tourism; many travel brochures refer to Kuching as "Cat City" or the "City of Cats". Otherwise, they hold no real meaning for the residents and are not considered by locals as romantic.
There are other theories which attribute the name to a fruit called "mata kucing" or "cat's eye"; it would seem that trees bearing this fruit used to grow in abundance by the river banks - where the city proper lies today. There was a hill in the heart of the old city called Bukit Mata Kuching which could have been as responsible.
Chapi