maliau basin

Maliau Basin "Lost World of Sabah" The Lost World is only 200km from Tawau The "Lost World of Sabah" – Maliau Basin is a mysterious forest enclosure that has remained pristine and uninhabited by humans. For those adventurous enough to experience a rarely visited destinations then there’s no better place on earth..... the Maliau Basin

The interesting places in Tawau are all about getting closer to mother nature. The places are for people to get away from their busy lives. Nothing is more relaxing than being far away from the city. Maliau Basin has some of the most beautiful and picturesque waterfalls in Malaysia. Maliau is Located in the south central part of Sabah which is approximately 200km from Tawau and Keningau district (40km north of Kalimantan border). This Basin is almost circular in shape and surrounded by a formidable escarpment of extremely steep slopes of up to 1,500m in height. The Maliau Basin Conservation Area sprawl across 588.4 sq km or 58,840 hectares encompasses the entire Maliau Basin plus additional 198.4 sq km of forested land to the east and north of the rim including the fabled Lake Linumunsut. The saucer shape basin measure a range of 25km in diameter and form through sedimentary inclination beds of sandstone and mudstone. The highest point found here is Mount Lotung (over 1,600m in elevation). Generally known as a basin, Maliau represents a single water catchment and is drained by a set of radiating tributaries of the Maliau River through a gorge out of the southeast of the basin into Kuamut River which in turn feeds into Sabah‘s longest river – the Kinabatangan. Discovery on Maliau Basin was only made in 1947 but successful trip into the surrounding areas only occurred after almost 40 years later. Accommodation facilities are kept in certain areas to avoid having to clear vegetation. Water and bathing facilities are kept in the nearby streams and rivers, electricity is not available. Maliau is a refuge haven for rare and endangered animals such as Sumatran Rhino, Proboscis monkey and the Asian Family genre. So far a total of 69 mammals and at least 231 species plus over 25 species of amphibians have been identified and at least one species that’s completely new to science call Thelphusula sp. Crab has been been identified too. About 500 species of flora have been identified including 6 species of pitcher plants and 80 species of orchids.

felda sahabat

The Government has given the green light for the controversial coal-fired power plant to be set up in the Felda Sahabat scheme about 100km from Lahad Datu.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the power plant was necessary to overcome the serious electricity supply problem in Sabah

Najib also said that the frequent power supply disruption in Tawau would be solved soon with the construction of a coal-powered plant in Felda Sahabat, Lahad Datu, as an alternative measure, besides buying more power generators.

“There are still many areas in Sabah including its east coast region which are experiencing power supply disruptions. Therefore, the government will send a power generator from Sime Darby to Sabah in December, besides setting up two more power plants in the state as a long-term measure.”

“It was planned for Lahad Datu and Sandakan but they did not want it (situated there), so as the minister-in-charge of Felda, we will do it in Felda Sahabat or Sabahans will not get enough electricity supply,” he said.

The move to initially set up a 300MW coal plant in Silam near Lahad Datu was rejected by the state government following protests. It was then proposed that it be situated in Sandakan, but this was also met with protest, urging the government to use green technology or other alternative power sources

Najib also called on the state’s leaders to take care of the people and be close to them to ensure that the BN government continued to be accepted by the people and remained strong. ………….

kinabatangan river

Kinabatangan River

It is said that the Chinese Imperial merchants sailed up Kinabatangan River in search of the precious bird's nests. Its floodplain is one of the most exceptional areas in Malaysia. Influenced by the tides of the Sulu Sea and rainfall in the interior, the lower part of the river plain floods regularly. Thus over the centuries, 5 distinct habitats have evolved, waterlogged and dry forests, saline and freshwater swamps and limestone forests, each contributing towards some of the most diverse concentrations of wildlife in Borneo.

The River is 560 km. long and the Lower Kinabatangan is estimated to have the largest concentration of wildlife in all of Malaysia. In fact, all 8 species of hombills found in Borneo - the rhinoceros, helmeted, black, pied, wreathed, wrinkled, white-crowned and bushy crested hombills, have been spotted here. The region is also renowned for colorful tropical birds, crocodiles, huge monitor lizards, wild pigs, otters and several species of monkeys and tree snakes. It is a haven to the rare proboscis monkey, orang utan, the oriental darter, king-fishers and more...

A dawn or dusk river ride past swamps filled with mangrove and nipa promises exciting sightings of wildlife. A view that never fails to delight is a glimpse of the playful proboscis monkeys. These huge-bellied, long-nosed primates with long white tails live by the river and are especially active during these hours when they are socializing, crashing through trees or foraging for food.

The unique landscape feature of the Kinabatangan is the unusual oxbow lakes. A crescent-shaped lake lying alongside a winding river, these lakes are formed as erosion and deposits of soil changes the river's course over time.

An unforgettable experience is the peaceful and serene village-life... as dawn creeps across the river... gentle mists shroud the surreal atmosphere... voices maybe heard across the water as you catch the silhouettes of children floating past in their boats... amidst the birds singing and the animal calls...

Kinabatangan River starts deep in the heart of southwestern Sabah, where trickles spilling down from the watersheds of Trus Madi and the Maliau Basin merge with countless other rivulets to form small streams. These streams grow into the Kuamut and Milian rivers, always moving steadily to the northeast, then merge into one large river, by now the color of kopi susu or milky coffee from silt washed off the sides of the steep slopes down which it flows. The volume of water increases and picks up speed as it moves ever onwards, finally threading through coastal mangroves and spilling out into the Sulu Sea. This is the Kinabatangan, at 560 km, Sabah's longest river and the second longest in all of Malaysia.

Each year, the lashing rains of the northeast monsoon cause the river to swell rapidly. Unable to disgorge into the sea quickly enough, the river frequently overflows its banks and spreads across the flat land of its lower reaches, creating a huge floodplain. The lower Kinabatangan teems with both animal and plant life, making it the best area for viewing wildlife, not just in Sabah but in all of Southeast Asia.

For centuries, the rare treasures of Borneo's forests acted as a magnet for traders who came in search of edible birds' nests, rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and hornbill casques for the Emperor and the wealthy mandarins of China. They also sought a hardwood resin, damar; flexible rattan vines; beeswax to make candles; fragrant woods and oil-rich illipe nuts. The mighty Kinabatangan was the only route into the forests of northeastern Sabah, to the scattered riverine settlements where forest produce and birds' nests were traded.

The Origins of Cartoons What may be seen as possibly the earliest political cartoon is an anonymous woodcut entitled Le Revers du Jeu des Suysses (The Other Side of the Swiss Game), produced in 1499. In this, the pope, the Holy Roman Emperor, and the kings of France and England can be seen playing cards while, under the table, a Swiss soldier stacks the decks in a satirical commentary on French ambitions in Italy (the support of elite Swiss soldiers was essential to France). At about the same time, Pope Alexander VI was depicted as a devil and in another drawing a Jesuit priest is given a wolf’s head. Perhaps the most memorable caricature of this period—and one exactly datable and attributable to a known artist—was an anti-Protestant woodcut by Erhard Schoen of 1521, showing the Devil playing a pair of bagpipes, the bellows of which are depicted as the head of Martin Luther. A number of other artists of this period also produced heavily allegorical and often fantastical drawings which have resonances in the modern cartoon. However, it was in Italy at the hands of the Carracci family and others such as Pier Leone Ghezzi—the first artist to earn a living solely by this kind of work—that the modern cartoon can be said to have been moulded. It was also in Italy that these early caricaturas flourished, and almost uniquely so until collections of such drawings (especially those of Ghezzi) found their way across Europe, and Hogarth began his sequence of “modern moral subjects” in England in the 1730s.

		The East India Company was looking for a suitable place in the Straits of Melaka to serve as a port of call for its ships on the long voyage between India and China. They were looking for a port to replace Dutch Melaka as a center of the Malayan trade. The Company decided to choose Kedah to establish a station in the Malayan waters. In 1785, the Company obtained an agreement with the Sultan of Kedah where the Company could occupy Penang Island in return for an annual rent and help against the Sultans enemies, that is, the Siamese in the North and the Bugis in Selangor. Captain Francis Light was appointed Superintendent of Penang when the East India Company took formal possession of the island on 11th August 1786. Penang was to be a dependency of Bengal and under the control of the Governor in Calcutta. Penang soon became a busy settlement as Chinese and Indian traders quickly saw the advantages in coming to Penang because it was free port and there were no high taxes to pay. The population rose from 1,000 in 1788 to 12,000 in 1804 with the Malays forming the biggest part of the population, followed by the Indians and the Chinese.

		After conquering Goa, the Portuguese found that it was not India, but South-East Asia, which would make them rich. They gathered information from every seaman who came to Goa and finally concluded that whoever rules Melaka has the power to throttle Venice. In order to access the strength of Melaka, an expeditionary force was sent there in five ships commanded by Diego Lopez de Sequeira. The fleet arrived in Melaka on 11th August 1509 and de Sequeira sent one of his captains ashore with the Kings letter and some presents for the Sultan. The people of Melaka had never seen Europeans before and when the sailors landed, the Malays crowded around them. They were astonished by their appearance and their complexion. They pulled their blond beards, patted their heads and caught their hands and dubbed them as White Bengalis.
	The Bendahara (Prime Minister) received the letter and gifts. At first the visitors were treated well but it soon changed when the Indian and Arab Muslims persuaded the Sultan and the Bendahara not to trust the Portuguese. They content that the Portuguese would not be content with a share of the trade but would take all of it for themselves. Thus, a plot was planned to capture the Portuguese and attacked the fleet. However, the plot was discovered by the Portuguese when a Javanese girl who was in love with one of the Portuguese sailors warned them about it. The Malays finding that their plot was discovered captured Ruy De Aranjo, one of the captains and twenty unarmed sailors who were on shore buying things. Sequeira was unable to secure their release and had to sail away without them.
	When Alfonso D Albuquerque, the Governor and Captain-General of the East heard about the capture of his men, he collected a fleet of eighteen ships and 1,400 men which consisted of 800 Portuguese and 600 Malabar Indians and sailed to Melaka. D Albuquerques fleet entered Melaka harbour on 1st July 1511 intending to capture it and set up a new government. Sultan Mahmud Syah required an explanation of the Portuguese action when he learned that Albuquerque and his forces had arrived and fired cannon in Melaka. D Albuquerque demanded the return of the prisoners and payment for their losses. Sultan Mahmud Syah made excuses and delay so that he could strengthen the fortifications and stockages on both sides of the bridge and the river. The Portuguese grew tired of waiting and decided to burn some of the houses along the coast and set fire to all the trading ships in the harbour except the Chinese junks and the Indian ships from Cape Cormorin.
	The prisoners were now released, but D Albuquerque was not satisfied. He ordered an attack on the city. The city was divided into two parts, that is the main town on side of the river, and the suburbs where the traders lived on the other. D Albuquerque planned to capture the bridge and prevent one part of the city from helping the other. The attack began on the 25th July 1511. He himself led several hundred men to the north side of the city while another division attacked the bridge. There was a violent clash between the Portuguese soldiers and Malay and Javanese soldiers, resulting in many men seriously wounded or killed. The Portuguese were finally forced to withdraw to their ships carrying their wounded with them. The first attack had failed.
	A few days later D Albuquerque attacked Melaka again and finally Melaka fell to the Portuguese on 10th August 1511. Sultan Mahmud Syah and his family retreated to Ulu Bertam, Pahang. The retreat of the Sultan to Ulu Bertam allowed the Portuguese to crush the resistance still offered by the royal soldiers, who included Malays, Gujeratis and Indians. The Portuguese soldiers overran every corner of the town and killed anyone suspected of resistance, whether men, women or children. Men from Pegu in Burma and Hindus from Cape Cormorin were allowed to leave Melaka, but had to surrender all their properties to the Portuguese.
	On 24th August 1511, Albuquerque ordered his forces to seize all possessions and valuables belonging to the Sultan and the people of Melaka. The goods seized included vases, gold bars and jewellery, gemstones, silk cloth, perfumes, and two thousand brass cannons. The fortifications and the palace of the Malay Sultanate of Melaka were finally destroyed and all the valuables seized. The glory and the very identity of Melaka had vanished as a result of the Portuguese attack.
	In order to strengthen and defend the Portuguese base, Albuquerque built a fortress called A Formosa between the high ground and the Melaka River. Hundreds of workmen, slaves and captives were set to work. Stones from broken-down mosques and the tombs of bygone nobles were used to build the thick walls of the fortress. Within the wall were later created the Governors Palace, the Bishops Palace, the Government council chambers, several churches, barracks, two hospitals, monastery and a prison.