Kuching
Template:Infobox Malaysian city
Kuching is the capital of the East Malaysian State of Sarawak. Kuching is the most populous city in the state of Sarawak and the 7th largest city in Malaysia[1]. Kuching was elevated to city status on 1 August 1988.
Administration
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 (Kuching North City Hall) while the southern section is administrated by Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan (the Council of The City of Kuching South). There are those who believe that the divisions in power for the Northern (primarily Malay and Bumi residents) and Southern (primarily Chinese residents) districts came about due to ethnic reasons in the 1980s. There are also those who believe the administration is divided due to geographical reasons, as the Northern and Southern districts are linked by only two bridges spanning the Sarawak River.
List of city area in Kuching
Kuching North City Hall area
- Petra Jaya
- Satok
- Kuching City centre (West)
Kuching South City Council area
- Kuching City centre (East)
- Padungan
- Stampin
History
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" in Malay [1] ("kuching" is an old Malay spelling, whereas the new official Malay spelling today would be "kucing" but both of them are pronounced the same), 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.
Geography
Kuching 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 climate in Kuching is tropical, moderately hot and receives substantial rainfall. The average annual rainfall is approximately 4,000 mm or 160 inches[2]. Kuching is the wettest city in Malaysia. The wettest times are during the North-East Monsoon months of November to February. The temperature of Kuching ranges from 20°C to 38°C but the average temperature is around 23°C in the early hours of the morning and rises to around 33°C in the mid afternoon. This temperature stays almost constant throughout the year if it is not affected by the heavy rain and strong winds during the early hours of the morning which would rarely bring the temperature down to 20°C. The temperature would also rise to 38°C under rare cases due to the haze caused by open burning from Indonesia during the dry season but it is a good thing that haze rarely occurs in Kuching.
Kuching receives an annual average of five hours of sunshine per day. In January, during the height of the monsoon season, the average sunshine per day is approximately 3.7 hours. The heavy rains during this period sometimes results in flooding.
Demographics
The population of 680,000 (2005 census) in the city is made up of a mixture of Malays, Dayaks, Chinese and some Indians and other ethnic groups. The Dayaks can be further categorized into Ibans, Bidayuhs, Melanaus and many others. 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 and others.
The main religions of the peoples of Kuching are Islam, Buddhism and Christianity. Malays practice Islam and all Malays are Muslim by law. Chinese practice either Buddhism or Christianity. Most Dayaks are Christian except the Melanaus who are mainly Muslim.
The majority of people in Kuching are capable of communicating in Bahasa Melayu(Malay Language) as well as English. English ability can however vary greatly from person to person. The dialect of the Malay language spoken in Kuching is known as Bahasa Sarawak(Language of Sarawak), which has lexical differences with the dialect spoken in Peninsular Malaysia.
On top of Malay and English, a Kuchingnite can usually speak his own ethnic dialect/language. An Iban can speak Iban, a Bidayuh speak Bidayuh and the Chinese usually several Chinese dialects, the most common being Mandarin and Hokkien in Kuching. For the Bidayuhs, the dialect of Bidayuh spoken in one kampung/village may vary greatly with another kampung/village.
A small minority however, speak English as their first language.
Education
Kuching is home to the international campus of Swinburne University of Technology. The campus, known as Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, is the only university in Kuching city. (Technically, the campuses of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and UiTM are in Samarahan Division).
Private education in the city comes in the form of various private colleges as well as training institutes. Notable examples include Inti College, SeGI College as well as Stamford College to name a few.
For primary and secondary education, Kuching has several mission schools which were founded by foreign Christian missionaries over a century ago. They were also the principals of these schools until more recently. Even though they are Christian schools, they are open to all religions.
Transportation
Roads within the town are of a reasonable standard, though traffic congestion often leads to long tailbacks during rush hour, and especially on Saturday mornings. Because Kuching is located near the equator, expect potholes to develop on the roads during the monsoon season (usually around the end of the year, coinciding with winter in the northern hemisphere). Roads leading outside of Kuching to the interior are of a slightly more dubious quality but are being upgraded from time to time, although the main resort roads (e.g. leading to Damai) are also reasonable.
Transport by taxi is reasonable and in popular tourist spots there always seems to be an abundance of taxi drivers eager to pounce on their unsuspecting prey. It is quite rare to be able to flag down a taxi on the street because they are no where to be seen. Beware the unmetered taxi though. Public transport by antiquated, smoky, non-airconditioned buses is strictly for the intrepid back-packer only. Air transport is served by nearby Kuching International Airport, currently the subject of several expansion projects.
Kuching is also served by two major bus companies among others, Chin Liang Long Motor Co. (traditionally blue) and Sarawak Transport Company (traditionally green). A large portion of the buses in service are antiquated and not air conditioned. The fares are low, but the service is equally low. The routes are poorly documented, the stops have no names and the buses not well known for being punctual.
Another alternative of transportation in Kuching City is the unlicensed vans, well known as 'van sapu'.
Road signs are written in both Malay (The Malay is written using the Latin script) and Chinese. Kuching is also famous for its many large traffic circles or roundabouts. The roundabouts are efficient at handling medium traffic. But however, as traffic continues to rise in Kuching due to the availability of cheaper Malaysian-made cars and ease of obtaining car loans, several roundabouts have given way to traffic lights and over and underpasses.
Tourist attractions
Within the town, there are several museums such as the well-known Sarawak Museum, Chinese Museum, Cat Museum, etc, which are definitely not to be missed when visiting Kuching. Interesting landmarks and sites are the Astana (the Rajah's former palace), Fort Margherita, Tua Pek Kong temple and Main Bazaar. The Kuching waterfront, which is really a riverside esplanade, is situated right next to the main hotels and commercial heartland of the city, and offers a pleasant walk in the evening. When you are tired of strolling, the old shops on the opposite side of the waterfront will gladly sell you all manner of 'antiques' and tradecraft.
Some other interesting areas near the centre of town include Padungan Street, which is the main Chinatown area of the city. Shops here appear virtually unchanged from 20 years ago, and offer fascinating insights into life as it was then. Meanwhile, Carpenter Street and India Street still maintain their olde world charm, though the relentless process of globalisation is slowly encroaching. The old Courthouse building forms the link between Carpenter Street and India Street, and is well worth a quick stroll as you re-live the faded colonial splendour (now restored and modernised). The many well-manicured parks dotted around the city are also great to visit.
Cuisine
Kuching has a number of notable local dishes served at hawker stalls:
- Kuching 'kolok mee' or 'koh-loh mein' (egg noodles, flash-boiled and then served with (classically) garlic, shallots and sliced barbeque pork also known as "char siew")
- Sarawak Laksa (a spicy coconut prawn paste-based soup served with rice vermicelli, eggs, prawns, chicken, deep fried tofu and occasionally clams)
- Tomato Sauce Mee (crispy noodles served with tomato sauce, vegetables, and meat) or Tomato Sauce Kuay Teow (flat rice noodles) are the most well-known hawker dishes served.
Custom ordered dishes (usually called the "special") are available on request. Most hawker stalls serve a variety of these three dishes, but locals often debate vigorously as to where to find the best variety. Visitors should be aware that portions are half of what is usually commonly found at Chinatowns in the West.
While global chain outlets (McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf) are ubiquitous in the prime commercial complexes, a local fast food chain "Sugarbun" also serves a variety of Malaysian food in a more Western (plastic trays, brightly-lit menus, uniformed staff) style.
Arts, Entertainment and Culture
Kuching is also noted for creative local bands which successfully crossed over from the independent scene to the mainstream such as Old Automatic Garbage, The Times and Nice Stupid Playground. There are many more local independent bands that are active in the circuit and Kuching is also known as the 'indie rock capital' of East Malaysia. Local entertainment personality/musician/TV host Jason Lo is also a Kuching native. On top of that, famous director Tsai Ming-Liang was also born in Kuching.
Gallery
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Malaysia-China Friendship Garden
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Chinese Gateway - (Malaysia-China Friendship Garden) -
Kuching Waterfront
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Fort Margherita, Kuching -
St. Thomas Cathedral, Kuching
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The Tua Pek Kong, Kuching -
Divisional Mosque, Kuching -
Pavillion Building (19th C.) and textile museum -
Brooke Memorial near old Courthouse -
Memorial to the Freedom Fighters of Sarawak -
Historic tree at Padang Merdeka (Independence Field) -
View of the Kuching Waterfront across Sarawak River towards India Street and the old Indian Mosque -
Colonial Heritage: the Courthouse, Round Tower and Pavillion built during the time of the White Rajahs -
Plaza Walk outside Sarawak Plaza -
Sarawak Cultural Village
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View from Bukit Siol Kuching
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Front View Of Kuching MBKS
External links
- Kuching North City Hall
- Council of the City of Kuching South
- Kuching City and Regional Map
- Pictures of Kuching
- Kuching Tourism
- Template:Wikitravel
References
Capital: Kuching | |
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