North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo; the area now forms the Malaysian state of Sabah. The territory of North Borneo was originally established by concessions of the Sultanates of Brunei and Sulu in 1877 and 1878 to a German-born representative of Austria-Hungary, a businessman and diplomat, Gustav Overbeck.
Overbeck had recently purchased a small tract of land in the western coast of Borneo in 1876 from American merchant Joseph William Torrey, who had promoted the territory in Hong Kong since 1866.
Overbeck then transferred all his rights to Alfred Dent before withdrawing in 1879. In 1881, Dent established the North Borneo Provisional Association Ltd to manage the territory, which was granted a royal charter in the same year. The following year, the Provisional Association was replaced by the North Borneo Chartered Company. The granting of a royal charter worried both the neighbouring Spanish and Dutch authorities; as a result, the Spanish began to stake their claim of northern Borneo. A protocol known as the Madrid Protocol was signed in 1885 to recognise Spanish presence in the Philippine archipelago, in return establishing the definite border of Spanish influence beyond northern Borneo. To avoid further claims from other European powers, North Borneo was made a British protectorate in 1888. (Full article...)
Dato' Azhar Mansor is the first Malaysian to sail solo around the world. He made his trip in 1999, sailing the ship Jalur Gemilang. His round the world trip, with stops, took 190 days, 6 hours 57 minutes and 2 seconds (Full article...)
A picture of the Eagle Square (Dataran Helang) in Langkawi, Malaysia. According to one interpretation, Langkawi means island of the reddish-brown eagle in colloquial Malay. The Malay word for eagle is helang - which is shortened to "lang", while kawi is the name of a red stone used as a chalk to mark goods. This interpretation was used to create the landmark sculpture of an eagle as the symbol of Langkawi at Dataran Helang (Eagle Square) in Kuah.
Image 29The discovery of a skull which estimates say is around 40,000 years old on Niah Caves in Sarawak, has been identified as the earliest evidence for human settlement in Malaysian Borneo. (photo December 1958) (from History of Malaysia)
Image 30Idli served with typical accompaniments. (from Malaysian cuisine)
Image 37Peninsular Malaysia Precipitation Map on December 2004 showing heavy precipitation on the east coast, causing floods there. (from Geography of Malaysia)
Image 73Members of the Cobbold Commission were formed to conduct a study in the British Borneo territories of Sarawak and Sabah to see whether the two were interested in the idea to form the Federation of Malaysia with Malaya and Singapore.
Image 78Map of the Sinophone world, where Chinese languages are spoken as a first language among ethnic Chinese in countries where their population is significant:
Chinese-speaking majority (Coastal and central areas of China, Taiwan and Singapore)
Large Chinese-speaking minority (Highland China, Malaysia and Brunei)
Image 79Map of the geographic origin of the present-day ethnic Chinese Malaysians since their early migrations from China to Nanyang region more than a hundred years ago. (from Malaysian Chinese)
Image 83Tugu Negara, the Malaysian national monument is dedicated to those who fell during World War II and the Malayan Emergency. (from History of Malaysia)
Image 84Japanese troops moving through Kuala Lumpur during their advance through Malaya.
Image 92Inside the former house of a Peranakan (Baba-Nyonya or 峇峇娘惹) in Malacca which has now been converted into a museum, a Nyonya can be seen sitting inside wearing the traditional kebaya. (from Malaysian Chinese)
Image 109Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) in Kuala Lumpur, where Malaysians celebrate Independence Day on 31 August each year. (from History of Malaysia)
Image 119A view of a river from the anchorage off Sarawak, Borneo, c. 1800s. Painting from the National Maritime Museum of London.
Image 120The Buddha-Gupta stone, dating to the 4th–5th century CE, was dedicated by an Indian Merchant, Buddha Gupta, as an expression of gratitude for his safe arrival after a voyage to the Malay peninsula. It was found in Seberang Perai, Malaysia and is kept in the National Museum, Calcutta, India. (from History of Malaysia)
Image 121Built in 6th century A.D, Candi Bukit Batu Pahat is the most well-known ancient Hindu temple found in Bujang Valley, Kedah, Malaysia. (from History of Malaysia)
.svg)
.jpg)
.PNG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_BHL40563162_(cropped).jpg)
,_Merchant_in_Penang.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
