East Malaysia, Sibu: The Heart of Sarawak

Sibu is a place like no other. One of the main cities in Sarawak, once a favored small town of the white rajah of Sarawak, Rajah Brooke as it controlled all the activities of central region. In history textbooks, it states how the locals lead by Rosli Dhobi stood up and fought against the British. Sibu is where history and different cultures mix together into one.

The symbol of Sibu, the Swan

Sibu can be called as the “heart of Sarawak”, which is situated in East Malaysia. It can be called so because it’s situated in the center of Sarawak, connecting the West and the East. It was a busy small town back in the 20th century. Sibu had been the transit place for those who’re on their journey from east to west and vice versa. It is also famous for the mighty Rajang River, which is the longest in Malaysia. As it is situated near the mouth of Rajang River, it becomes the gateway to the upper part of Rajang River.

Sibu is dominated by Chinese people especially Foochows. The first Foochow leader who came as an immigrant and opened the settlement for the Foochows was Wong Nai Siong. However, there are still other races living in Sibu including Malays, Melanaus, Ibans, and Bidayuhs (just to name a few). As it’s dominated by the Foochows, a nickname has been given to Sibu, which is the ‘New Foochow’. As different races living together, you can see different cultures blend into one.

Sibu has its own airport and it is reachable by air from Peninsular Malaysia. It will take around 1 hour and 55 minutes by plane. Once landed, Sibu, which is also known as ‘The Swan City’ will welcome you with green environment before you reach the city centre. There are still plenty of trees untouched unlike other cities.

What’s so special about Sibu? I was born in Sibu and I found Sibu has its own specialty – the food, the people and the surroundings. Sibu is very famous for its Kampua mee and Kompia, which are Chinese food. And for Malays, you can find laksa sarawak or mee kolok. Not to be forgotten is Manok Pansuh (chicken which are cooked inside a bamboo), a famous Iban-ese traditional food.

Sibu has the largerst town square in Malaysia and sitting next to it is the tallest buildings in Sarawak, Wisma Sanyan. Sibu also boasts of the largest wet market in Malaysia. All of them are the main tourist attractions in Sibu together with Bukit Aup and Sibu Heritage Centre.

The tallest building in Sarawak

The view at Bukit Aup

The Sibu Town Square

Sibu wet market

Sibu Heritage Centre

For me who like taking pictures and took up lomography as my hobby, I found out that Sibu is very suitable for street photography/lomography.

I hope this article will promote my hometown to the world; and to those interested to come to Sibu, you are very much welcome and I recommend a new tourist attraction, which is the Pandaw Cruise that will bring you to the mighty Rajang River. :)

Reference , http://www.pbase.com/robin_singapore/image/134242076

geschrieben von haziqhashim am 2012-03-12 in #Orte #lomolocations #malaysia #sarawak #location #urban-adventures #select-type-of-location #sibu