One Malaysia Cultural Village

Established in 2012, it is considered as one of the cultural attraction for Sibu town. The cultural village is located just opposite the Bukit Aup Jubilee Park, about 20 minutes drive from the town.

I was expecting something like Sarawak Cultural Village in Kuching on arrival, but it was way off my expectation. The site is pretty small and probably one would need to spare about 10 minutes here to appreciate what it has to offer.

 

It is more of a landscape garden with a few pavilions depicting the culture of various races in Sarawak. There is also a small stage at the heart of the village which is ideal for cultural show and etc.

On the positive side, the place is clean and serene with a restaurant open for dinner where diner can enjoy the clean fresh air here. There is no entrance fee.

 

For the children, there are Koi fishes and chicken to entertain the curious young minds.

50th Anniversary Sarawak Independence in Malaysia Exhibition

In conjunction with the 50th year anniversary of Sarawak Independence since joining Malaysia in 1963, there had been an exhibition on this milestone at Sibu Heritage Centre from 27 September until 6th October 2013.

It is nice to see that Sibu Heritage Centre has been put to good use for this occasion. The exhibition would complement the museum on the first floor.

 

The history of Sarawak were briefly depicted here, especially after it was handed over to the Brooke's family in 1841 by the Brunei Sultanate. It is quite educational as well to see the different design of the Sarawak's flag since its establishment until this very day.

 

 

Sarawak was ruled by 3 "White Rajahs" for over a century before the "country" was ceased to the British.

 

 

There were also a lot of old photos of Sibu town on display here which are rather nostalgic, especially for the older generation. Some of those structures/facilities are still around while some had gave way for development.

 

This is a photo of the Standard Chartered Bank which still exist today at the exact location in the heart of the town.

The exhibition somehow try to showcase the progress of Sibu town since it establishment until the present day. I had no idea about their target groups but I find it rather disappointing as the information board/text was mainly in Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin without any room for English.

Sibu New Airport

Finally, the upgrading work on Sibu Airport had been completed and was officiated by the Prime Minister on Malaysia Day. I personally had long waited for its completion as I used this airport frequently and looking forward for a more comfortable experience.

 

It has a bigger driveway to drop and pick up passengers. I don't know whether this helps as the locals are well known to park their vehicles indiscriminately.

 

The whole interior is now air conditioned. It has a large space which could easily hold an assembly of some sort.

There are more check in counters now. Check in would be a breeze should all the counters are operational.

The sad thing is that the airport did not offer a good shopping experience except a few convenience shops.

The passengers tickets will be checked by the security officer at the ground floor before proceeding to the escalator which will bring them to the first floor where the departure hall is situated. This type of arrangement reminds me of the Bandar Tasik Selatan Bus Terminal.

The immigration check point at the departure hall is more compact now and this reminds me of the immigration counters at Batam Center.

I was a bit disappointed with the airport design as it only has 2 aerobridges. I would have expect 3-4 aerobridges to reflect on the new status of this new airport.

It basically has only 2 gates with each gate having 2 aerobridges. In other words, 2 aircrafts can be parked at each gate and this means that it can accommodate up to 4 aircrafts at a time which use the aerobridge facility.

 

The departure hall is also slightly bigger than the previous one but it still has a design flaw as it causes  great bottleneck during the boarding time in way of the boarding doors as the seats are located too close to those doors.

Let's recap on the development of Sibu Airports.........

Sibu was first connected by air through an airstrip that was built by the Japanese during the WWII as a military installation. Since then, it has undergone a number of expansion works in 1952 and 1962. This old airport was located at the very end of Brooke Drive, much closer to the town and Sungai Merah back then.

 

 

This is how the old airport looks like in 1998 after expansion work was carried out. The photos are pretty nostalgic as I recall my good old days here. Back then, the largest aircraft that can landed  at the airport is the Fokker-50.

 

Then a new airport was rebuilt altogether at a new site, turning it into a full fledge commercial airport in  1992 and opened for operation in 1994, located about  25km from Sibu. From there on, bigger aircrafts such as Boeing 737-400 and Airbus A320 can land at Sibu Airport.

In 2010, Sibu Airport underwent further redevelopment and infrastructure upgrading works to accommodate the increasing passenger growth and to elevate the airport's infrastructure standard to higher level. The upgrading also will eventually improve the connectivity of Sibu Airport. Currently it is operating flights to and from big cities of Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Miri and Bintulu.

The works include among others, the expansion of the terminal building to 15, 240 sq. metres and the extension of the parking apron that now provides a bigger parking space for helicopters and general aviation. With an enhanced design and larger capacity, the terminal is now able to serve up to 1.8 million people per annum.

 

Its 2,745m long runway can accommodate Airbus A330 aircraft operations. I would have expect the airport to support a much bigger Airbus A340. However, this airport will not see any Airbus A330 anywhere soon as airlines operating here are using ATR-72 (MAS Wings), Boeing 737 (MAS) and Airbus A320 (Air Asia).

An-Nur Mosque

An-Nur Mosque is located just next to the Sibu Warrior Memorial Site and been enlisted as one of the heritage site in the Sibu Heritage Trail.

Located at Jalan Awamg Ramli Amit, it is referred as Sibu Mosque by the local folks. Its golden dome can be seem from afar and is also within easy reach from Kampung Datu. Apparently there are at least 3 roads that lead into the the mosque compound.

 

The mosque is capable to accommodate between 1,000 to 3,000 people and is one of the biggest in Sarawak. It is quite obvious this mosque was built to replace the town's old mosque at Jalan Kampung Nyabor.

Sibu Warriors Memorial Site

I never knew Sibu had a Warriors Memorial Site until the latest announcement of the memorial as one of the nine heritage site for the Sibu Heritage Trail. The Warriors Memorial together with the adjacent An-Nur Mosque are the furthest site for the Sibu Heritage Trail from the town itself at Jalan Awang Ramli Amit.

The Warriors Memorial Site is actually the final resting place for the four famous freedom fighters from Sibu, namely Rosli bin Dhoby, Awamg Ramli bin Amit, Bujang bin Suntong and Morshidi bin Sidek. during the British colonial era. Today, all the major roads in Sibu were named after all these brave warriors.

 

The memorial is constructed with Islamic influence with 4 concrete pillars structure with a stainless steel dome on it. The structure is actually located within the compound of the An-Nur Mosque.

 

There was a huge discontent among the local when the White Rajah decided to cede Sarawak to the British Crown in 1946 after the Japanese Occupation. On 3rd December 1949, Rosli Dhoby who was born in Sibu led a group code named Rukun 13 (the Black Crow Group) carried out a plan to assassinate the 2nd Governor of Sarawak, Sir Duncan George Stewart in broad daylight.

Rosli Dhoby, Morshidi Sidek, Bujang Suntong and Awang Ramli Amit were arrested and hung in Kuching on 2nd March 1950. They were then buried in the prison cemetery in Kuching. On 2nd March 1996, their remains were exhumed and brought back to this permanent resting place.

Sibu Old Mosque

The Sibu Old Mosque located at Jalan Kampung Nyabor is probably the oldest structure still standing in Sibu town. This mosque has been selected as one of the heritage site for the newly launched Sibu Heritage Trail.

 

This mosque was built before the White Rajah's time, probably in the 1830s by Tuan Haji Salam Minangkabau from Indonesia.

The original building was constructed of timber and leaf attap but it constantly evolved as the Muslim community grew and prospered.

The form of this house of worship remain unchanged; the three level limas roof is in line with the traditional architecture of the 19th century. The mosque still remain relevant to the Muslim community here and it is usually packed for the Friday Prayer.

Sibu Oldest Muslim Cemtery

The Sibu Oldest Muslim Cemetery has been chosen as one of the 9 points in the recently launched Sibu Heritage Trail and I decided to give the place a visit since I never knew that a section within the Sibu Town Square Phase II is actually a cemetery.

 

The monument is not difficult to spot. It is located behind Paramount Hotel and adjacent to the Lau King Howe Memorial Museum. In fact I come across this place many times before without realizing its historical value.

The white structure erected here was built to commemorate the old Muslim cemetery and the early settlement of the Malay community in Sibu when Islam started to established in Sarawak during the rein of Brunei Sultanate in 1599.

The white structure has 4 corners with each corner erected with a plaque depicting the historical facts of the early Malay settlement in Sibu.

At its centre, there is a star shaped stone engraved with 21 known names of those buried at the site. It is estimated about 70 people could had been buried here before the Japanese Occupational in 1941. The burial ground was then no longer used after that due to serious erosion on the river bank.

Outside the monument, stand two giant sized Ficus SPP species tree. It is believed that the trees were planted from branches used as a temporary tombstone for a victim who died from the bite of a venomous snake. The trees were alredy there before the construction of the Brooke Fort in 1862.

 

With a few old tombstones below the trees, there is no doubt now that this area was once a Muslim burial ground.

 

 

 

The burial ground now has a beautiful permanent barricade around it which reflect its historical value which I reckon not known to most of the locals here.