I suspect he was an emperor in his previous life. I am rather partial to the feline species. I adore their independent spirit, dignity and beauty. Cats are very much in my blood having grown up in a city named Kuching, the Malay word for cats. It is the enchantingly quaint capital of Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo.
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| Kuching Landscape |
It is 36 years since I left the city to live in England but every time I return, it is still like a home-coming. As sure as I have grown older and er...broader, the once sleepy town has also matured and expanded into a beautiful city with all the attributes of a well-planned metropolis infused with the vitalizing yang energy of the Sarawak River. Yet despite its growth, the old colonial charm and the laid-back tempo of the city still resonates.
The hawker stalls I used to frequent as a schoolgirl are still there selling the same local delicacies of delicious congee with mince pork with extra charge for an egg and the much loved 'kolok mee', a local staple breakfast dish of blanched egg noodles flavored with fried onion oil and garnish with barbeque pork and prawns. And of course, the famous Sarawak Laksa, a signature dish of spicy coconut soup served with rice noodle, prawns and shredded chicken that serves as a quick fix for breakfast and lunch for the locals to kick start the day.
Strolling through old Kuching with its narrow streets is like walking back in time for me recalling schooldays jaunts with my classmates in our after school escapades. Nothing much has changed here, except the facade of the buildings that have been restored and given a fresh lick of paint. The newer swanky buildings are all centered along the river or further inland.
What's in a Name?
The provenance of the name of Kuching is varied. The mythical version pronounced that when James Brooke, a young swashbuckling Englishman sailed up the Sarawak River in 1842 in search of fortune in the spice trade, he saw a feline creature on the bank with its eyes gleaming in the dark, When he inquired what the creature was, he was told it was 'kuching', a cat.
He was to become the first White Rajah of Sarawak and he named his settlement Kuching. Another source, probably a more reliable version, said it was named after Sungai Kuching, a stream flowing through 'Bukit Mata Kuching' or 'Cat's Eye Hill', "where there was an abundance of the 'Mata Kuching' trees, a fruit of the green longan family that has a translucent flesh wrapped over a large brown seed which resembles a cat's eyes.
Today, Kuching is affectionately known as 'Cat City' and kitsch statues of cats are erected in the city center. There is even a cat museum dedicated to everything about cats featuring the role cats play in different cultures, famous people who own cats, the different species of cats and a plethora of cat paraphernalia from all over the world. It is probably the only cat museum in the world on that scale.
While Singapore was named after a lion which symbolizes power and authority, Kuching has the characteristic of a cat. It is fairly laid-back, small but perfectly formed, dignified, friendly and like a typical cat, always preening itself, beautifying and improving the look of the city. No wonder it is voted the cleanest city in Malaysia and hailed as one of the healthiest cities in the world by the United Nations and World Health Organization. This ends Part 1 of Kuching Landscape. You can read Part 2 at the next post.