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Author: James Ritchie

Reign of terror — ‘Lucky Lim’ a two-time ambush survivor

Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Rahman Ya’kub managed to convince several of the North Kalimantan Communist Party (NKCP) insurgents to lay down their arms and in 1973–74, the government scored a key victory when Rahman Ya’kub successfully convinced one of the NKCP leaders Bong Kee Chok to surrender along with 481

Reign of terror – child ‘spies’ and CT brutality

The Peace Declaration of Sri Aman is unprecedented and unparalleled in any part of the world. According to the military intelligence at that time, the success of Sri Aman had saved the Malaysian government RM1.5 billion in operational expenditure. – Datuk Seri Alli Kawi, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Sarawak Part

Reign of terror – tragic murder of border scouts

Birds rising in flight is a sign that the enemy is lying in ambush; when the wild animals are startled and flee he is trying to take you unawares. – Sun Tzu, Chinese military strategist Part 2 When the NKCP’s 1st and 2nd Bureaus returned from Indonesia in the 1970s

SARAWAK CHINESE – VILLAINS AND HEROES 

‘Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict – alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence.’ — Dorothy Thompson, American journalist  Did you know that the Chinese of Sarawak have a long love-hate relationship for their country of adoption. 

Dedicated to Henry Lian Aran – Kelabit Extraordinaire

All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. – Walt Disney, American entrepreneur Last week I lost another dear friend Henry Lian Aran, the first Kelabit graduate, who passed away suddenly at 78. I’ve known Henry since my days as a reporter in Kuala

A 70-year study of our unique communities

Ethnicity should enrich us; it should make us a unique people in our diversity and not to be used to divide us. – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian politician Unlike other states, Sarawak can pride itself of being a community of more than 60 ethnic and sub-groups spread over a sparse

Life of a ‘recalcitrant’ journalist

Journalism can never be silent: That is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.   Henry Anatole Grunworld The life of an investigative reporter is not

Short history on 40 years of elections

Leadership is not about the next election, it’s about the next generation. —  Simon Sinek, British-American author Sometime in November 1983, I interviewed Sarawak chief minister (Tun Pehin Sri) Abdul Taib Mahmud, and asked if he could give me a date for the 4th Sarawak Election. I had been sent

Sarawak’s Eurasians — A 180-year jorney

When it comes to Eurasians, are we not allowed to embrace either one of our cultures we feel more attached to? Or decide within ourselves that I am Asian and I am proud to be Asian? — Henry Golding, actor The Eurasians are one of Sarawak’s smallest communities. Initially known by

To err is human; to forgive, divine

To err is human, but to persevere in error is only the act of a fool. —  Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman Once upon a time, I had a small animal farm not far from Kuching, which was my pride and joy. It started as a hideout for security forces