Charming Kuching

Strolling at Kuching’s Waterfront, a riverside linear park in the capital city of the State of Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo, is both relaxing and pleasing to the eye as the old and new mix harmoniously with the landscape pierced by the clean Sarawak River.

The area is part of the city’s historic center where Kuching’s old settlement was located, a riverine community of wooden huts with thatched roofs.

Today, 19th to the early 21st century structures form part of its rich built environment spanning the reign of the second White Rajah Charles Brooke (1829-1917) until the term of chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud who served from 1981 to 2014.

Across the river from Kuching waterfront are two extant late 19th century structures — Fort Margherita (named after Brooke’s wife Ranee Margaret) which was a sentinel against pirates and the Astana; and a manor house gifted to the former when they got married and now the official residence of Sarawak’s governor.

In between these two heritage structures is the impressive Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building constructed from 2004 to 2009.

This structure looks like a nine-pointed star capped by a roof inspired by the Malaysian royal umbrella called payung negara, a modern-folk building and the main landmark not only in Kuching but in the whole of Sarawak.

That side of the river and the Waterfront is connected by the Jambatan Darul Hana, a modern pedestrian bridge constructed in 2017 that blends well to the city’s landscape.

Other interesting structures located at Kuching Waterfront are the Chinese Courthouse (1912), now the Chinese History Museum; Sarawak Steamship Building (1930) which is now a commercial structure; Square Tower (1879), now a fine-dining restaurant; and the newly-opened Floating Mosque.

The mosque is one of at least eight places of worship in Kuching’s historical core.

The others include the Masjid Bandaraya Kuching or Kuching City Mosque (1968); Masjid Bandar Kuching or the Masjid India, the oldest extant in the city having been built in 1879; St. Thomas Anglican Cathedral (1856); Taoist Hong San Si Temple (1848); Siew San Teng Temple (originally from 1770); and the Hiang Tiang Siang Ti Temple (1889).

Apart from places of worship, museums also abound in Kuching.

These include the aforementioned Chinese History Museum; Sarawak Museum housed in an 1891 edifice of French provincial architectural style; Sarawak Islamic Museum in the 1930 Maderasah Melayu Building; and Textile Museum at the 1909 Pavilion Building.

Beside the Textile Museum which showcases Bornean textiles is the1886 Round Tower which once served as the city’s Public Dispensary.

Adjacent to this are the General Post Office Building built in 1931 and the Old Courthouse (1871), the original seat of the State’s government and now converted into the Ranee Museum, restaurant, exhibition area and auditorium.

In front of this building is the Rajah Charles Brooke Memorial, an obelisk dedicated to the second White Rajah of Sarawak.

Other notable heritage edifices in the city include The Marian, a lodging house on Wayang Street, originally the abode of the Ong family built in 1885; the Drying Tower of the early 20th-century-old Fire Station; the Japanese Administrative Building built during the Second World War; Central Police Station (1931); and the Old Government Printing Office (1908), now the Sarawak Museum Department.

Standing “tall” is this “City of Harmony” are shop houses in the Chinese and Indian areas which today, still function as such or repurposed into bars and restaurants.

Exposed walls are converted into canvasses for public art, striking because the images are culturally- and historically-rooted.

The developments around Kuching are as striking as its history and the peaceful co-existence of its religions.

And while other cities such as Manila keep on building monotonous structures, Kuching’s buildings are built with respect to the general architectural layout of the area.

To say that its charm, beauty and order are captivating is an understatement.