More Kuching Waterfront

Here’s one last picture that should have gone with the last set. It’s the city hall of North Kuching, perched on a hill. Some of the older neighborhoods of Petrajaya, the city’s north bank, can be seen in the middleground. Kuching is split into two separate cities, North and South Kuching. It’s a very arbitrary divide; the boundary doesn’t really follow the river or any other natural division. In fact, the city was split only several decades ago. If I had to speculate, I’d say it was a political move. Kuching North is majority Malay, Kuching South majority Chinese. What I’m still curious about is the origin of the name Petrajaya; is it synonomous with Kuching North? I don’t know. Kuching South has a very pretty city hall as well; I’ll try to get a picture some time.

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You’re currently reading “More Kuching Waterfront,” an entry on Bin Gregory Productions

Published:: 10.13.03 / 9am

Category:: Malaysia

4 Comments

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nnydd 10.13.03 / 5pm

Erm… as exotic as Zanzibar!
NSDS3 10.22.03 / 3pm

Petra Jaya is a satellite city, conceived in (I believe) 1970s, for the new seat of State (Note that the D.U.N. MASJA etc etc is there)

For me, it’s not synonomous, for Kuching North extends all the way up north till Santubong.
sam 12.03.03 / 1am

Kuching North incorporates Petra Jaya and part of what is the southern city area.
The boundaries between Kuching North and Kuching South are marked by the big white cat statue and the Holiday Inn Hotel.
Petra Jaya is Kuching’s suburb and the seat of the state government. It is the northern bank of the Sarawak River.
It is named after the sixth King of Malaysia, Sultan Yahya Petra who ruled from 1975 to his death in 1979.
He was the sultan of Kelantan.
It was during his reign that Petra Jaya was mooted by the then chief minister Tun Abdul Rahman Yaakub, the uncle of the incumbent chief minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Coincidentally, both Abdul Rahman and Abdul Taib are related to Sultan Yahya Petra.
A great, great grandfather of Abdul Rahman was a prince of Kelantan and he married into the Melanau aristocracy in Sibu, to produce the family of Abdul Rahman and his elder sister, the mother of Abdul Taib.
Sultan Yahya Petra’s son Sultan Ismail Petra, the present sultan of Kelantan, is set to be elected deputy king of Malaysia in 2006 and king in 2011.
juzt_reboot 04.12.04 / 12pm

i like kuching!!!

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