We welcome the Year of the Pig and wish health, happiness and prosperity to our friends.
With the opening of the Ranee Museum at the Old Courthouse, it is timely to reflect on Ranee Margaret's early observations of the Chinese community in Sarawak and her comment about the picturesque Chinese shophouses in her book 'Good Morning and Good Night'.
Chinese immigration to Sarawak was enthusiastically promoted by her husband, Rajah Charles Brooke. During his reign, thoroughfares such as Carpenter Street and India Street were developed, with lanes joining these streets to the Main Bazaar mentioned in Ranee Margaret's book.
The 'Tua Pek Kong' was one of many impressive structures built during this period and was one of the few buildings to survive the 1884 Great Fire of Kuching.
