In the late 19th century, there were trading ships that sailed between Kuching and Singapore. From the 1920s onwards, there were huge government and private warehouses built at the Sarawak Riverside, which is a testament to the extremely busy harbour. A group of...
Wooden clogs were very popular footwear in the early days. The Hokkiens called these versatile footwear ‘cha-kiak’, and they could be worn either at home or out and about. These breezy wooden clogs, complete with its signature clacking sounds were a common...
Sundry shops were the main business model during the early days at the Old Bazaar. Apart from food and daily supplies, one can also find local products in these shops, such as jungle birds’ nests, sandalwood, camphor, rattan, trifoliate, oxskin, hornbill’s...
【Temple Street】 The original Kuching river (Sungai Kuching) (古晋河) used to flow from what is now the Reservoir Park, along Thompson Road (now known as Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman), through the Tua Pek Kong Temple and the old Chinese Chamber of Commerce and into Sungai...
Wayang Street, also known as “Hua Xiang Street” (花香街), used to be an area dominated by the Hokkien. The Hokkien’s famous Hong San Si Temple (凤山寺) is located on the street and every year during the temple deity’s birthday celebration, a stage was set up opposite the...
Ong Ewe Hai was a leader of Sarawak’s earliest Hokkien immigrants and the patriarch of an influential family – one of three powerful Chinese clans of early Kuching, that produced many prominent figures in business and politics. He migrated from Singapore to Kuching,...
Hong San Si Temple stands at the intersection of Wayang and Ewe Hai Streets. The old temple, managed by the Kuching Hockien Association, consists of a main hall, a side hall and a stage totalling 8,123m². It is dedicated to Kong Teck Choon Ong (广泽尊王), a tutelary deity...
The son of Ong Ewe Hai, Ong Tiang Swee was born in Kuching in 1864 and studied in Singapore. From the age of 18 years, he assisted in his father’s business and at 21, he managed to help his father win the bids for the Farm Tax System licence in Sarawak and North...
