Mount Santubong (Malay: Gunung Santubong) is a mountain in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is located about 35 km north of the state capital Kuching.
Biological importance
In 1855 a British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace[1] who was staying at Santubong while collecting specimens in Sarawak, wrote a paper while called "Sarawak Law" [2] which can be considered as a precursor to the biological theory of evolution.
Ascent
Mount Santubong lies within the Santubong National Park.[1] Entry to the park is now via the temporary Sarawak Forestry Corporation park headquarter entrance. The issue of custodian of park entry has now been put to rest by the relevant authorities [2]
Mount Santubong's name may have been derived from the Iban word for coffin, but various Chinese derivations have also been suggested (San approximating the word for mountain in many dialects), as well Bidayuh, in whose lands the names of many hills start with S. Investigators have made ascents of the steep mountain to find places of archaeological interest. Around its foot are signs of Hindu occupation which are hundreds of years old which have been investigated by the Sarawak Museum [3]. It was also the home of the early Sarawak Malays until they were driven up to Kuching in about the 1850s owing to continual attacks from the powerful Saribas Dayaks.[citation needed]
View from the mountain top
The mountain is made of sandstone, although it has been confused by many with limestone tower karst, or a volcanic plug: smaller versions of both appear not far inland. For a long time it interested those in search of gold but without success. There used to be an old theory that all the gold in the First Division of Sarawak lies in a straight line between Bau and Santubong which has some support in that there is a certain amount of gold in the mountain since fishermen in the past used to depend for their livelihood during the landas season, when the sea was too rough for fishing, by panning gold in the small mountain streams from which they could expect to gain an average of twenty dollars a month.[3]
In popular culture
The legend of Mount Santubong is the subject of a song, Puteri Santubong, which was composed and originally sang by Haji Madzhi Johari in 1974-1975. The song became popular after former Information Minister, the late Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat proposed that folk songs from all the states be compiled and broadcast almost every day through Radio Televisyen Malaysia radio and television channels.[4]
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