Mount Santubong

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mount Santubong
Mt. Santubong from Santubong Bridge
Elevation	810.2 metres (2,658 feet)
Location	Sarawak, Borneo
Prominence	810 m
Coordinates	01°44′N 110°20′E
First ascent	Unknown
Easiest route	hike

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.

On a clear day, it can be seen from Kuching. The mountain and its surrounding area is a popular tourist attraction.

1 History
2 Legend
3 Importance to Biological Science
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

Excavations of the surrounding area uncovered Hindu and Buddhist relics from the 9th Century CE. Song and Tang dynasty ceramics are also found, indicating that the area around the mountain was a trading port from the 11th to 13th century.

[edit] Legend

A legend often associated with the mountain is of two beautiful princesses, Santubong and Sejinjang. Santubong was an expert weaver while Sejinjang was an excellent rice tresher. One day, they had a quarrel and exchanged blows. Sejinjang swung her tresher which hit Santubong's cheek. Santubong threw her weaver at Sejinjang, hitting her in the head. Putting an end to the quarrel, the King of Heaven cursed both of them into mountains. Santubong turned into Mount Santubong while Sejinjang was turned into Mount Sejinjang. It is said that Mount Santubong resembles a woman lying on her back.

[edit] Importance to Biological Science

In 1855 a British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace who was collecting animals in Santubong, wrote a paper called "Sarawak Law" which can be considered as a precursor to the biological theory of evolution. A year later, Wallace left Sarawak and wrote another article on evlution based on his years of observation in the Far East, that was sent to Charles Darwin and was simultaneously published by the Royal Society. Similar to Galapagos, Mount Santubong should be considered as a scientific world heritage in biological science and should be preserved for the future genarations. Unfortunately, the proposal to established the area as a national park never materialise and human settlements as well as touristic development (hotels, golf course and condominium) are claiming most of the low lying areas. It is suggested the the world community to set up a fund to buy back the land and save Mount Santubong that is very important in the development of concepts and theories in biological sciences.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

National Parks of Sarawak, by Hans P. Hazebroek, Abang Kashim bin Abang Morshidi. ISBN 983-812-032-4
The Encyclopedia of Malaysia, ISBN 981-3018-47-X.