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97-701: The Rajang River ( Malay : Sungai Batang Rajang ) is a river in Sarawak , northwestern Borneo , Malaysia . The river originates in the Iran Mountains , flows through Kapit , and then towards the South China Sea . At approximately 565 km long (351 mi), the river is the seventh-longest in Borneo and the longest in Malaysia. Malaysia's largest and tallest (160m) hydro electric project,

194-672: A descendant of the Proto-Austronesian language , began to break up by at least 2000 BCE, possibly as a result of the southward expansion of Austronesian peoples into Maritime Southeast Asia from the island of Taiwan . The history of the Malay language can be divided into five periods: Old Malay, the Transitional Period, the Classical Malay, Late Modern Malay and Modern Malay. Old Malay is believed to be

291-704: A famine. Alternatively, it may originate with the Sibu Chinese immigrants regarding the Melanau people as "Go" people because their staple food was "Sago". "Go" is pronounced in a similar way to the Hokkien word for "Swan". Chinese immigrants may have been reminded of another "Swan River" back in China. The Rajang is the longest river system in Malaysia, with its source in the Nieuwenhuis mountains, where it forms

388-431: A half hours. The town has two primary schools: and three secondary schools: The town center consists of three streets of 1930s vintage Chinese shophouses, near the waterfront. A few new shophouses have been built. Kanowit have a dry and wet market, offering local vegetables, meats and handicrafts. The market opens everyday from 7am till 12 noon. The biggest supermarket is Hock Tong Seng. During periods of celebration,

485-527: A lingua franca derived from Classical Malay as well as Makassar Malay , which appears to be a mixed language . Malay historical linguists agree on the likelihood of the Malayic homeland being in western Borneo . A form known as Proto-Malayic was spoken in Borneo at least by 1000 BCE, it has been argued to be the ancestral language of all subsequent Malayic languages . Its ancestor, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ,

582-555: A mid vowel [e, o] . Orthographic note : both /e/ and /ə/ are written with ⟨e⟩ . Orthographic /e, o/ are relatively rare, so the letter ⟨e⟩ usually represents /ə/ . There are some homographs; for example, perang is used for both /pəraŋ/ "war" and /peraŋ ~ piraŋ/ "blond". (In Indonesia, "blond" may be written perang or pirang .) Some analyses regard /ai, au, oi/ as diphthongs. However, [ai] and [au] can only occur in open syllables, such as cukai ("tax") and pulau ("island"). Words with

679-434: A phonetic diphthong in a closed syllable, such as baik ("good") and laut ("sea"), are actually two syllables. An alternative analysis therefore treats the phonetic diphthongs [ai] , [au] and [oi] as a sequence of a monophthong plus an approximant: /aj/ , /aw/ and /oj/ respectively. There is a rule of vowel harmony : the non-open vowels /i, e, u, o/ in bisyllabic words must agree in height, so hidung ("nose")

776-431: A root word ( affixation ), formation of a compound word (composition), or repetition of words or portions of words ( reduplication ). Nouns and verbs may be basic roots, but frequently they are derived from other words by means of prefixes , suffixes and circumfixes . Malay does not make use of grammatical gender , and there are only a few words that use natural gender; the same word is used for 'he' and 'she' which

873-680: A total revenue of RM 30.1 million although its total cargo throughput went down from 5.0 million to 3.2 million tonnes from the previous year. The five river ports along the Rajang river (arranged by their distances from the river mouth) are: River cruises for tourists were run on the Rajang between Sibu and the Pelagus Rapids Resort in Kapit from 2009 until 2012, but were terminated because of logistical and operational difficulties. During 2017's "Visit Sibu Year", longhouse visits along

970-402: Is dia or for 'his' and 'her' which is dia punya . There is no grammatical plural in Malay either; thus orang may mean either 'person' or 'people'. Verbs are not inflected for person or number, and they are not marked for tense; tense is instead denoted by time adverbs (such as 'yesterday') or by other tense indicators, such as sudah 'already' and belum 'not yet'. On the other hand, there

1067-456: Is a complex system of verb affixes to render nuances of meaning and to denote voice or intentional and accidental moods . Malay does not have a grammatical subject in the sense that English does. In intransitive clauses, the noun comes before the verb. When there is both an agent and an object , these are separated by the verb (OVA or AVO), with the difference encoded in the voice of the verb. OVA, commonly but inaccurately called "passive",

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1164-430: Is allowed but * hedung is not. Pronunciation Pronunciation Pronunciation Study by Uri Tadmor which was published in 2003 shows that mutation of ⟨a⟩ in final open syllable is an areal feature. Specifically, it is an areal feature of Western Austronesia. Uri Tadmor classify those types into four groups as below. Malay is an agglutinative language , and new words are formed by three methods: attaching affixes onto

1261-568: Is an Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei , Indonesia , Malaysia , and Singapore . It is also spoken in East Timor and parts of Thailand . Altogether, it is spoken by 290 million people (around 260 million in Indonesia alone in its own literary standard named " Indonesian ") across Maritime Southeast Asia . The language is pluricentric and a macrolanguage , i.e., several varieties of it are standardized as

1358-399: Is considered unclean. Floods in the Rajang delta near the coast are usually caused by the rising tide while floods 120 km inland near Sibu is caused by heavy downpour with inadequate drainage caused by sediment accumulation in the river bed; as a result of heavy development of the river upstream. In September 2020, heavy rain in the upper tributaries of the Rajang caused flash floods in

1455-406: Is designated the bahasa persatuan/pemersatu ("unifying language" or lingua franca ) whereas the term "Malay" ( bahasa Melayu ) is domestically restricted to vernacular varieties of Malay indigenous to areas of Central to Southern Sumatra and West Kalimantan . Classical Malay , also called Court Malay, was the literary standard of the pre-colonial Malacca and Johor Sultanates and so

1552-482: Is divided into Bornean and Sumatran Malay; some of the most widely spoken Sumatran Malay dialects are Riau Malay , Langkat , Palembang Malay and Jambi Malay . Minangkabau , Kerinci and Bengkulu are believed to be Sumatran Malay descendants. Meanwhile, the Jakarta dialect (known as Betawi ) also belongs to the western Malay group. The eastern varieties, classified either as dialects or creoles , are spoken in

1649-541: Is known as Sungai ("river" in Sarawakian Malay) and branches out again at the delta, thus the Rajang River is known as Batang Rajang in Malay. Upriver areas, such as the areas surrounding the headwaters, are called "Ulu" (which means "upriver") or "Hulu" in Malay. " Hulu Rajang " is the upriver section of the Rajang river. Places along the river that are too small to be called towns are named "Nanga" in

1746-509: Is located at the mouth of the Katibas River . At about 120 miles (190 km) from the sea, there are owned by both Chinese and Iban people. The lands are divided into parcels measuring several acres, where smallholders clear the land for agricultural activities. In the midst of these Mixed Zone Lands, 105 miles (169 km) miles from the sea, is the town of Kanowit ; the river here is 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide. The biggest town on

1843-623: Is not a tonal language . The consonants of Malaysian and also Indonesian are shown below. Non-native consonants that only occur in borrowed words, principally from Arabic, Dutch and English, are shown in brackets. Orthographic note : The sounds are represented orthographically by their symbols as above, except: Loans from Arabic : Malay originally had four vowels, but in many dialects today, including Standard Malay, it has six, with /i/ split into /i, e/ and /u/ split into /u, o/ . Many words are commonly pronounced variably, with either [i, u] or [e, o] , and relatively few words require

1940-569: Is not readily intelligible with the standard language , and the same is true with some lects on the Malay Peninsula such as Kedah Malay . However, both Brunei and Kedah are quite close. Malay is now written using the Latin script , known as Rumi in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore or Latin in Indonesia, although an Arabic script called Arab Melayu or Jawi also exists. Latin script

2037-595: Is official in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Malay uses Hindu-Arabic numerals . Rumi (Latin) and Jawi are co-official in Brunei only. Names of institutions and organisations have to use Jawi and Rumi (Latin) scripts. Jawi is used fully in schools, especially the religious school, sekolah agama , which is compulsory during the afternoon for Muslim students aged from around 6–7 up to 12–14. Efforts are currently being undertaken to preserve Jawi in Malaysia, and students taking Malay language examinations in Malaysia have

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2134-521: Is similar to Kelantanese Malay, but the language has no official status or recognition. Owing to earlier contact with the Philippines , Malay words—such as dalam hati (sympathy), luwalhati (glory), tengah hari (midday), sedap (delicious)—have evolved and been integrated into Tagalog and other Philippine languages . By contrast, Indonesian has successfully become the lingua franca for its disparate islands and ethnic groups, in part because

2231-624: Is the basic and most common word order. The Malay language has many words borrowed from Arabic (in particular religious terms), Sanskrit , Tamil , certain Sinitic languages , Persian (due to historical status of Malay Archipelago as a trading hub), and more recently, Portuguese , Dutch and English (in particular many scientific and technological terms). There is a group of closely related languages spoken by Malays and related peoples across Brunei , Indonesia , Malaysia , Singapore , Southern Thailand , Kampung Alor in East Timor , and

2328-525: Is the lack of possessive pronouns (and suffixes) in eastern dialects. Manado uses the verb pe and Ambon pu (from Malay punya 'to have') to mark possession. So 'my name' and 'our house" are translated in western Malay as namaku and rumah kita but kita pe nama and torang pe rumah in Manado and beta pu nama , katong pu rumah in Ambon dialect. The pronunciation may vary in western dialects, especially

2425-561: Is used by the Orang Ulu (upriver people) to name places located at the confluence between the smaller tributaries and the major river, just as Malay uses the name "Kuala" (meaning "river delta"). Amongst the Chinese in Sibu , the Rajang River is also nicknamed the "Swan River" (鹅江), probably because of the legendary appearance of a flock of swans flying over the area, resulting in the end of

2522-669: The Bakun Hydro Electric Dam , is located on the Balui River , a tributary of the Rajang. Other important tributaries include the Katibas River , Ngemah River, Iran River, Pila River, Balleh River , Bangkit River and the Kanowit River. In Sarawakian Malay, a major river is named Batang (meaning "trunk" or "tree" in Malay) as it is the main larger stream which took its "root" from its tributary rivers which

2619-624: The Cham alphabet are used by the Chams of Vietnam and Cambodia . Old Malay was written using Pallava and Kawi script, as evident from several inscription stones in the Malay region. Starting from the era of kingdom of Pasai and throughout the golden age of the Malacca Sultanate, Jawi gradually replaced these scripts as the most commonly used script in the Malay region. Starting from the 17th century, under Dutch and British influence, Jawi

2716-493: The Iban language , which is the language used in the areas where the tributaries join the main river. Examples of Nangas are: Nanga Ngemah, Nanga Dap, and Nanga Poi. In Iban, "Nanga" means "longhouse" and is often followed by the name of the river that runs by it. There are certain communities that use "Rumah" (meaning "house" in Malay), often followed by the name of the headman (thus it can change in time). "Long", meaning "confluence",

2813-464: The Melanau ethnic group. Therefore, they are often called as the "Melanau of Kanowit". Their languages is classified as the languages related to the people from Oya , Mukah , and Matu District . They had their own social rankings: aristocrats, middle class, and slaves. Their houses were 40 foot tall, although such houses no longer exists today. They were well known of their basketry which were sold in

2910-629: The Pacific swallow , Little spiderhunter , and Asian glossy starling . Twenty species of birds (mainly eagles, egret , kingfishers, woodpeckers) are protected, while seven species of birds (mainly hornbill and pheasant ) are totally protected under the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998. A total of 164 fish species was recorded at the Rajang basin in 2005. Empurau ( Tor tambroides ) and Semah ( Tor douronensis ) fish are considered popular fishes among

3007-464: The 1870s, while Sibu was still a small Malay village at that time. Chinese traders from Singapore brought clothes, jars, salt, and other daily necessities in exchange for rattan , hides of wild cattle, camphor , rhinoceros horns, and monkeys gall stones. The Cantonese people later arrived in the 1880s. They were involved in timber exports. The Fuzhounese arrived here from Sibu in 1910. Besides, Malay villages also established just immediate south to

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3104-457: The 1970s, there were 48 shophouses in Kanowit, lying parallel to the Kanowit River. There was also a market, churches, a hospital, a moving picture theatre (named Capital Theatre), a jetty, government offices, government resident quarters, a government clinic, and a community hall. The Chinese were settled near the banks of the Rajang River. There were no roads that enter the town. Therefore,

3201-590: The Balui. In August 2021, logjam blocked the Rejang River, shutting down the water treatment plants in Sibu. In March 2024, logjam happened near the town of Song, Kapit Division. 2°07′47″N 111°13′09″E  /  2.12972°N 111.21917°E  / 2.12972; 111.21917 Malay language Malay ( / m ə ˈ l eɪ / mə- LAY ; Malay: Bahasa Melayu , Jawi : بهاس ملايو )

3298-407: The Chinese. Tanjung Manis District (16 miles (26 km) from the river's mouth) is located near the Rajang delta where the Malay and Melanau people dominate. Bruit Island is situated inside the Rajang delta, with a lighthouse at Sirik Point. The Rajang delta is bounded by the towns of Igan in the north and Rajang (4 miles (6.4 km) from the river's mouth) in the south. The population of

3395-584: The Kanowit Bazaar (market). In 1846, Phlegethon ship commanded by Captain Rodney Mundy and James Brooke sail up the Rajang River to combat Dayak piracy that frequently threatened the borders of Sarawak (Kuching area). On 29 June, Rodney and James arrived at Kanowit and their first contact with the "Kanowit" people there was peaceful. In 1851, Fort Emma was built by the Brookes although Kanowit

3492-410: The Kanowit population was able to converse in more than one languages. In the 1970s, 21% of the Kanowit bazaar population was Christians while 19% of the population was Muslims. Meanwhile, 60% of the population was devoted to other religions. Kanowit acts as a middleman of trade between the town of Sibu and people from the interior of the Rajang River. Kanowit exports rural agricultural products to

3589-472: The Kanowit river entering Rajang south to north. The part of Rajang River near Kanowit is 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide. The town of Kanowit is located in the north-south direction. The area around Kanowit contains mostly tertiary stage of Paleozoic rocks such as sandstones , greywicks, siltstone , shales , and slate . During the Peneplanation and Jerudong cycles, the erosions of the hills in

3686-489: The Kanowit, a Melanau ethnic group called Rajang by the Ibans ( ISO 639-3 : kxn). The language is still spoken by the Kanowit people living in the area. The village where the Kanowit people live is known as Kampung Bedil, a short trip by boat up the Rajang River from Kanowit town. The name "Kanowit" is derived from the name of the earliest ethnic group settling along the Kanowit River. The ethnic group adopted similar culture as

3783-617: The Kayan and Kenyah migrated to the Balui river from the present day Indonesian Kalimantan . Meanwhile, the Iban people migrated from West Kalimantan to the lower Rajang valley, moving their agricultural base. Inter-ethnic conflicts followed the introduction of new tribes into the Rajang basin, and some ethnic groups fled to the Balingian and Tatau rivers. In the late 19th century, the government of Charles Brooke began constructing forts along

3880-404: The Malay world of Southeast Asia, and was one of the oldest testimonies to the advent of Islam as a state religion in the region. It contains the proclamation issued by a ruler of Terengganu known as Seri Paduka Tuan, urging his subjects to extend and uphold Islam and providing 10 basic Sharia laws for their guidance. The classical Malay language came into widespread use as the lingua franca of

3977-1057: The Malayic languages spoken by the Orang Asli ( Proto-Malay ) in Malaya . They are Jakun , Orang Kanaq , Orang Seletar , and Temuan . The other Malayic languages, included in neither of these groups, are associated with the expansion of the Malays across the archipelago. They include Riau-Johor Malay ( Malaysian and Indonesian ), Kedah Malay , Kedayan/Brunei Malay , Berau Malay , Bangka Malay , Jambi Malay , Kutai Malay , Natuna Malay, Riau Malay , Loncong , Pattani Malay , and Banjarese . Menterap may belong here. There are also several Malay-based creole languages , such as Betawi , Cocos Malay , Makassar Malay , Ambonese Malay , Dili Malay , Kupang Malay , Manado Malay , Papuan Malay , Pattani Malay , Satun Malay , Songkhla Malay , Bangkok Malay , and Sabah Malay , which may be more or less distinct from standard (Malaccan) Malay. Due to

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4074-492: The Rajang River is the only mode of transport for people to travel to other towns. The town of Kanowit is the capital of the Kanowit District. The Kanowit district is administered by a District officer, an assistant officer, administrative officers, treasurer, clerks, and other office employees. Kanowit District Council was first known as Kanowit Sea Dayak Local Authority when it was established in 1949. In 1957,

4171-507: The Rajang River were promoted as an ecotourism project. Crocodiles, which live by the river banks, became the mascot for the event. The town of Sibu can be assessed by oceangoing vessels for 80 miles (130 km), while an additional 100 miles (160 km) of the river can be assessed by shallow-draft craft. The remaining parts of the river, leading into the Sarawak interior, can only be assessed by small canoes. Speedboats and longboats are

4268-409: The Rajang basin by a study of 2004. The mouth of the river is the only place where the dolphins can be sighted. Totally protected mammals include gibbon , langurs , black giant squirrel , slow loris , and tarsier . Civets , otters , bats , treeshrew , and primates are also included under the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998. Wild pigs and deer are the animals most frequently hunted by

4365-479: The Rajang basin was very low in the 19th century during the Bruneian Empire . The people living along the river's banks traded with Malays from Brunei. At that time, the Melanau, Kanowit and Rajang ethnic groups lived downriver; Bhuket, Punan Bah , Lugat, Sihan and Kejaman ethnic groups lived at the middle section of the river, with Penan and Seping tribes living in the upriver area. After the 19th century,

4462-433: The Rajang basin. Trading of Engkabang fruits ("illipe nuts") were commonly traded in the 1960s and 1970s, with the trade centred on Sibu. The fruits are also a food for fish such as empurau that populate the river. Other agricultural activities in the Rajang basin include the cultivation of rubber, pepper and vegetables, and poultry domestication. The Rajang Port Authority (RPA) is the main regulatory body for coordinating

4559-415: The Rajang in an attempt to achieve political stability in the Rajang basin. The Chinese then started to move inland and settle near the forts and trade various forest products with the natives. In 1884, Fort Vyner was constructed, and Belaga soon became the political and economic centre of the district. Subsequently, government offices, schools, a bank, a police station, a mosque, and churches were built around

4656-512: The Rajang river from May to December 2004 found that the main channel of the Rajang river was turbid except for smaller tributaries. The water transparency was about 4 cm to 5 cm at that time. Based on Taxonomic richness index , the stretch of upstream river between Kanowit and Belaga river is recovering from logging 15 to 20 years ago with the exception of Penaan river because the local community uses toxic chemicals to capture fish. The stretch of river downstream from Lebaan to Selalang river

4753-425: The Rajang upriver. After the freeze of new timber licenses in the 1970s, the effect of timber on the local economy has been reducing. Majority of the businesses in Kanowit were retail grocery businesses. Other business were: tailors, coffeshops, hairdressers, and food stalls. Fee of local bus is only RM1, but bus service is not frequently. Lanang Bus Express boats from Kanowit can reach Sibu in one and

4850-548: The Third Division of Sarawak (also known as Sibu Division today). In the 1970s, the Kanowit government secondary school was the only secondary school apart from Sibu in the Rajang basin. Kanowit is located at 105 miles (169 km) miles from the sea, near the Rajang River . Although the Rajang flows from east to west in its general course of direction, the river is flowing from south to north in Kanowit, with

4947-681: The actual ancestor of Classical Malay. Old Malay was influenced by Sanskrit, the classical language of India . Sanskrit loan words can be found in Old Malay vocabulary. The earliest known stone inscription in the Old Malay language was found in Sumatra , Indonesia, written in the Pallava variety of the Grantha alphabet and is dated 1 May 683. Known as the Kedukan Bukit inscription , it

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5044-429: The banks of the river is Sibu , some 65 miles (105 km) upriver from the mouth of the Rajang. It can be reached by ocean-going vessels, and is the political, economic, cultural, and education centre of the central region of Sarawak. Other towns located further downriver are Sarikei (24 miles (39 km) from Rajang town) and Bintangor (11 miles (18 km) from Sarikei). These two towns have been mainly settled by

5141-496: The capital of Kanowit District , Sibu Division , Sarawak , Malaysia , comprising 2,253.5 square kilometres. As of 2010, Kanowit's population is 28,985. It is built on the mouth of Kanowit River at the bank of Rajang River , approximately 174 kilometers from the coast of South China Sea . It takes 45 minutes to reach the town by land transport and an hour by boat from Sibu . The main ethnic groups are Iban , Chinese , Malay , and Melanau . The town takes its name from

5238-511: The central Rajang basin has reduced their elevations to 200 to 300 feet, when compared to 3,000 to 5,000 feet mountains located near the Sarawak-Kalimantan border. The riverbanks at Kanowit are below sea level; therefore, Kanowit is subject to frequent flooding during periods of monsoon seasons. There are three types of soils in the Kanowit area: acid yellow soils found in the mountainous areas, podsols derived from sandy material at

5335-555: The colonial language, Dutch, is no longer commonly spoken. (In East Timor , which was governed as a province of Indonesia from 1976 to 1999, Indonesian is widely spoken and recognized under its Constitution as a 'working language'.) Besides Indonesian , which developed from the Riau Malay dialect, there are many Malay varieties spoken in Indonesia; they are divided into western and eastern groups. Western Malay dialects are predominantly spoken in Sumatra and Borneo , which itself

5432-747: The constitution as one of two working languages (the other being English ), alongside the official languages of Tetum and Portuguese . The extent to which Malay is used in these countries varies depending on historical and cultural circumstances. Malay is the national language in Malaysia by Article 152 of the Constitution of Malaysia , and became the sole official language in Peninsular Malaysia in 1968 and in East Malaysia gradually from 1974. English continues, however, to be widely used in professional and commercial fields and in

5529-477: The council name was changed to its present name. Julau was previously a sub-district under the jurisdiction of the Kanowit District. In 1973, Julau was upgraded into a district and put under the administration of Sarikei Division . In the 1960s, there were 24 democratically elected representatives in the Kanowit District Council. The Kanowit District was in turn put under the jurisdiction of

5626-516: The court moved to establish the Johor Sultanate, it continued using the classical language; it has become so associated with Dutch Riau and British Johor that it is often assumed that the Malay of Riau is close to the classical language. However, there is no closer connection between Malaccan Malay as used on Riau and the Riau vernacular. Among the oldest surviving letters written in Malay are

5723-486: The early settlement of a Cape Malay community in Cape Town , who are now known as Coloureds , numerous Classical Malay words were brought into Afrikaans . The extent to which Malay and related Malayan languages are used in the countries where it is spoken varies depending on historical and cultural circumstances. Malay is the national language in Malaysia by Article 152 of the Constitution of Malaysia , and became

5820-474: The eastern part of the Malay or Nusantara archipelago and include Makassar Malay , Manado Malay , Ambonese Malay , North Moluccan Malay , Kupang Malay , Dili Malay , and Papuan Malay . The differences among both groups are quite observable. For example, the word kita means 'we, us' in western, but means 'I, me' in Manado, whereas 'we, us" in Manado is torang and Ambon katong (originally abbreviated from Malay kita orang 'we people'). Another difference

5917-590: The far southern parts of the Philippines . They have traditionally been classified as Malay, Para-Malay, and Aboriginal Malay, but this reflects geography and ethnicity rather than a proper linguistic classification. The Malayic languages are mutually intelligible to varying extents, though the distinction between language and dialect is unclear in many cases. Para-Malay includes the Malayic languages of Sumatra . They are: Minangkabau , Central Malay (Bengkulu), Pekal , Talang Mamak , Musi (Palembang), Negeri Sembilan (Malaysia), and Duano’ . Aboriginal Malay are

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6014-531: The fort. During the Brooke era, the sago processing industry was an important economic activity amongst the Melanaus, and it provided an important revenue for the Sarawak government. The sago products were sent to the port of Sibu for export overseas. The Ibans in the Rajang basin exchanged jungle produce with Chinese and Malay businessmen for salt, beads, metal, porcelain utensils, earthen jars, and coins. Seeing

6111-412: The fort. In 1883, Father Edmund Dunn of St Joseph College, Mill Hill, England, established the first Roman Catholic Mission headquarters at Kanowit. The missionary at that time worked almost exclusively amongst the Iban people In 1885, St Francis Xavier Church was built. The church was demolished in 1967 to pave the way for new modern building construction. Later a mission hospital and a primary school

6208-521: The highlands of Sumatra , Indonesia . Terengganu Inscription Stone (Malay: Batu Bersurat Terengganu ; Jawi: باتو برسورت ترڠݢانو) is a granite stele carrying inscription in Jawi script that was found in Terengganu, Malaysia is the earliest evidence of classical Malay inscription. The inscription, dated possibly to 702 AH (corresponds to 1303 CE), constituted the earliest evidence of Jawi writing in

6305-560: The language is sometimes called Malacca, Johor or Riau Malay (or various combinations of those names) to distinguish it from the various other Malayic languages . According to Ethnologue 16, several of the Malayic varieties they currently list as separate languages, including the Orang Asli varieties of Peninsular Malay , are so closely related to standard Malay that they may prove to be dialects. There are also several Malay trade and creole languages (e.g. Ambonese Malay ) based on

6402-763: The languages' words for kinship, health, body parts and common animals. Numbers, especially, show remarkable similarities. Within Austronesian, Malay is part of a cluster of numerous closely related forms of speech known as the Malayic languages , which were spread across Malaya and the Indonesian archipelago by Malay traders from Sumatra. There is disagreement as to which varieties of speech popularly called "Malay" should be considered dialects of this language, and which should be classified as distinct Malay languages. The vernacular of Brunei— Brunei Malay —for example,

6499-591: The last 200 years. The "Kanowit" ethnic group, where the town is named after them, is known to be the earliest inhabitants along the Kanowit River. Few of the "Kanowit" people still staying in Kampung Bedil today. The Kampung Bedil has about 40 houses with a population of 200 in the year 2015. In the 1970s, there were seven widely spoken languages in Kanowit: English, Malay , Iban , Mandarin , Hokkien , Fuzhounese , and Cantonese . About 30% of

6596-460: The letters from Sultan Abu Hayat of Ternate , Maluku Islands in present-day Indonesia , dated around 1521–1522. The text is addressed to the king of Portugal , following contact with Portuguese explorer Francisco Serrão . The letters show sign of non-native usage; the Ternateans used (and still use) the unrelated Ternate language , a West Papuan language , as their first language . Malay

6693-515: The locals. A total of 122 species of bird was recorded by the 2004 study, with 21 species along the mouth of the river, 96 species in the Hose Mountains , and 88 species at Lanjak Entimau in the interior of Sarawak. The only endemic species of bird found in the Rajang basin was the Dusky munia , found abundantly in paddy fields. Other species of bird commonly found along the Rajang basin are

6790-575: The locals. the Empurau is still found breeding near the upper tributaries of Rajang such as the Balleh River , and also near the Bakun Dam . The major economic activity in the upper reaches of the Rajang River is logging. Among the types of wood that are extracted for exports are Ramin , plywood , Kapur , Meranti , Keruing , and Belian . Rice is the dominant crop along the middle section of

6887-575: The low-lying areas of Kapit, Song, Kanowit and Sibu. On 6 October 2010, heavy rain have caused a massive landslide that brought logs and debris down into the Balleh river, tributaries above Kapit, and then into the Rajang river. It was estimated that the volume of the logs and debris had exceeded 300,000m in length. The logjam also affected the Igan river . The log debris, stretching 50 km, reached Sibu on 8 October, causing transportation difficulties for

6984-497: The major form of transport between Kapit and Belaga. Transportation above Belaga to the Balui River requires longboats. The Rajang River is also used for transporting logs. During the monsoon season, some areas of the interior are accessible only by river. Meanwhile, in the towns downriver, market traders are often affected by floods. Logging operations are rampant on the upstream of the Rajang river. A major study conducted along

7081-461: The moderately high terrains, and alluvial deposits at the flood plain areas. Kanowit has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round. The total population in the Kanowit Bazaar (market) in 1960 was 1,555. It increased by 13% to 1,720 in August 1970, where 72.7% of them were Chinese and 18.1% were the Malays. Among the Chinese, Hokkien accounted for 48.8% of

7178-483: The national language ( bahasa kebangsaan or bahasa nasional ) of several nation states with various official names: in Malaysia, it is designated as either Bahasa Malaysia (" Malaysian ") or also Bahasa Melayu ("Malay language"); in Singapore and Brunei, it is called Bahasa Melayu ("Malay language"); in Indonesia, an autonomous normative variety called Bahasa Indonesia (" Indonesian language ")

7275-431: The option of answering questions using Jawi. The Latin script, however, is the most commonly used in Brunei and Malaysia, both for official and informal purposes. Historically, Malay has been written using various scripts. Before the introduction of Arabic script in the Malay region, Malay was written using the Pallava , Kawi and Rencong scripts; these scripts are no longer frequently used, but similar scripts such as

7372-445: The outside world. At the same time, manufactured goods from the outside world are imported for daily use by the Kanowit residents. Among the items available for trade in the Kanowit bazaar are: hill rice, vegetables, chicken, pigs, fish, and fresh-water shrimp. Rubber and pepper are also cultivated in Kanowit. Kanowit also produces rubber and black pepper. Before 1970s, Kanowit acted as a transshipment centre for timbers coming from

7469-520: The people living alongside the river and killed many fish. On 2 November 2012, Global Witness claimed that the logging operations of Interglobal Empire, a subsidiary of the WTK group of companies, owners of the logging concession T/3476, were responsible for the landslide into the Melatai River which subsequently blocked the Rajang River. Similar logjam occurred in early 2017 at the upper reaches of

7566-579: The period of the Communist insurgency , the Sarawak government set up the "Rajang Special Security Area", and Rajang Security Command (RASCOM) was formed as a result of co-operation of civil, military, and police command headquarters, to clamp down on communist activities in the Rajang delta. Construction of the Bakun Dam on the upper Balui River, from 1997, resulted in the Sungai Asap resettlement scheme. Thirty species of mammals were recorded along

7663-485: The political boundary between Malaysia and Indonesia. There is more than 160 inches (410 cm) of rainfall each year in these mountains, which forms the headwaters of Rajang. The river flows from northeast to southwest. The Punan Bah people reside at the headwaters of the Rajang. One of the Rajang tributaries, the Balui River , north of the Hose Mountains , flows into the lands of the Kayan people and Kenyah people . At

7760-399: The population at that time speak English. 90% of the population in Kanowit can speak Iban, including 70 to 80% of the Chinese. Meanwhile, 18% of the Kanowit people spoke Malay. Hokkien was the most widely spoken Chinese dialect in Kanowit during the 1970s. At that time, 48.8% of the Chinese spoke Hokkien, 40 to 50% of the Chinese spoke Fuzhounese, and 90% of the Chinese spoke Mandarin. Most of

7857-410: The population, followed by Cantonese (21.4%), and Fuzhounese (20.1%). The Iban people made up 6.5% of the population in the Kanowit bazaar. Outside the Kanowit bazaar, the Iban people were the majority. Some Malay families may raise or adopt children from other races. Therefore, names such as "Abdul Chen" and "Aminah Lim" may appear. All the ethnic groups in the Kanowit Bazaar only started arriving in

7954-620: The pronunciation of words ending in the vowel 'a'. For example, in some parts of Malaysia and in Singapore, kita (inclusive 'we, us, our') is pronounced as /kitə/ , in Kelantan and Southern Thailand as /kitɔ/ , in Riau as /kita/ , in Palembang as /kito/ , in Betawi and Perak as /kitɛ/ and in Kedah and Perlis as /kitɑ/. Kanowit Kanowit ( Malay : Pekan Kanowit ) is a town and

8051-541: The region during the Malacca Sultanate era (1402–1511). It was the period the Malay language developed rapidly under the influence of Islamic literature. The development changed the nature of the language with massive infusion of Arabic , Sanskrit , and Tamil vocabularies, called Classical Malay . Under the Sultanate of Malacca the language evolved into a form recognisable to speakers of modern Malay. When

8148-428: The region where the Rajang is at its broadest. At this intersection point, about 160 miles (260 km) from the river mouth, the river begins to flow from east to west, near the town of Kapit . Kapit is the last stop for express boats coming from Sibu , and is inhabited by the Chinese, Iban, and Kayan people. Kapit is the biggest town in the upper Rajang river. Further downriver are smaller towns such as Song , which

8245-590: The sole official language in West Malaysia in 1968, and in East Malaysia gradually from 1974. English continues, however, to be widely used in professional and commercial fields and in the superior courts. Other minority languages are also commonly used by the country's large ethnic minorities. The situation in Brunei is similar to that of Malaysia. In Singapore, Malay was historically the lingua franca among people of different nationalities. Although this has largely given way to English, Malay still retains

8342-435: The status of national language and the national anthem , Majulah Singapura , is entirely in Malay. In addition, parade commands in the military, police and civil defence are given only in Malay. Most residents of the five southernmost provinces of Thailand —a region that, for the most part, used to be part of an ancient Malay kingdom called Pattani —speak a dialect of Malay called Yawi (not to be confused with Jawi), which

8439-520: The success of Chinese planting rubber trees and pepper vines, the Ibans also started to grow these cash crops. Later, when the Chinese ventured into the logging industry, urban migration of the Ibans occurred, whilst the Kayans and Kenyahs grew rice, cash crops such as rubber, coffee, and groundnuts. The Penans and Punans maintained a nomadic way of life, bringing jungle produce, woven items, and handicrafts for sale at local markets. On 25 March 1973, during

8536-608: The superior courts. Other minority languages are also commonly used by the country's large ethnic minorities. The situation in Brunei is similar to that in Malaysia. In the Philippines , Indonesian is spoken by the overseas Indonesian community concentrated in Davao City . Functional phrases are taught to members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as well as local students. Malay, like most Austronesian languages,

8633-482: The trade activities of all five river ports along the Rajang River. RPA serves to provide maintenance, adequate and efficient port services for all users of the ports. It is located at the Sibu port operation centre Sibu and Sungai Merah can be assessed via a shorter route through the Paloh river where the distances from the mouth of the river can be shortened to 82 km and 92 km respectively. In 2012, RPA recorded

8730-599: The western end of a great bend in the river is the Belaga District , and further downstream are the Pelagus Rapids where the Iban people dominate. The rapids are located 180 miles (290 km) from the Rajang river mouth. As the Balleh River joins the Balui river from south of the Hose Mountains, the Rajang becomes broader and deeper. It is estimated that about 25% of the people of Sarawak live in

8827-462: Was built. A boat to bring emergency cases to Sibu was provided. In June 1859, Syarif Masahor , together with a "Kanowit" leader named "Sawing", and a number of Malay chiefs killed two Brooke government officials, Charles Fox and Henry Steele. In 1906, a peacemaking ceremony was performed between Kana and Iban tribes here. During the last years of the Japanese occupation, the Kanowit bazaar

8924-635: Was discovered by the Dutchman M. Batenburg on 29 November 1920 at Kedukan Bukit, South Sumatra , on the banks of the Tatang, a tributary of the Musi River . It is a small stone of 45 by 80 centimetres (18 by 31 in). For centuries, Srivijaya , through its expansion, economic power and military prowess, was responsible for the widespread of Old Malay throughout the Malay Archipelago . It

9021-456: Was gradually replaced by the Rumi script. Malay is spoken in Brunei , Indonesia , Malaysia , East Timor , Singapore and southern Thailand . Indonesia regulates its own normative variety of Malay, while Malaysia and Singapore use a common standard. Brunei, in addition to Standard Malay, uses a distinct vernacular dialect called Brunei Malay . In East Timor , Indonesian is recognised by

9118-512: Was looted and burnt to the ground by some natives. In 1951, as the Korean War broke out, the Kanowit bazaar was overflowing with rubber sheets due to rise in rubber prices. However, on 8 November 1951, the bazaar was burnt to the ground in a large fire. Construction of the shophouses was restarted from 1952 to 1953. However, several owners were unable to pay the mortgages owed to Chartered Bank in Sibu due to low collapsing rubber prices. In

9215-573: Was still under the control of Bruneian empire. The fort was named after the sister of James Brooke, Emma Brooke. Emma Brooke was also the mother of the second Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Anthony Brooke . In 1853, James Brooke was able to take over Rajang River and its surrounding settlements from the Brunei Sultanate. Fort Emma offered protection against Dayak piracy along the Rajang River. Therefore, Hokkien Chinese from Singapore and Fujian province of China came to settle in Kanowit during

9312-621: Was the working language of traders and it was used in various ports, and marketplaces in the region. Other evidence is the Tanjung Tanah Law in post-Pallava letters. This 14th-century pre-Islamic legal text was produced in the Adityawarman era (1345–1377) of Dharmasraya , a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom that arose after the end of Srivijayan rule in Sumatra . The laws were for the Minangkabau people , who today still live in

9409-928: Was used solely as a lingua franca for inter-ethnic communications. Malay is a member of the Austronesian family of languages, which includes languages from Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean , with a smaller number in continental Asia . Malagasy , a geographic outlier spoken in Madagascar in the Indian Ocean , is also a member of this language family. Although these languages are not necessarily mutually intelligible to any extent, their similarities are often quite apparent. In more conservative languages like Malay, many roots have come with relatively little change from their common ancestor, Proto-Austronesian language . There are many cognates found in

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