Apr 29 - Just a note on the flag of Sabah above. Its current form was adopted in 1988, and is unusual in that it has three shades of blue. The darkest, in the upper left corner, is a silhouette of Mount Kinabalu.
Today head to the south part of town to the Sabah State Museum.
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The core part of the museum is a mix of natural history and a rundown of indigenous people. There is not one, but three, stuffed Sumatran rhinoceroses (they were declared extinct in Sabah in 2015). There is also a complete skeleton of a Bryde’s whale, from a specimen that died off Kota Kinabalu.
There is a lengthy display here concerning headhunting in Borneo. The practice was common before colonization by Great Britain. It was performed either by raiding parties, or by individuals looking to increase their social status. The act of hunting down a member of an enemy tribe was like a blood feud: once it started, it became an endless series of ‘revenges’. As much as Charles Brooke allowed the indigenous people of northern Borneo continue with their other traditions, the banning of headhunting was non-negotiable and came to and end somewhere in the early 1900’s.
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There is also a long photo biography of the current leader (Chief Minister) of Sabah, Tuan Yang Tenutama Tun Datuk Seri Panglima (Dr) Haji Juhar Bin Datuk Haji Mahiruddin. He won the election in 2020.
Another area on the museum grounds has examples of traditional houses.
Back downtown from here to get lunch. Then another Grab to the north to the Masjid Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu. This mosque is located just back from a long stretch of beach and boardwalk along the coast. It is a bit out of town but the setting is nice.
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