Bukit Batu Lawi

Bukit Batu Lawi
Batu Lawi, seen from the peak of Mount Murud on 4 September 1998
Highest point
Elevation	2,046 m (6,713 ft)
Geography
Location	Sarawak, Borneo
Parent range	Kelabit Highlands

Batu Lawi is a twin-peaked mountain in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo) that has played important roles in both ancient mythology and modern history. The taller 'male' peak is 2046 metres above sea level, while the female summit is at 1850 metres. It is one of the highest mountains in the state of Sarawak.

Cultural significance

Batu Lawi is sacred to many of the people who live in the region, such as the Kelabit and the Penan. According to the Kelabit people the mountain's peaks are a husband and wife—a pair of protector gods that are the parents of all highland peoples. Kelabit legends tell of a time when a mountain of fire called Batu Apoi tried to burn all living things.^[1] Batu Lawi fought back to defeat it and Batu Apoi's flames died out of spite. Kelabit people would traditionally visit Batu Lawi on pilgrimages from settlements such as Bario or Ba Kelalan—about a two-day walk through forest that is now part of Pulong Tau National Park. According to their customs, from the moment they first set eyes on the mountain to the moment they stand at its base, they must not utter the mountain's name for fear of antagonising the spirits on the summits.^[1]

Batu Lawi in World War II

In World War Two, the twin peaks of Batu Lawi served as an important landmark to pilots in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), during Allied missions to help recapture northern Borneo from Japan, which had invaded and occupied the region in 1941. The Allied response was to send commandos behind the Japanese lines to train the indigenous communities as part of the Z Special Unit to resist the Japanese invasion. One of those to parachute in was Tom Harrisson, the British scientist, journalist and founder of Mass Observation, who was then a second lieutenant in the British Army.

In those days, the maps of Borneo were of a very poor quality.^[2] The pilot of the RAAF Consolidated Liberator that carried Harrisson and seven other Z Force operatives behind the Japanese lines would have seen a thick green blanket of tropical forest for miles around. But the pale sandstone peaks of Batu Lawi stood out like a lighthouse and allowed the commandos to be sure they would land somewhere close to the settlement of Bario, and the Kelabit people they sought. The jump was a success but the plane was shot down on its return to the airbase at Morotai in the Philippines.^[2]

Attempts to climb Batu Lawi

Female peak

In 1946, Tom Harrisson took part in the first successful ascent of the female peak, with Lejau Unad Doolinih and five other Kelabits.^[3] In her biography of Harrisson, The Most Offending Soul Alive,^[4] Judith M. Heimann reports that he placed a commemorative board just below the summit. It read:

FOR MY FRIENDS

S/LDR GRAHAM POCKLEIGH DFC

MAJ. BEN ELLIS, BRITISH ARMY, AND THEIR CREW OF 200 FLIGHT RAAF.

THEY SUCCESSFULLY DROPPED US AT BAREO 25/3/45 BUT THEY NEVER GOT BACK TO MOROTAI. BY BATU LAWI WE STEERED ON THIS AND FOUR PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS. THEIR MAP CALLED IT MT 200. I PLEDGED MY WORD TO CLIMB FOR THE FIRST TIME

HERE IN LONELINESS I REMEMBER THESE FRIENDS

TH 20/4/46

Since 1946, several other climbers have reached the female peak. In 1998, members of Malaysian Nature Society (Miri branch)^[1] climbed the peak on 31 August (Malaysia's National Day).

Male peak

In 1986 British & Australian soldiers from the 14th/20th King’s Hussars, led by Johny Beardsall, made the first ascent of the male peak. In 2007, the first Malaysian Climbers from Multimedia University (MMU), Cyberjaya reached the summit of the male peak during 50th Independence Day. ^[3] In 2013, three of seven Indonesian students from Association of Nature-Loving Student of Telkom University (ASTACALA) successfully reached the top of the Male Peak. They climb through the west side of the rock in six days using traditional climbing technique, climbs around to the south, and finally reached the top.

Bruno Manser

Main article: Bruno Manser

Among those who have attempted to climb Batu Lawi was Bruno Manser, a Swiss national who lived for several years among the nomadic Penan people. Manser helped raise global awareness of the rapid rate of deforestation in Sarawak and the effect this had on forest-dependent people. This made him unpopular with the authorities in Sarawak. He entered the state for the final time illegally in 2000 and told his Penan companions that he planned to climb Batu Lawi but was never seen again.^[5] Penan trackers found no trace of him and the Swiss authorities declared him legally dead on 10 March 2005.^[6]

Flora

The vegetation on the female peak of Batu Lawi is classed as mountain heath, with low shrubs of Rhododendron and Callophyllum, ground herbs, ferns, orchids and carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthes species) that include Nepenthes lowii.^[1] Many of the species present are also found on the summit of Gunung Murud,^[7] Sarawak's highest mountain, but are endemic to Borneo—that is, found nowhere else on the planet. Immediately below the female peak is a band of mossy elfin forest and, below that, oak-laurel forest.^[1]

Fauna

A 1998 expedition by members of the Miri branch of the Malaysian Nature Society recorded 67 species of bird, including helmeted hornbill, and 20 species of mammal, including Bornean gibbon and sun bear, in the forest that surrounds Batu Lawi, but the only birds recorded from the summit of Batu Lawi itself were ochraceous bulbul and mountain blackeye.^[1] In 1946, Tom Harrisson saw a peregrine falcon on the male peak.^[2]

Protection and threats

In May 2008 the authorities in Sarawak approved the area around Batu Lawi as an extension to Pulong Tau National Park. This meant all logging there should have ceased, but satellite images taken in May 2009 indicated extensive logging within the Batu Lawi reserve area. The images appeared in a report^[8] that the Council on Ethics of Norway’s State Pension Fund published in August 2010.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Malaysian Nature Society. 1998. Expedition to the proposed Pulong Tau National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia. Malaysian Nature Society, Miri Branch, Miri, Sarawak.
1 2 3 Harrisson , T. 1949. Explorations in Central Borneo" Geographical Journal.Volume 114:129-149
1 2 http://gunung-tama-abu.info/bario.html
↑ Judith M. Heimann. 1999. The Most Offending Soul Alive. Tom Harrisson and his remarkable life. University of Hawaii Press.
↑ Elegant, Simon (3 September 2001). "Without a Trace". Time magazine Asia. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
↑ "Bruno Manser's biography". Bruno Manser Fonds-for the people of the rainforest. Bruno Manser Fonds. Archived from the original on 9 May 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
↑ Beaman, J. H. (1998). Preliminary enumeration of the summit flora, Mount Murud, Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak. In: Ghazally Ismail & Laily Bin Din (Eds.). A Scientific Journey through Borneo. Bario. The Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak. IBEC, UNIMAS. Pelanduk Publications.
↑ http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/FIN/etikk/Recommendation_Samling.pdf

Geography of Sarawak

Rivers	Balleh Balui Bangkit Baram Bintangor Igan Katibas Kemena Maong Oya Padungan Pandaruan Rajang Sarawak

Mountains	Mount Api Mount Benarat Bukit Batu Buli Bukit Batu Lawi Bukit Pagon Mount Dulit Mount Iran Mount Mulu Mount Murud Mount Pueh Mount Rumput Mount Santubong

Caves	Deer Cave Niah Caves

Islands	Bruit Island

Dispute	South China Sea Beting Raja Jarum/Patinggi Ali Beting Serupai

Historical related buildings, memorials, monuments and sites in Malaysia

West Malaysia

Buildings	A Famosa Abidin Mosque All Saints' Church All Souls' Church Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani Temple Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple Buddhist Maha Vihara Cape Rachado Lighthouse Church of the Risen Christ City Hall Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion Cheng Hoon Teng Christ Church Coliseum Theatre Church of St. Francis Xavier Church of the Assumption Church of the Immaculate Conception Dhammikarama Burmese Temple Dutch Fort Eastern & Oriental Hotel Fort Cornwallis Governor's Museum Holy Spirit Cathedral Hotel Majestic Istana Ampang Tinggi Istana Besar Istana Bukit Serene Istana Seri Menanti Jalan Baru Sri Muniswarar Temple Jehan Chan Art Gallery Johor Bahru Old Chinese Temple Jubilee Clock Tower Kampung Hulu Mosque Kampung Laut Mosque Kapitan Keling Mosque Kek Lok Si Kellie's Castle Khoo Kongsi Kong Hock Keong Temple Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan Lebuh Aceh Mosque Macau Gallery Malacca Light Malay and Islamic World Museum Malaysia Architecture Museum Malaysia Youth Museum National Mosque of Malaysia National Textile Museum Nattukkottai Chettiar Temple One Fathom Bank Lighthouse DBKL City Theatre Penang High Court Penang Islamic Museum Perak State Museum Pinang Peranakan Mansion Poh San Teng Temple Proclamation of Independence Memorial Pisang Island Lighthouse Undan Island Lighthouse Snake Temple Sin Sze Si Ya Temple Sri Aghora Veerapathra Temple Sri Kandaswamy Kovil Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Penang Sri Marathandavar Bala Dhandayuthapani Alayam Temple Sri Poyatha Moorthi Temple Sri Sunderaraja Perumal Temple Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple Stadthuys St. Anne's Church St. George's Church St. John's Cathedral St. Mary's Cathedral St. John's Fort St. Paul's Church St. Peter's Church Straits Chinese Jewellery Museum Suffolk House Sultanah Aminah Hospital Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque Sultan Abdul Samad Building Sultan Ibrahim Building Taiping Hospital Tamil Methodist Church Thni Kong Tnua Wat Chayamangkalaram Wat Phothivihan

Memorials and monuments	Alor Gajah British Graveyard Batu Tenggek War Memorial Cheras War Cemetery Dutch Graveyard Hang Jebat Mausoleum Hang Li Poh's Well Hang Tuah's Well Kedah Royal Mausoleum Kelantan Royal Mausoleum Kuala Klawang Memorial Lord Murugan Statue Al-Ghufran Royal Mausoleum Mahmoodiah Royal Mausoleum Heroes' Mausoleum Sultan Abdul Samad Mausoleum Tomb of Sultan Ali Tomb of Sultan Mahmud Shah II Malacca Warrior Monument Millennium Monument National Monument Old Protestant Cemetery Pahang Old Royal Mausoleum Penang Jewish Cemetery Seri Menanti Royal Mausoleum Statue of Kuan Yin Taiping War Cemetery Kris Monument Tun Teja Mausoleum

Site	Batu Caves Fort of Smelly Monitor Lizard Chinese Hill Princess Hill Chinatown, Kuala Terengganu Fort of Ruins Fort of Ngah Ibrahim's Lenggong Malacca General Hospital Markets of Taiping Morib Penang Botanic Gardens St. Paul's Hill Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital Biru Seri Kundang Lake

East Malaysia

Buildings	Atkinson Clock Tower Fort Hose Fort Margherita Fort Sylvia Kinarut Mansion Labuan Chimney Labuan Clock Tower Sacred Heart Cathedral, Kota Kinabalu Sacred Heart Cathedral, Sibu Sam Sing Kung Temple Sandakan Jamek Mosque Sarawak State Museum St. Michael's Church, Penampang St. Michael's and All Angels Church, Sandakan The Astana Tua Pek Kong Temple

Memorials and monuments	Bronze Globe of Tanjung Simpang Mengayau Brooke Memorial Chartered Company Monument Cho Huan Lai Memorial De Fontaine Memorial Double Six Monument Gunner Cleary Memorial Keningau Oath Stone Kuching Heroes Cemetery Kundasang War Memorial World War II Memorial Last POW Camp Memorial Mat Salleh Memorial North Borneo War Monument Petagas War Memorial Quailey's Hill Memorial Rafflesia Monument Sandakan Heritage Trail Sandakan Massacre Memorial Sandakan Memorial Park Sandakan War Monument Starcevich Monument Tawau Japanese War Memorial Tun Datu Mustapha Memorial William Pryer Monument

Site	Agop Batu Tulug Caves Batu Lawi Hill Batu Lintang camp Chinatown, Kuching Duchess of Kent Hospital Gaya Street, Kota Kinabalu Nunuk Ragang Queen Elizabeth Hospital Sandakan camp Sarawak General Hospital

Coordinates: 3°52′N 115°23′E / 3.867°N 115.383°E / 3.867; 115.383

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