Lying buried and forgotten in the Sungei Apong, a small tributary of the Sarawak River, is a forlorn ship — named after a Malay lady called “Maimuna”.
Built for the third Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke in 1926, it was one of two vessels, Maimuna and Lipis, which is constructed for his private use.
The Steel Single Crew vessel was commissioned by J. Pollock, Sons and Co Ltd in Faversham, England for coastal services.
From 1926 till the outbreak of the Second World War, the 316-tonnes Maimuna measuring 130 feet, was used for Vyner’s’ family leisure.
It survived the War, but fell into disrepair and sank in 1965 on the left bank of the river and is still hidden under its murky waters.
Retired Radio Sarawak Information Officer Hajah Maimunah binte Haji Daud, 80, who was named after the ship was told that the vessel often cruised pass their home by the Sarawak river, sometimes with the Rajah on board.
“I was named after the Maimuna. My grandmother told me that the Maimuna plied the river very often that they decided to name me after the boat,” she said.
The boat was so famous that poems had been composed about the vessel. Hajah Maimunah has recorded one of the poems on Maimuna in one of her publications on Malay poems from Sarawak.
She said a poem that is sung during the “Begendang” festival, where men and women, court each other goes like this;
“SIAPA BILANG MAIMUNAH LAJU,
LEBIH LAJU KAPAL MELUAN,
SIAPA BILANG SAYA MENGKUDU,
LEBIH MENGKUDU KEKANDA TUAN”
(Who says Maimuna’s speedy,
The vessel Meluan is faster!
Who says I am a flirter,
At that game, Sir, you’re the master.)
Ten years ago, DAP assemblyman Violet Yong called on the Kuching City Council to remove the vessel which was obstructing the river to the Sungei Apong Jetty. However her call has had no response since.
Heng Hua fishermen living in the Chinese quarter of Sungei Apong remember well the Maimuna, a sunken wreck that is not far from Hang Hua fishing community’s headquarters at Pending.
Soon after the ship was built the Rajah used to ply the Sarawak waters and everyone knew the Maimuna was the Rajah’s vessel.
When the Japanese invaded Sarawak in December 1941, Maimuna and Lipis which was sending troops back from Miri to Kuching, was attacked.
William Chater in “Sarawak Long Ago stated: “They (soldiers from the Sarawak Rangers and the Sarawak Constabulary) left Miri on the Rajah’s yacht, the Maimuna, and accompanied the Lipis, which carried oilfield personnel and some Punjabi troops”.
“About halfway to Kuching, the ships were attacked by a Japanese seaplane. The Rangers let it have all they had — rifles and even the four-inch gun on the stern”.
“They succeeded in driving off the plane but it then attacked the Lipis. Here the machine-gunner on the bridge was killed. Then the Commanding officer of the Punjabi troops of Sarawak took over and was in turn killed while trying to fix the jammed machine gun”.
“It was a tragic sight as the two vessels came upriver and rounded the bend near the Borneo Company (in Kuching). The Maimuna was practically unscathed but the Lipis followed slowly behind, flag at half-mast and sides scarred with bullet marks. She buried six dead at sea and twenty six wounded, including the Captain, were taken off and sent to the General Hospital”.
By the time the Japanese landed in Kuching on Christmas eve 1941, the Maimuna had been concealed in the Nipah swamps of Sungei Apong close to the boats of the Heng Hua fishing community.
Unfortunately after the War, the Australian Allied forces bombed Kuching and the Maimuna which was thought to be a Japanese vessel, was apparently badly hit.
Apparently, when commander of the Allied Forces Brigadier General Thomas Eastick received the sword of surrender from Major General Yamamura at 2 p.m. on September 11, 1945 on board the HMAS Kapunda off pending wharf, Maimuna was listing about 1,000 yards away at Sungei Apong.
After the cession of Sarawak to Great Britain only July 1, 1946, the Maimuna was repaired and re-used as a cargo ship which plied the Sarawak coast.
In 1963, Maimuna was abandoned at its present location about 200 yards from the Pending bridge.
About two years later it sprang a leak and sank — a forlorn lady whom nobody has cared for since.
When Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub was Chief Minister of Sarawak from 1970 untill 1981, there was a proposal to blow up the ship.
But it was called off because the ship was too close to a Malay village on the opposite bank. To honour the vessel, the village was then given the name Kampung Sri Maimunah by the Chief Minister.
Interestingly the villagers of Kampung Sri Maimunah, did not know realise that the sunken vessel at its doorstep, was once the Rajah’s private yacht.
One of the residents of Malay village said that his ancestor “Nenek Merang” (grandma Merang) spoke about the ship which buried about 50 yards from his home across the river bank.
Several years ago the Sarawak Rivers Board authorities again considered removing the vessel because the wreck was considered no longer worthy as it had been vandalised for its metal parts.
In the early 2000s, some people managed to saw off part of the upper portion of the ship to sell as scrap metal. But this activity was stopped by the Sarawak Rivers Board.
At present almost 95 percent of the vessel is embedded in the mud and only a small part of the 130ft ship, about 15 feet, can be seen protruding out of the water when the tide is lowest.
One of the residents chipped in: “I think we can salvage the Maimuna because I believe the main body of the steel vessel has not disintegrated and is still intact.”
Indeed, if Sarawak treasures its rich heritage, a serious effort should be made to resurrect the Maimuna because she does not deserve such an ignominious demise.
