Author: James Alexander Ritchie

From rhino horns to penis pins

It still boggles the mind as to man’s propensity to kill wantonly for the sake of profit, sport, self-esteem and personal glory. I remember the old days when I would accompany groups of Chinese towkays owning semi-auto shotguns on weekend hunting trips. In those days, the forests were teeming with

Cutting the nose to spite the face

It’s interesting that a former Sarawak assemblyman who has jumped ship, is now trying to find fault with his countrymen and political fraternity. Not too long ago Larry Sng was an aspiring young man whose utterance was fair but since jumping ship and becoming a Member of Parliament for Julau, he

From Kelantan to Borneo Highlands

Sixty years is a long time, but I believe in the philosophy that it’s better late that never. So despite the physical distance between the East and West, I finally caught up with my primary school classmate from Kota Baru It was meeting of people from two cultures — from

Exploring Pontianak — City of Ghosts

If you visit Pontianak in West Kalimantan you must secure the services of a guide who knows the city like the back of his hand. But a qualified guide may only show you places of touristic interest but may not have the inside story which is more interesting. As a

Want to be an international ‘rat traveller’?

All too often we see domesticated animals – cats and dogs and their offspring – abandoned by their owners at car parks, eating places, and even kittens in boxes by the roadside. If lucky, some kind soul would adopt the animal or in rare cases, send it to the Society

Of stateless Penan, dogs and ICs

Penan nomad Pajak Beto and his six family members trekked for two weeks through the Baram forests before arriving at Batu Bungan village in the Mulu National Park late that evening. Pajak had heard that a National Registration Department (NRD) team was carrying out a special exercise to register the

Sarawak is so different from Malaysia

For many years I have been peeved by comments by Malaysian visitors from the Peninsular who cannot differentiate between Sarawak and the country as a whole. Time and again after taking my ex-colleagues in journalism, friends and former classmates on excursions in and around Kuching, some would make a comment

A confluence of adventure writers

It’s not often that you meet a modern-day American journalist exploring in Borneo, given its former reputation as being a land of the head hunters. So it was a pleasant surprise when I was introduced to American writer and adventurer David Hunter Bishop. David had heard about Sarawak and the

Mind your English!

As the saying goes, self-praise is no praise. But as the devil’s advocate, I must tell you a few things about myself before you get me wrong. First of all we must understand who the devil’s advocate is. The Bible describes the devil’s advocate as Satan, the serpent who told

Of bigots, opportunists and man-eating crocs

THERE is a Malay saying that goes, Air tenang jangan disangka tiada buaya. It means that beneath calm waters, there could be a lurking crocodile. In Sarawak where man-eating crocodiles rule the rivers and waterways you always have to be prepared when you travel in the rural interior. I should