Since the 1950s, the Institute of Teacher Education Batu Lintang has proudly produced countless teachers for the development of education in Sarawak, Malaysia. Aside from its achievements and successes, it also has a rich history dating back to the Japanese occupation in the 1940s.
Institute of Teacher Education Batu Lintang marches on
The developments of the Institute of Teacher Education Batu Lintang had long piqued my interest. It is a place with loud whispers from the past. With remnants lingering at the site, there is an intangible pain that accompanies the existing structure.
I recently took a walk around the site with a former student, Tan Sri Leo Moggie. His gaze was drawn to the school as he reflected on his time there.
“I was there from 1953 to 1957 as a school student where I had my primary five to form three education. And I recall vividly being taught to be independent during my time there. We had to clean the toilets, grow our own vegetables to sell for pocket money, and even sweep the compound,” said the former Minister of Energy, Communications and Multimedia.
The school was established in 1947 at Maderasah Melayu, Jawa Road. The following year, it was relocated to its current location and welcomed its first 19 trainee teachers, who included locals, Sabahans, and Bruneians. The establishment was also the first government upper primary and junior secondary school.
As he pointed out which buildings were older and which were newer, the 81-year-old sang the school’s anthem, which he remembered despite the passage of decades.
However, the site is more than just a school that has housed countless trainee teachers. In fact, the site has a long history that dates back to 1939.
The site of a Punjabi Barrack
According to Edward Mansel, an expert on the subject, before World War II, the site was used as a Punjabi Barrack. It was built in 1939 to accommodate the 2nd Battalion of the 15th Punjab Regiment.
“The Regiment was here by an arrangement between the British and the Rajah Government since the latter had contributed a large sum of money to the British war effort in Europe.”
In exchange for the contribution, the British sent the Punjab Regiment, which was based in Singapore, to Sarawak. They were based in Batu Lintang and consisted of 1,000 men. One of their many tasks was to destroy the oil field in Miri.
“Before the Pacific War began, they were told to destroy resources that would be useful to the Japanese war effort. When the Japanese arrived in Miri on December 16, 1941, the regiment of 1,000 men had fought against 10,000 Japanese soldiers.”
As the beginning of the end looms, the Japanese were able to capture Sarawak on Christmas Eve; the Punjabi regiment, which had fought the war through sweat and tears, had perished, and those who had survived had been detained.
Held captive as Prisoners of War (POWs) at their base in Batu Lintang, the location thus started a new life when World War II reached the shore of Sarawak. Brutality was experienced at the camp, leaving many survivors with painful memories.
Batu Lintang, the site of the Borneo prison camp
When the Japanese entered Sarawak, they established a new regime that resulted in inhumane struggles. Food was scarce and people lived in fear as they were forced to obey a merciless ruler. The future was bleak during those days, with zero hopes of survival.
From December 16, 1941, to September 11, 1945 — these were the dark years in Sarawak’s history. The site that used to hear the marches of the Punjabi Regiment in March 1942 had to watch the struggles of its inhabitants.
The camp, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Tatsuji Suga, had seen civilians and POWs not only from Sarawak but all over Borneo. According to Edward, an estimated 3,000 people were crammed into the site.
Known as the “Lintang Camp”, it covered 50 acres and was divided into nine compounds — women and children, Punjabi soldiers, British Other Ranks, Civilians POW, Dutch officers, British officers, Australian officers, Indonesian Other Ranks, and priests — separated by barbed wire fences.
In the book “Kuching in Pictures: 1841 – 1946” by Ho Ah Chon, a description of the camp can be found: “During the early days in the camp, the conditions, though harsh, were not unbearable. There was a single wire around the perimeter and through it, local friends of the prisoners sometimes managed to pass food and other goods.”
In 1943, the camp’s security was tightened. The Japanese had place men who were more brutal than the former as guards at the camp.
Meanwhile, a second barbed wire perimeter was installed in the hopes of effectively cutting down outside help. Nonetheless, civilians continued to assist as there were still people willing to risk their lives by delivering food to the prisoners secretly at night.
“As the years passed, the camp’s conditions deteriorated. Hunger pains gnawed at empty stomachs during the long hours of the night, and eyes became dim from malnutrition. Everyone suffered, but the situation for British Non-Commissioned Officers and men was especially dire. By 1945, there were around six fatalities every day.”
Post-war developments
Following the liberation of Sarawak on September 11, 1945, the British Military Administration guided the economy’s re-establishment and introduced new policies to strengthen Sarawak.
One of the initiatives taken to recover and gain independence was the speedy re-opening of schools in the late 1940s.
According to Dr Julitta Lim’s book “From an Army Camp to a Teachers’ College”, education in British Borneo fell under the control of Major R E Parry, an officer with wide educational expertise. He was assisted by Captain J Paisley, a former headmaster of St Thomas’ School in Kuching.
Prior to the establishment of Batu Lintang Teachers’ College, the Colonial Government recognised an urgent need for teacher training, especially for rural primary schools. A grant was approved in 1947 under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act for the establishment of the Teachers’ Training Centre and School on the grounds of the Prisoners of War Camp at Batu Lintang.
The school’s student population gradually grew. In 1949, the Batu Lintang Teachers’ College held its first graduation ceremony. The H E Governor, Mr D G Stewart presented teaching certificates to 45 successful students. Each year, the overall number of students increases, and many of them graduated.
To date, countless footsteps have been made at the Batu Lintang site — from the chatter and laughter of the students to the marching sounds of the Punjab Regiment and the silent cries and whimpers of the prisoners during the Japanese occupation. Among the many sounds made, the loudest cries came from the early 1940s, when starvation, brutality, and other inhumane acts were committed at the site.
