Siniawan is a come-back town.

Its downfall is the classic story of a stopping-place made redundant by a new road. Then there were floods. Two biggies, in 2004 and 2009.

But where other places might have succumbed, Siniawan fought back, aided by architect Mike Boon.

Now the little town is fine and handsome, and noted for its weekend night market.

Our visit coincided with the celebration of Chap Goh Meh, which marks the end of the Chinese New Year period.

This meant we were unable to pay much attention to the old-world buildings or even to the food (we made do with pandan mochi and pumpkin steamed buns), because the streets where people normally spread out to eat were taken up by the Chap Goh Meh parade.

This was a big noisy delight, a psychedelic pandemonium of gongs and drums, lions and dragons, outsize lanterns and Journey to the West.

Bang bang, clang clang, boom boom.

Fireworks added their bit to the OTT soundscape and the light of the ubiquitous red lanterns.

I'm hoping, along with many others, that all this racket and light will have scared away any nasty spirits that might have been lurking in our vicinity, and give us a peaceful year ahead.











The history of the Santubong area goes back a really long way, to the times when it was an important harbour and a centre for the iron industry. Over the years the prominence of Santubong mountain continued to orientate would-be migrants.

We joined four others on a boat trip from the Sarawak Boat Club, down the Santubong River, round the headland, up the Salak River, and round Salak Island. The full moon that had dictated the time for Chap Goh Meh made for exceptionally low tides as well.

There's a possibility of seeing crocodiles and river dolphins on this trip. We saw none of either. But we did see proboscis monkeys and small-clawed otters. And we had almost two hours on a boat, spotting kingfishers and egrets and eagles, watching the mangroves slide by and the profile of Gunung Santubong change and the riverine scenery give way to a patchwork of coast and islands, and peering in to the life of a fishing village. We went home well contented with our journey.