First outstation Anglican Church Banting Town Exploration with Borneo Explorer

The river at Lingga and Banting are Batang Klauh to Batang Seterap to Batang Lupar are famous for the crocodile. There are many stories on crocodile eating man. But the local children still dare to swim in the river 😥

The first outstation Anglican Church was erected in Banting, Sri Aman, after visit by Rajah James Brooke and the Rev. Dr. Thomas MdDougall in 1859. 

The local people told me that this is the 2nd oldest church in Sarawak.

Made from Belian wood, the Banting Church was consecrated on 17th July 1859 the same year. The old church, which has been renovated, is still used by the Iban Christians in the Banting vicinity. 

The guide told me that this is the only gravestone which made by bronze.

Banting was one of the first stations chosen by the early Christian missionaries of the Anglican Communion from which to spread the Gospel.

Some history about this place

The first seed: a flop

The Anglican Mission in the Second Division had its baptism of fire at Skrang in 1851. Pioneering missionaries produced not a single convert among the people there.

In January 1853, Chambers, one of them, had to stop travelling around as Rentap’s men were on the warpath. Bereton, in charge of the government’s fort there, had summoned Alan Lee at Lingga, for help.

During a battle on the river in front of a stockade, Lee was killed.
So the fort had to be moved to Simanggang and it became Fort Alice in 1864.

No longer a safe place, the Anglican Mission also had to move downriver, eventually to Banting, where the Seed began to sprout.

Of the converts at Banting, one Ingkul was the first to be baptised in 1855.
Practically all the priests and church workers had come from England; many struggled to survive under harsh tropical conditions. Despite the difficulties, several priests managed to spread the Gospel to other districts, for instance, to Sebetan and Kerian.

As the Church membership expanded, more workers were needed. For this, Banting was made a centre of training for the catechists, teachers and health workers.

The Majestic Mount Lesong / Mount Lingga

Education was another component of the Mission’s work.

Over a period of a century and a half, the school at Banting must have produced hundreds of students who later became teachers, government servants, businessmen, and other professionals. 

Of recent interest is the fact that Penghulu Tawi Sli, second chief minister of Sarawak (1966-1969) was a teacher at Banting.

The Batang Klauh (Klauh River), the connection to the outside world is by boat on this river.

There are two longhouse next to the school, and my friends and I visited the longhouse

This longhouse have 48 doors, and its very old. I notice there are quite a lot of rotten wood on the floor. 

Visiting the Lingga Town, Sarawak, Borneo 笼芽镇拜访记

I visited Lingga town after I finished my hike to Bukit Sium at Batang Ai. This is a small coastal town which can be reach by road via Sri Aman town, the road condition are acceptable, as its tar road from Sri Aman town all the way to Lingga town. The Lingga town its situated near the Lupar River (Batang Lupar) debouches into the South China Sea.
完成我的休谟无卡山探险记，巴当艾河国家公园。我拜访了笼芽镇，这是一个在海外的小镇。从诗里阿曼可以开车到，泊油路。路况还可以接受，笼芽镇是在 LUPAR 河的对面而已。

There is only one row of Chinese shop house situated near the river bank.

笼芽镇只有一排华人店屋，对面就是河。

One thing that caught my attention was the first, second, third, and fourth shop house, the structure are beginning to lean to the left. After a few more years, it might even collapse if no repair work.

这排老店特别的就是前第一，二，三及第四间已经开始稍微斜去左边。如果再没有维修，几年后恐怕会倒塌。

Every morning the shop will open at about 7.30am - 8am, and people will come for breakfast, and buy some food. The kuih they sell here are cheaper than what we get from the city. 

每个早上，这些店铺在八点前就开门做生意。当地的村民们就会来早餐，购买食物。

On the sky of Lingga town, we saw a rare scenery, a huge swarm of bats flew over the sky. 

在笼芽镇的天空，我们看到一个罕见的风景，一大群的蝙蝠飞过天空。