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423_34 | While the Supreme Court failed to overturn Walker's conviction or grant him a new trial, it instructed the lower court to delete that portion of Walker's life sentence that excluded any possibility of parole, allowing him to apply to the California Adult Authority for parole and to have his parole application duly considered. Walker applied for parole in 1974, which was granted, and he was released from Vacaville. After a short stay at a halfway house, Walker was released from further parole restrictions. Immediately after leaving prison, he legally changed his name. After obtaining a job as a chemist, he disappeared from public view. Walker died in 2008. |
423_35 | He Walked by Night
In 1948, Eagle-Lion Films released a film that was loosely based on Walker's 1946 crime spree in Los Angeles, He Walked by Night. Walker's character, Roy Morgan, was played by actor Richard Basehart. The film was shot in a semidocumentary format on location in and around Los Angeles. In the film, Morgan is shot dead by police in one of the city's underground drainage tunnels as he attempts to shoot his way out of the police dragnet.
References
People from Glendale, California
1917 births
2008 deaths
United States Army officers
United States Army personnel of World War II
1946 murders in the United States
American people convicted of murder
People convicted of murder by California
Capital punishment in California
Prisoners sentenced to death by California
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California
American prisoners sentenced to death
American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
History of Los Angeles
Military personnel from California |
424_0 | The history of bus transport in Hong Kong began with the introduction of the first bus routes in Hong Kong in the 1920s.
History
1920s: The beginning
Bus transport in Hong Kong was started in the 1920s. Several operators were managing a number of bus routes on both sides of the Victoria Harbour by the end of the 1920s. These included –
Kowloon Motor Bus
China Motor Bus
Hong Kong Tramways
Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels
Aberdeen Kai Fong Hotel
Hong Kong Hotels
1930s: Pre-war franchise
In 1933, bus services were franchised. Rights were given to Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) on the North side, and China Motor Bus (CMB) on the Island. Other bus companies such as Hong Kong Tramways, Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotels, Hong Kong Hotel and Aberdeen Kai Fong, had to cease operations and their buses sold to the franchised operators. |
424_1 | Records relating to the period before the 1930s are scarce as they were mostly destroyed in World War II, but the surviving photographic and written evidence indicates that an extensive network of buses served both sides of the harbour. Some remote areas of the territory at the time, such as Yuen Long, Fanling and Stanley were also served. Buses of various British bus manufacturers, such as Leyland, Thornycroft and Daimler were present in significant numbers around the territory.
Early 1940s: During the war
During the occupation, the Japanese tried to restore bus services to normal levels, but were unsuccessful due to an insufficient supply of fuel and spare parts. The limited resources and buses available for service was also responsible for the reduction in the total number of routes in service, as well as for the re-introduction of horse-driven carts to the territory. |
424_2 | Late 1940s – 1950s: Post-war expansion (part one)
When the British returned, they put the restoration of public transport to the highest priority. Before new buses were shipped to Hong Kong, both KMB and CMB had to use modified trucks instead of proper buses to transport passengers. These trucks were phased out by the end of the 1950s. The position eased when KMB took delivery of a batch of 50 single-deck Tilling-Stevens and CMB a further 108 during 1947/48. |
424_3 | The return of large number of people to Hong Kong after the war, and people who wanted to escape from the communists, caused a population boom. As a result, the demand for public transport skyrocketed and larger buses became necessary. Kowloon Motor Bus received 20 Daimler CVG5 double-decker buses in 1949 as a trial (one of the first 4 buses introduced had been preserved by KMB after withdrawal in the early 1980s). They turned out to be an unparalleled success, just like the AEC Regents (RT) in London. More than 1,000 buses in various specifications, including the Daimler Fleetlines, were to follow until the 1970s. |
424_4 | China Motor Bus chose to use more single-deck buses instead. This was because the Gardner engined double-deckers did not perform satisfactorily given the hilly terrain, and population levels on the island were more steady and predictable. The company partnered with Guy in Wolverhampton, England and became the second major buyer of Guy Arab buses – after Wolverhampton Corporation Transport.
1960s: Post-war expansion (part two)
A comparison the buses on both sides of the harbour in the 1960s: The KMB buses were larger in capacity with standard engines, while those of CMB were small yet over-powered. While KMB went for 34-foot double-decker buses, CMB chose to buy 36-foot version of Guy Arab, but with only 60% of the capacity of a 34-footer. |
424_5 | The growth of Hong Kong seemed to be out of control and squatter settlements sprang up everywhere. Areas like Wong Tai Sin, Kwun Tong and Chai Wan were developed at a rate that were unparalleled in any other British colony. The bus network had to grow accordingly. KMB started to call for double-deckers longer than 30 feet (after the British lack of regulations); to their dismay, Daimler did not respond and KMB had to buy a number of 34-footers from AEC to provide a decent level of service. Daimler finally regained ground by introducing the 34-foot CVG6 with the Gardner 6LX engine. This model found favour with KMB, which bought about 220 of them. Soon, these behemoths – for their time – were dominating the Kowloon streets, and replaced older Daimlers in outer areas, as well as the Cross-Harbour Tunnel routes later. |
424_6 | Meanwhile, CMB was tackling an equally big problem. On routes 8 and 8A (later to become route 82), buses have to travel up a hill, which includes covering a 1-km road with a gradient of 1:10. However, the small Tilling-Stevens and the Arabs which the CMB deployed were not up to the challenge due to the large population of Chai Wan, and the large double-deckers used by CMB did not have the required engine power. Finally CMB ordered 40 36-foot single-deck buses to shift the working crowds, after considering their early success in Africa. Those single-deckers, however, suffered from the same problem as their African siblings: They were too long, with a 10-foot overhang, 22-foot wheelbase and no upper deck to provide additional strength. The buses literally bent and their tail ends swung up and down. They were used for no longer than 10 years before being cut down to standard 30-foot length and re-bodied. |
424_7 | In 1963, China Motor Bus introduced the first double-decker bus (a Dennis Loline III) on Hong Kong Island, later CMB introduced more double-deckers (Guy Arabs) on routes serving the northern coast of the island.
At that time, even with larger buses and increased ridership, costs were still high. On KMB buses, there were up to four people employed on each bus – a driver, one or two conductors to collect the fares and the last, the gateman, supervised boarding and alighting by opening and closing the gates at each end. CMB buses had two crew on each bus, with the fare collector and the door-keeper being the same person. This level of manning was soon deemed unacceptable and the bus companies replaced manual doors and gates or open platforms with pneumatic doors, which eliminated the need for the gateman. However, there were no layoffs, as both bus companies were expanding and the surplus staff were soon retrained and deployed on new routes.
1967 Riot and the PLB Detour |
424_8 | The outbreak of 1967 riots halted the bus services because of the intimidation of the front-line operational staff in the latter part of 1967. Services slowly returned to previous levels in early 1968, but this interruption had given the opportunity for dual-purpose vans to flourish and provide illegal – but at that time, necessary – public passenger services, which were then later to be legalised by a weak Transport Department and become the Public Light Bus.
In 1968, two new towns, Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan, started flourishing and KMB extended its service by opening a new route 40 to and from these.
Early 1970s
As the demand of bus service was increasing and production of front-engine buses in UK was terminated, CMB and KMB acquired a number of second-hand buses such as Leyland Titans and Leyland Atlanteans from UK in the early 1970s. |
424_9 | In 1970, CMB started fitting more powerful engines to its Guy Arab double-deckers, giving them enough power for climbing up slopes and servicing areas such as the Mid-levels. In the same year, CMB also decided to convert its Guy Arab MkV single-deckers to double-deckers after one caught fire in 1968. Some of the short-wheelbase buses were rebodied with low-height double-deck bodies, enabling them to provide service on the Victoria Peak.
In 1971, CMB carried out tests of one-man-operated (OMO) bus with the post of the conductor eliminated. Passengers paid their fare by putting coins into a collection box. The tests were considered successful and so CMB converted all their buses to OMO by 1976. KMB had also likewise started to operate OMO buses since 1972.
In February 1972, CMB received one Daimler Fleetline rear-engine double-decker for evaluation, and subsequently started to introduce more Fleetlines in 1973. KMB also introduced their first Fleetline in 1974. |
424_10 | In August 1972, Cross-Harbour Tunnel connected Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. KMB and CMB jointly operated 3 new routes servicing both sides of the Victoria Harbour. The three routes are:
101: Kwun Tong (Yue Man Square) – Kennedy Town,
102: Lai Chi Kok – Shau Kei Wan, and
103: Wang Tau Hom – Pokfield Road
On 1 April 1974, New Lantao Bus Co.,(1973) Ltd. became the third franchised bus company in Hong Kong.
Late 1970s: The Fleetline and the Victory
In the 1970s, CMB and KMB purchased almost 800 Fleetlines. With the new 3+2 seating arrangement in both decks, these Fleetlines could carry more than 120 passengers. Due to the high capacity, the Fleetlines were usually allocated to highly demanded cross-harbour routes. |
424_11 | However, the Fleetlines in Hong Kong were unreliable and poor in climbing slopes, so CMB and KMB had to find the alternatives. CMB evaluated the Ashok Leyland Titan, Scania Metropolitan and Volvo Ailsa B55, but these models were not successful. KMB evaluated the Guy Victory J modified by Bus Bodies (South Africa) Limited and Dennis Jubilant. Later British Leyland reacted by producing the Leyland Victory Mark 2, which was modified from the Victory J chassis and, like the Dennis Jubilant, had high-powered engine and automatic transmission. KMB and CMB purchased large number of Dennis Jubilant and Leyland Victory Mark 2 buses in late-1970s/early-1980s. |
424_12 | In 1975, KMB introduced its coach services, with the aim to attract more wealthy people to travel by coaches instead of driving; the company also introduced two airport coach routes in the same year. 1975 also saw the first overnight routes to be introduced – cross-harbour routes 121 and 122 (now known as routes N121 and N122 respectively), bus-bus interchange was also introduced for the two routes at the toll-plaza of Cross-Harbour Tunnel, the first of such practice in Hong Kong.
CMB introduced two suburban coach routes in 1978, using the first model of second generation rear-engined double-decker (MCW Metrobus) in Hong Kong.
Early 1980s: Race to the 3-axler, Dragons chasing the Mercedes
In the early 1980s, CMB and KMB acquired a number of second-hand buses from UK, but this time all of them were ex-London Transport Daimler/Leyland Fleetlines. |
424_13 | In 1980, KMB started to evaluate air-conditioned double-deckers, but the trial was unsuccessful and the air-conditioners of the two buses (one Dennis Jubilant and one Leyland Victory Mark 2) were removed in 1983.
In 1981, CMB and KMB introduced the first 12-metre 3-axle double-deckers (MCW Metrobus). Another three 12-metre 3-axle double-decker bus models were introduced in late 1981/early 1982, namely Volvo Ailsa B55, Dennis Dragon/Condor and Leyland Olympian, all except the Volvo Ailsa are second generation rear-engined double-deckers.
In 1982, KMB finished the conversion of all of its buses to one-man operation.
Following the end of restriction of buying new buses from countries of Commonwealth of Nations, KMB introduced one German-built Mercedes-Benz O305 double-decker in 1983. It was followed by another 40 in 1985.
Late 1980s: It's too cool to be in an Olympian, yet cooler in a Falcon |
424_14 | In 1985, KMB upgraded its airport coach service by introducing air-conditioned Dennis Falcon, which had the air conditioner driven by the main engine. The service was later named the "Airbus" service.
In 1986, KMB introduced the first 11-metre 3-axle double-deckers. These buses were designed with better manoeuvrability than 12-metre buses, with the feature of high capacity retained. |
424_15 | KMB resumed the evaluation of air-conditioned double-decker in the late 1980s, unlike those evaluated in the early 1980s, all these buses evaluated had the air-conditioning directly driven by the main engine. In 1987, the trial of one air-conditioned MCW Metrobus was started, but it was unsuccessful and the bus had its air-conditioning removed. Later Leyland Bus delivered one air-conditioned Olympian to KMB and the bus entered service in 1988, it was successful and later KMB started to place orders of air-conditioned Olympians (the prototype Olympian was finally withdrawn in 2005 and was preserved). An air-conditioned Dennis Dragon, which was also successful, was evaluated by KMB in 1990.
1990s: Interchanging when one saw the other's demise
In September 1991, Citybus started to operate one franchised route on Hong Kong Island, becoming the fourth franchised bus company in Hong Kong.
In January 1992, New Lantao Bus was acquired by Kwoon Chung Motors. |
424_16 | China Motor Bus's service was being protested by the passengers since the 1980s, and was being criticised by the councillors of Legislative Council, finally CMB was forced to hand 28 routes to Citybus in 1993, and another 14 routes in 1995. In 1997 Citybus introduced several routes to replace some routes discontinued by CMB.
In 1995, KMB introduced its last non-air-conditioned buses. Since then, all the buses introduced by the franchised bus companies were air-conditioned.
In 1996, super low floor single-deckers were introduced in Hong Kong, Citybus introduced ten Volvo B6LE, then KMB followed by introducing 12 Dennis Dart SLF buses. Later in 1997, the first super low floor double-deckers (Dennis Trident, the KMB of prototype Trident was finally withdrawn in 2015 and was preserved) were also introduced by KMB and Citybus; in the following two years, different models of super low floor buses were being introduced. |
424_17 | In May 1997, with the Tsing Ma Bridge coming into operation and commencement of settlement in the Tung Chung new town, Citybus and Long Win Bus (subsidiary of KMB) started to operate new franchised routes serving Tung Chung. Both of them, together with New Lantao Bus, started to operate the new airport bus services when the new Hong Kong International Airport came into operation on 6 July 1998.
In March 1998, Citybus became the first franchised bus company to operate fully air-conditioned bus fleet.
After China Motor Bus handed 42 routes to Citybus, the public and the government were still not satisfied, however. Finally, CMB's bus franchise was terminated on 31 August 1998, and its routes went to New World First Bus (NWFB), Citybus and KMB on 1 September 1998.
In March 1999, Citybus was acquired by the Stagecoach Group. |
424_18 | The 1990s also saw the withdrawal of Daimler/Leyland Fleetline and Leyland Victory Mark 2 buses. CMB and KMB started to withdraw their Fleetlines in the late 1980s and the last KMB Fleetline was withdrawn in 1995. All the KMB's Victories were also withdrawn in the 1990s. After New World First Bus acquired the whole CMB fleet, it also replaced the Victories and the remaining Fleetlines with new super low floor buses, the last Fleetlines and Victories were withdrawn in August 2000.
Bus-bus interchange became a common practice since the 1990s. In 1991 bus-bus interchange was introduced for Shing Mun Tunnel routes. Later on bus-bus interchange using transfer tickets was introduced on some overnight routes and Tai Lam Tunnel routes. With the Octopus card being accepted on some franchised bus routes since 1997, the first bus-bus interchange using Octopus card was first introduced in 1999.
2000s: On the edge, to the scrapyard |
424_19 | In the 2000s, the franchised bus companies continued to introduce new super low floor double-deckers. In 2003, KMB introduced the first new generation super low floor double-decker (TransBus Enviro500) with wider (with the width of 2550mm instead of 2500mm) bodywork and straight staircase.
In August 2002, NWFB withdrew its last non-air-conditioned buses and became the second franchised bus company to operate fully air-conditioned bus fleet.
In June 2003, Citybus was acquired by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, the parent company of its major rival operator New World First Bus. |
424_20 | The 2000s also saw the withdrawal of second generation rear-engined double-deckers. Actually CMB had already withdrawn several in the 1990s. When NWFB took over in 1998, they withdrew the rest of these buses, with the last leaving the fleet in 2002. KMB also started to withdraw these double-deckers from 2000, including Leyland Olympians, Dennis Dominators/Dragons and MCW Metrobus. The withdrawal process of these buses was underway throughout the 2000s.
The last MCW Metrobus was withdrawn by KMB in 2007, which marks the extinction of MCW buses in franchised bus companies. |
424_21 | 2010s: Introduction of two-axle air-conditioned double deckers and extinction of non-low floor (including Hotdog) buses
In 2010, franchised bus operators introduced the first two-axle air-conditioned double deckers. KMB introduced one Alexander Dennis Enviro400, Citybus introduced two Enviro400s, later in the same year both KMB and Citybus have received one two-axle Volvo B9TL. The first production two-axle air-conditioned double deckers appeared in 2011.
The withdrawal of KMB's non-air-conditioned double deckers also reached the final stage in the 2010s. In late 2011, one KMB's non-air-conditioned double decker received advertisement banners, stating "Farewell KMB Non Air-Conditioned Bus (2012)". The last non-air-conditioned buses were removed from service on 9 May 2012 when the last four KMB routes were converted to fully air-conditioned bus services, thus ending the service of franchised non-air-conditioned buses in Hong Kong. |
424_22 | In 2013, KMB evaluated one BYD K9A fully electric single-decker bus, including a one-month trial run on route 2. It was the first fully electric bus used on franchised bus services. The bus was returned to BYD in December 2013.
In 2014, KMB, New World First Bus and Citybus introduced its first series diesel-electric hybrid buses, which is funded by the Hong Kong Government for trial of at least two years. Also during the same year, KMB and Citybus launched their first 12.8-metre high-capacity buses, which it claims would be more environmentally friendly since its larger capacity means carrying more passengers with fewer vehicles on road.
The last non-wheelchair-accessible buses will be withdrawn by 2017, apart from New Lantao Bus because of terrain constraints. New World First Bus has already been upgraded to full low-floor fleet with effect from 5 September 2015.
References
Further reading
Bus transport in Hong Kong
Bus transport
History of bus transport |
425_0 | Saurashtra, also known as Sorath or Kathiawar, is a peninsular region of Gujarat, India, located on the Arabian Sea coast. It covers about a third of Gujarat state, notably 11 districts of Gujarat, including Rajkot District. It was formerly a state of India before it merged with Bombay state. In 1961 it separated from Bombay and joined Gujarat.
Location
Saurashtra peninsula is bound on the south and south-west by the Arabian sea, on the north-west by the Gulf of Kutch and on the east by the Gulf of Khambhat. From the apex of these two gulfs, the Little Rann of Kutch and Khambhat, waste tracts half salt morass half sandy desert, stretch inland towards each other and complete the isolation of Kathiawar, except one narrow neck which connects it on the north-east with the mainland of Gujarat. |
425_1 | The peninsula is sometimes referred to as Kathiawar after the Kathi Darbar, which once ruled most of the region. However, Saurashtra is not entirely synonymous with Kathiawar, since a small portion of the historical Saurashtra region extends beyond the Kathiawar peninsula. Sorath forms the southern portion of the peninsula.
"sau" means 100 and "rasthra" means languages and sourasthra is made up with 100 languages so there isn't one original word.
According to few experts, the name Saurashtra is derived from Saura Rashtra. In Sanskrit, Saura means Sun and Rashtra means country. It means, country of Sun, and there were 12 sun temples in ancient times in this region. Due to continued Islamic invasions, the idols of deities of these temples were moved to other places, one of those is located at Kanakaditya Temple at Kasheli near Pawas in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. The location of other 11 idols are currently unknown. |
425_2 | Districts
The Saurashtra region comprises the south western part of modern Gujarat state and the districts included in this region are:
Devbhoomi Dwarka
Jamnagar
Morbi
Rajkot
Porbandar
Junagadh
Gir Somnath
Amreli
Bhavnagar
Botad
Surendranagar
Ahmedabad (part) {Dhandhuka taluka}
The region also historically encompassed the Diu district of the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu union territory.
History
Referred to as Saurashtra and as some other names as well over a period of time, since the Mahabharata and Vedic period, this region is mentioned again as Surastrene, or Saraostus in the first century CE Periplus of the Erythraean Sea:
In earliest foreign mention, Egyptian mathematician, geographer, astrologer Claudius Ptolemy and Greek manuscript Periplus both call this region "Surastrene" |
425_3 | Saurashtra and its Prakrit name Sorath, literally means "good country". The name finds mentions in the Junagadh Rock inscription dating 150 CE, attributed to Rudradaman I. Prior to this, during the rule of Ashoka (268–232 BCE), the region was under Yavana Tushaspa, and governed by Pushyagupta during Chandragupta Maurya's reign (322BC – 298BC). From the 8th to 11th century, Brahmin merchants from Saurashtra region started migrating towards Southern India due to the frequent Muslim invasions, these merchants upon the invitation of Chola, Pandya, Vijayanagara, Nayak and Thanjavur Maratha Kings set up mercantile silk-weaving guilds throughout Southern India and were involved in the trade of silk clothes and diamonds to the royal families of ancient South India, as the silk became the attire of royal families after the period of Gupta dynasty. These Brahmins who trace their ancestry to the historical region of Saurashtra are now known as the Saurashtra people. Several historians believe |
425_4 | that it was Saurashtrian textile merchants who introduced idly to South India during the 10th and 12th centuries. There are even claims that a mix of rice and urad dal ground together and later steamed to form cakes had its origins in Gujarat. This was called Iddada. |
425_5 | Gir
For a long time, the name Sorath referred to this region. From the 9th to 14th century Chudasama Rajput ruled Sorath with their capitals Vanthali and Junagadh alternatively. The Chudasama Rajputs ruled Sorath longer than any others, until the Sorath area came under Muslim rule. Sorath, a Muslim name of Saurashtra, was initially one of ten prants, but by the colonial age it was one of only four surviving ones, the others being absorbed. The salute state Junagadh (alias "Junagarh" or the "Old Fort"), founded during British rule, and its neighbouring states were controlled by the Western India States Agency (WISA). In 1947, Junagadh's Muslim ruler desired to accede his territory to Pakistan, but the predominantly Hindu population rebelled.
Saurashtra State |
425_6 | After India's independence in 1947, 217 princely states of Kathiawar, including the former Junagadh State, were merged to form the state of Saurashtra on 15 February 1948. Initially, it was named United State of Kathiawar, which was renamed to Saurashtra State in November 1948. The exercise took up a lot of Shri Vallabhbhai Patel's time to convince the local princes and petty subas (totalling 222 in Saurashtra alone). However, Maharaja Krishnakumar Sinhji of Bhavnagar State readily extended to offer his large and royal empire of Bhavnagar / Gohilwar to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Bhavnagar became the first in the country to be merged into the union of India.
The capital of Saurashtra was Rajkot. Uchharangray Navalshankar Dhebar, who later went on to become President of the Indian National Congress between 1955 and 1959, became Saurashtra's first Chief Minister. He was succeeded by Rasiklal Umedchand Parikh on 19 December 1954. |
425_7 | On 1 November 1956, Saurashtra was merged into Bombay state. In 1960 Bombay state was divided along linguistic lines into the new states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The territory of Saurashtra, including Junagadh and all of Sorath, became part of the state of Gujarat.
Language
Saurashtra (alternate names and spellings: Sourashtra, Sowrashtra, Palkar) is also the name of an Indo-Aryan language of Kathiawar-Saurashtra. Though the Saurashtra language is not spoken in the region now, people of this region who migrated to Southern India - especially Karnataka (Bengaluru), Tamil Nadu (Ambur, Madurai, Dindigul, Paramakudi, Salem, Tanjore, Pudukkottai, Trichy, Namakkal, Kanyakumari, Kanchipuram, Walajapet, Arani, Chennai, Palayamkottai, Kumbakonam, Thirubuvanam) and Andhra Pradesh - still preserve and speak the language. The script of this language is derived from the Devanagari script and shares similarities with modern-day Gujarati. |
425_8 | Postage stamps
The first postage stamps of the state were issued for Princely State of Junagadh in 1864. They consisted of three lines of Hindi script in colourless letters on black, and were produced by hand-stamping with watercolor ink. A second issue in 1868 used coloured letters, printed in black or red on several colours of paper.
The issue of 1877 was the first to include Latin letters; the circular design included the inscription "SORUTH POSTAGE" at the top, and "ONE ANNA OF A RUPEE" (or "FOUR ANNAS...") at the bottom. Some of these were surcharged in 1913–14, followed by redesigned stamps in 1914.
A set of eight stamps in 1929 included pictures of Junagadh, the Gir lion, and the Kathi horse in addition to the nawab. In 1937 the one anna value was reissued reading "POSTAGE AND REVENUE". |
425_9 | The Indian province of Saurashtra did not design any of its own stamps, but before adopting the stamps of India, Saurashtra issued a court fee stamp overprinted for postal use, then created more one anna stamps by surcharging three stamps of the 1929 issue.
Natural resources
Saurashtra has been a flourishing region and rich in natural resources since ancient times, while having gone through several droughts especially during the 20th century. Water resources and its related dynamics have influenced the region and its agro-economy to a certain extent. It is found that water was easily available in the region 10 to 15 years ago. Ashvin A. Shah, a US-based engineering consultant who conducted a survey in 1998 on water availability in the region, says, "The presence of 700,000 dugwells in Saurashtra region indicates the presence of extensive groundwater aquifers throughout the region. This means there is one well for fewer than 20 people or one well every 300 metres". |
425_10 | Amri Saurashtra went through severe droughts over the years to the extent that people could no longer grow crops, nor did they have drinking water available. There has been in recent times a campaign to take up rain water harvesting.
Significantly, the Check dam campaign from the late 1990s brought almost a drastic change resulting in raising water tables in Saurashtra. However, in 2019, the region was hit with a severe drought, affecting 20 districts in Gujarat, and water had to be brought in by tanker from the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River.
References
Sources and external links
Ron Wood, Soruth (Handbook of Indian Philately, Series 2, Hampshire, UK: The India Study Circle for Philately, 1999)
Sapovadia, Vrajlal K., Saurashtra: A Language, Region, Culture & Community (3 April 2012). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2033685
Historical Indian regions
Regions of Gujarat
Gulf of Khambhat |
426_0 | Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann (; 16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was a German communist politician, and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933.
A committed Marxist-Leninist, Thälmann played a major role during the political instability of the Weimar Republic, especially in its final years, when the KPD explicitly sought to overthrow the liberal democracy of the republic. Under his leadership the KPD became intimately associated with the government of the Soviet Union and the policies of Joseph Stalin. The KPD under Thälmann's leadership regarded the Social Democratic Party (SPD) as its main adversary and the party adopted the position that the social democrats were "social fascists". |
426_1 | Thälmann was also leader of the paramilitary Roter Frontkämpferbund (which was banned as extremist by the governing social democrats in 1929). In 1932 he established Antifaschistische Aktion. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and held in solitary confinement for eleven years; for political reasons, Stalin did not seek his release when he entered into the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Germany, and Thälmann's party rival Walter Ulbricht ignored requests to plead on his behalf. Thälmann was shot on Adolf Hitler's personal orders in Buchenwald in 1944.
Family and early years
Ernst Thälmann's parents, Johannes Thälmann (called 'Jan'; 11 April 1857, Weddern (Holstein) – 31 October 1933), a farmworker, and Mary-Magdalene (née Kohpeiss; 8 November 1857, Kirchwerder – 9 March 1927) married in 1884 in Hamburg. Ernst's parents had no party affiliation; in contrast to his father, his mother was deeply religious. |
426_2 | After Ernst's birth, his parents took over a pub near the Port of Hamburg. On 4 April 1887, his sister Frieda was born (died 8 July 1967 in Hamburg). In March 1892, Thälmann's parents were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison, because they had fenced stolen goods or had taken them for debt payment. Ernst and Frieda were placed in separate foster families. Thälmann's parents were released early; his mother in May, and his father in October 1893. His parents' offense was used 36 years later in the campaign against Ernst Thälmann. |
426_3 | From 1893 to 1900, Thälmann attended elementary school. He later described history, natural history, folklore, mathematics, gymnastics and sports as his favorite subjects. However, he did not like religion. In the mid-1890s, his parents opened a vegetable, coal and wagon shop in Eilbek, a suburb of Hamburg. The young Ernst worked in the business after school and did his schoolwork in the morning before classes started. Despite this burden, Thälmann was a good student who enjoyed learning. He wanted to become a teacher or to learn a trade, but his parents refused to lend him financial support. He had to continue working in his parents' business, causing much sorrow and conflict with his parents. Therefore, he sought a job as an unskilled worker in the port. Here the ten-year-old Thälmann came in contact with the port workers on strike from November 1896 till February 1897 in the bitter labor dispute known as the Hamburg Docker's Strike 1896/97. |
426_4 | Leaving home; World War I; desertion
At the beginning of 1902, he left home. He first lived in an emergency shelter, later in a basement apartment, and in 1904 he was fireman on the steam-powered freight ship AMERIKA which also traveled to the USA. He was a Social Democratic Party member during 1903. On 1 February 1904, he joined the Central Union of Trade, transport and traffic workers of Germany and ascended to the chairman of the 'Department carters'. In 1913, he supported a call of Rosa Luxemburg for a mass strike as a means of action of the SPD to enforce political demands. From 1913 to 1914, he worked for a laundry as a coachman. |
426_5 | In January 1915, one day before he was called up for military service in World War I, he married Rosa Koch. He was posted to the artillery on the western front, where he stayed till the end of the war, taking part in the Battle of Champagne (1915–1916), the Battle of the Somme (1916), the Battle of Arras (1917), the Second Battle of the Aisne (1917), the Battle of Cambrai (1917), and the Battle of Soissons (1918). For his service, Thälmann received the Iron cross Second Class, the Hanseatic Cross and Wound Badge (twice).
Towards the end of 1917, he became a member of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD). In late October 1918, while on home leave from the front, Thälmann deserted together with four fellow soldiers. On 9 November 1918, he wrote in his diary on the Western Front, "...did a bunk from the Front with 4 comrades at 2 o'clock."
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD) |
426_6 | After his desertion, he was active in the German Revolution in Hamburg that began on 29 October 1918. From March 1919, he was chairman of the USPD in Hamburg, a member of the Hamburg Parliament, and worked as a relief worker in the Hamburg city park before taking up a well-paying job at the employment office. There, he rose to the rank of Inspector. |
426_7 | When the USPD split over the question whether to join the Communist International (Comintern), Thälmann sided with the pro-Communist faction which merged with the KPD in November 1920, and in the following December Thälmann was elected to the KPD's Central Committee. In March 1921 he was fired from his job at the employment office due to his political activities. That summer Thälmann was a representative of the KPD to the Congress of the Comintern in Moscow and met Vladimir Lenin personally. In June 1922, terrorists from the ultranationalist group Organisation Consul threw a hand grenade into his ground floor flat, but the assassination attempt failed and he survived. |
426_8 | Thälmann helped to organise the Hamburg Uprising of October 1923—it failed, however, and Thälmann was forced to go in hiding. After Lenin's death in late January 1924, Thälmann visited Moscow and maintained a guard of honour at his bier. From February 1924 he was deputy chairman of the KPD and, from May, a Reichstag member. At the 5th Congress of the Comintern in July 1924 he was elected to the Comintern executive committee and a short time later to its steering committee. In February 1925 he became chairman of the KPD's paramilitary organisation, the Roter Frontkämpferbund (RFB) (although this organisation was banned as an extremist organisation by the governing social democrats in 1929, after the events of Blutmai ("Bloody May", see below)). In October 1925 Thälmann became chairman of the KPD and thus a candidate for the German Presidency. Thälmann's candidacy in the second round of the presidential election split the centre-left vote, ensuring that the conservative Paul von |
426_9 | Hindenburg defeated the Centre Party's Wilhelm Marx. |
426_10 | In October 1926 Thälmann supported the dockers' strike in his home town of Hamburg. He saw this as an act of solidarity with the British miners' strike which had started on 1 May, although that strike had been profitable for the Hamburg Docks as an alternative supplier of coal. In 1928 during the Wittorf affair he was ousted from the party central committee for trying to cover up embezzlement by John Wittorf, a party official and protégé (and a close friend) of Thälmann. However, Stalin intervened and had Thälmann reinstated, signalling the beginning of a purge and completing the "Stalinization" of the KPD.
KPD vs. SPD |
426_11 | After the Revolution of 1918, during the Spartacist uprising the SPD led government ordered the massacre of Spartacists and execution of KPD leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. The same year the German Army under orders of SPD government cracked down the Bavarian Soviet Republic. In 1920, there was a bloody suppression of the workers uprising in the Ruhr that was quite in contrast with their policy toward the Kapp Putsch.
At the 12th party congress of the KPD in June 1929 in Berlin-Wedding, Thälmann adopted a policy of confrontation with the SPD. This followed the events of "Bloody May", in which 32 people were killed by the police in an attempt to suppress demonstrations which had been banned by the Interior Minister, Carl Severing, a Social Democrat. |
426_12 | Thälmann's KPD thus fought the SPD as its main political enemy, acting according to the Comintern policy which declared Social Democrats to be "social fascists". This made it difficult for the two leftist parties to work together against the emergence of Adolf Hitler. The KPD under Thälmann declared that "fighting fascism means fighting the SPD just as much as it means fighting Hitler and the parties of Brüning." Thälmann declared in December 1931 that "some Nazi trees must not be allowed to overshadow a forest" of social democrats. By 1927, Karl Kilbom, the Comintern representative to Germany, had started to combat this ultra-leftist tendency within the German Communist Party, but found Stalin machinating against his efforts. |
426_13 | In March 1932, Thälmann was once again a candidate for the German Presidency, against the incumbent Paul von Hindenburg and Hitler. The KPD's slogan was "A vote for Hindenburg is a vote for Hitler; a vote for Hitler is a vote for war." Thälmann returned as a candidate in the second round of the election, as it was permitted by the German electoral law, but his vote count lessened from 4,983,000 (13.2%), in the first round, to 3,707,000 (10.2%). |
426_14 | After the National Socialists came to power in January 1933, Thälmann proposed, to no avail, that the SPD and KPD should organise a general strike to topple National Socialist rule together. In February 1933, a Central Committee meeting of the then already banned KPD took place at the "Sporthaus Ziegenhals" in Königs Wusterhausen, near Berlin, where Thälmann had called for the violent overthrow of Hitler's government. (The Comintern's guidelines on social democracy as "social fascism" remained in force until 1935 when the Comintern officially switched to endorsing a "popular front" of socialists, liberals and even conservatives against the National Socialist threat—an attempt to win over the leftist elements of the NSDAP, especially the SA, who largely came from a working-class background and supported socialist economic policies. By that time, however, Hitler and the National Socialists had risen to power and the KPD had been largely destroyed.) |
426_15 | After the Reichstag Fire on 27 February 1933, the National Socialist regime targeted members of the KPD and other left-wing opponents of it in a new wave of violence and arrests; although having gone underground yet again, Thälmann was arrested and imprisoned together with his personal secretary Werner Hirsch on 3 March 1933. |
426_16 | Imprisonment and execution
On the afternoon of 3 March 1933, eight officers of Police Station 121 arrested Thälmann at his self-appointed safehouse, the home of Hans and Martha Kluczynski in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Although the main police informant was a neighbor of the Kluczynskis, Hermann Hilliges, at least four other people informed the police of the connection between the Kluczynskis and Thälmann in the days before the latter's arrest. Thälmann had used the Kluczynskis' home occasionally for several years, but started fully residing there in January 1933. Although it was not among the six illegal residences that the military-political apparatus of the KPD had prepared for Thälmann, it was not considered known to the police. |
426_17 | During imprisonment, Thälmann managed to smuggle out detailed descriptions of his treatment in writing: "They ordered me to take off my pants and then two men grabbed me by the back of the neck and placed me across a footstool. A uniformed Gestapo officer with a whip of hippopotamus hide in his hand then beat my buttocks with measured strokes. Driven wild with pain I repeatedly screamed at the top of my lungs. Then they held my mouth shut for a while and hit me in the face, and with a whip across the chest and back. I then collapsed, rolled on the floor, always kept my face down and no longer replied to any of their questions." |
426_18 | After the German–Soviet Non-Aggression Pact and Germany's and Soviet Union's joint invasion of Poland — and despite Thälmann's loyalty to Stalin during his time leading the KPD — Moscow pragmatically removed a slogan for the 1939 International Youth Day which read in part, "Long live Comrade Thälmann!" and replaced it with, "Long live the wise foreign policy of the Soviet Union, guided by Comrade Stalin's instructions." As it turned out, Thälmann's long-time party rival Walter Ulbricht had ignored several requests for help from Thälmann's family when the thawing in German–Soviet relations could have made a release possible, preferring to let Thälmann remain imprisoned. Fellow German Communist, Wilhelm Pieck had managed to escape to the Soviet Union and in July 1936 he issued a statement calling for the release of Thälmann: "If we succeeded in raising a tremendous storm of protest throughout the world, it will be possible to break down the prison walls and as in the case of Dimitrov, |
426_19 | deliver Thälmann from the clutches of the Fascist hangmen. The fact that Ernst Thälmann has got to spend his fiftieth birthday in the gaols of Hitler-Fascism is an urgent reminder to all the anti-Fascists of the whole world that they must intensify to the utmost their campaign for the release of Thälmann and the many thousands of imprisoned victims of the White Terror." However, these attempts at raising publicity for his plight were in vain; during the 1930s, numerous German communists who had been close to Thälmann had been murdered in Stalin's camps. |
426_20 | Thälmann spent over eleven years in solitary confinement. In August 1944, he was transferred from Bautzen prison to Buchenwald concentration camp, where he was shot on 18 August on Hitler's personal order. His body was immediately cremated. Shortly after, the National Socialists claimed in an announcement that, together with Rudolf Breitscheid, Thälmann had died in an Allied bombing attack on 23 August.
Legacy
During the Spanish Civil War, several units of German republican volunteers (most notably the Thälmann Battalion of the International Brigades) were named in his honour. During World War II, Yugoslavia's leader Tito organized a company of Danube Swabians and Wehrmacht defectors as the Ernst Thälmann Company to fight the German enemy.
In 1935, the former town of Ostheim in Ukraine was renamed Telmanove (Donetsk Oblast). |
426_21 | After 1945, Thälmann and other leading communists who had been murdered, such as Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, were widely honoured in East Germany, with many schools, streets, factories and the like named after them. Many of these names were changed after German reunification, but streets and squares named after Thälmann remain in Berlin, Hamburg, Greifswald and Frankfurt an der Oder. The East German pioneer organisation was named the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation in his memory. Members pledged that "Ernst Thälmann is my role model ... I promise to learn to work and fight [struggle] as Ernst Thälmann teaches".
In the 1950s, a two-part East German film, Ernst Thälmann, was produced. In 1972, Cuba named a small island, Cayo Ernesto Thaelmann, after him. |
426_22 | One of the main traffic arteries of Soviet Riga was named Ernsta Tēlmaņa iela after him on completion in 1981; however, soon after Latvia had regained independence in 1991 it was renamed Kārļa Ulmaņa gatve, after pre-World War II prime minister Kārlis Ulmanis.
In Ho Chi Minh City, a highschool, THPT Ernst Thalmann (Ten Lơ Man) was named after him.
In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, a primary school's namesake was given after Ernst Thälmann, which is still in operation.
The British Communist composer and activist Cornelius Cardew named his Thälmann Variations for piano in Thälmann's memory.
The VEB Ernst Thälmann Waffenfabrik, an East German weapons factory in Suhl (formerly Simson), was named after Thälmann (until 1990).
Writings (selection)
See also
Ernst Thälmann Island
References
Sources
Biography of Ernst Thälmann on the website of the Deutsches Historisches Museum |
426_23 | Further reading
LaPorte, N. (Ed.), & Morgan, K. (2008) 'Kings among their subjects'? Ernst Thälmann, Harry Pollitt and the leadership cult as Stalinization. In N. LaPorte, K. Morgan, & M. Worley (Eds.), Bolshevism, Stalinism and the Comintern: Perspectives on Stalinization, 1917–53 (pp. 124–145). Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230227583_7
External links
Discourses and writings by and about Ernst Thälmann, on the Marxists Internet Archive.
Ernst Thälmann Memorial in Hamburg, Germany
German song about Ernst Thälmann with DDR film footage |
426_24 | 1886 births
1944 deaths
Anti-revisionists
People from Hamburg executed in Nazi concentration camps
Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians
Independent Social Democratic Party politicians
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic
Rotfrontkämpferbund members
German people who died in Buchenwald concentration camp
Candidates for President of Germany
German communists
German Marxists
German anti-fascists
Politicians who died in Nazi concentration camps
German revolutionaries
German civilians killed in World War II
People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm |
427_0 | The Crown Colony of Sarawak was a British Crown colony on the island of Borneo, established in 1946, shortly after the dissolution of the British Military Administration. It was succeeded as the state of Sarawak through the formation of the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.
History |
427_1 | The process of cession |
427_2 | After the end of Japanese occupation in Sarawak on 11 September 1945, British Military Administration took over Sarawak for seven months before handing it back to Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke on 15 April 1946. Charles Vyner Brooke arrived in Sarawak on 15 April 1946 to receive the handover. He was generally well received by the Sarawak population. During the Japanese occupation, Sarawak had suffered a total loss of 23 million dollars (excluding 57 million in losses by Sarawak oil company) due to the destruction of oilfields, airstrips, and rubber plantations. Vyner Brooke found that he did not have enough resources to develop Sarawak. He did not have any male heir to inherit the position of White Rajah. Vyner Brooke also lacked confidence in the leadership abilities of Bertram Brooke (Vyner's brother) and Anthony Brooke (Bertram Brooke's son) to govern Sarawak. Vyner Brooke hoped that with the cession of Sarawak as a British crown colony, the British would be able to rebuild Sarawak's |
427_3 | infrastructure and develop its postwar economy. The news of the cession of Sarawak first came to light on 8 February 1946; there was a mixed response from the Sarawak people. The Iban, the Chinese, and the Melanau community received the news positively. However, the majority of the Malays were against the cession of Sarawak to the British government. British representatives conducted a survey among the various ethnic groups in Sarawak regarding the cession issue. On 10 May 1946, a report was compiled and sent to the Colonial Office in London, which included the following: |
427_4 | However, according to ABC Radio Melbourne, Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke would receive £1 million in sterling as compensation for the cession of Sarawak. This gave an impression that Vyner was trying to sell Sarawak for personal gain – in contrast to the 1941 constitution of Sarawak which stated that Sarawak would head towards self-governance under Brooke's guidance. The constitution was not implemented due to the Japanese occupation. The proposed cession was also criticised by a local Malay newspaper, Utusan Sarawak, as the British had failed to protect Sarawak from Japanese invasion in 1942, only to try to claim Sarawak after the war. In addition, the British would only approve financial loans to rebuild Sarawak upon Sarawak's cession as a crown colony. The British claim on Sarawak was therefore seen as an effort to exploit the natural resources of Sarawak for their own economic interests. On top of this, the British Colonial Office had also tried to combine British Malaya, Straits |
427_5 | Settlements, British North Borneo, Brunei, and Sarawak into one administrative unit. From 1870 until 1917, the British had tried to interfere with the internal affairs of Sarawak, but this was met with stiff resistance from Rajah Charles Brooke. The British also tried to interfere with the succession issue of Anthony Brooke in 1940, and had urged Vyner Brooke to sign a 1941 agreement to station a British advisor in Sarawak for fear of Japanese influence in Southeast Asia. The British also became wary that Australia intended to take over the military administration of Sarawak. Consequently, the British government wished to take control of Sarawak before the Australians did. |
427_6 | From 15 to 17 May 1946, the cession bill was debated in the Council Negri (now Sarawak State Legislative Assembly) and was approved with a slim majority of 19 to 16 votes. European officers were generally supportive of the cession, but the Malay officials strongly opposed the cession. About 300 to 400 Malay civil servants resigned from their posts in protest. Questions had been raised about the legality of such voting in Council Negri. Outsiders such as European officers took part in the voting that decided the fate of Sarawak. Several Chinese representatives were threatened with their lives if they did not vote to support the cession. The cession bill was signed on 18 May 1946 by Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke and the British representative, C.W. Dawson, at the Astana, Kuching; the cession of Sarawak as a British Crown Colony became effective on 1 July 1946. On the same day, Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke gave a speech on the benefits for Sarawak as a crown colony: |
427_7 | The first governor did not arrive until 29 October 1946. Sarawak was a British Crown Colony for 17 years before participating in the formation of Malaysia.
Anti-cession movement
The cession has sparked the nationalism spirit among the Malay intellectuals. They started anti-cession movement with their main centre of operation in Sibu and Kuching. Meanwhile, majority of the Chinese supported the cession because the British would bring more economic benefits to Sarawak. Besides, illegal gambling and opium trade will be banned under British rule which was also beneficial for the economy. The majority of the Iban people respected decision by the Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke as they believe that Rajah acted on the best interests of the Sarawak people. Meanwhile, the Indians in Sarawak also supported the cession as they viewed the British governing principle as satisfactory. |
427_8 | The Malays established the Malay Youth Association (Malay: Persatuan Pemuda Melayu (PSM)) in Sibu and Sarawak Malay National Association (Malay:Persatuan Kebangsaan Melayu Sarawak (PKMS)) in Kuching. Those civil servants who resigned from their government posts established a group called "Group 338" as to symbolise prophet Muhammad that led 338 infantry to victory in the Battle of Badr. Initially they organised talks, hanging posters, signing memorandums, and took part in demonstrations in order to express their dissatisfaction over the cession. Anthony Brooke also tried to oppose the cession but he was banned from entering Sarawak by the British colonial government. The demands and appeals by the Malay community was not heeded by the British. This has caused a more radical organisation to be established in Sibu on 20 August 1948, known as Rukun 13, with Awang Rambli as their leader. In Awang Rambli's opinion: |
427_9 | Thus, the second governor of Sarawak, Duncan Stewart was stabbed by Rosli Dhobi in Sibu on 3 December 1949. Following this, Rukun 13 was outlawed with four members (including Rosli Dhobi and Awang Rambli) of the organisation hanged to death and the others jailed. This incident increased the British effort to clamp down on the anti-cession movement of Sarawak. All the organisations related to anti-cession were banned and anti-cession documents were seized. Following the incident, Anthony Brooke tried to distance himself from the anti-cession movement for fear of being associated with the plotting to kill the governor of Sarawak. The people of Sarawak were also afraid to lend support to the anti-cession movement for fear of backlash from the British colonial government. This led to the end of anti-cession movement in February 1951. Although the anti-cession movement ended as a failure, Malaysian historians regarded this incident as a starting point of nationalism among the natives in |
427_10 | Sarawak. This incident also sent the British a message that the local people of Sarawak should not be taken lightly. The British had described the members of Rukun 13 as traitors but in the eyes of Malaysian historians, the Rukun 13 members are regarded as heroes that fight for the independence of Sarawak. |
427_11 | On 4 February 1951, various anti-cession organisations in Sarawak sent a telegram to the British prime minister on plans on the future of Sarawak. They received a reply from the British prime minister which assured them of the British intentions to guide Sarawak towards self-governance in the Commonwealth of Nations. The people of Sarawak are free to express their views through proper channels according to the constitution, and their opinions will be given full consideration by the British government. |
427_12 | Administration
The governor of British Crown Colony of Sarawak (Malay: Tuan Yang Terutama Gabenor Koloni Mahkota British Sarawak) was a position created by the British Government upon the cession of Sarawak by the Brooke Administration in 1946. The appointment was made by King George VI, and later by Queen Elizabeth II until the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. After the formation of Malaysia, the title was changed to 'Governor of the state of Sarawak' and the appointment was later made by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or King of Malaysia. The official residence of the governor of Sarawak at that time was The Astana, located on the north bank of the Sarawak River. |
427_13 | Sarawak was perhaps unique among Crown colonies in that pre-existing institutions of government were continued under the new regime. The Supreme Council and Council Negri, established under the Brookes' 1941 constitution, retained their prerogatives with the rajah being replaced by a governor. Even so, these bodies were entirely appointed. In 1954, the Council Negri had legislative and financial authority and consisted of 25 members: 14 officials from the civil service, and 11 unofficials representing various ethnic and interest groups. In exercising his powers, the governor was required to consult with the Supreme Council. |
427_14 | In terms of local government, the territory was divided into five divisions each overseen by a resident. Each division was sub-divided into districts overseen by district officers, and these were further divided into sub-districts. Each division and district had an advisory council and districts sometimes also had a Chinese Advisory Board. The government also began constructing a system of local authorities before the war and by 1954 about 260,000 people were living in incorporated areas. While early local authorities were race-based, this was found to be an unworkable system and local authorities were soon integrated. |
427_15 | In 1956, the constitution was reformed to increase democratic representation. The Council Negri was enlarged to 45 members, of which 24 were elected unofficials, 14 were ex-officio, and 4 were appointed to represent interests considered insufficiently represented by the governor. The new Supreme Council consisted of three ex-officio members (the Chief Secretary, the Financial Secretary and the Attorney-General), two appointed members, and five members elected from the Council Negri. |
427_16 | Economy |
427_17 | The economy of Sarawak was heavily dependent upon the agricultural sector and was heavily influenced by the government expenditure on the economy, and imports and exports of goods. Consumption and investments made up only a small part of the economy as majority of the population were working in the agricultural sector. The private and commercial economy in Sarawak was dominated by the Chinese although majority of the Chinese were into farming. The annual Sarawak budget can be divided into two parts: recurrent budget and capital budget. Recurrent budget was the annual commitment by the government for spending in public services. Its revenue is derived from regular, reliable source of income. Capital budget was used to long-term development in Sarawak. Its revenue was derived from unpredictable source of income such as grants from the British colonial development and welfare fund, loans, and surpluses from export duties. From 1947 to 1962, the total government revenue was increasing |
427_18 | from 12 million to 78 million dollar yearly, with total expenditure increasing steadily from 10 million to 82 million dollars per year. There were only three years where the government budget showed deficits (1949, 1958, 1962). There was no known gross domestic product (GDP) figures during this period due to lack of data. Although several new tax and business legislations were introduced during the colonial period, however, there were few practising lawyers available. This was partly due to Brooke regime of not allowing lawyers to practice in Sarawak. Therefore, cases seldom reach the court level. Agriculture in Sarawak was poorly developed during the period due to the lack of education among farmers that used wasteful slash-and-burn technique in farming, lack of communications, and failure of diversification crops other than rubber. |
427_19 | After the Japanese occupation, Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke signed the last Supply Ordinance for the budget expenditure in Sarawak in 1946. The majority of expenditure went into "Arrears of Pension" (amounting to one million dollars), probably to pay for government servants who were held by or working during the Japanese occupation. This was followed by expenditure for the treasury, public works, pensions and provident fund, medical and health, and Sarawak Constabulary. Public works expenditure accounted for only 5.5% of the total expenditure even after the destruction of war during the Japanese occupation. Following the formation of British Crown Colony, public works and treasury became the immediate priority for the post war reconstruction and restructuring of government finances. This was followed closely by pensions, constabulary, and health. Public works remained as the major expenditure until 1950. In 1951, expenditures on aviation was specifically allocated as compared to |
427_20 | previous years where this subject was put inside the "Landing grounds" expenditure. The 1951 budget put more emphasis on the allocations for local authorities, native affairs, defence, and internal security; overshadowed the expenditures on public works. In 1952, contributions for war damage commission was dramatically increased. In In 1953, allocation were increased for developmental projects. Only in 1956, expenditures for education was substantially increased, and accounted for 15.5% of the total budget in 1957. Expenses on education occupied a significant proportion on the budget until the end of the colonial period. Majority of the education expenditures was put into primary and secondary schools. Tertiary education only started to appear in Sarawak in 1961 following the formation of Batu Lintang Teacher's |
427_21 | Training College. Expenditures on forestry has also been increasing throughout the colonial period. Expenditures on defence has been minimal throughout the period because Britain was solely responsible for defence in Sarawak. The year 1952 also showed a jump in revenue from income tax although customs and excise duties still constituted the largest income earner for the government throughout the colonial period. However, revenues collected from income tax had been decreasing steadily throughout the colonial period. |
427_22 | Rice was the major import item in Sarawak. Although rice is grown in the state, it was not sufficient enough to feed the population since the Brooke era. Another major import was the oil from Seria oilfields for processing at Lutong oil refinery to produce gasoline, kerosene, gas, fuel oil, and diesel fuel. Major export items were: rubber, pepper, sago flour, Jelutong (a source of rubber), sawn timber, Copra seeds, and petroleum. There was only five rubber estates at that time covering only 2,854 hectares comparing to 80,000 hectares in small holdings. The years 1950 to 1952 showed an increase in government revenue due to the effects of Korean war that raised the demand for rubber. By 1956, pepper exports from Sarawak accounted for one third of the world's pepper production. The importance of Jelutong exports declined throughout the colonial area. Petroleum was the major income earner for Sarawak during this period. Initially, the colonial government exported gold to foreign markets |
427_23 | but after 1959, government involvement in gold exports ceased, leaving miners to sell gold in the local and other free markets. Bauxite exports from the first division (Sematan) was increasing during the second half of the colonial period but by the end of the colonial period, this mineral was exhausted of its production. |
427_24 | Overall, the government expenditures during the colonial era has increased substantially in all sectors when compared to Brooke era. However, such amount is still lagging behind when compared to Malayan peninsular states. According to a research done by Alexander Gordon Crocker, such budget expenditures showed that the colonial government was trying to develop Sarawak instead of exploiting the natural resources in the state.
Demographics
A census conducted in 1947 shown that the population in Sarawak was 546,385 with Iban people, Chinese, and Malay made up 79.3% of the population. At the beginning of the colonial period, 72% of the population were subsistence farmers, 13% were growing cash crops and 15% were paid workers. Among the various ethnic groups in Sarawak, only the Chinese were closely associated with entrepreneurship.
Infrastructure |
427_25 | Education
The number of student enrollment increased steadily every year. In 1957, there were 79,407 students. A total of 70 primary schools were opened in 1957.
Batu Lintang Teacher Training Centre (BLTTC) was opened in 1948 in order to train teachers for rural native vernacular schools. English language training courses were offered to the teachers. A lower secondary school was also attached to BLTTC where the selected students from primary schools were enrolled. Students who successfully graduated from the secondary school was able to train as teacher at BLTTC or join the civil service. In order to raise the adult literacy in the rural areas and to improve the natives' agricultural productivity, Kanowit Rural Improvement School was opened in May 1948. However, due to apathy of the natives towards education, there was only slight improvement of literacy rate from 1947 to 1960. The Rural Improvement School was subsequently closed down in 1957. |
427_26 | Electricity |
427_27 | Immediately after the war, it was evident that Miri, Bintulu, and Limbang were devastated due to allied bombings during the war. The people of Miri were dependent upon a generator set brought by the Japanese from Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu). Similarly, the towns of Kapit, Kanowit, and Song were destroyed in anarchy during the last days of war. Sarawak Electricity Supply Company (SESCo) was reinstated after the war, however it struggled to keep up with the growing demand of electricity in major townships due to lack of spare parts, constant wear and tear, and the lack of proper maintenance of the equipment. SESCo also took over the power plants at Miri from Sarawak Oil Fields Limited. The people from major towns continue to suffer from erratic supply of electricity until 1953 when electrical supply was restored to pre-war capacity. In that year, electrical supply was expanded to five new places in Sarawak. SESCo continued to operate until 1 January 1963, when it was turn into Sarawak |
427_28 | Electricity Supply Corporation (SESCO). |
427_29 | Healthcare
Malaria was endemic in Sarawak. However, the first proper survey of malaria prevalence in Sarawak was only done from 1952 to 1953. The survey result found that the coastal areas had low malarial prevalence while the hilly and mountainous interior was prevalent with the malarial disease. |
427_30 | Medical services in Sarawak became part of the British Colonial Medical Service. Medical personnel had to be imported from Malayan Union (today known as Peninsular Malaysia). Sarawak Medical Department was established as a separate entity on 21 July 1947. The department's expenditure was about 10% of the government revenue. There was a shortage of manpower, including doctors, dressers (also known as hospital assistants), and nurses. By 1959, the staffing position had improved greatly. Divisional medical officers (equivalent to Chief Medical and Health Officers today) were appointed, and more nursing schools and rural dispensaries were opened. Various projects were started, such as a malaria control project (1953) and a tuberculosis control project (1960). Laws such as the Medical Registration Ordinance (1948), the Dentist Registration Ordinance (1948), the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (1952), and the Public Health Ordinance (1963) were passed. |
427_31 | In 1947, there were only two government hospitals in Sarawak: Kuching General Hospital (now Sarawak General Hospital) (255 beds) and Sibu Lau King Howe Hospital (now Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum) (55 beds). In Miri, a hospital was built by Sarawak Shell Oilfields Limited. There was an agreement with the government of Brunei to admit patients from Limbang into the Brunei State Hospital. There were regular monthly visits from Brunei Health Services to Limbang. In 1957, Sarawak Mental Hospital was constructed in Kuching. In 1952, a government hospital was constructed in Miri., followed by Christ Hospital built by American Methodists in Kapit in 1957, and Limbang Hospital in 1958. In 1947, there were 21 rural dispensaries attended by a dresser and an attendant. Kanowit dispensary and Saratok dispensary were opened in 1953 and 1960 respectively. The total annual workload of these dispensaries were 130,000 patients. In 1947, the colonial government allocated grant for the setting |
427_32 | up of two rural dispensaries and 16 mobile dispensaries. However, due to the difficulty of recruiting the necessary manpower, only two mobile dispensaries were operational at the Rajang River to cater the needs of the rural communities. |
427_33 | The Japanese occupation had disrupted dental services in Sarawak. In 1949, an Australian dental surgeon was appointed to be in charge of dental services in Sarawak. British Council and Colombo Plan scholarships were set up to produce more dentists for the state. In the 1950s, dental nurses were recruited. Hospital-based dental services were extended to Sibu and Miri in 1959 and 1960. In 1961, fluoridation of the public water supply in Simanggang (now Sri Aman) was implemented. |
427_34 | Culture
On 8 June 1954, Radio Sarawak was set up with the technical assistance from BBC. The broadcasting service had four sections: Malay, Iban, Chinese, and English. The Iban section was broadcast from 7 pm to 8 pm daily, covering news, farming, animal husbandry, Iban folklore and epics. In 1958, School Broadcasting Service was set up under the Colombo Plan. English lessons began in 1959. Radio sets were distributed to primary schools for pupils to learn their English language. In 1960s, there were 467 participating schools in Sarawak with 850 teachers attended 11 training courses. With the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Radio Sarawak was renamed as Radio Malaysia Sarawak. |
427_35 | The colonial government recognised that British education and indigenous culture was influencing a new generation of Iban teachers. Thus, on 15 September 1958, the Borneo Literature Bureau was inaugurated with a charter to nurture and encourage local literature while also supporting the government in its release of documentation, particularly in technical and instructional manuscripts that were to be distributed to the indigenous peoples of Sarawak and Sabah. As well as indigenous languages, documents would also be published in English, Chinese and Malay.
After the war, artists in Sarawak especially in Kuching area chose gentle themes and social wellbeing as their drawing subjects such as scenery and nature, and indigenous characteristics such as cock fighting and traditional dances.
See also
Anti-cession movement of Sarawak
Raj of Sarawak
References
Notes |
427_36 | British Borneo
Lists of governors
Sarawak, Crown Colony of
1946 establishments in the British Empire
States and territories established in 1946
Former polities of the Cold War
States and territories disestablished in 1963
1963 disestablishments in Asia
1946 establishments in Asia
1963 disestablishments in the British Empire |
428_0 | U.S. Route 167 runs for from Ash Flat, Arkansas at U.S. Route 62/US Route 412 to Abbeville, Louisiana at Louisiana Highway 14. It goes through the cities of Little Rock, Arkansas, Alexandria, Louisiana, and Lafayette, Louisiana.
Some of the highway's route has been combined with or parallels Interstate 49 in Louisiana. Between Junction City, AR and Ruston, LA, U.S. 167 runs concurrent with U.S. 63.
Route description
Louisiana
U.S. Highway 167 in Louisiana runs in a north–south direction from the national southern terminus at Louisiana Highway 14 Business (LA 14 Bus.) in Abbeville to the Arkansas state line at Junction City. |
428_1 | The route cuts through the center of Louisiana for roughly its entire length and passes through two of the state's metropolitan areas, Lafayette and Alexandria. Between those cities, US 167 ranges in character from an urban freeway to a lightly traveled two-lane collector. During this stretch, it overlaps the southern of Interstate 49 (I-49) from Lafayette through Opelousas before making a diversion through rural Evangeline Parish to serve the small city of Ville Platte.
US 167 follows a combination of I-49 and the Pineville Expressway through Alexandria and Pineville, crossing the Red River via the twin-span Purple Heart Memorial Bridge. US 167 remains a surface four-lane highway through northern Louisiana and is the primary north–south route through Winnfield, Jonesboro, and Ruston. The northern portion of the route, beginning at the I-20 interchange in Ruston, also carries the first of US 63. |
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