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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Jason Brooke jejaki susur galur keturunan Raja Putih

KUCHING: Sejak beliau masih kanak-kanak, Jason Brooke, 23, sentiasa menanam minat yang cukup mendalam terhadap Sarawak, yang dikaitkan dengan era pemerintahan Raja Putih Brooke selama kira-kira satu abad lamanya sehingga ia dijadikan koloni British pada 1946.

Pemuda kelahiran London yang juga piut kepada Raja Kedua Sir Charles Brooke itu berkata, minat mendalam terhadap Sarawak dan legasi datuknya membawa beliau untuk lawatan peribadi tiga minggu ke Sarawak, terutama semasa negeri sedang menyambut ulang tahun kemerdekaannya ke-45, membangun sebagai sebahagian daripada Malaysia. “Saya sentiasa ingin ke sini sejak sekian lama. Sejak saya masih muda lagi saya sering dekati datuk saya untuk mendapat maklumat mengenai Sarawak darinya,” katanya pada majlis minum petang ajuran Persekutuan Pelancongan Sarawak di Sarakraft Pavilion di sini, yang diadakan sempena kehadirannya di sini. “Rasanya seperti sekarang masa yang sesuai untuk datang,” kata beliau yang tiba di sini Ahad lalu, selepas menamatkan pengajian di University College Dublin di Ireland, dalam bidang Kesusasteraan dan Kesenian Inggeris. Datuknya, pewaris dan anak saudara kepada Raja Ketiga Sir Vyner Brooke, dikenakan hukuman buang dari Sarawak selepas tamat Perang Dunia Kedua kerana menentang penyerahan wilayah Raja Putih itu kepada kerajaan British, namun dibenarkan kembali 17 tahun kemudian selepas Sarawak mencapai kemerdekaan menerusi Malaysia. Dalam menjejaki warisan lama keturunannya di Sarawak, Jason berkata beliau juga membesar dengan pengetahun mengenai hubungan antara keluarganya dan Sarawak menerusi bapanya, James Brooke, yang tinggal di sini sejak bayi di awal 1940, dan sekarang menetap di Edinburgh, Scotland.
“Saya sentiasa berhubung dengan ramai orang di Sarawak, termasuk beberapa penulis seperti Vincent Foo, yang menulis buku bertajuk “Sarawak Steamship Company” dan “A History Of Sarawak Club”, dan menerusi gambar keluarga,” kata Jason, yang menarik perhatian ramai tetamu apabila memakai tali leher Pertubuhan Sarawak, yang menjejaki susur galur keturunannya sejak 1924 lagi. Beliau juga terbabit secara aktif dengan pertubuhan itu yang berpangkalan di United Kingdom, yang anggotanya terdiri daripada kalangan ekspatriat British yang pernah berkhidmat di Sarawak, dan juga anak Sarawak sendiri. Anak bungsu dari dua beradik, beliau juga gembira melihat Bandaraya Kuching berkembang dengan pesat, dengan banyak bangunan bersejarah yang boleh dijejaki kewujudannya sejak era pemerintahan Raja Brooke lagi, yang masih wujud dan disesuaikan dengan persekitaran semasa. “Saya susuri laluan sekitar tebingan sungai di sini dan menyeberangi Sungai Sarawak, suasananya cukup indah. Saya luangkan banyak masa bertemu dengan orang ramai, dan saya amat kagum dengan keramahan mereka,” katanya yang berharap dapat mempromosi pelancongan Sarawak ke seluruh dunia. — Bernama
(Sumber: Berita Harian online)

Jason Brooke traces Sarawak legacy through visit.

Ancestral connections: Sape maker Rahman Bujang demonstrating his craft to (from left) Sarawak Tourism Federation president Wee Hong Seng, Temenggung Datuk Kenneth Kanyan and Brooke in Kuching yesterday.

KUCHING (Bernama) - Jason Brooke has always rooted for his roots in Sarawak. The 23-year-old brooks no compromise on the issue as he zealously cherishes the colourful legacy of his forefathers - the legendary Brookes of Sarawak.

It was this unwavering interest, says the great-great grandson of the second Rajah Sir Charles Brooke of Sarawak, that prompted him to make a three-week private visit to Sarawak.

Sarawak was associated with the White Rajah Brooke era for a century until it was ceded as a British colony in 1946.

Incidentally, the 23-year-old's visit coincides with the state's 45th anniversary of development within Malaysia.

"For a long time, I have always wanted to come here. When I was younger, I used to approach my grandfather (the former Rajah Muda Anthony Brooke) for his glimpse of Sarawak," he said at a tea reception hosted by the Sarawak Tourism Federation at the Sarakraft Pavilion here in his honour.
"It seems the right time has come," said Jason. who arrived here last Sunday after graduating recently from the University College of Dublin in Ireland with a major in English Literature and Arts.

His grandfather, the heir apparent and nephew of the Third Rajah Sir Vyner Brooke, was banished from Sarawak after the end of the Second World War for opposing the cession of the Rajah's territory to the British Crown but was allowed to return 17 years later, after it gained independence through Malaysia.

In tracing his family's long heritage in Sarawak, Jason said he also grew up knowing about his family's connection through his father, James Brooke, who had actually lived here as a baby in the early 1940s and now resides in Edinburgh, Scotland.

"I kept in touch with a lot of people in Sarawak, including various writers such as Vincent Foo, who authored the "Sarawak Steamship Company" and "A History Of Sarawak Club" and through family photographs," said Jason who delighted many guests present when he wore a tie of the Sarawak Association which traced its roots back to 1924.

He was also actively involved with the United Kingdom-based association, which will mark its centennial celebration in 16 years' time and whose membership is drawn from British expatriates who had served in the state, as well as Sarawakians.

The younger of two brothers, Jason is thrilled that Kuching city had lived up to his expectation, with so many historic buildings which could be traced to the Brooke era, still in existence and well adapted to the present time.

"It is still possible to walk around the main part of Kuching. I enjoyed a beautiful walk along the waterfront, traversed the Sarawak river and spent a lot of time meeting up with people...I am quite overwhelmed by the warm reception," he said, adding that he hoped to promote the Sarawak heritage tourism to the world at large.

(Sumber: Borneo post.)