Bring back the 8 o’clock cannon
By S J Chin, Kuching
WITH the current emphasis by the State government to attract tourists to Sarawak, much effort and money have been invested to showcase our uniqueness from the rest of Malaysia, indeed, the world.
Kuching especially has been a magnet to tourists who love to venture off the beaten track and those who made it here usually have fond memories of the state and its people.
For this reason, I would like to humbly offer a suggestion that would help to make Kuching even more unique and memorable.
When I was a small boy, there used to be the familiar sound of the firing of a cannon at precisely 8 o’clock every evening from the current Police Museum ground across river.
The boom can be heard from many parts of Kuching and was particularly clear during high tide. I was living at the Sungei Priok then and the boom was a signal to us children that schoolwork was over and time to go to bed.
And if you were out of the house playing with the neighbours’ children, you better get home soon or mom would chew your ears off.
For adults, the signal was a call to check your watch and clock for accuracy or simply that the time 8 o’clock.
For fishermen and boat operators, it was a sign of high or low tide, time to arrange work schedule.
For civil servants and Kuchingnites, it was time to switch to on BBC news broadcast by Radio Sarawak (now RTM).
I believe the practice was discontinued during run-up to the confrontation with Indonesia in the 70s.
The reason was not to cause panic to Kuching residents in case it be mistaken for an Indonesian invasion. Unfortunately, it died a natural death after confrontation was over.
It would be really nice if our State government can bring back this unique feature of Kuching. In fact so unique that no other place in the world have it.
Not just bringing it back but do it with fanfare, like the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. This can best be work out by the police.
In other words, make a show of it and let the public and tourists witness it. Once it become a regular feature, it will become an attraction. It will also bring business to the Waterfront and to the tumpang operators who ferry people to watch the show, if we maintain the original site at the Police Museum.
If the Police Museum is not suitable, then the old fort at the Waterfront would be ideal being more accessible to the public. I believe it will be spectacular and can attract a huge crowd to the show.
I hope others will support this suggestion and our Urban Development and Tourism Ministry will give it a serious thought. For oldies like myself, it’s nostalgic.
Borneo Post, letters section, 14/5/07
While some ignorant peasants are scraching their heads like someone who's totally ill informed in (Kuching) history, I relished reading this letter. The fact is, while the internet and blogs have made a huge impact on how news and information is disseminated, at the end of the day, outside of the well educated and informed, the daily papers still make an impact to the bloke on the street. I'm glad the Borneo Post brought this to light.
While the rest of my peers were playing DOTA, Counter Strike, and going on about SHE plus Jay, I was with my parents and grandparents listening to their stories. Believe me, they have some good stuff. I just think its sad that they will take with them their stories of life when they pass on. It may not be the most interesting thing on earth, but someone has to document all these.
According to the letter, thanks to Sukarno, we lost one of the last few things the British (Brooke's mostly) left for us.
I mean, its one bang in the night. How hard can it be? Besides, it will be an execellent way of making sure my watch is correct.
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