Saturday, March 17, 2007

How does Kuching, which means Cat come about?





Yesterday, I told you that I am in the beautiful town of Kuching in East Malaysia. Kuching is the capital city of Sarawak. The people here are kind and friendly. Kuching means cat in the local language. I have been here many times and I don’t see many cats around. I am determined to find out how the name came about.



I finished giving a talk to about 100 people who were looking to learn how to start an online business and make money online. I asked some of them to go to http://www.skyquestcom.com and http://www.preenroller.com to look at an example of a proven business system.

The last few days has been hectic for me. Today, my flight to Sibu is in the afternoon. For the first time, I have a few hours to myself. I took a walk along the Kuching River front. I am surprised by the beauty of the green environment. This river separating the north and the south called the "Sarawak River". I could see a spectacular view of a gorgeous mountainous background. There was an elderly gentleman sitting on the bench resting. He must have finished his morning exercise. I walked over to ask him how “Kuching” the name is originated.

He said that Kuching originated from the Chinese word "Gu Chin" which means harbour. Hmmmm .. that made sense since I am standing at the river front. This should be it. I smiled and was excited that I found the answer. If there is a will, there is a way, I said to myself.

I walked back to the hotel. The hotel bell boy cheerfully greeted me “good morning, Mr. Richard Tan” and he opened the glass door for me. I responded back“Gooooood morning Andrew” “By the way, do you know how the name Kuching was originated?” I took the opportunity to ask him. He said “Kuching is named after a lychee like fruit called Mata Kuching (Cat's eye).” “A fruit??, What about the Chinese word which means harbour”, I replied. “Never heard that nonsense before” He shook his head.

Back to square one.

Maybe I better go ask my MD, Yang Po, she seemed to know everything.
I have got to go check out the hotel room now.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Pepe!
Wish we were there with you to stroll along and take in the sights of the Sarawak River! Haha! Checked on the origins of Kuching's name and Wikepedia gave a good sum-up of the various theories. You can see them here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuching
Looks like there's no consensus on this one.