Multilingual Roadsigns

Sarawak is a land blessed with abundance and diversity. Ours is a land rich in natural resources. Whilst the diversity of flora and fauna is among the highest in the world and a treasure trove, the diversity of her peoples is equally unrivalled and also amongst its greatest wealth.

Caption: Jalan College or College Road. Jalan is a Malay work for Road. College is an English word and it is the name for the road leading to the Batu Lintang Teachers' College, a premier institution from the British colonial days.

From the multi-ethnic diversity, we have richness in cultures and languages. perhaps the richest of them all is tolerance amongst its many races.

Caption: Lorong Foochow 1N or Foochow Lane 1N. Foochow is a South Chinese dialect group which migrated to Sarawak at the turn of last century under a scheme proposed by Rajah Charles Brooke, the Second Rajah. The lane is nicely labelled in Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.

The beauty of Sarawak is often reflected and exemplified by the road signs in multi-languages in all the major towns. Such beauty is unsurpassed elsewhere in Malaysia or Southeast Asia and should be zealously guarded by all Sarawakians.

Sarawakians need to treasure such thing around us and not take it for granted.