Why jww birch killed

At that time men in the boats could see Mr. Birch's head above the mat wall; it disappeared without any sound from him, and a moment after he came to the surface of the water astern of the house.

Some of the murderers were already waiting there, and one of them, a man called Siputum, slashed the Resident over the head with a sword. He sank and was not seen again. The Sikh orderly, standing with a revolver at the door of the bath-house, jumped into the river without any warning to his master, swam off to one of the boats and saved himself. The river-bank was now the scene of a general melee.

A Malay boatman and a Sikh had been killed, but the others had got one of the boats away from the bank into midstream and towards it two of Mr. Birch's Malays were swimming while they supported the grievously wounded interpreter. With difficulty they gained the boat and got the man in. As they dropped down the river Mr. Birch's coxswain urged the Sikhs to fire on the Malays, but they said they could not do so without an order!

He accordingly gave the order, and some shots were fired which for a moment cleared the bank. A small boat with two men in it put out lower down stream to intercept the fugitives, and two of them were wounded by shots from these men. The coxswain then wrenched a rifle from a Sikh and shot one of these assailants. After this the boat proceeded unmolested to Bandar Bharu. Long before they arrived there the interpreter died. Abbott, shooting on the other bank, was warned of what had taken place, and with great difficulty got into a dug-out and made his way down stream under the fire of the Malays on the bank.

The attack, the murder of the Resident, his interpreter, the Sikh and the boatman, and the escape of the rest of the party was the work of a few minutes. Whilst still the passion of strife and bloodthirst swayed the crowd, the Maharaja Lela walked into their midst and asked whose hands had done the Resident and his men to death.

Instantly Pandak Indut, Siputum, and the others, claimed credit for their murderous work. These are the facts about Mr. Birch's assassination, and it may be of some interest to add that the Resident's two boats were immediately rifled and all their contents carried up to the Maharaja Lela's house.

Sooner or later punishment overtook every man directly concerned in this crime, and also nearly all those who were indirectly responsible.

Some fell during the subsequent fighting, one died an outlaw in the jungle. The first man captured was Siputum. He was brought in to Bandar Bharu late one evening in the early part of , and I went to see him in the lock-up about midnight. A wilder looking creature it would have been hard to find. He was a Pawang, a medicine man, a sorcerer. For many weeks he had been a hunted outcast, and he seemed to think that capture was almost preferable to the life he had been leading.

A SLEEPY town scattered with old kampung houses and undisturbed greenery, the peace and calm at Kampung Gajah, some 80km from Ipoh, belies the turmoil that took place there over a century ago. Historically known as Pasir Salak, it was here that J. Part of the Sungai Perak riverbank closest to where Birch was killed on Nov 2, A marble plaque has been erected at the site on the grounds of the Pasir Salak Historical Complex. The rebellion against the British at Pasir Salak, which inspired later generations to fight against British powers, is told through interesting dioramas at the history time tunnel of the Pasir Salak Historical Complex.

A guide told StarMetro that rather than just tell the story of Birch and Maharaja Lela and the Malay struggle towards independence, the Pasir Salak Historical Complex gave visitors an insight into the local history and culture of local folk. Compared to over a century back when the river was akin to the modern day expressway and Kampung Gajah was a focal point in the administrative and economic sense, motorists now merely pass by the town while on their way to Teluk Intan — taking notice only of its police station, a monument of the labu, nyiru and terendak , and the few buildings that dot its main traffic light intersection.

Unknown to many, Kampung Gajah is also famous for its pottery although the number of workshops there has significantly reduced over the years.

Just like the labu sayong which is synonymous with Sayong in Kuala Kangsar, the labu pulau tiga is unique to Pulau Tiga in Kampung Gajah. A fully functional sundial, used during ancient times to tell time, on display at the Pasir Salak Historical Complex in Kampung Gajah. Shamsuddin said unlike the labu sayong , which was made of earth from the river or fields, the labu pulau tiga was moulded from terracotta earth from the jungle.

Shamsuddin said the six potters, still involved in the year-old trade, were all related as they were descended from his great-grandmother Hajar Safiah and grandmother Hajar Rokiah Idris, who lived up to years old. Image from The Star, we added the text. Records are unclear, but we reckon at that point Birch was gone case. Mission accomplished, but then would come the colonial consequences. A diorama depicting the execution of Maharaja Lela and others who helped kill Birch.

Image from The Star. After the murder, Maharaja Lela and the others who were directly involved in killing Birch were executed by hanging. Some of the Perak Malay chiefs who were involved were exiled with the Sultan to Seychelles. Once exiled, Sultan Yusuf of Perak was put in his place to rule after the exile. In Seychelles, the Sultan was actually living a decent life and even joined the Victoria Cricket Club with British officers that were there.

He also collected fine walking sticks , played football and also entered kite-flying competitions , not to mention that he introduced and grew a few Malaysian fruits that was used to feed the people during the world wars. The Perak royal family in Seychelles during their exile. Image from sembangkuala. At the time of independence, the country needed a national anthem , so a committee was formed and they turned to the Perak state anthem cos it sounded quite nice doncha think?

Did he enter their homes without taking off his shoes? Did he force them to eat bread instead of rice? Did he ban wayang kulit, zapin , or kuda kepang and try to replace them with Shakespeare's play?

Did he force them to wear suits and ties instead of the baju Melayu? I do not have any evidence of the above, but somehow, I do not think he tried to do any of those.

Did he try to ban construction of mosques? Did he try to ban the teaching of Islam? The history book never mentioned this. So, again, I do not think so. Did he try to convert the Malays to his religion? Sure, there were Christian missionaries that came and set up mission schools, but those were done by Christian missionaries, not personally by JWW Birch. He was just a British Resident, an administrator. Plus, there was no evidence of forced conversion by those missionary schools.

So, again NO. Did he try to abolish the Malay monarchy? Again, NO.