Lawas | |
|---|---|
Town anddistrict capital | |
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Malay | Pekan Lawas |
| • Chinese | 老越 (Traditional) |
 Lawas town | |
 Seal | |
  Lawas | |
| Coordinates:4°50′0″N115°24′0″E / 4.83333°N 115.40000°E /4.83333; 115.40000 | |
| Country |  Malaysia |
| State |  Sarawak |
| Division | Limbang |
| District | Lawas |
| Population (2020)[1] | |
• Total | 46,200 |
| Ethnicity | Lun Bawang,Bruneian Malay andKedayan,Iban,Chinese, Others |
| Website | https://lawasdc.sarawak.gov.my |
Lawas (Malay:Pekan Lawas) is a small town and the capital ofLawas District,Limbang Division,Sarawak,Malaysia. This district area is 3,811.90 square kilometres, and population (year 2020 census) was 46,200. It is 1,200 km from the state capital,Kuching and 200 km from the capital city ofSabah,Kota Kinabalu.
There are several versions of the origin of the name "Lawas". It reportedly came from the Malay wordluas which means "spacious". During earlier times, people tended to settle down in spacious areas and thus the town was born. In another version of the story, there was once a group of merchants who were attacked and chased by the pirates at the mouth of the Lawas river. The merchants managed to hid themselves in the middle of the jungle and the pirates could not find them. Feelling relieved and secure, the merchants returned to the sea. In the local dialect, "Lawas" means "relief, safe, and secure".[2]
On 7 September 1901, theBritish North Borneo Company (BNBC) had obtained the administrative rights of the Lawas river from Brunei Sultanate in order to stem the smuggling of weapons that worked against the BNBC government inNorth Borneo (present daySabah) and the trading of slaves in the interior of the Lawas district. There were two types of rights exist in the Brunei administrative system:sungai kerajaan (government river) andsungai tulin (private river). Government control on the river includes the rights to all the minerals mined from the river and the right to interfere if there is any political disturbances around the river. Private ownership of the river functioned like a private inheritance which includes the right collect taxes from the residents living near the river.[3]
At that time, Pengiran Abu Bakar and Pengiran Tajudin had the private ownership of the Lawas river. They refused to surrender their private ownerships to BNBC but keen to sell their rights toKingdom of Sarawak. When the British Consul atLabuan decided that BNBC should take over the Lawas river by force, Pengiran Abu Bakar quickly invitedRajah Charles Brooke from Kingdom of Sarawak to govern the Lawas river. BNBC initially was unhappy with the Brooke involvement in the administration of Lawas river. However, in November 1904, BNBC decided the sell their administrative right to Brooke in view of private owners unwilling to cooperate with BNBC; taking Lawas river by force will only spark more rebellion against BNBC and drain the BNBC cash reserves. On 19 January 1905, an agreement was signed between BNBC and Rajah Charles Brooke which saw the official handover of Lawas river to the Brooke government in exchange of 5000 pounds and several administrative areas around Brunei bay to BNBC. An agreement was later reached with the private owners to sell Lawas river to the Brooke government with reparation of 6,000 dollars per year to the private owners.[3]
Lawas is part of theLawas District, which is part of theLimbang Division, which is part ofSarawak,Malaysia.
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Lawas has atropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round.
| Climate data for Lawas | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.0 (86.0) | 30.0 (86.0) | 30.7 (87.3) | 31.4 (88.5) | 31.5 (88.7) | 31.3 (88.3) | 31.1 (88.0) | 31.0 (87.8) | 30.9 (87.6) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.5 (86.9) | 30.5 (86.9) | 30.8 (87.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 27.0 (80.6) | 27.1 (80.8) | 27.5 (81.5) | 28.0 (82.4) | 28.2 (82.8) | 27.9 (82.2) | 27.7 (81.9) | 27.6 (81.7) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.3 (81.1) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.6 (81.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 24.1 (75.4) | 24.2 (75.6) | 24.4 (75.9) | 24.7 (76.5) | 24.9 (76.8) | 24.6 (76.3) | 24.3 (75.7) | 24.3 (75.7) | 24.2 (75.6) | 24.2 (75.6) | 24.2 (75.6) | 24.3 (75.7) | 24.4 (75.9) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 396 (15.6) | 252 (9.9) | 254 (10.0) | 298 (11.7) | 359 (14.1) | 311 (12.2) | 308 (12.1) | 388 (15.3) | 418 (16.5) | 402 (15.8) | 414 (16.3) | 378 (14.9) | 4,178 (164.4) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org[4] | |||||||||||||
Lawas is made up of a population comprisingLun Bawang,Brunei Malay,Kedayan, andChinese. The main spoken language isBrunei Malay,Kedayan,Lun Bawang andHokkien.
As with Limbang, the town is a busy transit point between Sarawak,Sabah, andBrunei.Timber and agriculture are the mainstays of the economy. The highland area known asBa'Kelalan has been experimenting with the cultivation ofapples. In addition, the tourism industry is being developed in Ba'Kelalan. However, these plans have been met with controversy due to the probable effects on several traditional tribal villages. Plans to develop small and middle scale industries in Lawas have been proposed by the state government. At this time much of the land in Lawas, Sundar and Trusan has been transformed frompadi fields intooil palm plantations. Lawas is also known as the producer of smoked fish called 'Tahai' in local dialect. One of the villages that produces 'Tahai' commercially is Kampung Awat-Awat in the Sundar sub-district.
Lawas, by virtue of its geographical location, is cut off from the rest of Sarawak's road network. It is however linked by main road toSabah andBrunei'sTemburong district. There is a good local road network around Lawas district which is relatively free of traffic jams.
TheLawas Bridge is located near Lawas.
Travelling from Miri to Lawas would need to go through checkpoints in Brunei and Limbang, totaling eight immigration checkpoints. Drive from the town of Lawas to Sarawak-Sabah border requires 30 minutes.[5]
Two roadborder crossings are located in Lawas district:
Another mode of transport is via theLawas River. The cleaned river serves as an important link to neighbouring towns and deep interior settlements. Besides that, Lawas is also served by an airport. There has also been a plan to build a new airport. Commonly, four wheel drive would be the main transport for most of the highlanders.
Brunei,Labuan andLimbang can be reached by boat. The journey will take around two hours to get to the destination. Boats to Brunei, Labuan and Limbang are available at Lawas Wharf every morning. The boats can accommodate around 150 passengers.
Lawas is served byLawas Airport (IATA: LWY). It has flights toMiri,Ba' Kelalan andKota Kinabalu,Sabah.
There is a local bus network as well as buses linking Lawas withKota Kinabalu (Sabah),Miri (Sarawak) andBrunei.
Planned:
Proposed:
A government hospital was proposed to be built for the town under theNinth Malaysia Plan.[8] As of May 2016, the hospital is scheduled to be completed in 36 months.[8]
A planned RM210 million state government office complex cum three-storey shopping mall will be built next to Hotel Seri Malaysia and Lawas Town Square.[9] The mall will houses a supermarket, departmental store and 132 commercial lots.[9]
The open-air market, locally known as tamu, is held weekly on from Friday evening until Saturday afternoon. Local produce such as fresh fruits, vegetables, fresh meat, Adan rice, Bario rice, Ikan Tahai, Hill salts (Garam Bakelalan), handycraft traditional and live poultry are sold. The days of this weekly community occasion differ from district to district.
One of the most popular tourist attractions in Lawas is its Tamu Lawas (or Lawas Produce Market), which is held every Saturday. Local products such as vegetables, fruits and sea products are sold by locals in this market which is frequented by locals and people from the neighbouringTemburong district ofBrunei.
Besides Tamu Lawas, other interesting places in Lawas are Punang Beach, Sungai Bangat Beach, Pa' Lelau in Merarap, Mount Murud, Kampung air Terjun (along Jalan Trusan). Kuala Lawas, Punang and Awat Awat are famous with its Kampung Air. It is similar to Kampung Ayer in Brunei but smaller. The main mode of transportation is perahu (boat) to cross the river.
