KUCHING: ONE of the city's historical landmarks and a name synonymous with the heritage and culture of Sarawak, the Brooke Dockyard, turned 100 years old on Thursday.
The dry dockyard, next to the Kuching district mosque, is now the oldest operational dockyard in the country.
It was built by the third White Rajah, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, when he realised that he did not have a facility to repair his fleet of boats.
It was declared open by his wife Ranee Muda Sylvia on May 31, 1912 -- the same year the Titanic sunk.
Sylvia, in her autobiography Sylvia of Sarawak, described the opening as " ... the Chinese and Malays had gone crazy with excitement and activity. They plunged into the water with ropes between their feet, they swarmed upon the platform laughing and screaming to one another instructions and wishes of goodwill.
"Vyner's speech was spoken, but unheard ... we were on the border of hysterics."
The dock has seen much in its 100 years, from repairing wooden hull sailboats to steel hulled boats, from cannon carrying man-of war to high speed gunboats.
In the early 1960s, at the time of the "Indonesian Confrontation", the dry dock played a key role in repairing and returning to action quickly all types of military vessels.
Its main role was still in the repair of government vessels. It had, by then, also accepted work to repair non-government vessels.
From 1985 to 1998, Brooke Dockyard went through a phase best described as a "challenging period".
The mainstay of its business, building and repairing ferries, dried up when the government privatised the ferry services in the state.
Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Kuching's iconic landmark, Brooke Dockyard turns 100
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