Wednesday, July 18, 2007

" Keppel Road" in Bintulu or in Singapore?

In my earlier blogs, I mentioned Keppel in passing while writing on the Bintulu Fort. For the whole of last week I kept on searching for the road sign . Luck was on my side yesterday. As I negotiated the bend after the EPF office to my delight the sign was on the left of the bend. Here it is.
Keppel was the " pirates buster" for the first Rajah of Sarawak i.e. Rajah James Brooke. He commanded the " Dido" , a superb seacraft in those adventurous days of Sarawak.
Quote: "He was so enamoured that he could not leave her without rowing twice around her in his boat to have a look at her. Keppel was the doyen of all sea captains who appeared in the waters of Borneo and the Straits during the course of the century" ( D.J.M.Tate, Rajah's Brooke's Borneo ).
Keppel never anchored in the waters of Bintulu. Nevertheless, the Brooke's respect for him earned him a place in Bintulu. Very permanently , in the road sign above.

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