You remember the illustrious Chan family that I got all interested in at the end of last year? 

According to the 2011 article I consulted back then, there was another surviving villa (of the five originally built by the Chan clan), and it was "located behind the KMC flats, Jalan Padungan". We looked for it, a couple of times, but we found nothing.

Last week, as we were driving along the road at the back of Jalan Padungan, Nigel spotted something down one of the streets that looked as though it could be a candidate for the "uninhabited rambling house" that the article describes. Today we went to check it out.

It's a little dilapidated (it once belonged to Chan Choo Nio, but it has changed hands many times since then). But it's still there. The graves of its first owners are still there too, we're told, but as they're round the back, and we didn't feel we ought to enter the compound, we didn't see them.



The heritage-related work on the far side of the river has been going on for an awfully long time. (Here's my post on the subject from back in November...) But there has been a little progress of late:



And another interesting local heritage story cruised into view this week. It concerns Barbara Mendu Bay, an Iban woman who lived from 1900 to 1986.

She distinguished herself in many areas: as a pioneer (she was one of the first to enrol to study nursing in Melaka, and the initiator and sole proprietor of a pre-war transport company); as a rebel (she married out of her community); as a wartime heroine (she helped European officers escape from the Japanese, smuggled food into Batu Lintang camp, and helped care for wounded battle survivors); as a philanthropist (she sold her own possessions to provide for the sick and the poor); as a community leader (she worked first under the Japanese, and then as first president of the women's section of the Sarawak Dayak National Union); and as a politician (she joined the Sarawak United People's Party, and founded a women's wing).

She was concerned about Sarawak's political future. In 1962, Mendu, Lily Eberwein, and Tra Zehnder were among those who met with the Cobbold Commission to discuss Sarawak’s rights in relation to the proposed formation of Malaysia. Mendu warned: "Be wise and meticulous before making any commitment which might bring undesirable results." She was concerned that premature participation in the federation might not be in Sarawak's interests.

Mendu had been awarded an MBE by the British government in recognition of her various contributions. The British withdrew the honour, on account of her political engagement, "but she seemed unconcerned...".

Mendu was a passionate advocate for education, urging parents: "Send your sons and daughters to school. If you want to see your people progress, encourage them to study."

She founded a school for poor children in the Sekama area that was then her home. I'm not sure exactly where the school stood, but Jalan Mendu -- which is just down the road from us, and which becomes Jalan Sekama at the big junction with the traveller's palm -- was named after her. It's not Kuching's most interesting or beautiful road, but it definitely gains kudos in my eyes through its association with this extraordinary woman.