Tales of The River of the White Lily : Railways

The Railway described by Peter Goullart in his book, "River of the White Lily" was actually the one constructed by the Kong Thye Sawmill, owned by the Ling Family.

The book truly introduces the life of the Chinese in Sarawak during the colonial days (1950's) from the eyes of a white man (a White Russian, in fact). P. Goullart spoke good Chinese and especially CAntonese. He liked sitting in coffee shops. He loved the Sibu coffee shop called, Three Friends.

I like the Chinese words on the book cover.


In the early 50's the timber business was booming and  logging was extremely ferocious. Sometimes we even heard that the sawmills were working overtime.

Today the Village of the River of White Lily is still there. The Foochows call it Bama Oh. the road from Sibu to Bama Oh is very good. But the railway cannot be found any more.

Bai Hua is White Flower. Oh is River.