Marudi : History of the Foochows

 The History of the Foochows of Lubok Nibong started in 1927 when the Charles Vyner Brooke gave the permission for the Foochows to establish a 2000 acre rice and rubber settlement in the Baram. 

Hii Nguong Sherng with the help of a Native Officer, Tuanku Mohammad, met the Rajah and obtained his blessing. Thereafter Hii brought 90 Foochow pioneers, in two batches, 30 were fresh from Fujian while 60 were from Sibu, to the lower valley of the Baram. The bend of the Baram river at Lubok Nibong, was deep enough for sea going vessels. Within 10 years Poyut and Lubok Nibong became a thriving agricultural centre due to the hardworking chartacter of the Foochows. Charles Vyner Brooke was not wrong in trusting the Foochows to build another Foochow Settlement Scheme.

The Foochows established 4 schools in the area and soon Marudi and the surrounding areas started to develop too. While the Foochow landowners have never abandoned their homes, many new generations have moved to better places and even overseas. Many of the original landowners have continued to use the land to grow new crops like durians and other fruits. The rubber trees have long gone and no one plants rice there any more.

Only one shop is operating in the Lubok Nibong Bazaar. The area still has its Foochow Kapitan and Penghulu. The present Pemancha is Wong Kiong Ching who grew up in Lubok Nibong, studied in Sibu and was a teacher in the Baram for many years until he retired.

 A village of Chinese and Malays also sprang up across the river, opposite Marudi town. A primary school was started and rubber was grown, besides rice. The rubber trees were finally abandoned in the 1970;s after  much damage caused by decades of flooding. The Sarawak government moved the Chinese and Malay residents of Kampong Seberang to a new settlement area near the Marudi airport,

The Malay kampongs along both banks of the Baram also developed. The continue to exist to this day.