The Segu bungalow. SHS photo, Nov. 2014.
On 22 February 2015, Friends of Sarawak Museum and SHS co-hosted a talk for their members, entitled “Episodes from the History of Banglo Segu” (‘Segu’ bungalow) by Dr. John Walker, Sarawak historian, lecturer in political science at University of New South Wales and Australian Defence Force Academy. It took place… in situ, on the deck of the bungalow. Drawing on a research paper he is working on, Dr Walker shed interesting lights on the history of the building and on facets of the life it witnessed in the Rajahs and colonial times and later when it was occupied by Tom Harrisson.
Read the Borneo Post article by journalist Joanna Yap on this talk:
“The ‘glamorous, scandalous’ times of Banglo Segu” (5 April 2015)
In concluding remarks, the reporter writes opportunely:
“The bungalow has withstood the test of time — but for how long? It is increasingly fenced in by creeping commercial and residential development on all sides. This begets concerns as to what are the future plans for this place — whether there is adequate legal protection and unflinching enforcement of preservation of heritage buildings and how much we are willing to invest in terms of strengthening local authority and expertise in heritage protection and preservation.”
The Segu wooden bungalow is located along Lorong Park (Park Road), opposite the WW2 Air raid shelters. It is normally not open to the public.
It is known to have been transferred in 1936 to its present site from its original location next to Sungai (river) Segu some 30km from Kuching, where it was originally built as a holiday house for the Third Rajah Vyner Brooke.
The bungalow is part of a list of sites approved in 2007 to be gazetted as heritage sites, but not actually gazetted so far.
[article updated 12/04/2015]
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