Qualla: The Sultan's Island at the River's Mouth

The Sultan's Island at the River's Mouth: Introduction

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. According to local legend, the warrior Awang Semaun was playing gasing -- a Malay spinning top game -- with his nephew near Bukit Patoi in Temburong when his top collided mid-spin, launched itself across the sky toward the Brunei River, bounced off the water like a skipping stone, and landed upside-down on the shore of Berambang Island. It spun there until it turned to rock. The boulder supposedly remains. Whether or not you believe in petrified spinning tops, Berambang Island has always been a place where improbable things converge: sultans and coal miners, mangrove ecologists and proboscis monkeys, all sharing 1,939 hectares of river island at the mouth of the Brunei River.

Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0

The Sultan's Island at the River's Mouth: A Palace at the River's Gate

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain. Sultan Muhammad Hasan chose the island's northernmost point, Tanjong Kindana, for his palace -- a strategic position commanding the entrance to the Brunei River. From there, he built a covered passageway to neighboring Chermin Island, which served as a fortified defensive strongh...

Image: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center | Public domain

The Sultan's Island at the River's Mouth: Coal, Oil, and the White Rajah

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain. Centuries later, Berambang Island caught the attention of a different kind of power. Sir Charles Brooke, the second Rajah of Sarawak, occupied the island -- known locally as Buang Tawer -- and began mining coal at the foot of its hills. What his miners found in 1902, however, was...

Image: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center | Public domain

The Sultan's Island at the River's Mouth: Where Proboscis Monkeys Still Have Room

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain. The island's mangroves are not a backdrop. They are the reason Berambang matters ecologically. The western coast is dominated by Heritiera globosa and nipa palms, while the eastern shore hosts Rhizophora species and Avicennia stands near Sungai Manunggol. Together, these forests ...

Image: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center | Public domain

The Sultan's Island at the River's Mouth: Six Villages on a Living Island

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain. Berambang is not a wilderness. Six kampongs dot the island: Berambang, Menunggol, Riong, Sungai Bunga, Pudak, and Bolkiah 'B.' The northern side has grown steadily more concrete since the early 2000s, and a B$181.5 million housing scheme under the 2001-2005 National Development P...

Image: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center | Public domain