Qualla: The Island That Changed Hands

The Island That Changed Hands: Introduction

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. In July 1842, James Brooke sailed the schooner Royalist into Brunei Bay and dropped anchor off a low, sandy island near the mouth of the Brunei River. The island was known for wild boars and excellent fishing, and Brooke chose it for a more practical reason: from this anchorage, he could watch the coast of Brunei Town without entering it, monitoring Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II's agents who were stirring trouble in his territory. It was a vantage point, not a destination. Muara Besar Island has been playing that role ever since, serving whoever needs it -- the British, the Japanese, the Australians, and now the Chinese -- while remaining, in itself, little more than three and a half miles of flat marshland between the South China Sea and Brunei Bay.

Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0

The Island That Changed Hands: Wild Boars and Warships

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Yu Chu Chin, CC BY-SA 4.0. Brooke returned to the island in 1846, this time accompanied by Sir Thomas John Cochrane and the Royal Navy. The political situation in Brunei had grown more complicated, and the British needed to project presence without provoking a confrontation. Cochrane chose not to intervene...

Image: Yu Chu Chin | CC BY-SA 4.0

The Island That Changed Hands: Operation Oboe Six

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. During World War II, the Japanese Navy turned the island into a naval support base, constructing five piers at Cape Sapo totaling 300 metres in length, in waters 10 metres deep. By June 1945, those piers had become a target. Operation Oboe 6, the Australian campaign to liberate B...

Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0

The Island That Changed Hands: Dolphins and Mangroves

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. Between the wars and the industrial development, the island harbored something quieter. Mangrove forests spread across its interior. Migratory birds and shorebirds used it as a stopover. In 1949 and 1950, the naturalist Carl Alexander Gibson-Hill documented Irrawaddy dolphins nea...

Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0

The Island That Changed Hands: Refinery Island

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. The modern transformation of Muara Besar began with Brunei's 2007-2012 National Development Plan, which allocated B$300 million for a container port and manufacturing cluster. The vision soon pivoted to petrochemicals. In July 2011, the government approved Zhejiang Hengyi Group's...

Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0