ABSTRACT
The early twentieth century in South East Asia has often been characterized as a period of rising nationalist sentiment and increasing paternalistic colonial rule. The one-hundred years of Brooke rule in Sarawak particularly seem to present a stark contrast to the social disruption and political disorder in Burma so graphically chronicled by J. S. Furnivall in his Colonial Policy and Practice. In Kuching, the Rajah was assisted by a number of European officials and by a Supreme Council, established in 1855, which consisted of two European members and four prominent Sarawak Malay Datus. The economy of Sarawak became increasingly complex in the twentieth century and gradually began to outstrip the capacities of personal rule.
