STUDY TOUR: Students and lecturers are seen at the entrance to the Niah Great Cave.
MIRI: A total of 13 Curtin University Sarawak students visited the world-renowned Niah Caves in Niah National Park recently. It was part of their Borneo Studies course, a section of the Bachelor of Arts programme.
Borneo Studies lecturer Terry Justin Dit and Department of Media, Culture and Communication lecturers Tharshni Kumarasamy and Peter Jamba accompanied the students.
At the national park headquarters, the students visited the mini museum to learn the significance of the caves, which acted as a major centre of human settlement some 40,000 years ago. Other stops included Trader’s Cave and Hell’s Trench. Terry, who has visited Niah National Park
five times, said the area never fails to fascinate him, particularly the double and triple canopy forest trails.
The caves housed the oldest skeletal remains in Southeast Asia, preserved an amazing record of Borneo’s prehistoric animals, which include the tapir, which is now extinct in Borneo, and giant forms of wild pig and anteater.
“The study visit was to enable the students to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Niah Caves and the importance of preserving them and their surrounding forests,” he said.
Student Sarah Adiba Sabri said the trip was physically challenging, but the wonder and beauty of the caves and surrounding forests spurred her on. Niah National Park is one of Sarawak’s best known natural attractions and undoubtedly provides some of the most interesting and impressive sights in all of Southeast Asia.
The park protects 31 square km of lowland forest and limestone hills, the largest being Gunung Subis, which dominates the landscape at a height of 394 metres above sea level. The Niah Caves were declared a National Historic Monument in 1958 and the Niah National Park gazetted in 1974.