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Kanowit is
a town and the capital of a district of the same name, located within the
Sibu Division, Sarawak, east Malaysia, comprising 2,253.5 square
kilometers. As of 2010, Kanowit's population is 28,985. It is built on the
mouth of Kanowit River at the bank of Rajang River, approximately 174
kilometers from the coast of South China Sea. It takes 45 minutes to reach
the town by land transport and an hour by boat from Sibu. The main ethnic
groups are Iban, Chinese, Malay, and Melanau.
The town takes its name from the Kanowit, a Melanau ethnic group called
Rajang by the Ibans. (ISO 639-3: kxn) . The language is still spoken.
There still are some Kanowit people living in the Kanowit area. However,
the language is doomed to extinction.
The village where Kanowit people live is known as Kampung Bedil, a short
trip by boat up the Rajang River from Kanowit town. The town center
consists of three streets of 1930s vintage Chinese shophouses, near the
waterfront. A few new shophouses have been built. Kanowit have a dry and
wet market, offering local vegetables, meats and handicrafts. The market
opens everyday from 7.00 am till 12.00 noon.
The best sight seeing can be had by walking along the riverside from town
or up the Telecom Hill or Bukit Memaluh Hill.
The town has two primary schools:
- Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan St. Francis Xavier (the earliest primary
school in Sarawak, founded in 1883,
- Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Yee Ting, a Chinese-run government school
and three secondary schools:
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Kanowit,
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Datuk Haji Abdul Rahman Yakub,
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Nanga Dap.
Sources:
Wikipedia
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