Annual Report 2024
Borneo Perantis

The year 2024 marked the inaugural year of Borneo Perantis. The primary objectives were to define the initiative’s core values, initiate historical research on Borneo, and disseminate creative and digital content to make credible research findings accessible to a wider audience. Additionally, efforts focused on engaging local communities—especially in Sabah and Sarawak—for future collaborations and positioning Borneo Perantis as a non-confrontational platform for interdisciplinary discussions on Borneo’s history and cultural identity.

A five-member research team was officially formed in January:

• Shari Jeffri (Research Team Leader)
• Avtar Singh
• Shadelina Shari
• Gregory Nyangau
• Christopher Higgs

Through a subscription-based model, the researchers gained access to the digital archive Gale Primary Source, which contains hundreds of thousands of rare scanned colonial documents exclusively from the British National Archive.
 

The first year focuses producing podcast content on Borneo history as the key outputs (as of 31 December 2024).

1. Video Podcast: What’s The Story of Our History?

• A 10-episode video podcast produced and hosted by Chris Pereira, with Shari Jeffri and Avtar Singh as key panelists.
• Full episodes available on YouTube.
• Short teasers shared on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts.
• Five episodes produced in 2024, accumulating over 2,000 views. Another five episodes in 2025.
• TikTok videos: 16 (total views: 28,661).
• YouTube Shorts: 3 (total views: 515).

2. Avtar Singh History YouTube Channel

• An existing channel (since 2020) run by Avtar Singh focusing on North Borneo’s history.
• In 2024, we supported the production of 15 short episodes (under 20 minutes) on pre-colonial and colonial North Borneo history.
• These contents recorded over 12,000 views.

3. Christopher Higgs’ Podcast Channel

• A new YouTube channel covering Sarawak’s history up to the end of the colonial era.
• We supported his 20-day research and production trip to Sabah and Sarawak in October.
• Content set to be released starting early 2025, with at least 20 planned episodes.

4. Gema Bumi Soundscape-Interactive Website

• · Developed by Yii Kah Hoe (sound designer) and William Kok (filmmaker), co-founders of Gema Bumi.
• · Focuses on high-quality soundscape recordings of disappearing natural environments and endangered indigenous cultures of Borneo as part of cultural preservation.
• · More recordings and presentations coming up in 2025.

5. Borneo Story Lab

• A three-year collaboration with Swinburne University Sarawak in Kuching, formalized through a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on 11 December 2024.
• Provides micro-scholarships to Bornean undergraduates for creating:

1. Short animations
2. Interactive stories
3. Illustrated books
4. Digital comics

• Focus areas: Borneo’s history, culture, and heritage.
• Expected outcome: Approx. 20 digital works per year.

6. Borneo History Centre

• A new resource center is initiated in Kota Kinabalu, founded by Shari Jeffri & Shadelina Shari
• Functions as an archive and resource center for historical research on Borneo with the goal to train emerging researchers and generate innovative historical insights.

In 2024, Borneo Perantis have engaged numerous institutions, stakeholders and experts, including:

• DeCoSeas – Decolonizing Southeast Asian Sound Archives
• Bianca Gerlich (German historian specializing in Borneo)
• Jutta Kelling (FernUniversität Hagen)
• Giulia Speciale (Franckesche Stiftungen, Halle)
• Prof. Dr. Poline Bala (Institute of Borneo Studies, UNIMAS)
• Gregory Wee (Swinburne University Sarawak)
• The People’s History Centre (Pusat Sejarah Rakyat)
• Nova Goh (Borneo documentary filmmaker)
• Dr. Welyne Jehom (Anthropologist, University of Malaya)
• Dr. Tamass Kiss (Sunway University)
• Carol Wong (Sunway University Press)
• Prof. Stephen Chia (Pusat Penyelidikan Arkeologi Malaysia, USM)
• Ben Thiko (history content creator based in Kuching)
• Wendy Teo (Borneo Laboratory & Think & Tink)
• Borneo Cultures Museum
• Catriona Maddocks (Catama Borneo)
• Yasmin Nüßlein
• Sonia Wan Luhong and Syed Rusydie (Haus Kch)
• Eddie Wong (AI visual artist)
• Sarawak Tourism Board