29-Nov-2025
We had a great little trip to this site yesterday, courtesy of the Sarawak Heritage Society. The RCBMH, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, is situated just outside Padawan. It is now a general hospital, but it started out as a "leprosarium", and the buildings dating back to that time are still standing -- largely thanks to Angie Jong, whose passion for this project was really clear as she showed us round.
The site is way more extensive than we'd realized...
We're advised these days to refer to Hansen's disease, as opposed to leprosy, given the terrible stigma that used to surround that term. (We couldn't help recalling the movie Sweet Bean, directed by Naomi Kawase, which poignantly illustrates some of that. And it does still come up in the books I read: Inspector Imanishi Investigates, for example, or The Covenant of Water.)
Hansen's disease is still present in Malaysia. It can now be treated and cured, but it's important to catch it early before nerve damage begins.
RCBMH was the only leprosarium in East Malaysia. It treated patients, carried out research on the disease, and also housed sufferers, who were, of course, separated out from the rest of the community. It later hosted the Sinar Baru settlement, where former patients set up a community supported by vocational programmes.
While we still lived in KL, we visited the peninusular's equivalent, Valley of Hope in Sungai Buloh, about 25 km to the north of the capital.
Back in the not necessarily good old days, attitudes to this malady and its sufferers were far from enlightened. So Angie had plenty of sad stories to share. But the grounds are peaceful and beautiful now, and the two places of worship we visited (there are five in total) definitely messaged power and protection.
The building where we gathered for tea
Note the original belian posts
The little museum building
Residents carved these blocks to use for printing
Artefacts from the institution's previous incarnation
Given the prejudice against Hansen's disease that was rife in the community, this kind of certificate would have been indispensable
Rituals were held when the sacred kenyalang was moved to this more sheltered spot
The Kwan Kong temple
The area in front of the temple was used as a burial ground
A chaulmoogra tree. Before today's multi-drug therapy, doctors would distil oil from the fruit, and use it to inject patients. It was a painful procedure, and not all patients experienced any benefit
A fascinating visit. And given that this was all slated to be knocked down, the chance to appreciate such a wonderful little window onto the past was doubly meaningful.
Worth the journey out, the walk in the unremitting rain, and even the endless shenanigans with our ride-hailing champions on the way home.