Sarikei

Sarikei (Chinese: 泗里街; pinyin: sì lǐ jiē) is a town, and the capital of the Sarikei District (985 square kilometres) in Sarikei Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. It is located on the Rajang River, near where the river empties into the South China Sea. The district population (year 2010 census) was 56,798.

The most distinctive feature of the bustling waterfront is a 3.6 m high pineapple statue and also the tallest building in Sarikei - Wisma Jubli Mutiara.

The town itself consists of a main road, Repok Road which is bisected by another road leading to the new development in Kampung Seberang.

History and background

The origin name of Sarikei was hard to be identify. Once upon a time, Sarikei was the centre for buying and selling chickens and hence it was called "Sa-rie-kei" ("Sa-rie" in most Chinese dialects means "centre" and "kei" means "Town"). Later the spelling was changed to Sarikei.

The early history of Sarikei can be traced as far back as the early 19th century. There are many historical events to show its existence. For example, Rajah James Brooke first visited Sarikei on 30 April 1845. There were also resistance from the local people towards the Brooke’s administration, including the burning of Sarikei on 4 January 1856 and the Julau Expedition on 19 June 1856, which was led by Sir Charles Brooke to counter the native resistance in Julau.