SEAArch - The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog » Johor

Legoland Asia to feature Angkor Wat

noelbynature — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:21:11 +0000

A planned Asian version of Legoland, set to open in the southern Malaysian state of Johor in 2012 will feature a whole series of Asian architectural icons such as Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat’s kinda predictable, I wonder if they would also do Lembah Bujang and Borobudur as well.

photo credit: yumyumbubblegum

Malaysiaâ€™s Legoland to get Asian touch
Straits Times, via the Malaysian Insider, 13 July 2009

In 2012, you might be able to drive across the Second Link to Johor Baru and, in 15 minutes, catch a view of the Petronas Twin Towers, India’s Taj Mahal, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and Singapore’s Merlion â€” all at one go.

If these iconic edifices do pop up, however, they will be a bit smaller than usual. And they will be made up of tiny plastic bricks.

These are the sights being considered at Asia’s first Legoland, which is slated to come up at the Iskandar Malaysia development region in three years’ time.

Unlike the four other Legolands elsewhere â€” in Germany, England, Denmark and the United States â€” Legoland Malaysia is expected to boast an Asian theme, giving the familiar world of bricks a touch of local flavour.

Pirates plunder ancient underwater artefacts

noelbynature — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:36:28 +0000

With all the buzz happening over the new UNESCO sites inscribed last week, this rather alarming story slipped by quietly. Syndicates have reportedly been recovering artefacts from shipwrecks off the shores of the southern Malaysian state of Johor for sale in the antiquities market.

Syndicate Stealing Artefacts In Johor Waters
Bernama, 09 July 2008

The rampant theft of valuable artefacts from sunken ships in Johor waters especially around Mersing and Sungai Johor had caused the country to lose millions of ringgit, said the Johor Historical Society.

Such activities, masterminded by syndicates operating in a neighbouring country, had also resulted in the loss of Malaysia’s own heritage, the society’s committee member, Zaaba Abdul Samad, told Bernama. He said the thieves would pretend to be tourists who were diving to observe the natural beauty of the seabed in Mersing.

Is it the footprint of Bigfoot or jumbo?

noelbynature — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 09:43:10 +0000

10 November 2006 (New Straits Times) – In the words of Liz Price, “Oh no… not again…” I’m not even sure why I’m posting this, since this post has nothing to do with Southeast Asian Archaeology anymore. But since we’ve followed this story from a time when such a theory might have been plausible, we’ll just follow it out of morbid curiousity. My take? My money’s on a two-legged elephant…

Is it the footprint of Bigfoot or jumbo?

Loud noises and the breaking of branches at a rubber plantation in Kampung Batu 4, about three kilometres from the Kota Tinggi waterfall on Monday night, have fuelled interest again in the creature.

…

Marozan had ventured into the secondary jungle behind the kongsi with a group of youths to investigate the source of the disturbance.

“We found large footprints measuring about 45cm long. The pair of footprints had a stride of about a metre apart. This indicates that a large bi-pedal creature had moved around here. There are twigs and leaves broken off from trees from a height of more than two metres.”

RM185,000 offered for Bigfoot â€˜printâ€™

noelbynature — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 14:55:46 +0000

8 October 2006 (The Star) – The Johor Hominid is back again! Actually, not quite. The Paranaormal Seekers Malaysia are desperate for funds and hence are willing to part with their prized Bigfoot cast in order to continue their investigations. What I really think is someone should donate them more plaster to make better casts!

RM185,000 offered for Bigfoot â€˜printâ€™

A private museum owner in the United States has offered US$50,000 (RM185,000) for the cast of what the Paranormal Seekers Malaysia (Seekers) claims to be Bigfootâ€™s footprint.

Seekers had auctioned the cast, which was made during an expedition to Kota Tinggi in February last year, in eBay Malaysia with a starting bid of RM100,000.

But there were no takers when the auction ended last Wednesday.

There were, however, interested parties from the United States, which included the private museum owner and a Bigfoot researcher.

Investigation On Sunken Ship Continues

noelbynature — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 13:37:54 +0000

3 October 2006 (Bernama) -

Investigation On Sunken Ship Continues

The location and cause of the sinking of the ship Renee in Johor waters in 1923 is being investigated by the Archaeological Unit of the National Museum.

Unit curator Samsol Sahar, who headed the expedition that found the ship in October last year, said the research and excavation work to get more details on the sunken ship was ongoing.

The initial finding of the investigation was that the ship was on its way to send the dowry of a Pahang royal family member who was to marry a Perak royal family member when it sank, he told Bernama Tuesday.

Johor Hominid: For those of you just tuning in…

noelbynature — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 04:19:53 +0000

From a spaced-out theory to a full-blown scandal, you might want to check the related links below to see all the posts published here about the Johor Homind fracas. In summary, rumours of a bigfoot-like creature roaming the jungles of Johor have led to speculation that the bigfoot is an undiscovered living hominid species. This hominid hypothesis is championed by Sean Ang, a paleontology-background scientist, and Vincent Chow, a biodiversity researcher. On it’s own merits, the hominid thesis stands on the evidence of a (single) footprint (pun intended) and “sightings” (read: hearsay).

If the evidence wasn’t compelling enough as it stood, last week the two researchers posted photographic “evidence” on their website, which was promptly denounced as plagiarim when a visitor provided a full photo of the alleged bigfoot, leading to the shutdown of the website.

For the latest developments, a good detailed summary of the news to date, and the latest comment postings by Sean Ang himself, check out Cryptomundo at http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/jhwebdown/

Down but not out…

noelbynature — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 01:01:04 +0000

6 Aug 2006 (Johor Homind website) - In the wake of the photograph scandal, the website has been taken down indefinitely with the following message:

Down but not out, the Search continues..

Dear Visitors,

First of all, johorhominid.org would like to thank all of you for assisting us in the identification of the hoax photograph. The respective winner of the Award will be contacted via email.

Given that the current evidence for the existence of a hominid is weaker,we are currently closing down this site temporarily pending the investigation of the alleged hominid/hominoid cave and skull. Initially the focus is on lobbying the JWPS on the release of the photograph.

Now that we have completed the mission, Vincent Chow will focus more on the fieldwork and exploration. Please email us if you wish to be updated about the expeditions via the SMS technology.

Email to sms_listing@johorhominid.org

Something is still out there..

The Founders johorhominid.org

Bigfoot website closed after revelations

noelbynature — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 00:56:25 +0000

5 Aug 2006 (The Star) – As if the allegation that the existence of a Johor Hominid wasn’t scandalous enough, the creators behind the website are now embroiled in a plagiarism scandal for posting an alleged picture of the bigfoot. (Kudos to Liz Price for the heads up)

Bigfoot website closed after revelations

The website set up for discussion on the local Bigfoot has been closed for â€œmaintenanceâ€, and two major players in the search for the creature are making conflicting statements about photos related to the phenomenon.

These dramatic developments came about after www.johorhominid.org released a photo yesterday that it claimed was an actual shot of a female Bigfootâ€™s eyes…

However, at around 6pm, a visitor to the website posted a full-head shot of a creature in the comment page, which showed the same bloodshot eyes featured in the first photo.

â€œYou have no credibility left! Habis! (Finished!),â€ the visitor wrote, adding that the full-head shot had been obtained from another website.

Earthen jars could be from the 18th century

noelbynature — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 07:01:58 +0000

8 July 2006 (New Straits Times) – A follow up to the previous post on unearthed pottery at Kota Tinggi. Thanks to Liz of Caves of Malaysia for the lead.

Earthen jars could be from the 18th century

Johor Heritage Foundation curator Dr Kamaruddin Ab Razak said the jars, which were unearthed by settlers in the area, might have been used as storage containers.

He also said that based on the shapes and designs of the jars, they could have been the handiwork of local potters.

Sitting on ancient ruins

noelbynature — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 06:54:37 +0000

6 July 2006 (New Straits Times) – Ambivalent feelings about posting here. News of excavated artefacts is always interesting, but some aspects of the story (eg, hearing voices) are more dodgy. Many thanks to Liz of Caves of Malaysia for pointing this out to me.

Sitting on ancient ruins

KOTA TINGGI: Since they moved there in 1975, settlers of Felda Bukit Aping Timur in Kota Tinggi have had the nagging feeling there is more to their land than meets the eye.

They believe they might be sitting on the ruins of an early civilisation.

They have unearthed large quantities of pots, jars and other artifacts while working their smallholdings, not to mention the “strange events” that have occurred.