Window to looking picture perfect
Fort Hose displays various ways of attaining beauty
LOOKING back at history, the people of Borneo were no different from the rest of the world when it came to desiring what was considered the ideal human beauty, and the methods of attaining it.
It is possible to get some glimpses of the history by studying some beauty-related artifacts that are displayed at the Marudi Museum, which is actually the 111-year-old Fort Hose left by the Rajah Brooke regime.
Fort Hose, which was built in 1901, also displays some of the most attractive pictures that illustrate the concept of beauty and elegance through the eyes and practices of the natives of Sarawak — be it drooping earlobes, elongated necks and legs, tattooed bodies, flattened foreheads, or spring-compressed ultra-slim waists.
For example, for most Orang Ulus — men and women alike — elongated earlobes, tattooed bodies, and polished black teeth were marks of beauty, glory and sometimes aristocratic birth.
To Bidayuh women, elongated necks and legs were beautiful. They elongated their necks and legs using brass springs.
In the Iban community, the women aspired to have very slim waists, and they really worked hard on it. To prevent their midriffs from going out of proportion, they used brass girdle corsets as support.
As for body tattoos, they were more universal and therefore common among Orang Ulu and Iban men.
Some of the men, especially the Orang Ulus, prefer decorative items on their earlobes.
The Marudi Museum also shows what the Melanaus used to do to enhance their beauty. The community was fond of flat foreheads.
The apparatus used to flatten a child’s head is also displayed in the museum.
As the exhibits would not be complete without contributions from the Chinese, there are some pictures showing the excruciating process of forcing the feet of young girls to remain small.
Women with small feet and small shoes were considered beautiful in the olden days.