City of cats in Malaysia: for what residents have erected dozens of monuments to animals?
City of cats in Malaysia: for what residents have erected dozens of monuments to animals?

Video: City of cats in Malaysia: for what residents have erected dozens of monuments to animals?

Video: City of cats in Malaysia: for what residents have erected dozens of monuments to animals?
Video: The Surreal World of René Magritte: Unveiling the Mystery Behind the Man and His Art - YouTube 2024, November
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Kuching is a city of cats in Malaysia
Kuching is a city of cats in Malaysia

The Vietnamese city of Kuching is a real paradise for cat lovers. They are everywhere here: in parks and on road signs, on merry-go-rounds and rooftops. True, you can see not the tailed beasts themselves, but their numerous sculptures installed in the most unexpected places …

There are many cat monuments in Kuching
There are many cat monuments in Kuching

According to one version, the name of the city itself is a word that has the same root with the word "cat". Other etymologists claim that the name Kuching comes from the Chinese word "port", from the name of the fruit mata kucing, which is widespread in Malaysia and Indonesia, or even from the name of the Sungai Kuching river, the bed of which crosses the city.

Kuching is a city of cats in Malaysia
Kuching is a city of cats in Malaysia

The Governorate of Sarawak, which includes Kuching, was part of Brunei two hundred years ago. This territory was donated to Sir James Brook, who became the first white Raja. Brook earned the special favor of the head of Singapore, as he helped to suppress the Malay uprising. The Briton skillfully managed his fiefdom: he fought against unsanitary conditions, was engaged in construction (in particular, under his rule, a hospital, a fort, a prison and other facilities necessary for urban infrastructure appeared). The Brook family ruled Sarawak until 1941, when the Japanese occupation began.

In Kuching, there is still a legend that Brook, who arrived in Kuching, asked a passerby what city he was in. He replied: "Kuching." At the same time, he pointed to the cat. It is difficult to judge whether this was actually the case, but the name stuck. Many facts testify to the close connection of the city with cats. So, the international college of advanced technology is called I-CATS, and the local radio station is Cats FM.

Kuching is a city of cats in Malaysia
Kuching is a city of cats in Malaysia

The college in Kuching is called I-CATS - Sarawak International College of Advanced Technology, and the local radio station is Cats FM. The main attraction of the city is, of course, the Cat Museum, where more than 4 thousand exhibits are exhibited, including paintings and sculptures related to cats. It features a mummified cat from Ancient Egypt, a gallery associated with feline advertising, and photographs of five wild cat species found in Borneo.

Kuching is a city of cats in Malaysia
Kuching is a city of cats in Malaysia

Another story says that cats saved the Malays in the middle of the last century. Thus, a malaria epidemic broke out in Borneo. To combat malaria mosquitoes, the authorities decided to use the insecticide DDT, the main victims of which were cats. Having exterminated the four-legged, epidemiologists doomed the city to an invasion of rats and an outbreak of plague. Then 14 thousand cats were artificially brought into rural areas. This practice of fighting rats is widespread. So, in besieged Leningrad they worked meowing divisionsthat saved many lives.

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