Economy
By and large the Brookes pursued a policy of paternalism, aimed at protecting the 'native peoples' from capitalist exploitation but also preventing the same levels of development which were evident in some other parts of the British Empire. While James laid much of the groundwork for the expansion of Sarawak, it was his nephew Charles who was the great builder, both in terms of public buildings, forts and extending the borders of the state.
The Brookes were determined to prevent the peoples of Sarawak from being exploited by Western business interests and formed The Borneo Company Limited to assist in managing the economy. The Borneo Company Limited was also to provide military support to the Brookes during events such as the Chinese Rebellion when one of the company Steamers, The Sir James Brooke was used to assist in the recapture of Kuching.
The architectural legacy of the dynasty can be seen in many of the country's nineteenth century and colonial heritage buildings. In Kuching these include The Astana, or governor's residence, the Old Sarawak Museum, Fort Margherita, the Square Fort, the Old Courthouse and Brooke Memorial. Several key buildings from the Brooke period has been demolished, including the offices and warehouses of Borneo Company.
Read more about this topic: Kingdom Of Sarawak
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Even the poor student studies and is taught only political economy, while that economy of living which is synonymous with philosophy is not even sincerely professed in our colleges. The consequence is, that while he is reading Adam Smith, Ricardo, and Say, he runs his father in debt irretrievably.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get “a good job,” but to perform well a certain work; and, even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, or even moral ends. Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The counting-room maxims liberally expounded are laws of the Universe. The merchant’s economy is a coarse symbol of the soul’s economy. It is, to spend for power, and not for pleasure.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)