Rediscovering Borneo: From Hungarian Expeditions to the Rise of ‘Borneology’

The time has come for Borneo to rewrite its own intellectual history. More than 140 years ago, a Hungarian explorer ventured deep into North Borneo. Today, a team of Hungarian scientists is preparing to return to Sabah. This historic journey back to the past underscores a compelling truth: the world needs a dedicated discipline of "Borneology".
Hungary plans to dispatch a scientific expedition to Sabah in 2027 to explore bilateral research opportunities and re-examine the 19th-century contributions of Hungarian explorer and scientist Franz Xaver Witti.
This development deserves close attention from Sabahans. Beyond revisiting the life of a European adventurer, it sparks a deeper realisation: Borneo has never been the scientific "backwater" it was once assumed to be. Rather, it holds a wealth of knowledge worth sharing with the world.
Employed by the British North Borneo Chartered Company, Witti journeyed into the Bornean interior to conduct geographical, botanical, and ethnographic surveys. Although he was killed during an expedition in 1882, the journals and records he left behind became vital primary sources for studying North Borneo. His life ended in Borneo, yet his intellectual legacy continues.
Interestingly, this is not Hungary’s first recent rediscovery of the island. In 2026, the legacy of 19th-century Hungarian naturalist János Xántus—who conducted extensive research in Borneo—also gained renewed attention through new publications and commemorative events. From Sarawak to Sabah, the historical footprints of these two Hungarian scholars are gradually weaving together into a cross-border academic thread.
This centennial return raises a fundamental question: Is Borneo merely a place to be discovered, described, and studied by outsiders, or is it a civilisational subject capable of understanding itself and building its own knowledge system?
From Discovery to Rediscovery
The 19th-century European expeditions into North Borneo largely served the interests of cartography, resource extraction, and colonial administration. While reading these archives today offers valuable scientific insights, we must also recognise the colonial frameworks embedded within them.
Therefore, Witti’s journals should not be treated as the sole version of Bornean history. They represent just one lens. If contemporary researchers cross-reference old maps, botanical specimens, and geographical notes with modern satellite imagery, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and biodiversity surveys, we can reconstruct over a century of environmental change in Borneo.
More importantly, these foreign records must be read alongside indigenous oral histories, the collective memories of local elders, traditional ecological knowledge, and the lived experiences of Chinese migrant communities. Only then can scholarship shift from asking "how Europeans viewed Borneo" to "how Borneans understand their own history".
That is the true meaning of rediscovery—not claiming to find a land anew, but uncovering the cumulative wisdom, memory, and lived heritage of its people.
From Historical Legacy to Science Diplomacy
Collaboration between Hungary and Sabah should not end with a monograph on Witti. The areas of cooperation proposed by Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor—spanning agriculture, green technology, biodiversity, medical technology, and higher education—offer a timely blueprint for broader engagement.
For instance, 19th-century botanical and geographical logs can serve as historical baselines for modern forest ecology and climate change research. Early interior survey data can be integrated with contemporary GIS mapping, while historical ethnographies can be revisited in partnership with indigenous communities to foster ethical, participatory cultural research.
Hungary brings established research methodologies and international academic networks; Sabah offers an extraordinary natural environment, indigenous wisdom, and rich cultural heritage. By establishing long-term researcher exchanges, student training, joint publications, and digital archives, this expedition can evolve from a one-off historical tribute into sustained science diplomacy.
Borneology: Making Borneo a Producer of Knowledge
The concept of "Borneology"—long championed by iKen—can find fresh practical momentum through this initiative.
Borneology should not merely be another label for traditional "Borneo Studies". Instead, it must be an interdisciplinary framework rooted in Borneo’s own geography, ethnic diversity, history, culture, and lived realities.
It should connect at least five core pillars: natural ecology, ethnic cultures, historical geography, local economies, and cultural innovation. These fields do not exist in silos; they are deeply intertwined in the daily lives of Borneo’s land and people.
Consider the agriculture and fisheries of Kudat, the paddy-farming heritage of Tenom, the forest wisdom of interior communities, the grassroots enterprises of Chinese settlers, and the languages and oral traditions of indigenous peoples. These should not remain scattered footnotes in local chronicles. Through digital archiving, cross-cultural translation, and AI-assisted research, they can be transformed into vital intellectual assets.
Local schools, Chinese independent schools, universities, and community organisations can all play an active role in this endeavour. Students need not be passive consumers of history; they can become documentarians of local culture, creators of digital content, and co-producers of new knowledge.
Letting History Summon the Future
Over 140 years ago, Witti entered North Borneo armed with the scientific tools of his era. Today, a Hungarian expedition prepares to walk this land once more. What truly deserves to endure across these two eras is not merely the name of an explorer, but how humanity continually renews its understanding of the world through encounters across cultures, knowledge systems, and generations.
We must move from the Discovery of Borneo, to the Rediscovery of Borneo, and ultimately toward Understanding Borneo through Borneo.
This is the true path to intellectual agency: welcoming international scholarship and global partnerships without remaining a passive object of study.
For Sabah, the arrival of the Hungarian scientific expedition is a historic moment worth seizing. Let foreign scholars bring back the story of Witti, while Borneans rediscover their own stories. Let historical archives meet contemporary science, and let local lived experiences enter the global dialogue of knowledge.
Borneo is no longer just a place waiting to be discovered by the world. It must become a place that poses questions to the world, generates its own knowledge, and summons its own civilisational future.