

Miri Marina Bay now still under construction , a long term project that has changed most of Miri City face.
The niabor is a kind of parang (sword) used by the Iban people of Sarawak in Borneo. In contrast to the mandau, the parang of their neighbours the Kayan people, the niabor is more curved, with a broader tip so the centre of gravity lies nearer the point.
Unlike many Bornean weapons, the blade is not decorated and there are no hair decorations on the hilt or wooden sheath. The V-shaped hilt, designed to protect the knuckles, is of elaborately carved antler and bound in brass rings. There is an unusual projection on a blunt section on the underside of the blade called a kundieng, which serves as a finger protector.
Mandau is the Kayan term for the parang ilang (‘double knife’), the sword of the peoples of inland Borneo (Malaysian Sarawak and Indonesian Kalimantan). The name refers to the main sword and a smaller, secondary knife, known as a piso raout, stored on the back of the scabbard. Here, this secondary sheath is covered in red textile.
The mandau is a slashing weapon, historically used for headhunting but also as an everyday machete. It is worn edge-upwards on the left hip, almost horizontally in the Japanese fashion. This example is highly decorated: the blade is inlaid with brass studs and both the carved wooden hilt and sheath are covered in tufts and fringes of hair, much as Kayan shields were. The sheath also features beadwork tassels, carved bone panels and hornbill feathers.
A hybrid between the Parang Ilang and the Langgai Tinggang, the Jimpul originated in the second half of the 19th century. The blade has flat sides and is curved. It starts from the hilt with a 4 to 5 cm rectangular shoulder (tamporian), then widens to the point and ends in a slanting angle or a rounded tip. A groove crosses the blade just below the tamporian and runs along the back of the blade, it is terminated at both ends with hooks (krowit), probably to symbolize the dragon/dog Aso. The blade is rarely decorated, this example has brass inlaid lines and small dots run along the groove and the tamporian.
The hilt is carved from antler or wood, similar to the Parang Ilang.