A Little Intro

There are many articles on the net that tells us more than I would probably ever know about Sandakan. I was born & raised here, and had developed a love-hate relationship with this town over the years. We may not be getting our fair share on the development scale but nevertheless, we were blessed with the rich forest like nature, untouched for many years. This has become the pride of the town, and hopefully, in future.., we could bring the lights of modernisation into this old city, and blend well with its mother nature.

Where is Sandakan?

Sandakan is the second-largest city in Sabah, East Malaysia & its on the north-eastern coast of Borneo. Its located on the east coast of the island and was former capital of British North Borneo. Nearly 1,900 kilometres from Malaysia's capital city of Kuala Lumpur, only 28 kilometres from the border with Philippines and facing by the Sulu Sea in the Northeast. With an estimated population of 346,254 people, approximately 2182 2q kilometre, Sandakan's economy has diversified into the agricultural base especially in the oil palm industry. It has also ventured into the tourism industry, concentrating on eco tourism and wild life conservation. As such, Sandakan is today known as "the gateway to Borneo's wildlife".

A Glance at its Short History

Sandakan, was founded by William B Pryer on 21st June 1879. However it was William Clarke Cowie, a Scotsman from Glasgow who established the first European settlement on the north-east coast of Sabah known as "Kampung German" in 1872. When Kampung German was accidentally razed to the gound on 15th June 1879, Pryer decided not to rebuild the village but to move to Buli Sim Sim. He named his new settlement "Elopura" which means "The Beautiful City". A few years later, the name was changed to "Sandakan" which in Sulu means "The place that is pawned".

In the early 1900s, modernisation began in Sandakan with the building of rows of corrugated iron roofs brick shops. Roads were metalled and by 1912, motor cars had made their appearance on the roads of Sandakan. Other facilities such as the automatic telephone exchange and electricity were also installed. Sandakan recorded its first economic scene, the Chinese dominated in trade and commerce and consequently the Chinese Chamber of Commerce was established. Man Woo Long, was the oldest company while Harrisons & Crosfield was the largest and handled the major part of the imports & exports. The timber industry which made its debut in 1885 was to become Sandakan's biggest money earner and the timber were marketed mainly to Hong Kong and China. The Sulus and the Bajaus mainly concentrated on fishing, collecting forest product and trading.

"Japanese Occupation and liberation by the Allied Forces"

Second World War broke out on 3rd September 1939. The Japanese Occupation in Sandakan began 19th January 1942 and lasted until the Brigade of the Australian 9th Division liberated in 19th October 1945. When the war ended, Sandakan town was nearly totally destroyed, partly from the bombings in the process of liberation and the rest by the Japanese. As a result, when the North Borneo became a British Colony in 1946, the capital was shifted to Jesselton, now known as Kota Kinabalu.

"Post-War"

Three years after the war, nearly the whole of Sandakan town site was re-occupied. Businesses were revived and facilities such as the "Padang" (field) and Sandakan Recreational Club were also restored. The timber industry was reorganised and resulted in benefiting the timber businessmen of Sandakan as well as boosting the local economy.

"Independence & Malaysia"

On 16th September 1963, North Borneo joined the federation of Malaysia and changed its name to Sabah. Sandakan celebrated this occasion with great enthusiasm.