Memory down Keppel Road

Walking by the Town Fountain this afternoon, memories of the place suddenly flood my mind. I was fortunate to have lived for most of the time before it was made into a modern icon. In the 50's I used to play the wooden playground equipments there - see-saw, swings etc.. Used to pass the place at night after buying things from the wooden shophouse without fear even as a tiny kid cycling back home to our government quarters about 200 meters away. In the 60's as a school kid we joined in parades and watch the town's folks play basketball at one corner of the park. A tiny lucky number of us kids learnt roller skating on the concrete pavements there, Many concerts, fun fairs and trade shows were held there too. The place was called King George VI Memorial Ground back then and was the biggest park the town could afford in the 60's. Come the 70's when the first boom arrived , the memorial ground became suddenly very active and full of activities because many more people sought employment in the growing town. Activities dwindled in the area in the 80's when more open spaces and parks were developed outside of the town or in new satellite townships.
Today the place looks beautiful and serene without its nostalgic busy past. What is busy today is outside the park with cars endlessly passing around the place.

Please follow this link to see more stories of the place in another blog as in here...>>> http://bintulub4now.blogspot.com/…/King%20George%20the%20VI…

Seen are a group of teachers from SMK Bintulu (previously Bintulu Gov't Secondary School) having a photoshoot during Teacher's Day, 1976. At left of picture is Keppel Road.

(Note: The above is a re-post from my FB, 21 May'19)

In the year 1973, a historian I became

Penang in 1846, watercolour painting by Charles Andrew Dyce
to show mercantile tradition during the early years of Penang Free School

Graduated in 1973, major
History.

In the year 1973, a historian I became.  I got my training at the Universiti Sains Malaysia,  Penang from the years 1971-73.  Upon graduation in 1973 I majored in history.  In 1973 I submitted an essay for the inter-university history writing competition entitled " The Concept of Malaysian National History".  The essay won first place in English section and I received the award signed and handed by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Hussein Onn  in Kuala Lumpur.   My love of history has blossomed ever since and I continued to spread the love of history while in schools where I taught the subject to Form Five students.  While in the Educational Mass Media Service in Kuching I produced a radio programme on history which was broadcasted to schools in Sarawak in the late 70's called "Sejarah".
Over the years I did not write much history especially during the times when I was carrying the business as a contractor.  But once the internet became  more popular in Sarawak in the early 2000's , I began to be active again.  The internet provided the means for me to publish my writing and reach a worldwide audience.  With the new opportunities I started to make a comeback by blogging on history.  The history blogs I created are as follows:
1)  Images of Bintulu before and now
2)  The first 100 years of Penang Free School
3)  My Bintulu History
4)  Open coasts to mountain highs

Sometime in September last year, an article written by Bernama and shared with other news media in Malaysia regarding the changes in Bintulu  referred me as 'Bintulu historian', a title I feel good about .
History writing is a self-driven activity.  Like any other historian my dream is to produce a book on the history of Bintulu especially during its modern or contemporary era.   The process has started with blogging and I hope the printed form will come out soon.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak.

Note: This is the 9th  post on what it is meant to be a Malaysian as part of my writing contribution to Malaysia Day which will  to be celebrated on the 16th of September.)

Once there was a speedboat

Me on the speedboat cruising the Likau River, Similajau National Park,Bintulu.

Ooops, that's the way to do it!
My wife on board.

 Between 1988 - 1992, I took lots of riding trips on a speedboat.  I would travel up the the rivers of Kemena, Tatau and Likau on official duties.  Those were days when my hands were full.  I had a wide range of working portfolio (landscaping, housing, PR and tourism, squatters resettlement, HR and general administration) which brought me to places around Bintulu division. .  Sometimes the locations are remote and the only means to reach them was by the speedboat.  On one occasion, I had to endure two and a half hours of 3 meters wave in pitch darkness to arrive at Likau River.  Even the boat mechanic vomited and got seriously seasick.  As for me I could not tell the difference between a huge 3 meter waves and any other wave because it was my first experience riding in an outboard in the dark.  Fortunately that night  we arrived Likau safely, thanks to our expert driver, strong spotlight  and two twin 200 hp engines.  I used to bring many groups of  people to Similajau National Park and the Likau River which was the entry point to the park.  From Likau I would bring visitors and friends to see  the golden beach at the Similajau National Park  where turtles regularly lay eggs.  Once  I brought my children to play on the golden sands there. My pet project at Likau was the construction of tourist facilities there on behalf of the Forestry Department.  We built hostels, chalets, office block, canteen,rest shelter, jetties and footpaths.  Today, Likau is reachable by road (about 40 minutes drive from Bintulu town center) but in those days when we were doing the facilities, the only means to reach the location was by sea.  However by the time the facilities were completed proper road was also completed by the JKR or PWD (Public Works Department).  Sarawak has huge potential in tourism but there is so much still to do, even today.  Glad I was involved in the early days of tourism in Bintulu. And not to forget the speedboat that saved my life that dark night.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak!!


  (Note:  On the 16th of September, Sarawak will celebrate its independence being a party to the formation of Malaysia.  As part of remembering history I'll create some posts on what  it means to be a Malaysian as I have experienced it.  Check out the rest of the postings by following this link here.)

Pic shows the golden beach at Similajau National Park, taken on 23 March,1991.

My children playing on the golden sands at Similajau National Park, 14 December,1988.

Aerial colour photo of Likau River.  This I took while on a commercial plane flying over the area, taken in 1988.
Accessible only by sea from Bintulu.

Recent satellite photo of the Likau River.
Note the presence of the road linking to the tourist facilities area/park headquarters from Bintulu.  The clearing on top left of the picture are for oil palm plantations.

In the speedboat with visitors to the Similajau National Park, 25 July,1990.

Office Block under construction at Likau, 14 January,1991.

Once there was a course

Combo pix showing the Bintulu Golf Course (2nd nine - Hole 10 - 18)
Picture shows the course in various stages of completion.  The 2nd nine course faces the South China Sea

BDA worker mowing the green at Hole 14 - 1988

1988 was a most trying year for me.  I was steeped into the landscaping of the greens, tee boxes, fairways, slopes, bunkers and general landscaping of the Bintulu golf course.  It was my first experience in doing the landscaping and maintenance of a golf course.  There were many visits made to Singapore and various  courses in Malaysia to understand the practical details of landscaping and maintaining  a golf course.  There were staff to be employed and specifications for procurement of  equipments and course maintenance to be written down in technical details for contractual documentation.  The course was to start with the 2nd nine or back nine, i.e. holes 10 -18 and to be opened for play in 1989.  I have shared many stories about the early beginnings of the course as in here and more here.  There were tons of pleasure and joy in doing the job even though it was most taxing in terms of new learning, time schedule and organisational capability.  On reflection I was  indeed blessed with a very supportive team of bosses and subordinates in carrying my responsibilities.  Memories are made of them.  Not many people however knew that we also built a  golf green for our  boss house in Kidurong Residential area in 1986 (see bottom picture).  It was  the only house in Bintulu to have a proper practice green.  At the end of the day I found that doing the course was one of the best adventures of my life.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak!!

   (Note:  On the 16th of September, Sarawak will celebrate its independence being a party to the formation of Malaysia.  As part of remembering history I'll create some posts on what  it means to be a Malaysian as I have experienced it.  Check out the rest of the postings by following this link here.)

The picture above shows the golf club building.  In the background is Hole 10 tee box or start of play and at middle  of picture is the Hole 18 fairway and green, the last putting green for the 9-hole golf course.
Picture taken in 1989.

Hole 18 fairway - jungle clearing and burning in progress
Date : 31 March,1986

Hole 18 fairway - turfing works completed to fairways, slopes and green
Date : 4 February 1987.

BDA staff housing at the Kidurong Residential area showing our GM's house with the practice green (at center of picture)

Once there was a nursery

Planting works with materials from Green Acres nursery, for one of the many MLNG houses at Kidurong township

Green Acres Nursery logo

 In 1992, I set up a nursery business as one of the many ventures upon joining the private sector.  The nursery business was run as a firm.  It was to provide all the planting materials for landscaping jobs undertaken by another company of mine.  Throughout the 1990's landscaping was a worthwhile business to go into because of the increasing number of residential houses built to meet the rising demand when more people began to work and stay in  Bintulu as a result of the first boom period (1979-1983).  Demand for landscaping jobs grew also from the corporate sectors and government organisations.   The demand increased further during the second economic boom 1998 - 2000.  To meet increased demand I decided to move the nursery from its small site in town to a new location about 22km away from town along the Bintulu-Tatau road.  The nursery was instrumental in developing an eco-farm and finally a nature park on the same site but with expanded acreage.  If not for the nursery my dream of having a nature park would not have been realised easily.  To see more happenings today at the nature park, please go here .

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak!!


(Note:  On the 16th of September, Sarawak will celebrate its independence being a party to the formation of Malaysia.  As part of remembering history I'll create some posts on what  it means to be a Malaysian as I have experienced it.  Check out the rest of the postings by following this link here.)

Planting project for expatriate housing at Sanctuary Villa housing, near Park City, Bintulu.

Landscape planting for Sekolah Agama Assyakiriin, Bintulu.

Once there was a pond

The Flamingo pond is shown at the foreground.  Note the name of the park on the grassed slope - "Taman Hidupan Liar" to mean 'Wildlife park' in Malay.  The park was officially opened to the Bintulu public and visitors on 2 August,1991.

Greater Flamingoes
Phoenicophocus ruber

 There is a wild life park in Bintulu or Taman Hidupan Liar in Malay.  It was established in 1991.  It was one of my pet projects.   Sarawak is sometimes referred to as "Land of the Hornbills" and Borneo on which it is located is one of the most biologically diversified  tropical paradise on earth.  Thus it was a  very interesting proposition those days to bring in the flamingoes to Bintulu, the first ever flamingoes in Sarawak and the great Borneo island for that matter.  Upon arrival in Bintulu they were temporarily housed in a caged location .  But once they were healthy and strong, they were transferred to their permanent home, a pond at the entrance of the park. The spot where the pond is found is indicated on the layout plan below.  There were tons of pleasure in doing the wildlife park but the most challenging was to fly in the flamingoes from Tanzania. More details about the flamingo story can be accessed in another blog of mine as in  here.  We have done the impossible.  Sarawak can do.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak!!

(Note:  On the 16th of September, Sarawak will celebrate its independence being a party to the formation of Malaysia.  As part of remembering history I'll create some posts on what  it means to be a Malaysian as I have experienced it.  Check out the rest of the postings by following this link here.)

Layout Plan of the Wildlife Park or Taman Hidupan Liar

Greater flamingo (Phoenicophous ruber) - getting comfortable in a pond designed for their home and permanent stay at Binulu.  A flock of 23 birds were flown in from Tanzania, Africa.

Me at play with a flamingo, 1991.

Once there was a stall

BDA Exhibition stall fully optimising allocated space, enhanced with new presentation ideas and techniques.

 In 1988 just 10 years after BDA (Bintulu Development Authority) was created as a Sarawak state statutory body, it took part in a state-level development expo held at Kuching.  This was the first time BDA was to expose itself  to the Kuching public and outside visitors of Sarawak  in the form of a development stall exhibition.  I was given the responsibility to coordinate and implement the BDA stall from concept to construction.  I had the best men to do the job.  Fumiaki Izumuda, a landscape architect attached to my Landscaping Division was tasked with the design of the stall.  Hong Seng Teck, an engineer and doing the quantity surveying in BDA was tasked with procurement of relevant materials in Kuching.  Both of them were assisted by electricians, carpenters, painters and general workers from the BDA.  Many novelties were introduced in the stall like the use of large transparencies with light boxes, models and a zoning map or structure plan.  During those times Bintulu was the only town in Sarawak that has a urban Structure Plan.  BDA's participation in the exhibition provided lots of experiences for me in doing exhibitions.  Later, in my days as a contractor I was able to successfully do many exhibitions for the national oil company, Petronas and Sarawak Shell based on my experiences in undertaking three major exhibitions during my BDA days.  The 1988 exhibition however was exceptional for BDA because it provided a platform for  aggressive marketing and branding of Bintulu's potentials to foreign and domestic stakeholders to jointly partake in its industrialization agenda.  Today, in its fourth boom starting in 2010 Bintulu is poised to become an industrial showpiece of Sarawak or Malaysia for that matter.

To see more images of Bintulu before and now, check them out in my other blog here .

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The week-long Development Expo started on 16 September, 1988 ; Opening hours 8 am - 10 pm daily.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak!!

(Note:  On the 16th of September, Sarawak will celebrate its independence being a party to the formation of Malaysia.  As part of remembering history I'll create some posts on what  it means to be a Malaysian as I have experienced it.  Check out the rest of the postings by following this link here.)

Once there was a school magazine

 In 1979, the Sekolah Menengah Kerajaan Bintulu (previously known as Bintulu Government Secondary School)  issued its 13th School Magazine.  I was invited to write a message  by its editorial board being the school's new principal.  This was another memorable moment in my life's adventures.  At 28 years of age I was sent by the Education Headquarters in Kuching to assume the position of headmaster.  I assumed this new role on the 1st of July,1979.  The 13th issue of SMK Bintulu magazine is one of my prized collection.  My first ever message as principal of SMK Bintulu is shown below.  Towards the end of 1980 I left the Education Department after completing my 5 years scholarship bond to join another state statutory body called Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) which was newly set up to spearhead the development of Bintulu.  The appointment as principal completes my association with the school as a student in Form One in 1964, a teacher in 1975 and a Headmaster in 1979.  I created history because this was  the first time that the school has its own Bintulu born son to assume the position of Headmaster, since its inception in 1963.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak.


 (Note:  On the 16th of September, Sarawak will celebrate its independence being a party to the formation of Malaysia.  As part of remembering history I'll create some posts on what  it means to be a Malaysian as I have experienced it.  Check out the rest of the postings by following this link here.)

Once there was a children's theater

SMK Bintulu students performing the children's play 'Dewi Bunga'.

 With the vigour and freshness of a trained teacher in 1975, I set upon a dream to produce a children's theater for the students of Sekolah Menengah Kerajaan Bintulu or SMK Bintulu in short.  The children's drama was based on a script by one of my course mates in USM or Universiti Sains Malaysia by the name of Shamsiah Mohamad.  We were the very few undergraduates who opted for the elective subject 'Children's Theater' in 1973.  The play was written in Bahasa Malaysia.  What was novel in this children's theater was its concept.  In this drama the students were playing the roles of children and interacting with characters from the animal and plant kingdom. I was excited to introduce to Bintulu a real children's theater i.e. the experiences of life from the viewpoint of young eager, curious and happy minds. The child 's world of fantasy and unlimited possibilities and imagination were given a free rein. The animal and plant characters began to be alive with human values and freely interact with the children. The children could quickly and easily symphatise with the characters because these characters are close to the world of children every where in the world.

'Dewi Bunga' -  children's theater performed by students taking Bahasa Malaysia subject staged at the SMK Bintulu school stage in 1975

Today, I find a real dearth in the production or staging of real children's theater in Sarawak schools   despite our early attempts to introduce it way back in 1975.  Whether the plays are in English or Bahasa Malaysia is of irrelevance. In producing dramas, we should write the script from the children's point of view or from the "eyes "of the children.  I am waiting to hear news of schools in Bintulu or Sarawak for that matter to  produce or stage real children's theatre based on stories that can help with the development of  their creativity, communication skills,  moral upbringing, social and  emotional intelligence.  I am happy for once that my dream came true in 1975.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak!

 (Note:  On the 16th of September, Sarawak will celebrate its independence being a party to the formation of Malaysia.  As part of remembering history I'll create some posts on what  it means to be a Malaysian as I have experienced it.  Check out the rest of the postings by following this link here.)

Once there was a roundabout

Combo picture to show R1 before and a recent satellite image of the same area

Roundabout One

A visitor to Bintulu in the early 1980's - 1990's would be familiar with the pace of rapid development in roads infrastructure to meet rising traffic and population of this newly booming town.  Roundabouts were once  a novel and regular feature that dotted the road map of Bintulu.  In the mid 80's - 90's I was kept busy with the landscaping of three major roundabouts around town.  These were Roundabout 1, 2 and 3.  Up to a certain point roundabouts do serve their function well and beautifully.  The construction of these roundabouts entail lots of planting space for landscaping.  Furthermore the whole landscape is enhanced by the presence of traffic islands adjacent to the roundabouts that were also given landscaping touches. At the point of writing (2 Sept'14) all these roundabout have been replaced overtime.  These pictures which I took while implementing the landscaping works do tell the story of how beautiful Bintulu was with these properly landscaped and maintained roundabouts and traffic islands.  Today I  have taken the liberty to update with  google earth satellite maps the sites of the three roundabouts.

Combo picture to show R2 before and a recent satellite image of the same area

Combo picture to show R3  before and a recent satellite image of the same area

I have written quite a fair bit on these roundabouts in another blog of mine. Checkout the story of Roundabout Two here and Roundabout Three here . In retrospect it is much to the prevalence of these beautiful roundabouts that Bintulu has earned the identity of a beautiful town besides its miles and miles of shady and fully landscaped roads.  I felt good that in my time the groundwork for proper landscaping of the town was laid down early.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak!

 (Note:  On the 16th of September, Sarawak will celebrate its independence being a party to the formation of Malaysia.  As part of remembering history I'll create some posts on what  it means to be a Malaysian as I have experienced it.  Check out the rest of the postings by following this link here.)

ONCE UPON A KUALA

View of the 'Kuala" or river mouth of the Kemena river
At left is the Melanau fishing village and at right (partially seen) is the original town of Bintulu
Picture shows Bintulu in the early 1960's
Picture credit : Ho Ah Choon, "Sarawak in Pictures 1940's - 1970's

It is interesting to note how a river mouth ("Kuala" in Malay) can assume such great significance in a town's history.  For me it is always etched in my memory.  Checkout a little story about the Kuala Kemena here ...>>>>http://mybintuluhistory3.blogspot.com/2013/08/once-upon-kuala-river-mouth.html

ONCE UPON A TREE

Pic taken on 14 July 2012

When I wrote about this tree in 2013, it was still there and alive.  Now at the point of writing (31 August 2014), it is still standing tall.  Checkout a little bit of history about this Mango tree here ...>>>http://mybintuluhistory3.blogspot.com/2013/08/once-upon-tree.html

ONCE UPON A BLOG

 Since 2007, I have blogging about Bintulu on a vast range of topics and these were incorporated in many blogs, thanks to Blogger.  One of my favourite blogs  is about the old images of Bintulu compared  with recent or contemporary ones.  It is a pictorial history of Bintulu that many outside Bintulu can sit comfortably in their arm chairs and time-travel to Bintulu during the 1950's in the safety of their homes or zoom into modern times in relative ease clicks away.  Bintulu is my hometown and I think I will continue to document its history as it marches in the field of time.  Currently Bintulu is deep into its fourth economic boom period and this boom has a much wider impact upon its societal changes compared to the previous ones mainly because the economic generators that push the town forward are scattered over its hinterland like its massive hydro-electric dam, reforestation projects, oil palm estates, timber exploitation and new industrial and township satellite zones at Similajau.  Below are some examples of the pictorial history of Bintulu.  For more pictorial history images please go to the original blog as in here ...>>>http://bintulub4now.blogspot.com/search/label/1950%27s

MNLG plant complexes with the port at top of picture.
( Tanjung Kidurong Industrial zone)

 At the inset is a picture showing the Tg. Kidurong Industrial zone which started the first boom in Bintulu starting 1979.  The main project was the liquified natural gas plant and a deep water port to enable huge LNG ships come in to harbour to load its cargo for export to Japan and other buyers outside Malaysia.

Second Industrial Satellite Zone at Similajau, 14 miles north of the Tg. Kidurong Industrial zone.
The new zone is serviced by new port.

Today, with all the industrial developments combined with agricultural, timber-based, power generation and off-shore oil and gas explorations and productions,  Bintulu is on the right path to be an industrial showpiece of the nation.
Happy Malaysia day Sarawak !!