Site of Kuala Kemena Bridge

Silica sand wharf and jetty - used in the 60's - 70's will become the site of the proposed new bridge linking Bintulu town and Jepak village.

Site of earth-breaking ceremony, 22 July'19.

On 22 July I had the opportunity to observe the earth-breaking ceremony for the proposed new bridge to be erected at the mouth of the Kemena River, which has the Bintulu town on its right bank and Jepak on its left bank as it nears the sea. The right side of the bank where the ceremony happened was formerly the site of a silica sand wharf and jetty used in the 60's to 70's. The cable-stayed bridge structure is expected to be completed in 48 months at a cost of RM 467 million and financed by the Sarawak state coffers. The earth-breaking ceremony was performed by the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg. It is the first time I see the Chief Minister speaking in a very confidant mastery style even though the speech was in Bahasa Serawak (or Sarawak Malay). He was in his elements and his manner of speaking was almost akin to the late Tok Nan whose straight- talking style invariably captivated the imagination and hearts of the peoples of Sarawak. With the completion of the bridge the total traveling distance to reach Bintulu town from the airport would be shortened to 6km from 20 km presently.

View of sleepy town and first boom

Old Government Office Building and Green Road

Bintulu's biggest public park in 1966

Parade in conjunction with Agong's birthday, 8 June'66
Photo credit : Patt Taylor Bader

View of the public space and garden today, 9 April'17.

For more stories about this public open space in the 60's please follow this link....>>>>http://bintulub4now.blogspot.my/2015/12/king-george-vi-memorial-ground.html

King George the VI Memorial Ground

The main public space - King George the VI  Memorial Ground as seen in the 1960's
Source : Bintulu Centenary Celebration,1961(booklet)

Teachers from Bintulu Gov't Secondary
School during Teachers Day 1976
standing next to the Memorial Ground
(partly seen at right of picture)

 In the 1960's Bintulu was a small fishing village and town all rolled in one. In the 60's era the public space in the midst of the town was a great meeting place for the towns folk, visitors from the rural areas as well as those newcomers to the town.  In the 1970's the public space more commonly known as the King George Memorial Ground could accomodate many children's playground equipments, two basketball courts and ample lawn for children to run and play.  The Memorial Ground was used for a variety of public or community functions like concerts,Teacher's Day assembly,  'Toto' or Bingo games, public parades and assemblies. In the new millenia the public space was further improved by BDA with a significant iconic image of a fountain in the shape of the local 'Terendak' or sunhat commonly by the Bintulu Melanaus.  Today the public space continues to serve as a meeting place for locals as well as tourists due to its central location, pleasant surroundings and greenery.

The Memorial Ground was popularly used as public parade and assembly area.
The above picture shows the ground used as National Day celebration assembly and parade.
Source : Bintulu - Dari Kampung Nelayan ke Industripolis (Book published by Sarawak State Government)

BDA Basketball team posing with their winning trophies, 1981.
Photo taken on the basketball court at the Memorial Ground
Vaguely seen in the backgound is the Bintulu Recreation Club building.

The iconic fountain in the shape of the local Melanau 'Terendak' or sunhat.  The public space is centrally located and continues to serve as meeting place and tourist attraction with footpath and concrete benches and ample lawn area and greenery.

From a lighthouse lookout to an LNG loading terminal

Tanjung Kidurong Lighthouse with bungalow for its care-takers.
Note the  design of the lighthouse as a skeletal tower.
This view is typical of the place during the 1960's - early 1970's.

An LNG (liquified natural gas )loading terminal built by the Bintulu Port Authority.  In the far background is the loading jetty for LPG ships.
Photo credits : Sarawak Tribune, 9 May,2003., Special Supplement on 'Opening of Petronas LNG Tiga'.

View of the lighthouse from a postcard of the 1960's.

Another view of the LNG loading terminal. In the background is the Bintulu Port area.
Photo credits : Petronas Brochure (2003), Petronas LNG Complex.

The Tanjung Kidurong  point refers to a location on the Sarawak coastline that is north of the Bintulu town.  More specifically in its vicinity are to be found today the Bintulu Port's LNG exporting terminal.  Throughout the 1960's till early 1970's the area was only accessible by sea. Historically, the Tanjung Kidurong point area belonged to the Sultan of Brunei but in 1861 it was bought from the Sultan at a cost of 6000 dollars by James Brooke, who later became the Rajah of Sarawak.  During the piracy days Tanjung Kidurong was  regularly visited by the pirates.  It was left to the British starting with James Brooke to end piracy along Sarawak's coast in order to advance the colonial trading and commercial interests.  It was a well-known fact that the court of the  Sultan of Brunei derived  considerable if not major part of its income from proceeds of the piratical activities of the Sultans's subjects.  However, in the piracy world of the 19th century, it was the Illanuns and Balinini who were the most feared pirates and they originated from the Sulu and Mindanao islands.  On the 12th of August,1869 the last of the Illanun pirates were defeated off the Tanjung Kidurong coast by the people of Bintulu without waiting for help from the Rajah Brooke.  Since the defeat of the Illanuns by the Bintulu people there were no further accounts of them daring to raid the Sarawak coastline.   In 1872, a lighthouse was established at the Kidurong point as recorded in the annals of the Sarawak Almanac.  Lighthouses are very important for safe navigation of the 750 km long Sarawak coastline that faces directly the South China Sea.  With the discovery of natural gas off the coast of Tanjung Kidurong in 1968 at the Central Luconia gas fields some 125 -250 km offshore and its processing onshore in 1983, an exporting terminal was required to ship the LNG overseas.  Thus the Bintulu Port built an LNG loading and exporting terminal within the immediate vicinity of the old lighthouse or Tanjung Kidurong point. The first or maiden LNG cargo left the Bintulu Port on 7 February,1983 and arrived at the Sodeguara terminal in Japan on 7 February,1983.

A group of visitors having a group photo taken while on a visit to the lighthouse.  They are seen with two lighthouse care-takers in front of the Tanjung Kidurong bungalow.
Photo credits : Ho Ah Choon, Sarawak in Pictures 1940's -1970's.

Old SESCO power station of the 50's - 60's

SESCO administrative building at right and generating station at left.
Picture shows the place in the late 50's - 60's when the power station was located in the midst of the Bintulu town centre.
In the 1963 the diesel powered station produced 390 kilowatts of electricity for the whole of Bintulu town needs.
( Photo credit : Ho Ah Choon, Sarawak in Pictures 1940's - 1970's.)

The former SESCO building site is taken over by other government-related agency while the former power station site currently houses the Department of Information building.
Picture taken on 12 October, 2014.

Electricity in towns throughout Sarawak was previously under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Department since 1923.  Only in 1932 was SESCO (Sarawak Electricity Supply Company) formed to take over the responsibility of generating electricity supply to Sarawak towns using the DC electricity supply system.  Bintulu was provided with electricity in 1939.  Throughout the Japanese occupation period the power station was operated by the Japanese.  The power station suffered much damage due to allied forces bombing when they tried to re-occupy Bintulu.  It was only after 1948 did the Bintulu generating station restored its 12-hour day service.  In the 1950's the station production of electricity power increased in tandem with the growth of the town. The amount it produced in 1951 was only 22 kilowatts, in 1955 some 44 kilowatts and in 1959 it supplied  124 kilowatts of electricity for the town and outlying villages.  In 1963 the SESCO power station as shown above  produced 390 kilowatts of electricity per day for the small Bintulu town's consumption needs.

(Note: The information above were largely sourced from Vernon L. Porritt, British Colonial rule in Sarawak 1946-1963, Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1997)

The Borneo Company office and store in 1960's

The Borneo Company office and store, circa 1960's, fronting Keppel Road.
Photo credit : Ho Ah Choon, "Sarawak in Pictures 1940's - 1970's "

 On its wall is a big billboard advertising a brand of cigarette popular during the 60's called 'Lucky Strike'.

The former building site of the Borneo Company, Keppel Road, taken on 12 Oct'14.

A unique company that existed during the Brooke's family administration and control of Sarawak was the Borneo Company Limited.  It was referred to briefly as 'Borneo Company'.  It was founded in London in 1856 and established its operation in Kuching in the same year.  The Company carried out business throughout Sarawak during the Brooke days (1841 - 1941) and during the British colonial period (1946-1963).  The Borneo Company Limited was granted sole public company operating rights in Sarawak in 1856 and had strategic interests in minerals, timber, agriculture, shipping and financing government commercial schemes. In the 1960's, the Company's operation in Bintulu was carried out at a wooden shophouse along the Keppel Road (see top picture) The Borneo Company faced changing fortunes when in 1963 it was re-named as SEBOR Holdings (Sarawak) Sendirian Berhad and partly owned by SEDC Sarawak. However, in 1967 Borneo Company merged with Inchcape Group of UK and run as subsidiary of the group.  In 2007, the Company was taken over by Hong Kong-based company, Integrated Distribution Services (IDS) Group Limited.

The Bintulu town into the Third Boom

The urban extent of Bintulu town in early 60's when it was just a sleepy coastal town.
The government quarters are seen at the top left corner.  The grassed airport strip is partly seen at top right hand corner.
The jetties and wharves are seen at bottom part of the picture.
(Photo credit : Dunstan Teo)

Overall view of Bintulu town during the Third Boom (2003-2009)
Picture shows the tar-sealed airport runaway separating the southern and northern part (top of picture)  of Bintulu town.
Photo taken in 2003.

To have a glimpse of the life and conditions of Bintulu town in the 1960's please follow this link...>>>http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/09/16/reminiscing-the-old-bintulu/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theborneopost%2FeZwo+%28BorneoPost+Online+|+Borneo+%2C+Malaysia%2C+Sarawak+Daily+News+%C2%BB+Sarawak%29

First Bus Station in Bintulu

MARA buses stationed infront of the old fish market, in the late 60's -70's
Behind is the row of wooden shophouses along the Main Bazaar road
Note: Picture shows the station in the early 70's.

 In the pre-boom period, Bintulu was a sleepy town which got its first bus service in the late 60's.   The Majlis Amanah Rakyat Malaysia, in short MARA, owned these buses.  The buses provided much needed public transportation for Bintulu to link it to Miri, some 200 kilometers away north of Bintulu, which was the capital of the Fourth Division.  In the early 1970's,  Bintulu was a sub-district in the division  and all government affairs were headquartered at Miri for final decision making.  This arrangement made very slow progress to the far away town of Bintulu.  In the 60's Bintulu was in the backwaters of development.  The picture above shows the bus station site located just in front of the old fish market.  At the picture below is seen the previous bus station site turned into a public car parking space.  The wooden shophouses were demolished to give way to concrete shophouses.  When not many people were able to buy cars in the  60's and 70's, the bus service was a real boon for the general public of Bintulu.  After a series of four economic booms, Bintulu population grew larger and many were well-off to afford their own cars.  Thus with more cars additional parking spaces were constructed within  the Bintulu town.  The car parking area as shown below is charged using the coupon system.  As at 9th July'14, the current rate is 50 sen per one hour of parking time.  

Note the Tanjung trees ( Mimusops elengi) planted for  shade and beautification of the town.
Photo taken : 7 July'14

Bintulu town during the first boom (1979 -83)

 Bintulu was a sleepy fishing village and small town when  I grew up there in my teenage years. It was known mainly for its jungle products (rattan, damar etc.), sago, timber logs and sawn mangrove timber species (ramin), and the ever popular 'belacan' or shrimp paste.  The main town centre was located on the right bank of the Kemena river  as it reaches the South China Sea.  It enjoyed fresh sea breezes and wonderful views of the sunset. It has an airfield built in 1938 and was optimally used in the 60's right on till the 90's  before it was abandoned for a new airport in 2003.  The Malay and Melanau kampungs that surrounded the town area have tall coconut and betel nut trees over-topping the villages.  All these makes Bintulu a quaint, quiet and rustic place of the pre- boom years.

Bintulu town of the 50's -60's
Picture credit : Ho Ah Choon,Sarawak in Pictures - 1940's - 70's, Sarawak Press Bhd, Kuching.

Bintulu town centre - shows much development around the town area during the first boom years (1979 -1983)
Note the newly constructed commercial buildings mushrooming .
The hospital is seen at the bottom right of the picture.  In the 1980's the airport served well the growing needs of travel to and out of Bintulu expected of a booming town.
Picture credit : Peter Chay, Malaysia - Wonders and Contrasts, Foto Technik Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, 1986.

The sleepy image of Bintulu town gradually gave way to a bustling town with the discovery of natural gas and the development of the Bintulu deep water port at Kidurong, some 20 km away north from the town.  The town was slowly being provided with better urban facilities and amenities through the re-development of many of the readily available state land around town. For example the location of the BDA-Shahida commercial area (shown at the middle of the picture above) was previously the government offices and quarters area and only public football field site.  It is worthwhile to note too that due to the pressing needs of urban space, many kampungs located closer to the town were removed to make way for shophouses e.g Kampung Dagang later became Kampung Dagang Commercial Centre (shown as newly constructed commercial shophouses at top of the picture, fronting the river)

Old Council Negri monument in 1967

The small monument  as shown in the middle of the picture above was built in 1967 to commemorate the centenary of the first Council Negri session at Bintulu on  8th September 1867.  On this same location was built the new Clock Tower monument to replace the old one.  The plaque which is attached to the small monument above (center of picture) is now placed below the new Clock Tower.
Note the building behind the monument which was used as a government store in the 60's.

"Tugu Council Negri" or Council Negri monument in the form of a Clock Tower standing on the same location of the old monument.
Today the clock tower is part of a commercial re-development project called the BDA-Shahida Shopping area.

 On the 8th of September 1867, Bintulu was chosen by Charles Brooke , the Tuan Muda of Sarawak to be the first place to hold the Sarawak General Council session. The Sarawak General Council standing orders were, "to deliberate on any matter of great importance to the population in general in the countries under Sarawak rule, or should any difficulty arise among the different people about laws and customs, giving rise to hindrances and disputes, the meeting of the members and majority of their bodies.." (T. Harrison, Council Negri Centenary, BLB, Kuching, 1967).
The session was composed of the Tuan Muda, five Europeans and sixteen Malay aristocrats or the abang of Kuching.  In later years the term Council Negri was used to replace Sarawak General Council.

The plaque of the old monument  is located below the new Council Negri monument ( Clock Tower)

Map of Bintulu in the 1960's compared with 1980's

Map of Sarawak showing the 4 administrative divisions
Bintulu is in the Fourth Division of Sarawak
Source : Vernon Mullen (1967) The Story of Sarawak, Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur.

 In the 1960's Bintulu was just a remote district in the Fourth Division which was having its administrative headquarters at Miri.  Administratively it was under the control of Miri for much of the time it was under the colonial days or pre -1963 era.  The above map shows its location in a massive division and thus little could be done to develop it as resources were mainly directed at developing the headquarters of the 4th Division..i.e. Miri.  Bintulu was then in the backwaters of development.

Map of Bintulu District Area in 1981 showing the full area covered under the responsibility of BDA (Bintulu Development Authority)
The same boundary was used to demarcate the area of the Bintulu Division when Bintulu became a new division on 1st January, 1987.

However, Bintulu's fortunes changed in the late 1970's with the formation of Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) which spearheaded the development of the Bintulu region with its vast reserves of natural gas offshore.  1979 marked the beginning of the first boom in Bintulu.  With effect from 1st January 1981 the BDA designated area was extended to cover the whole of the Bintulu District Area, some 4,574 sq. miles of land mass.  In 1981, Bintulu had an estimated population of 58,000.  To enable Bintulu to move forward faster it was made into a Division on the 1st of January, 1987.

Tanjung Kidurong point and LNG Terminal

Tg. Kidurong Point as seen in 1960
The Tanjung Kidurong point has a natural bay which was later developed into a deep-water port terminal and berthing location by the Bintulu Port Authority.

The Tanjung Kidurong point was a significant landmark in Bintulu history.  It is located north of Bintulu and in the 1960's it was accessible only by sea.  The natural geography of the area was important in deciding its location as a terminal for LNG export and the development of a regional port due to its natural bay advantage.  This natural bay was later developed into a huge berthing and wharfing facilities by the  Bintulu Port Authority.  During the first boom, the Port had installed a LNG exporting terminal that enabled the loading of the liquified natural gas cargo in safe waters.  The picture below shows two LNG ships berthing at the terminal for loading purposes.

The Tg. Kidurong Point site as seen in the late 1980's'
Shown at the foreground in the picture is the man-made breakwater to enable ships berthing and loading the LNG cargo in safe waters.  In the far background is the Bintulu Port wharfing and berthing facilities for other cargoes for and out of Bintulu like general cargoes, containers etc.,

"Tenaga Satu" - the first LNG ship that brought the first shipment of LNG from Tg. Kidurong LNG terminal  to Tokyo bay.
The picture shows the first LNG ship ready to set sail during the launching ceremony of the first cargo.
Tenaga Satu  set sailed on this maiden trip on the 29 January 1983 and arrived Tokyo on a cold winter morning on 7 February'83.

(Note: Picture credits above : MLNG exhibition booth, 'Pameran Sarawak Gemilang - 50 Tahun Dalam Malaysia, peringkat Bahagian Bintulu' at Dewan Suarah, Bintulu, 26 Oct - 2 Nov'13)

Keppel Road and Food market in the 1960's

Keppel Road with turfing in the centre, in the 1960's.  The food market is the building at left.
The road is still largely sandy dirt road with some stoning done.
All shophouses are wooden type with concrete ground floor and roofing made of Belian wood shingles.
Note the river bank across the town....there are no buildings built across river.

 

 

 

 Over the years the food market that was located in the center of the town was fondly referred to as the 'Old Market'.  In the 1960's the old market was a meeting place for almost everybody in town to buy wet food like fish, meat and vegetables,  and to eat and drink provided by many Chinese and Malay stalls inside the building.  The Keppel Road that lined it on the inland side was a sandy dirt road and only towards the early 70's were the roads around the shophouses began to be stoned.  There were a handful of cars about town in the 1960's and bicycles were a highly regarded possession.  I could remember well how I had to fork out 20 cents to learn how to ride a bicycle within one hour of rental time, bearing in mind that in the sixties 20 cents was a lot of money.

Keppel Road taken on 27 September, 2013.
The former space of the 'old market' is turned into a mini- town park.
The Keppel Road is made into a one way four-lane single carriageway and tar-sealed.
All shophouses are re-built as concrete structures.
Note the view across river...What was previously an empty riverbank is now occupied with many buildings  belonging to the Customs and Marine Department.

Today the Keppel Road and the old market area is totally transformed.  The old market area has been developed into a mini-town park with maximum tree planting for much needed urban greenery and meeting place.  It is remarkable to see the physical changes happening to this part of the Bintulu town over a period of slightly more than three decades as shown by the two before and after pictures above.

Bintulu roads (Part 1)

Jalan Abang Galau - circa early 1960's.

The same location taken on 19th November'10

The top picture was taken circa early 1960's. I took another picture of the same location yesterday, 19th November,2010. What was once an earth road made for bicycles and trishaws is now a bituminous paved road. To the left of the top picture is a rubber garden . What is amazing in the picture is the staying power of the tall palm trees and the kampung houses in the far background to the right that are still standing to this date. Many of the people in the picture can be named or recognised if you are a Bintuluian. Only three so far have left us. I am the little boy on the extreme right front row. The picture was taken while attending the marriage ceremony of my uncle who worked with the Public Works Department in Bintulu as a 'caterpillar' or bulldozer driver back then.