Masjid Assyakiriin gardens 30 years later

Masjid Assyakiriin in 1987 - Bintulu's new divisional mosque

View of Minaret under construction, circa 1987

View of Minaret, completed with landscaping done (circa July 1988)

View of Minaret today, taken on 17 February, 2015.
Note the changes in the background.  On the far let is the new hotel called "Promenade Hotel" opened in 2014.

Masjid Assyakiriin as seen in 1988.  View from minaret towards the main mosque building complex.

Befitting its status as a new administrative division on 1 January 1987, a new divisional mosque was deemed necessary to meet the growing Muslim population in Bintulu due to the first economic boom (1979 -1983).  The mosque is located about 6 kilometers from the old Bintulu town center.  Planning for the mosque started in 1985 but actual construction works only started in 1987 i.e. after the laying of foundation stone on 24 March,1987. The above picture shows the mosque viewed from the minaret.  What is interesting in this new planning is the location of the minaret.  In most mosque throughout Malaysia the minaret is normally part of the building. Here the minaret is separated from the main building and represented a new design planning concept in Malaysia.  The many arches are inspired by the mosque in Cordoba, Spain.  The blue dome is in the form of a starfruit cut in half.  The mosque could accommodate 2000 people and is equipped with library, indoor gardens, fountains and function rooms.  The mosque compound is fully landscaped.  On the 8th of July, 1988 the mosque was officially opened at a cost of RM 6.5 million.

Visitors and VIP's touring the mosque during its opening on the 8th of July,1988.
Note the orchid tree at right of the picture.

Indoor garden landscaping, 1988.

Note:  I was fortunate enough to be involved with the landscaping of the mosque from day one when I was the officer in-charge of the landscaping of Bintulu town in the BDA or Bintulu Development Authority during the 80's till early 1990's.   The whole planting works and maintenance were undertaken by staff from BDA but the supply of planting materials were sourced from private nurseries. The collection of orchids for the 'orchid tree' was obtained from Orchidwoods, Kuching.

Sungai Terus Recreational Park in 1984

View of the Sungai Terus Recreational Park, photo  taken on 24 November,1984
The picture shows the strategic location of the park in the new Kidurong township. The park served the recreational needs of the new township that accomodated houses belonging to the MLNG Sdn Bhd, Bintulu Development Authority (BDA), Bintulu Port Authority and Petronas Housing built for ABF Sdn Bhd staff.

The Sungai Terus Park as seen today, 28 January,2015.
More additional park facilities are provided over time.  The park is now incorporated into a much larger chain of public parks in the Kidurong township called 'Millenium Park'.

Note the size of the Angsana trees when compared to its height during initial planting in 1984 as in the top picture above.

During the First Economic Boom (1979 -83) a new satellite township was created some 10 kilometers from the existing Bintulu town centre.  The township was called Kidurong New Township which was developed to cater for the staff housing of the companies involved with the first boom .  The companies were MLNG Sdn Bhd, Bintulu Port Authority, Bintulu Development Authority and ABF Sdn Bhd.  In order to meet the recreational needs of the new township, the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) which was the developer of the township constructed a recreational park called Sungai Terus Recreational Park.  Works started in 1983 and the park was fully completed in 1984.  On the 3rd of September, the board of directors of the BDA paid a site visit to the park after their board meeting.  In the early days of the park, it was fully utilised because it was the only large park to cater for the families and children of the new township as well as visitors from other parts of Bintulu.

Sungai Terus in relation to the new Kidurong township, as seen in 1988.
The Sungai Terus ( Sungai is Malay for river) is seen in the middle of the picture above.  The river starts from the hills and passes underneath the Kidurong Highway by means of a big underground culvert.  The big white patch is the pond.  The green area on both sides of the river as it flows out to the sea (towards bottom left of the picture) has been fully landscaped as a chain of public parks which is named today as the "Millenium Park".
Colour photo taken on 17 January, 1988.

Bintulu Port area during the First Economic Boom (1979 - 83)

The Bintulu Port area in 1982 - a humble beginning.
Construction of the Bintulu Port was lead by a South Korean contractor named Daelim Industrial Co Ltd which secured a total of RM 170 million worth of construction packages for the first deepwater port of Sarawak. Works were in full swing in 1980 to meet the scheduled completion by end of 1982.  Total cost of building the port was RM 500 million.
Photo credits: Annual Audited Report of Bintulu Port Authority, 1982. 

View of port in 1988

One of the mammoth projects done to kick start the first economic boom in Bintulu (1979 - 1983) was the construction of the Bintulu Port by the Federal Transport Ministry of Malaysia.  Concerted efforts by all stakeholders were critical to the completion of the port built to handle the first shipment of liquified natural gas cargo (LNG) scheduled in 1983.  The Bintulu Port started operations on 1st January, 1983.  The first LNG cargo that left the port was on 29th January,1983.  The future development and sustenance of the port hinged primarily on its role as the sole provider of berthing and loading  facilities for the export of LNG.  However, to add value to its permanent presence in the Bintulu landscape it acquired vast tracts of land around the port vicinity for future storing, warehousing, transfer and direct loading of many other downstream petroleum and non-petroleum products for local and foreign destinations.  At the inset is a picture of the port area in 1988 which shows at the foreground the long conveyor gallery that transfer the granular urea products direct from the Asean Bintulu Fertiliser (ABF) plant to a shiploading facility at the end of the conveyor gallery.  The ABF plant started exporting granular urea in 1985.

The picture above shows the development of industrial land around the port vicinity in 2012.

Sungai Likau in 1988

Aerial photo of Sungai Likau taken in 1988
(Taken while flying over the place on a commercial flight)

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 In 1988 Sungai Likau was a remote place from Bintulu.  The place was totally isolated from Bintulu except by sea.  Between 1988-1992, I was very much involved with the development of tourist facilities at the place i.e. coordinating the project on behalf of the Sarawak Forestry Department.  The project was divided into two phases and involved the construction of office complex, changing room/toilet, jetty, chalets, picnic/day shelters, canteen, hostel, staff quarters, high level water tank and footpath.  Most of the clearing works were done in 1989-90, with the facilities construction done between 1991-1992.  During the construction the only access was by sea.  Only upon completion of the project was the road from Tanjong Kidurong  completed.  To have a glimpse of my traveling adventure to Sungai Likau, please follow this link ....>>>http://mysarawak2.blogspot.com/2014/09/once-there-was-speedboat.html

Satellite image of Sungai Likau in 2012
The road link from Tanjong Kidurong is partly seen in middle of picture (right to left).
Sungai Likau is at the entrance to the Similajau National Park and site of the various tourist facilities.