Down town image shows Bintulu entering the Millenial era

View of Bintulu when as a 'sleepy village and town image' in 1955, showing the 'old town' across river from village.
(Photo credit : Ho Ah Choon, " Sarawak in Pictures - 1940's -1970's)

View of Bintulu down town with extensive development in the background, after a succession of four economic booms.
This picture is in cognizance of Bintulu entering the Millenial era i.e 2016 onwards.
The basically Melanau populated fishing village is seen in the foreground of the picture.
( Picture taken on 1 Jan'16 using Samsung Galaxy Note II )

For those not familiar with the developmental history of Bintulu, I would like to recap on the boom years starting 1979 (first boom) which jolted Bintulu from a once sleepy town and village to an industrial 'city' it is today.  The last of the economic boom - the fourth boom (2010 - 2015),  ushered in a new chapter in the growth of Bintulu.  The fourth boom has brought deep and extensive ripple effects in the economic landscape of Bintulu.  Additionally, what the fourth boom has done  too is in the creation and build up of a series of new synergistic interplay of economic renaissance forces on this consistently booming town.  In my periodisation of Bintulu history, I call the period beginning  2016 as the "Millenial era".  The Millenial era can safely be divided further into the Industrial decade (2016 - 2026) and after that or after achieving the official status of an industrial city, Bintulu will be propelled forward into the Post - Industrial era - i.e. 2026 onwards ( and it is to later historians that the timing be worked out).

Law Gek Soon Road in the early 70's

Law Gek Soon Road - view towards the Kemena River, 1970's
Note the old fish market at the center far background.

 This is the general view of Bintulu in the early 70's.  It was a small and sleepy town.  It's status was  a mere sub-district of Miri Division.  It has started to have a bus service and a few cars, including a jeep as seen in the picture above.  The shophouses on both sides of Law Gek Soon Road were built using posts and beams of belian timber and roofing of belian shingles.  The road was named after Law Gek Soon who was the first government Chief Clerk of Bintulu.  The shopkeepers lived on the first floor of the shophouses.  The shop at the extreme  left corner of the row belonged to Tai Hua Hardware.  It was from this shop that I ordered my 'scrambler', and was the first 'scrambler' (Yamaha Trail 125cc) to be seen in Bintulu.  The early 70's were pre- economic boom period.  The picture below shows the place during the fourth boom.

Law Gek Soon Road - view towards the Kemena River,27 June'14
Period : Bintulu during Fourth economic boom.
Note the blue coloured building at far center of the picture.  It replaced the old fish market (partly seen in the very top picture)
The blue building is named 'Pasar Utama' which houses a wet and dry market on the ground floor and a food court at the first floor.