A view of Bintulu town in 1954

Main Bazaar road in May, 2013.

Demolishment of town squatters in 1987

Main Bazaar road towards the Kemena River in 1975

Main Bazaar Road in 1975

Seen are students from BGSS (Bintulu Government Secondary School) walking along Main Bazaar road as part of the activities in conjunction with Prophet's Mohammad's Birthday celebration in 1975.  In the background is partly seen the low-lying areas along the banks of the Kemena River with very few building structures. 

View of Main Bazaar road today, 9 April'17. The picture shows the road leading out of town.

The twin market building in the background houses the 'Pasar Utama' and in the far background is seen a similar building that houses the 'Tamu'.  Both have the architectural look of local Melanau sun-hat called the 'Terendak'.

The architecture of the market was inspired from the local Melanau sun-hat called the "Terendak". The Main Bazaar road now functions as a four-lane one way street with ample car parking spaces on both sides. Towards the left of the picture is partly seen a large open space for public activities, show, fairs and public assembly area.  

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

Limit of Bintulu town and the Kampung Dagang in 1976

Parking space for my sports car in 1976.
The place where I park the car is the start of the Malay and Melanau kampung areas in Bintulu town.  The kampung where we lived was  called 'Kampung Dagang' and was the first of the many kampungs located close to the Bintulu town.
The building partly seen at top of the picture is the Native rest house.

Picture of same location (as above) taken on 26 December, 2013.
The Kampung Dagang where our house was located was re-developed into a commercial shopping area.  The people from the Kampung  Dagang were re-settled in new areas still closer to town and rewarded with shareholdings in the new commercial shophouses.  The Main Bazaar road is seen at right of the picture.

Bintulu town squatters area in early 80's

View of Bintulu town from the Kemena River bank towards the Chinese temple (Tua Pek Kong), 1987

 There was a big squatters settlement in the midst of Bintulu town in the early 80's.  In 1987 a major squatters demolishment was done to cleanup the town of illegal buildings and slums.  The above picture shows some of the wooden structures built by the squatters that were in the process of being demolished by the government authorities.  The public space taken by the slums were later turned into an esplanade, car parking lots and new market buildings.

View from  Bintulu Esplanade (tiled area) towards the Chinese temple area and Main Bazaar Road - 25 December,2013.

Many festivals, public gatherings, fun fairs, shows and Ramadan markets are now held at the esplanade area.  The wooden shophouses in the 80's are replaced by permanent concrete shophouses.  The Main Bazaar road now becomes a four-lane one way street.

Main Bazaar Road in 1975

Main Bazaar Road in 1975
Note the large green space between the two-way street.  Seen are the students of BGSS (Bintulu Government Secondary School) during the Prophet Mohammad's Birthday parade around the town.
The wooden shophouses are made of belian posts, beams and roofing of belian shingles.
Overhead electric posts are gradually replaced with underground cabling.

Main Bazaar Road today, 23 December, 2013.
The road is now turned into a 3-lane one-way street.
Permanent reinforced  concrete four storey buildings replaced old wooden shophouses and ample car parking spaces are provided on the roadsides.  Parking are now charged at hourly rate of 50 sen per hour.

Just years prior to the first boom, there were very few cars in town.  Students who studied at BGSS (Bintulu  Government Secondary School) would either take the bus or ride bicycles to school.  Many Malay and Melanau kampungs dotted the areas immediately around the town.  It was customary for the  Muslim students to celebrate the Prophet Mohammad's Birthday by parading around town (as seen in the top pix). Today the Main Bazaar Road is the main thoroughfare around town.

Bintulu in 1954

Combo picture above shows Bintulu town as seen in 1954 and on 13 October'2013.

There is  certainly a unique appeal in the old Bintulu town.  Despite the expansion of Bintulu to the north in the form of satellite towns of Kidurong and now Similajau, the old town has retained its historical charm.  The town have been re-developed and rejuvenated over a period of more than 30 years due to Bintulu's home-grown economic booms.  As a result of the influx of investment both local and foreign to the town, much physical and infrastructural changes have been enjoyed by the residents, temporary workers and visitors alike.  In 1954, the town consisted of a few blocks of Chinese wooden shophouses, government buildings and quarters and many kampungs or villages occupied by the Malays and Melanaus which are typically located at the edge of the town.

Bintulu town as seen in 1954
Credits : Ho Ah Choon, Sarawak in pictures 1940's - 1970's

 At the right of the picture is shown the first house belonging to the local Melanau people and part of the Kampung Dagang village that starts at the edge of the town going upriver.  There is a series of long jetties from the bank to enable boats and small coastal or riverine vessels to berth during low tide.  The pitched roof wall-less structure at right built on the Kemena river is the fish cum vegetable market.

Bintulu town today, 13 October, 2013.The main highway the runs parallel to the shophouses is the main Bazaar Road.
The tiled open space at the right is part of the Bintulu Espalande area reserved for cultural, events and festivals center.

There is a stark difference between the old town and present Bintulu.  All wooden shophouses have been replaced with permanent concrete ones.  The town has expanded into the previously Malay/Melanau village of Kampung Dagang and the villagers re-settled elsewhere further out of the town vicinity.  There is of course lots of traffic and subsequently air and noise pollution around town.  The existing town retains its appeal as a meeting place for people from the coastal and riverine areas around Bintulu to undertake  business or entrepreneurial activities, obtain weekly provisions, repair machinery and equipments, banking and government matters, social as well as recreational outlets.

Bintulu town squatters area - 1984

Date taken : circa 1983 -84 ( Colour photo )

In 1984 there was one major squatters demolition and resettlement project undertaken by the BDA with the help of the various government departments in Bintulu town area. In 1984 the the whole squatters area was cleaned up. The above picture depicts the seriousness of the squatters problems in Bintulu as even within the center of the Bintulu town the squatters had built their colony. It was evident that the rapid migration of temporary construction workers among the local Sarawakians looking for jobs in Bintulu were not met with sufficient affordable housing for many jobless Sarawakians. Thus they had no choice but to build up camp amidst the burgeoning squatters colony. Somewhere towards the upper right of the picture is seen the pitched roof of the old fish market ( behind the big umbrella). The Main Bazaar road during those time was a two-way street. The use of mechanised sweeper was a novelty among the local authorities in Sarawak. Bintulu was one of those local authorities that pride in having them to clean the streets daily.

Date taken : 29 Dec'10 ( Digital - Sony Cyber-shot)

In place of the old fish market rises a twin main market building called " Pasar Utama" in Malay. The architecture of the market was inspired from the local Melanau sun-hat called the "Terendak". The Main Bazaar road now functions as a four-lane one way street with ample car parking spaces on both sides. Towards the left of the picture is partly seen a large open space for public activities. With the re-development of the squatters area, Bintulu had shed its image as a dirty cowboy town of the 80's.