Malay kampungs in 1957

Combo picture to show the rustic and peaceful Malay kampungs in 1957 compared to the crammed-up look it is today, devoid of any landscaping or forest environment.  It seemed the people do not learn from history.

Aerial picture of Bintulu town expansion at start of new millenia.

Photo credit : Ho Ah Choon, Sarawak in Pictures, 1940's - 70's.

In 1957 I used to walk from my house which was situated next to the Bintulu town to Kampung  Datok where my grandma lived.  I have fond memories of the walking through a series of small kampungs before reaching Kampung Datok.  The distance was about less than 500 meters.  But for a young kid it was a long walk.  The tiny village road that led to my grandma's house passed through many Malay and Melanau houses that were made of timber and belian roofing shingles.  Over-topping these houses were various types of palm trees and fruit trees.  They constituted a very important aspect of Malay culture and cuisine.  More significantly it was the presence of many birds around the houses feeding on fruiting trees that imprinted in me the love of plants and wildlife at an early age.  The B&W picture above is reminiscent of the forested environment of the Malay kampungs in Bintulu in the 1950's.  In contrast the same Malay kampungs today are devoid of any forest or landscaping environment.  It is a sad story of development.  But I was not to be discouraged by failure.  At the start of the new millenia (sometime in 2003) I began my own project of building a park.  It was my way of living the beautiful greenery  and wildlife-friendly Malay kampung environment I knew as a young kid.  I am pleased that I have the opportunity to re-live those days of discovery, delight and dreams in my own nature park.  I guess I have achieved the dream with the development of the  Kambatik Park in Bintulu.

The old Bintulu Airport building - 1990.

Bintulu Airport building main entrance as viewed from the car parking area
Picture taken in 1990

 The old Bintulu Airport was very unique because it was located right in the middle of the Bintulu town.  In 2003, its flight operations ceased and travel in and out of Bintulu by air was shifted to a new location some 23 kilometers away south of the existing town.  Despite its small size the building served Bintulu well during the first boom (1979-1983), second boom  (1998-2000) and third economic boom (2003-2009).  Currently Bintulu is in its fourth economic boom period (2010 - present) and the new airport seems to be meeting Bintulu's flight frequencies and aircrafts. 

Site of former Bintulu Airport building is empty.  In 2003, the airport operations using the old Bintulu airport ceased.  All commercial flights to and from Bintulu since then were moved to new Bintulu Airport site, some 23 kilometers south from the Bintulu town center.
Above picture taken on 21 September,2014.

 The old Bintulu airport is now used for various activities and functions like food and fun fairs, festivals and  exhibition arena.  Below are pictures showing passengers leaving the departure lounge and the bottom picture shows returning pilgrims from Mecca.

Passengers walking to tarmac from departure lounge, circa early 70's

Haj pilgrims being welcomed and paraded from tarmac to airport building,
circa early 70's

Old Bintulu airport building of the 1950's and 70's

Old Bintulu airport building in 1955
Picture Credit :  Ho Ah Choon, Sarawak in Pictures -1940's -70's, Sarawak Press Bhd, Kuching.
Picture shows passengers alighting from the plane and walking towards the old Bintulu airport building (of the 50's - 60's) which was basically wooden in structure, with grass-surface runway.

 In the 1968, Malaysia-Singapore Airlines introduced the 28-seater plane called Fokker Friendship or in short F 27.  The F27 served well the needs of Bintulu prior to its first economic boom (1979 -83), since traffic was not heavy.  The picture below shows the F27 plane at the tar-sealed tarmac.  However, with the influx of temporary workers, visitors, investors and businessmen etc. coming to town to partake in the  first boom, larger capacity planes were needed to meet the increasing traffic flow in and out of Bintulu.  Thus the F27 was replaced by F50 aircraft in 1981 as it could carry 62 passengers.  Bintulu old airport and building was closed in 2003.

View of Bintulu airport building, circa early 1970's - showing F27 parking at the tarmac.
Note the Fire Brigade or Bomba building at left, Main airport building and tower at center, and extreme right is the departure lounge.
This old Bintulu airport and building was closed in 2003 as it was replaced by a new airport and buildings some 23 km south of Bintulu town.

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 Bintulu airport building in 1955

Old Bintulu airport building as seen in 1955
Picture credit: Ho Ah Choon, Sarawak in Pictures - 1940's -70's, Sarawak Press Bhd, Kuching.

 The airport buildings were made of timber and even the row of private individual houses fronting the airport (at the background of the picture) were also made of timber structures and roofing of "belian" shingles.  The picture shows passengers alighting from the aircraft and going to the arrival/departure building at right of the picture.

The site of the old Bintulu airport building taken on 13.12.13.
Note the  low rise nature and construction of shophouses in concrete and roofing of metallic sheets.

Bintulu is one the most interesting places to visit in the early days of its development because of the ease of arriving and departing Bintulu town.  The airport was located right in the midst of town.  According to records, the Bintulu airport was built in 1938 but construction was halted when the Japanese invaded Bintulu in 1941.  After the war was over, construction was renewed and completed in August 1955.  The first civil aircraft to land at the Bintulu airport on the morning of 26th August 1955 was "Rapide" - a twin rotor aircraft with wings made of canvas.  Later a Twin Pioneer - 16 seater plane was in operation to replace the "Rapide".  Other types of planes used in succeeding years were the Fokker Friendship and Fokker 50.  With the construction of a new airport  and its use, the old airport was abandoned and the site cleared and used for miscellaneous functions like fun fair, kite flying, and free car parking spaces.
 The old airport was officially closed on 29 March, 2003 and flights in and out of Bintulu were handled by a new airport built 23 kilometers away from the town centre, towards the south of Bintulu town.