Wildlife Park of Bintulu in 1989

View of the Wildlife Park ( Taman Hidupan Liar) seen in 1989.
Works on the construction of the Wildlife Park or Taman Hidupan Liar in Malay started in 1989 and the park was officially opened to the general public on the 2nd of August,1991.
Picture shows my family members and their cousin, with our car driven right to the top of the hill where later the wordings  "Taman Hidupan Liar" were planted using cover plants approximately where  the car is parked.

View of the park  taken on 9th of March,2015. 
Today, the park is re-named as "Taman Tumbina".

 It was the first and only park of its kind in Sarawak when it was opened in 1991.  Today, the park is called "Taman Tumbina" but when it was first started and opened it was known as Taman Hidupan Liar or Wildlife Park.  It was one of my pet projects while in the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA).  This project brought me places to Singapore and West Malaysia to see similar projects and learn from them.  In the park (as shown in the layout plan below) there were many botanical as well as zoological attractions.  One of the big attractions was the flamingo pond.  Follow this link to know more in-depth story of my role in bringing the flamingoes to Bintulu  here .  In the top picture, the Bintulu coastline is seen in the background.  It is evident that that were no condominiums or high-rise buildings in Bintulu in the 1980's along its coasts.  The condominiums were a thing of the 1990's in Bintulu. 

" Taman Hidupan Liar " or Wildlife Park as seen in the early 1990's

Tanjung Batu Beach in the 60's - 70's

The peaceful, undisturbed and long sandy beaches at Tanjung Batu, Bintulu.
The picture above remains true of the place in the 1960's - 70's

 The Tanjung Batu Beach is a major tourist attraction for visitors to Bintulu.  The beach is located about 4 km from Bintulu town.  The place is now very well patronised  by both the local residents and migrant population who have flooded the town after a series of four boom periods.   It is the best place to see the Binulu sunset.  I have had many joyful and memorable moments of the beach since my student days at Bintulu Government Secondary School (BGSS) in the early 1960's where we used to have class picnics at the beaches.  As a teacher in the same school in the early  70's, I had many pleasurable moments scrambling along the beaches with friends and students.  We had the beach to ourselves then.  The beach has been renamed 'Pantai Temasya Binutlu' to mark its makeover into a quality beach for the benefit of the locals and foreign visitors. The landscaping works at the place is very intensive and has added lots more plant species onto its typical original look of casuarina trees.  The long beach outline as seen in the top picture has somewhat been altered due to the construction of rocky islands just off the beach to create lagoons.  Today the place is provided with one of the best beach facilities and services in Sarawak.  A visit to Bintulu wouldn't be complete without a stopover at the beach.  

 

The same beach is now re-named Pantai Temasya Bintulu.
Some beach protection works seen just off the beach to create some artificial lagoon.
More picnic and recreational facilities were provided over a series of boom periods.  It is today the best public beach in Sarawak for its usage, quality of facilities provided and maintenance of the place.
Date taken : 5 July, 2014.