TENOM: In the heart of Borneo

Tenom Town: view from nearby hill

WILLIAM STEWART CAME FROM a small town called Tenom, a remote place in Malaysian Borneo. His father, David Stewart, was a successful real estate broker. William’s grandfather was an American planter from California.                       
                                                                           THE EURASIANS Chapter 9, Page 39

It is interesting to note that in future, there is a plan to connect the North Borneo (Sabah) State Railway line that begins in Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu) right up to Kudat, at the tip of Borneo. Then there is also a plan to start a ferry service between Kudat (Malaysia) connecting with Puerto Princesa in Palawan, Philippines. At this moment, there is already and existing rail connection between Jesselton and Tenom, the heart of the Murut-Lundayeh country in the heart of Borneo. Just imagine, if these plans materialized, the tourists visiting the Palawan Island could venture into Borneo using the ferry to reach Kudat. Then from here, they could take the train and travel to Jesselton and end their trip in Tenom. 

Tenom is the capital of Tenom District; one of the many districts of North Borneo. It is 176 kilometers from Jesselton, the capital of North Borneo, and 128 kilometers from Long Pasia. Long Pasia is a very interesting and famous place. It had some sort of a temperate and pleasant climate because of its high altitude. It is also the home to a beautiful tribe called the Lundayeh. Long Pasia is the border town of North Borneo (Malaysia) where on the other side is Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). 

Tenom is a bit unusual because it is the only town in North Borneo where the main highway pass and cut through the center of the town; just like some Mid-Western towns in the United States! Tenom used to be called Fort Birch by the British colonial government. In those days, Tenom was a hostile environment; deep jungle infested with wild animals. Insects were not only annoying but dangerous; especially mosquitoes which carry the dreaded parasites called Malaria. So why did the British took the trouble to open up Tenom? After all it was because of Tenom, they built the railway line connecting Jesselton to this remote place.

The highway cutting right in the middle of the town

The answer is; Tenom is a fertile plain very close to the mighty Padas River. With good soil and ample water supply, the British started rubber plantation here bringing in a lot of Chinese laborers. Soon the Chinese started to plant fruits and vegetables and until today, Tenom is famous for its agricultural products. The most famous is the Tenom Coffee. A retired United States naval officer told me he loves Tenom Coffee more than the Colombian Arabica! For me, I love the Lok Chai, the juicy sweet pomelo (Citrus Maxima) sometime called the Tenom Pomelo. Pomelo is one hell of a big orange! Sometimes I wonder; why do people need to import oranges when we have such a huge one in our backyard in Tenom! It is cheap, taste good, full of vitamins and big!

The sculpture of a coffee plant on the roundabout

There are several reasons why you should visit Tenom. Firstly, Tenom has this fabulous 400 acres Sabah Agricultural Park at Lagud Seberang. It is just 15 minutes casual drive from Tenom Town. Then you have the Tenom Coffee showrooms all over this small town. Passing these showrooms is awesome as we can freely sniff the wonderful Robusta aroma. You could also experience the train ride from Jesselton to Tenom. Along the way you could see the Padas River flowing and the last remaining forest dotting the landscape. Then you have the Murut Cultural Center, which is a small museum displaying the history and culture of this famous tribe. 

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JESSELTON: The gateway to Borneo

Fountain at Gaya Street at the heart of Jesselton

It seems it is a normal occurrence for fishermen to butcher giant stingrays and sharks in front of horrified tourists in the east coast of North Borneo. These news often goes viral and finally caught the attention of the state authority. They became upset and issued a directive; IN FUTURE NO TOURISTS ARE ALLOWED TO GET CLOSE TO FISHERMEN SITES! Huh???

So? What about those stingrays and sharks? Anyway... no more sad stories for a time being.

Jesselton's Lok Kawi Zoo

JESSELTON, THE CAPITAL of North Borneo, had a population of approximately five hundred thousand people. It had some of the world’s most beautiful beaches and islands. The most famous were Pulau Gaya and Pulau Tiga. Both of these islands were national park. Within two hours after enjoying the sunny beaches there, visitors could reach the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, Mount Kinabalu. They could spend the night there and enjoy the temperate coolness.                                                                   THE EURASIANS Chapter 19, Page 74

Kota Kinabalu and Sabah used to have beautiful name. Don’t get me wrong; I am not saying the names we have now are not good. It’s just that the older names are more nostalgic and historical; more appealing to promote overseas. Nowadays many tour companies here used the old names to sound more enchanting; Jesselton Waterfront, North Borneo Express and so on. Kota Kinabalu used to be called Jesselton; in honor of Charles Jessel, the Vice Chairman of British North Borneo Company which administered Sabah. Sabah was the new name for North Borneo, when this state got its independence from Great Britain in 1963. North Borneo, together with Sarawak, Singapore and Malaya went on to form Malaysia that same year, where Malaya took over the trusteeship from Great Britain. So Jesselton is the capital of North Borneo.

Simpang Mengayau at the tip of Borneo, Kudat

If I could have my ways, I would definitely convince the people of this state to revert back Kota Kinabalu and Sabah to Jesselton and North Borneo respectively. In reality, due to politics, it is difficult. But for me, I will always continue to use these beautiful names; Jesselton and North Borneo in my blog.

Jesselton is indeed the gateway to Borneo. First of all, it has an international airport; the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA). Conveniently, it is accessible for direct international flights from cities in China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. It takes less than two hours to reach Jesselton by plane from Manila, Philippines and slightly more than two hours from Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. From Bandar Seri Bagawan in Brunei, it takes only 30 minutes. The Kingdom of Brunei is a fellow independent Borneo state.

From Jesselton we could take domestic flights to Miri and Kuching in Sarawak and also to the Pearl of Borneo; the island of Labuan. From Jesselton too, we could fly to Kudat, the tip of Borneo, to Sandakan, sanctuary for orangutans at Sepilok and also to Tawau, which is another gateway to Indonesian Borneo. From Tawau too, we could go to the marine paradise of Sipadan Island.

As I mentioned before, North Borneo is indeed Borneo within Borneo. Almost all the floras and faunas found in other parts of Borneo are also found here in this state. In fact we have something the other Borneo states don’t have. We have one of the highest mountains in Southeast Asia; Mount Kinabalu. We have a long line of sandy beaches that stretches from Kudat right down to Karambunai. And we have many beautiful islands that are considered a diving paradise; example Matanani, Labuan, Gaya and of course Sipadan.

Atkinson Clock Tower built in 1905, Jesselton

But North Borneo is also covered with exotic small hills and jungle treks which are good for hiking adventures. Watch out for leeches lurking on the trees as they could sense human or animal heats. But this is nothing compared to the joy of discovering waterfalls, wild orchids, rafflesias and monkey cups. BORNEO IS INDEED MYSTIFYING, AS WELL AS ENCHANTING!

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BORNEO: Why I only write about this place

Waterfall in Tuaran

JESSELTON, THE CAPITAL of North Borneo, had a population of approximately five hundred thousand people. It had some of the world’s most beautiful beaches and islands. The most famous were Pulau Gaya and Pulau Tiga. Both of these islands were national park. Within two hours after enjoying the sunny beaches there, visitors could reach the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, Mount Kinabalu. They could spend the night there and enjoy the temperate coolness.                                                                        THE EURASIANS, Chapter 19, Page 74

Hello there! I saw many wonderful travel blog posts written by fantastic writers. Many of them inspired me. I noticed one thing in common; most articles were written about traveling far away outside the writers own country. They shared experiences about new places which were enchanting such as beaches of Fiji or Maldives; historical and nostalgic places like Rome and Jerusalem.

There are people who asked me; why do you always write about your own backyard? Why don’t you go outside your own country and write about new places, cultures and people? They told me in that way, I will have more stories to tell, instead of only talking about the same place all the time. My answer to this is; well! Not that simple! Because they are right!

Matanani Island

OK! Let me explain; Borneo is a vast island and it is considered to be a world within a world. Anything the tropical earth have, we can find it in Borneo (not everything though; we don’t have New World monkeys, tigers, chimps). This island has many of the tropical world floras and faunas, marine life and the culture of the people are also unique and their history is fascinating. Now for North Borneo (now known as Sabah), I consider it is Borneo within Borneo; whatever can be found in Borneo, definitely can be found here. At this moment, North Borneo alone has so many sceneries to offer that it seems stories told would be endless. 

Mount Kinabalu view from golf club

But the most important reason why I want to cover only Borneo is because Borneo is like a runaway train waiting to crash! We just lost our last pygmy rhino, an endangered and endemic species and soon we will be losing the proboscis monkeys, orangutans and the pygmy sun bears. We will also have barren seas around Borneo as all the corals and marine life will soon perish because of unrestricted fishing activities and fish bombings. The endemic tropical jungles will soon be wiped out as it is being replaced with palm oil and rubber plantations. This is not only our problems but also your (readers) problems. As I mentioned over and over again; we are in a small crowded room full of people call earth. A bad guy smoke cigar and the whole people in this room choked!  

  

That is the reason why I only cover stories around Borneo. I want you to come; as many people as possible and visit this place. One day, this might not be around for your next generations to enjoy. So at least you could take pictures or write about your visits here and who knows these will be the only materials left for the future to see. 

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BORNEO ORANGUTANS: Road to Extinction!

"Shhh! Sam said, and both kept quiet. Aaron and Sam kept their eyes fixed. A furry red mammal slowly came out from the undergrowth. It kept itself partially hidden. Sam snatched a bunch of ripe bananas from the backseat, opened his car window, and threw it towards the creature... Sam nodded. "Yep! A female orangutan. She knew the timing of my arrival. The jungle was supposed to be protected. But some tycoon jerk played golf with the authority, gave them a lot of Christmas presents, and the orangutan is now homeless."                       THE EURASIANS Chapter 37 Page 151

In my previous blog posts, I wrote about Borneo: How do we save our environment? and also Borneo: Rape of the environment. In my novel THE EURASIANS, Aaron and Sam was talking about the plight of the orangutans way back in the 1980's. Now we are decades in the new millennium but things haven't change; in fact it's becoming worse!

Oil palm plantation in Borneo

I came across an article, MONGABAY news, quoting a study made by Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, published in February 2018; according to their study, the most disturbing news is that the island of Borneo lost nearly 150,000 orangutans (pango pygmaeus) between 1999-2015! They also warns that another 45,000 orangutans are doomed by 2050! The main culprits are land clearing for logging and palm oil plantations. Even in intact forests, orangutans are disappearing due to being killed.

And here comes the interesting suggestion; the researchers have called for more effective partnership between the government, industries and local communities to ensure the Borneo orangutans survival! What a joke! Hoping for the governments and the industries? There is a famous Malay proverb that say; like giving a beautiful flower to a monkey!

There is no other way; only the international communities can put pressure on the Borneo governments to stop the environmental destruction. As I said before; the planet earth is like a small room. Eventually everyone inside this room will suffer when one person smoke cigar!

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