The 6th Borneo International Yachting Sabah

Sabah is a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo It is the second largest state in Malaysiaafter Sarawak, which it borders on its south-west. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan ofIndonesia in the south. In spite of its status as a Malaysian state, Sabah remains a disputed territory; the Philippines has a dormant claim over much of the eastern part of the territory. The capital of Sabah is Kota Kinabalu, formerly known as Jesselton . Sabah is known as "Sabah, negeri di bawah bayu", which means "Sabah, the land below the winds", because of its location just south of the typhoon-prone region around the Philippines.

The region of present-day Sabah was part of the Sultanate of Brunei around the early 16th century. This was during the period when the Sultanate was at its 'golden era.' In 1658 the Sultan of Brunei ceded the northeast portion of Borneo to the Sultan of Sulu in compensation for the latter's help in settling a civil war in the Brunei Sultanate. In 1761 an officer of the British East India Company, Alexander Dalrymple, concluded an agreement with the Sultan of Sulu to allow him to set up a trading post in the region. This together with other attempts to build a settlement and a military station centering around Pulau Balambangan proved to be a failure. There was minimal foreign interest in this region afterward and control over most parts of north Borneo seems to have remained under the Sultanate of Brunei.
In 1865 the American Consul of Brunei, Claude Lee Moses, obtained a 10-year lease over North Borneo from the Sultan of Brunei. Ownership was then passed to an American trading company owned by J.W. Torrey, T.B. Harris and some Chinese merchants. They set up a base and settlement in Kimanis but this too failed due to financial reasons. The rights of the trading company were then sold to Baron Von Overbeck, theAustrian Consul in Hong Kong, and he later obtained another 10-year renewal of the lease. The rights were subsequently transferred to Alfred Dent, whom in 1881 formed the British North Borneo Provisional Association Ltd.

In the following year, the British North Borneo Company was formed and Kudat was made its capital. In 1883 the capital was moved to Sandakan to capitalise on its potential of vast timber resources. In 1888 North Borneo became aprotectorate of the United Kingdom. Administration and control over North Borneo remained in the hands of the Company despite being a protectorate and they effectively ruled until 1942. Their rule had been generally peaceful except for some rebellions, including one led by the Suluk-Bajau leader Mat Salleh from 1894 to 1900, and another led by Antanum of the Muruts which is known as the Rundum resistance in 1915

From 1942 to 1945 during the Second World War, Japanese forces occupied North Borneo. The Japanese forces landed in Labuan on January 1, 1942, and continued to invade the rest of North Borneo. Bombings by the allied forces devastated of most towns including Sandakan, which was totally razed to the ground. Resistance against Japanese occupation were concentrated on the west and north coast of North Borneo. The resistance in Jesselton was led by Albert Kwok and Jules Stephens of the Kinabalu Guerillas. Another resistance was led by Panglima Alli from Sulug Island, off the coast ofJesselton. In Kudat, there were also some resistance led byTun Datu Mustapha. On October 10, 1943, the Kinabalu Guerrillas together with followers of Panglima Alli staged a surprise attack on the Japanese. The attack however was foiled. The 324 local residents who participated in the attacks, including Albert Kwok and Panglima Alli, were detained in Petagas and later executed on January 21, 1944.The site of the execution is today known as the Petagas War Memorial.

In Sandakan there was once a brutal POW camp run by the Japanese for the prisoner British and Australian servicemen from North Borneo. They raped the locals all the time. They suffered in agony in their first year of captivity under notoriously inhuman conditions, but much worse was to come through forced marches of January, March and June 1945 ( refer to Sandakan Memorial Park WWII POW Museum Records ). Allied bombardments caused the Japanese to relocate the POW camp to inland Ranau, 260 km away. All the prisoners, who by then were thinned down to 2504 in numbers, were to be moved, but instead of transport, were forced to march the infamous "Sandakan-Ranau Death March" route. Sickness, disease, exhaustion, thirst, hunger, whipping or shooting of the failed escapees killed their lot except for the six Australians who successfully escaped, were never caught and survived to tell the horrific story of the death march. The fallen of this march are commemorated each year on Anzac Day (Memorial Day) in Australia and in Sandakan, at the original POW campsite where a POW hut style museum and a black marble memorial obelisk monument are nestling in a leafy, lilly ponded and peaceful park setting.

When Japan surrendered at the end of the war, North Borneowas administered by the British Military Administration and in 1946 it became a British Crown Colony. Jesselton was chosen to replace Sandakan as the capital. The Crown continued to rule North Borneo until 1963. On August 31, 1963 North Borneo attained self-government. There was a call for complete independence on that date by it was denied by the British Governor who remained in power until Malaysia Day.The intention had been to form Malaysia on August 31 but due to objection from the Philippines and Indonesia, the formation had to be postponed to September 16. On September 16, 1963, North Borneo together with Malaya,Sarawak andSingapore formed the Federation of Malaysia and from then on, it became known as Sabah and declared independent from British sovereignty. To safeguard the interest of North Borneoin the new federation, a 20-point agreement was entered into between the federal and the state government.
The western part of Sabah is generally mountainous, containing the three highest mountains in Malaysia. The most prominent range is the Crocker Range which houses several mountains of varying height from about 1,000 metres to 4,000 metres. At the height of 4,095 metres, Mount Kinabaluis the highest mountain in Malaysia . The jungles of Sabah are classified as rainforests and host a diverse array of plant and animal species. Kinabalu National Park was inscribed as aWorld Heritage Site in 2000 because of its richness in plant diversity combined with its unique geological, topographical, and climatic conditions.

Lying nearby Mount Kinabalu is Mount Tambuyukon. At a height of 2,579 metres, it is the third highest peak in the country. Adjacent to the Crocker Range is the Trus MadiRange which houses the second highest peak in the country,Mount Trus Madi, at a height of 2,642 metres. There are lower ranges of hills extending towards the western coasts, southern plains, and the interior or central part of Sabah. These mountains and hills are traversed by an extensive network of river valleys and are in most cases covered with dense rainforest.

The central and eastern portion of Sabah are generally lower mountain ranges and plains with occasional hills.Kinabatangan River begins from the western ranges and snakes its way through the central region towards the east coast out into the Sulu Sea. It is the second longest river inMalaysia after Rejang River at a length of 560 kilometres. The forests surrounding the river valley also contains an array of wildlife habitats, and is the largest forest-covered floodplain in Malaysia.

Other important wildlife regions in Sabah include MaliauBasin,Danum Valley, Tabin, Imbak Canyon and Sepilok. These places are either designated as national parks, wildlife reserves, virgin jungle reserves, or protection forest reserve.
Over three quarters of the human population inhabit the coastal plains. Major towns and urban centers have sprouted along the coasts of Sabah. The interior region remains sparsely populated with only villages, and the occasional small towns or townships.

Beyond the coasts of Sabah lie a number of islands and coral reefs, including the largest island in Malaysia, Pulau Banggi. Other large islands include, Pulau Jambongan, Pulau Balambangan, Pulau Timbun Mata, Pulau Bumbun, and Pulau Sebatik. Other popular islands mainly for tourism are, Pulau Sipadan, Pulau Selingan, Pulau Gaya, Pulau Tiga, and Pulau Layang-Layang.

ETHNICITIES AND RELIGION
Statistics of religion by state are not provided by the Department of Statistics Malaysia. Sabah has one of the highest populations of Christians (Roman Catholic and Protestant) living in Malaysia but this proportion is believed to have fallen due to Muslim immigration from Malaya andIndonesia. Religious breakdown (2000): Islam 63.7%, Christianity 27.8%, Buddhism 12%, No Religion 1.0%, Taoism/Confucianism 0.4%, Others 0.3%, Hinduism 0.1%, Unknown 0.3%.

The people of Sabah are divided into 32 officially recognisedethnic groups. The largest immigrant ethnic group is theChinese. Most Chinese people in Sabah are concentrated primarily at Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, and Tawau. Kota Kinabalu has the highest concentration of Chinese people in Sabah, followed by Sandakan (second highest) and Tawau (third highest). The largest indigenous ethnic group is Kadazan-Dusun, followed by Bajau, and Murut. There is a very small number and proportion of Indians and other South Asians in Sabah compared to other parts of Malaysia. Collectively, all persons coming from Sabah are known asSabahans and identify themselves as such.

Malay is the national language spoken across ethnicities, although the spoken Sabahan dialect of Malay differs much in inflection and intonation from the West Malaysian version, having more similarity in pronunciation to Indonesian. English, Mandarin as well as Hakka and Cantonese are widely understood. In addition, Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut and other smaller groups also have distinct ethnic languages.Sabah also has its own unique Sabahan-slangs for many words in Malay.
The federal government of Malaysia officially recognizes 28 ethnic groups as being indigenous or bumiputra in Sabah:

Latest Activities

Sabah will be the finishing point for the 6th Borneo International Yachting challenge on Oct 15.
Participants will sail from Miri starting on Friday to Labuanbefore racing to the State capital, making it the first time the State is involved in the race since the event started six years ago.

The organiser in Miri wished to make the race longer, make it more challenging as well as to give participants the opportunity to visit more exciting destinations between the three states.

The event, organised by the Sarawak government and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment through the Sabah Tourism Board, was aimed at promoting coastal activities in Sabah and Sarawak, in the hope of placingBorneo as a prestigious venue for boating events and a preferred holiday destination in the world map.
A total of 30 yachts consisting of 94 crewmembers from 10 countries such as Australia, Brunei, Germany, Holland, Italy,New Zealand, Philippines, Switzerland, United Kingdom andMalaysia, are expected to arrive here on Oct 14.
The yachts would be anchored at the host venue, the Sutera Harbour Resort Marina here.
Meanwhile, the yachties will also be taking part in the Sutera Harbour Cup, jointly organised by the Sutera Harbour Resort, Sabah Sailing Association and Kinabalu Yacht Club, on Oct 15.
The race will start at Petagas near here and finish at the Kinabalu Yacht Club in Tanjung Aru.