Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
shui
principles so that the back of the grave backs into the solid angle of the earth, while
the front often features a small artificial pool, reflecting the traditional Chinese belief that
an ideal home has a mountain behind it and running water in front. As you wander further
along the cemetery, the graves become older and more decrepit - many have been claimed
by the jungle. You will also see some charnel houses that accommodate the important
members of Sandakan's major Chinese clans. Across the road from the cemetery is a
cremation ground for Hindus and Sikhs.
CEMETERY
Japanese Cemetery
Located beyond the grounds of the Chinese cemetery, this is a poignant piece of
Sandakan's ethnic puzzle. The gravesite was founded in the 1890s by Kinoshita Kuni,
known to the English as Okuni of South Seas and to greater Sandakan as the successful
madam-manager of the lucrative 'Brothel 8', once located on Lebuh Tiga. Today the
cemetery is quite small, but at one time there were hundreds of buried dead, most of them
prostitutes. A monument to the fallen Japanese soldiers of WWII was erected in the
cemetery in 1989. To get here and to the Chinese cemetery, climb the shady Tangga
Seribu to Jln Residensi Dr and turn right; there will be signs pointing the rest of the way
to the cemetery.
Agnes Keith House
( 089-221140; Jln Istana; admission RM15; 9am-5pm)
On the hill above town,
overlooking Teluk Sandakan and the city itself, is Agnes Keith House, an old two-storey
wooden villa now renovated as a museum. Keith was an American who came to Sandakan
in the 1930s with her husband, then Conservator of Forests, and ended up writing several
books about her experiences, including the famous
Land Below the Wind
. The house fell
into disrepair during the 1990s, but Sabah Museum has since restored it as a faithful recre-
ation of Keith's original abode.
The villa documents Sandakan in all its colonial splendour, with detailed displays on
the lives of the Keiths. Most poignant are mementos of Agnes' imprisonment by the
Japanese during WWII, when she had to try to care for her young son under gruelling con-
ditions. There's some great vintage photographs, including a shot of Keith's husband
standing with a dead elephant in full
Heart of Darkness
safari gear. The admission price
includes entry to the various branches of the Sabah Museum in KK - now didn't we tell
you to keep hold of your ticket? Also on the grounds is the English Tea House & Restaur-
ant, conveniently ignoring Keith's American background and the fact that she found
Sandakan to be 'too British' when she first arrived.
MUSEUM
