Sabah - Borneo - page 159

Sam Sing Kung
(Jln Padang) The Sam Sing Kung temple (also pronounced 'Sam Sing Gong') dates from
1887, making it the oldest building in Sandakan. The name means 'three saints' temple -
in this case saints for general righteousness, fishermen and students (easy to see how the
latter two would be important to Sandakan's education-oriented, dependent-on-the-sea
Chinese community). The temple itself is a smallish, if attractive affair - a lovely example
of a house of worship dedicated to the traditional Chinese Taoist pantheon.

TEMPLE

Kampong Buli Sim Sim
This traditional stilt village, located about 4km east of the town centre, is the original set-
tlement Sandakan grew from. You'll likely be grinned at as you wander around the
wooden boards built over the water, as much an oddity to locals as their water village is to
you. Have a stroll, be on the lookout for those budding entrepreneurs who have turned
their homes into ad hoc souvenir shops, but please don't take pictures of people without
asking permission. You can take a taxi here for no more than RM15.

VILLAGE

THE SANDAKAN DEATH MARCHES

Sandakan was the site of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during WWII, and in September 1944 there were 1800
Australian and 600 British troops interned here. What is not widely known is that more Australians died here than
during the building of the infamous Burma Railway.

Early in the war, food and conditions were bearable and the death rate stood at around three per month.
However, as the Allies closed in, it became clear to the officers in command that they didn't have enough staff to
guard against a rebellion in the camps. They decided to cut the prisoners' rations to weaken them, causing disease
to spread and the death rate to rise.

It was also decided to move the prisoners inland - 250km through the jungle to Ranau, on a route originally cut
by locals to hamper the Japanese invaders, passing mainly through uninhabited, inhospitable terrain. On 28 Janu-
ary 1945, 470 prisoners set off; 313 made it to Ranau. On the second march, 570 started from Sandakan; just 118
reached Ranau. The 537 prisoners on the third march were the last men in the camp.

Conditions on the marches were deplorable: most men had no boots, rations were less than minimal and many
men fell by the wayside. The Japanese brutally disposed of any prisoners who couldn't walk. Once in Ranau, the
surviving prisoners were put to work carrying 20kg sacks of rice over hilly country to Paginatan, 40km away.
Disease, starvation and executions took a horrendous toll, and by the end of July 1945 there were no prisoners left
in Ranau. The only survivors from the 2400 at Sandakan were six Australians who escaped, either from Ranau or
during the marches.

As a final bitter irony, it emerged postwar that a rescue attempt had been planned for early 1945, but intelli-
gence at the time had suggested there were no prisoners left at the camp.