Jesselton 1911

What remains is the Atkinson Clock Tower that sit on top of a small hill called Signal Hill that acted as a beacon for ships plying the channel between Gaya Island and the mainland, that too will be over-shadowed if the developer, a State Government Agency goes ahead with their plan to build a multi storey hotel and car park and commercial complex that leaves only about 6 meters between the Clock Tower and the complex. The Chief Minister had called for the down-sizing of the project to maintain the beauty and value of the Clock Tower which is the last remaining icon of the British colonial period. There are two other icon, namely the Post Office Building which is now the Tourism Board office and one Government building site which was burnt down but now maintained as an art piece by the Sabah Art Gallery.

Jesselton 1911

What is so special about Kota Kinabalu,formerly known as Jesselton in 1911? There used to be a railway line right up to Tg Lipat where the Port now lies from Tenom, a district in the Interior Residency of Sabah, formerly North Borneo.

Kota Kinabalu City old name was Api Api after the Malay word for Fire after the town was burnt by none other than Mat Salleh, the Bajau chieftan and rebel at that time in 1897 including the island fronting Kota Kinabalu called Gaya Island.

1911 saw the reconstruction of Jesselton, some 14 years after tStar Cityhe town was burnt down.

The village that you saw called Kg Air is no more there and there lies Asia City and Star City and of course Kg Air the Town.

Kawang War in 1885

The Kawang War called 'Amok' happened well before Mat Salleh burned down Jesselton on 1897, a time difference of about 12 years in 1885, again the result of a misunderstanding between the local Bajau Community and the British Chartered Company Resident and the Police Chief De Fontaine. 1885 therefore was the earliest time that the local community had risen against the British Chartered Company who had wanted to catch the Murut Chief in Tenom but was unsuccessful.