Histoire
Les origines de la ville de Kota Kinabalu (ou KK, comme nous
l’appelons généralement) remontent à l’ère des anglais qui
s’installèrent en 1881 sur l’île de Gaya, au large de la ville
présente. Ce n’était qu’un poste commerçant, le centre administratif
des anglais étant Sandakan. En 1898 Mat Salleh, un rebelle pirate
attaqua le poste et le brûlât, et les anglais furent forcés de
renégocier avec le Sultan de Brunei pour pouvoir s’installer sur la
terre ferme. Le sultan, qui alors régnait sur le nord de Bornéo leur
loua les terres en face de l’île de Gaya, un site dont peu est connu
mais parait-il qu’il y avait une source d’eau douce et un hameau de
pécheurs dans lequel les bajau et autres ethnies de la mer – les
anciens gitans de la mer – se réfugiaient de temps à autre. Leurs
habitations principales étaient cependant sur les îles au large de
la ville présente, aujourd’hui le parc national Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Les anglais établirent Jesselton en 1899, après les négociations
avec le Sultan de Brunei. Un nouveau poste commerçant et une petite
ville naquirent, appelée dans la mémoire de Sir Charles Jessel, un
des premiers directeurs de la British North Borneo Chartered Company
en charge de l’exploitation de North Borneo (Bornéo septentrional).
La ville grandit rapidement due à la récente complétion du chemin de
fer qui liait l’intérieur du Sabah, et ses plantations de tabac et
caoutchouc avec la côte. Aussitôt des commerçants chinois
s’installèrent, mais Sandakan demeurait la ville principale de North
Borneo.
Pendant la seconde guerre mondiale Jesselton fut occupée, comme le
reste de Sabah et de Bornéo en général. Vers la fin de la guerre des
Alliés bombardèrent Jesselton, et les japonais brûlèrent ce qui
restait. La ville fut rasée complètement, facilité par le fait
qu’elle était construite en grande partie en bois et bambou, avec
des toitures en feuilles de palmier. Seulement l’ancienne poste et
imprimerie, aujourd’hui le centre d’information pour touristes,
survit, ainsi qu’un horloger, le Atkinson Tower.
Confronté avec l’impossibilité de reconstruire le pays dévasté par
la guerre, la British North Borneo Chartered Company céda tous
droits à la couronne anglaise en 1946, et Sabah devint une colonie.
C’est à ce moment la que Jesselton devint la capitale de la nouvelle
colonie, car Sandakan fut également complètement détruit pendant la
guerre.
Lorsque Sabah joignit la Fédération de la Malaisie en 1963 Jesselton
resta la capitale et aussitôt connut une période de développement
rapide, toujours très visible dans l’aspect de la ville aujourd’hui.
Jesselton devint Kota Kinabalu en 1967.
Aujourd’hui KK est une cité moderne et cosmopolite, encore plus
depuis sa promotion de municipalité en ville le 2 février 2000! Des
lois récentes obligèrent les propriétaires des immeubles de
repeindre les façades, et de nettoyer les cours et les alentours et
le « centre historique » de KK resplendit maintenant dans le charme
des années 70, avec des centres commerciaux modernes d’architecture
plus imaginée au bords de la ville.
Le vrai charme de KK se constitue de ses restaurants qui ne ferment
jamais. KK est un véritable melting pot de différentes cultures et
croyances, et on y trouve des Chinois et des Malais, des Bajau et
des Philippins, des Javanais et d’autres Indonésiens et immigrés des
pays voisins qui cherchent un avenir plus prospère, quelques
indigènes et même des européens. Les restaurants à KK sont de ce
fait aussi variés et ici un tour de monde gastronomique est tout à
fait possible, si seulement vous avez le temps !
Momentanément KK connaît une nouvelle ère de développement rapide et
d’énormes centres commerciaux sont construits au nord et au sud de
la ville, et les routes sont adaptées à une circulation beaucoup
plus importante avec des toboggans qui champignonnent. KK est une
ville parfaitement moderne, avec des embouteillages à toute heure,
avec restauration rapide et du fast food – oui, en plus de la
myriade des restaurants, échoppes et marchés de nuit – banques,
grandes stations de vacances et parcours de golf de renommé
international. Certains disent que KK c’est une des villes du
Sud-Est asiatique qui se transforme le plus rapidement, et y vivant
l’on a tendance d’y croire !
KK, avec son infrastructure touristique et son aéroport
international est aussi votre point de départ pour ses attractions
variées – comme les parc nationaux et réserves naturelles de forêt
tropicale avec une biodiversité qui compte parmi les plus riches du
monde.
Places of Interest in Kota Kinabalu
Having no historical centre most of KK's attractions are nature
based and lie to the north and in the close-by interior (see
respective other sections) but there are some places that can be
visited in and around town that don't require a day to do so:
Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine National Park - the five
tropical 'paradise' islands are ideal for a relaxing day at the
beach. On Pulau Manukan you find most of the activities and daily
BBQs on the beach while on Pulau Mamutik daily SCUBA dives are
organised. Pulau Gaya is great for trekking and the adjacent Pulau
Sapi offers, just like Pulau Suluk, a quiet retreat away from the
crowds but all islands tend to be well visited during week-ends and
public holidays and tend to be somewhat overrun by local 'tourists'.
To get to the islands you can take a shuttle boat from the KK City
Jetty (at KK's northern end) or profit of the offers at the Sutera
Harbour Marina or the Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort Marina.
Sabah State Museum - the
second museum in Malaysia sports the largest collection of South
East Asian ceramics, a small natural history selection, a
ethnological part and a time tunnel; the gardens of the museum are
interesting with its life-size replicas of various indigenous houses
and large collection of indigenous trees and herbal plants.
Tun
Mustapha (Yayasan Sabah) Tower - built in 1977 when the area
there was still a swamp, signified then the heralding of a new era
for Sabah and its people. It is KK's tallest building, standing 30
storeys and 122 meters high. It is a popular photo stop on each KK
city tour and now that the revolving restaurant on the 18th floor
has been elaborately renovated Sabah's foremost
dining address.
Gaya Street Sunday
Tamu (market) - every Sunday, from around 5 am to midday
Gaya Street (or Jalan Gaya) is closed to traffic and becomes
one long, vibrant market where you can immerse yourself in a happy
Asian chaos of foods, tools, plants, souvenirs, pets and much more.
Most vendors are Chinese and Bajau but if you visit the road behind
Gaya Street you will meet more, local Dusuns, who sell their
vegetables and other fare. At the same time there is also a market
along the beach behind the 'Pusat Kfraftangan' where Bajau sell fish
in all shapes and colours. And the place of the daily night market
(Asia City) becomes a huge second hand market.
Daily
Night Market - in Asia City you will find a daily night
market where you can bargain for t-shirts and other clothes, apparel
and accessories, and even some handicraft. The market opens until
around 10 am.
Pusat Kraftangan or
better known as the Filipino Market - along the
seafront of KK you will find that a curious building catches your
eye: a series of steep gabled roofs and a door underneath each. The
Filipino Market! Here you find trinkets and souvenirs, mostly
produced in neighbouring countires, at bargain prices. For those who
are into pearls and know how to categorise them this is the place to
go!
Waterfront (Anjung Samudra) - a
couple of years ago the citizens of KK suddenly realised that they
were sitting on the sea but the seafront was nothing but a dirty,
unkempt stretch where traders liked to hawk and buyers litter... how
this has changed! KK has now a modern and clean seafront where you
find pubs and excellent restaurants, and the
Borneo Trading Post, a souvenir
shop with a twist.
Waterfront
(Anjung Senja) - the 'original' waterfront, which was built a year
or so before Anjung Samudra. It is in front of the Promenade Hotel
and offers a fine selection of halal hawker foods (mostly Malay and
Javanese). At Anjung Selera along Likas Bay you will find an even
wider selection of mouth watering hawker style foods. Anjung Senja
and Selera only open for business in the evenings while Anjung
Samudra is open throughout the day.
Restaurants
- KK's real charm lies in its many restaurants, from simple
kedai kopi to internationally renown theme restaurants. There
are simply too many good restaurants, and too many specialities as
that I could enter into details here but our feature on
Foods in Kota Kinabalu might
provide some mouth-watering inspiration.
Nightly Food Stalls
- more food! There are various places in and around KK where
nightly food stalls pop up, some offering hawker foods and some are
extensions of restaurants such as Suang Tain in Asia City. Be
adventurous!
Seafood - KK offers
some of the freshest and best seafood in the area, being also a
major export partner for seafood to Hong Kong and Singapore. Again,
you might find some more inspiration in our feature
Foods in Kota Kinabalu but I must
mention here the Portview Restaurant, the Ocean Seafood
Restaurant and Suang Tain (again), then the newly opened
Atlantis Bistro and the Atlantis Seafood Restaurant,
and also Kampung Nelayan Restaurant. All serve excellent
seafood at unbeatable prices and the latter also offers nightly
cultural performances.
Shopping Centres - Sabah's oldest mall, and by far the
most vibrant and where you find just about anything you'll ever
need, be it for a holiday or if you live here, is
Centre Point. The other famous mall
is Wisma Merdeka, located at KK's northern end. In the centre is KK
Plaza and at KK's southern end is Wisma Wawasan 2020. There are
another eight shopping malls under construction (March 2006) in and
around KK and soon you really would have to 'shop until you drop' to
visit them all. Do you really travel all the way to Sabah to go
shopping?
North Borneo Steam-Train Ride
- once Sabah's railway extended right to where nowadays the KK
City Jetty is located (at KK's northern end), and at the moment one
still can see the rail track, embedded in the concrete jetty. This
was KK's first jetty, built by the English in 1900. Now the KK
Railway Terminal is at Tanjung Aru, roughly opposite the airport and
daily trains travel all the way to Tenom. This alone is an
adventure: the rolling material dates back to the 50's and
travelling in the old, open wagons, together with the locals who
bring along their chicken and other fares from the market the
regular train ride makes for an unforgettable experience! But every
Wednesday and Saturday an old English Vulcano Steam Engine is fired
up and you travel in colonial style and renovated wagons to Papar
and back. This is a romantic journey not only lovers of steam
engines should not miss!
Likas Bird
Sanctuary - KK is Malaysia's only town with a nature reserve
within its boundaries, the Likas Bird Sanctuary. Though birds are
not overly active during the day and the mangrove environment is
changing due to the fact that the river has been regulated (it used
to move with the tides) this is a quiet retreat and a stroll over
boardwalks and along the paths is very pleasant.
How to Get to KK & Accommodation
KK with
its international airport is easily accessible from most
international destinations via Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, or
via Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan; there are plenty
of hotels and resorts in and around town to suit every budget and
need.
