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History
Tenom's history goes most probably back a long time and we must
presume that even during prehistoric times modern man roamed through
those sheltered, jungle covered but fertile valleys. But even though
man might have lived in the area we have no definitive archeological
proof as per now, except for Sabah's only rock carving at Tomani,
some 30 miles to the south of Tenom. A huge boulder the size of a
house has been carved with intricate, distorted figures and faces,
and some smaller rocks in the surrounding area have also been
adorned with carvings. However, it is unclear who made those
carvings, why and when. Only local legends and oral history
surrounds the mystical carvings.
Tenom received more attention under the
British Chartered North Borneo Company (BCNBC), when coffee and
other plantations were established there. A railway line from
Melalap - a still existing estate - linked Jesselton (now Kota
Kinabalu) already in the late 1890. The construction of the railway
line, which began with the appointment of William Clark Cowie as the
Managing Director of the BCNBC in 1894, was one of the most
challenging tasks the company undertook: Cowie appointed an English
Civil Engineer, Arthur J. West, to build the railway line from Bukau
north to Beaufort and south to Weston. This town was named after Mr.
West, and there was supposed to be a new port
of the BCNBC at Brunei Bay. However, upon completion of the railway
in 1890, Weston was discovered to be too shallow for a deep-sea
wharf. Instead, Arthur J. West extended a 64 km line from Beaufort
to Tenom and to Melalap. For the most difficult stretch, though the
Padas Gorges, labourers from China were employed, mainly Hakka and
Cantonese.
In 1915 Ontoros Antanom, a Murut
warrior, lead Pensiangan and Rundum Murut against the English. It
came to a bloody battle at Rundum where Ontoros and his men were
utterly defeated, having no chance to stand up against the modern
fire arms of their perceived enemies. Ontoros remains a local hero.
According to the locals he was born in 1885 and possessed
exceptional leadership qualities which enabled him at the age of 30
to lead the ill fated Rundum revolt. A memorial to Ontoros Antanom
stands in the heart of Tenom, and the remains of his fort at Rundum,
now overgrown by secondary rainforest, are still clearly visible.
To-day Tenom is a quiet rural town. The
mainly Murut population lives in small villages and a few longhouses
scattered throughout the fertile valley where they engage in cash
crop schemes such as coffee and rubber, and nowadays also palm oil.
The Murut cultivate also rice, but mainly for their own consumption.
Places of Interest in Tenom
At first glance there seems nothing of
interest in an around Tenom, but the sleepy aspect of this town is
deceiving: not far from Tenom is the world renown Sabah
Agricultural Park (Taman Pertanian Sabah), which has
developed into a well conceived tourism destination facilitating the
study - leisurely or more seriously - of a huge variety of tropical
plants. Ever wanted to know where cloves come from, or what really
sisal is? See ginger, okra, pepper and a myriad of other spices and
vegetables how they are grown? At the Agricultural Centre you will
find them all plus a couple of surprises. Then there are the famous
orchid gardens where over 1000 species of indigenous Borneo orchids
are grown, and a wide variety of hybrid orchids. There is
accommodation in the park for those more interested in discovering
more. Then there is the Murut Cultural Centre, some
10km out of town on the way to
Keningau. The Murut, belonging to the
Paitanic Group are the third biggest ethnic entity in Sabah and
divided in some 18 sub-groups. In Tenom you find mostly Timugon
Murut, famous for their long lasting and exuberant weddings where
tapai, rice wine in jars, flows rather liberally. Some of the
village community halls (balai raya) sport a lansaran,
a type of a trampoline that was once a feature in each longhouse and
just one aspect of the intriguing Murut culture in Sabah.
The Sabah Railway has a
terminal in Tenom, but formerly the railway extended to Melalap. The
journey through the Padas Gorges is still an awesome
adventure where at times the jungle closes over the antiquated
wagons, and at times you look straight down into the churning waters
of the Padas River which cuts through the Crocker Range. White
water rafting is organised between Kg Pangi and Kg Rayoh.
How to Get to Tenom & Accommodation
By car, van, bus or taxi from Kota Kinabalu over Tambunan and
Keningau.
Ca 180 km / 2 hours; by train from KK over Beaufort to Tenom, ca 120
km / 5 hours (we recommend to take a bus or taxi from KK to
Beaufort; the really interesting stretch of this railway is
in-between Beaufort and Tenom); there are a few small but new and
clean hotels in Tenom Town, and the
Perkasa Hotel Tenom.
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Antanom Memorial in Tenom
The newly renovated train station
A Murut playing gongs during a wedding
Tapai drinking from heirloom jars during a wedding in Tenom |
