Beaufort (Sabah)

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Beaufort
Coordinates 5 ° 21 ′  N , 115 ° 45 ′  E Coordinates: 5 ° 21 ′  N , 115 ° 45 ′  E
Location of the city within the Beaufort districtLocation of the city within the Beaufort district
Basic data
Country Malaysia

State

Sabah
ISO 3166-2 MY-12
Residents 12,742 (2010)
founding January 4, 1898Template: Infobox location / maintenance / date
The houses on the Padas River. In the event of flooding, the residents used the stairs with their boats.
Main street of Beaufort
Old wooden commercial buildings
mosque

Beaufort is a city in the Malaysian state of Sabah . It belongs to the administrative district of the same name ( Beaufort district ) and is 90 kilometers south of the capital Kota Kinabalu . The city is part of the Interior Division area , which includes the districts of Beaufort , Keningau , Kuala Penyu , Nabawan , Sipitang , Tambunan and Tenom . Beaufort was named after Leicester Paul Beaufort , the British governor of North Borneo.

During the Second World War, Beaufort was the site of one of the most important armed conflicts between Japanese and Australians.

history

Beaufort owes its existence to the construction of the North Borneo Railway . On January 4, 1898 , the executive director of the North Borneo Chartered Company , William Clarke Cowie , met with Leicester Governor Paul Beaufort to explore a suitable place to found a town on the railway line under construction from Weston to Jesselton . Cowie found the place where the railroad crossed the Sungai Padas to be suitable. To convince Beaufort to invest money and commitment in a new settlement, he suggested that the new town be named after the governor.

Even before the city was founded, there were three villages in the vicinity: Kampung Kalaban, Kampung Mesilau and Kampung Malulugus. The local population consisted mainly of Murut and Bisayas . In addition, the Chartered Company Murut from the interior, Chinese traders and members of various ethnic groups settled in the city. This early Beaufort consisted of two rows of wooden commercial buildings, the District Office, the attap-roofed railway station and the assembly area (town padang) .

With the onset of the natural rubber boom in the early 1900s, it turned out that the area around Beaufort was ideal for planting the rubber tree . This, and the city's location at the Weston-Melalap-Jesselton railway junction, gave Beaufort an enormous economic boom.

As early as 1921, Beaufort was equipped with all the facilities and buildings that made up the status of a city at the time: a police station, guest house, post office, charity and even a golf course.

In the Battle of Beaufort , the last battle for the reconquest of Borneo , Australian troops of 2/43 attacked. Battalion in June 1945 the Japanese troops of the 368th Infantry Battalion under Major Kimura Jiro. Here in Beaufort, the last Victoria Cross of World War II was given to the soldier Leslie Thomas Starcevich .

After Lieutenant General Baba Masao signed the deed of surrender , the troops remaining in Sabah were requested to gather at various assembly points for internment and repatriation to their home countries. Beaufort was designated as the assembly point for the Japanese units stationed on the west coast and inland, as well as for the personnel of the Japanese headquarters of the 37th Army . Upon arrival at Beaufort on September 17, 1945, Major General Akashi signed a separate deed of surrender.

Demographics

The population of the city of Beaufort was 12,742 in 2010. Beaufort's population is mainly made up of Malays, Kadazan and Hakka Chinese . Just like Papar , Beaufort was one of the centers of the original Hakka settlement and even today the Hakka are a large minority community.

economy

Originally, the establishment of Beaufort was supposed to contribute to the economic development of the interior. The city was closely interlinked with natural rubber production . Today it is the palm oil industry that is a major economic factor for Beaufort and the surrounding area.

Infrastructure

Beaufort is a major station on the Sabah State Railway . The station was built in 1905.

Medical care is provided by a state hospital with 140 beds and by several resident doctors.

Attractions

Tourists typically use Beaufort as a starting point for white water rafting through the nearby Padas Gorge. The Padas River is classified as a difficulty level 2-4.

The open-air market, known by the locals as tamu , takes place weekly from Friday evening to Saturday lunchtime . Mainly local products such as fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and live poultry are sold. Beaufort is known in Sabah for a Chinese specialty: Beaufort Mee is a noodle dish that is either served dry or as a soup. In addition, the "Beaufort oranges" come from Beaufort, which are symbolized as three large, colorful sculptures in the city center.

On the eastern outskirts of Beaufort is the monument in honor of the soldier Leslie Thomas Starcevich, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his decisive influence on the outcome of the Battle of Beaufort.

Others

Twin city of Beaufort is located in North Carolina, United States Beaufort .

The houses facing the river are built on stilts as the Padas River ( Sungai Padas ) overflowed its banks more frequently before the Padas Dam was regulated.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Beaufort (Sabah)  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Census 2010 for Sabah ( Memento from February 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.9 MB), ed. from the Bureau of Statistics, Malaysia
  2. ^ Danny Wong Tze Ken: Community and Society , pp. 27-28
  3. ↑ a b c Richard Nelson Sokial: Colonial Townships in Sabah: West Coast , Homeland Publisher Sdn Bhd, 2012, ISBN 978-983-40734-4-2 , p. 46
  4. ^ A b Danny Wong Tze Ken: Historical Sabah: The War , Opus Publications Sdn. Bhd, Kota Kinabalu, 2004, ISBN 978-983-3987-37-5 , pp. 142-144
  5. ^ Beaufort, North Carolina Sister Cities ( September 28, 2007 memento in the Internet Archive )