By Datuk Ts Dr. Hj Ramli Amir, former President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Malaysia and Vice-President of CILT International for Southeast Asia
KOTA KINABALU: There was a time when Sabah’s ports in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, and Tawau were not just simple stops, but main destinations for ships from all over the world. This was before modern, complicated shipping routes took over.
Back then, the connection between Sabah and industrial cities in Europe and Asia was direct and strong. This wasn’t a special favour; it was just good business. Sabah was rich in natural resources and was also a promising market for products from abroad. It was a golden age of direct trade.
The Ports: A Scene of Hustle and Bustle
In the 1960s and 70s, the docks were lively, crowded places, very different from the more organised container ports of today. They were where the heart of Sabah’s economy met the sea.
The air smelled of salt, diesel, and fresh cut wood. The sound was a noisy mix of clanking cranes, workers shouting in many languages, and the deep horns of ships from faraway places.
It was a truly international scene. You could see British cargo ships beside newer Japanese ones. Dutch vessels, familiar in the region, loaded goods next to ships from Hong Kong and Singapore.
These weren’t the giant uniform ships of today; they were flexible cargo boats that travelled on routes ensuring Sabah was a regular and important stop.
The Rhythm of Trade: A Fair Exchange
The beat of these ports was set by a powerful exchange: Sabah’s raw materials for the world’s finished products. This cycle was the main driver of the state’s growth.
What Sabah Sent Out (Exports):
The ships leaving were filled with the riches of Sabah’s land and forests.
Timber: The biggest export was our famous hardwoods. The super-strong belian (ironwood) was highly sought after for heavy construction. Meranti and ramin were in high demand globally for furniture. The sight of huge piles of logs at the ports was common, and this industry created countless jobs, from loggers to sawmill workers and lorry drivers.
Agriculture: Our plantations produced three key goods:
Rubber, shipped in blocks, was vital for making tyres in Europe and America.
Palm Oil was used in food, soap, and other products, and its demand was growing fast.
Copra (dried coconut) was processed into oil and animal feed.
This outflow of raw materials brought money into Sabah, but it also meant our main role in the global economy was as a supplier of raw goods.
What Came Back In (Imports):
The same ships that took our resources returned filled with items for development and daily life.
Tools for Progress: This included Land Rovers and tractors to help farmers and improve transport. Cement and corrugated iron sheets were the basic materials for building stronger towns, roads, and bridges, helping to modernise the state.
Goods for People: For ordinary Malaysians, a ship’s arrival was exciting. It brought affordable clothes and textiles from Hong Kong and India. Bicycles gave people new freedom to travel. Tinned food like condensed milk and sardines improved diets, while medicines and medical supplies helped people live longer, healthier lives.
The Big Advantage of Direct Shipping
For Sabah’s business community, this system was simple and gave them a strong position.
Clear Costs: An importer paid one single shipping fee to get machinery from Japan directly to Kota Kinabalu. There were no extra, hidden costs for transferring cargo in Singapore, which made business planning much easier.
Fast Delivery: A ship from Hong Kong could reach Sabah in just a few days. This speed meant businesses didn’t need to keep massive amounts of stock in warehouses. They could operate more efficiently.
A Fair Playing Field: This was the biggest advantage. A Sabah timber exporter paid the same kind of shipping rates as their competitors in other countries. This meant they competed on the quality and price of their wood, not on unfair, higher shipping costs. It empowered local businesses.
Building People-to-People Connections
This direct trade system did more than move goods; it built strong human relationships. Sabah’s businesspeople dealt directly with their partners in Singapore and Hong Kong. They built trust and understood the markets themselves, without needing a middleman. This positioned Sabah as a respected and equal partner in global trade.
The End of an Era
This time of direct shipping was the lifeblood of a developing Sabah. The sea was a direct highway to global opportunity.
However, this golden age was not to last. A major change was coming. The global shipping industry began to change its model, prioritising container ships that only stopped at a few major “hub” ports (like Port kelang). This new “hub-and-spoke” system was more efficient for the global shipping companies, but it meant bypassing smaller ports like those in Sabah.
The deep, direct connections that had been built over decades were about to be severed. The age where the world’s ships came to Sabah as a main destination was ending, soon to be replaced by an era where Sabah risked becoming a logistical afterthought.
