Indonesian confrontation[edit]
Main article: Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
Due to the its exposed location near the international border with Indonesia, Tawau become the main point of the conflict during the confrontation. In preparation for the impending conflict, Gurkhas were stationed in the town with other units including the "British No. 2 Special Boat Section" under Captain DW Mitchell.[18][19] Australian River-class destroyer escorts were stationed in Cowie Bay and a squadron of F-86 Sabre aircraft flew over Tawau daily from Labuan.
In October 1963, Indonesia moved their first battalion of the Korps Komando Operasi (KKO) from Surabaya to Sebatik and opened several training camps near the border in eastern Kalimantan (now North Kalimantan).[18][20] From 1 October to 16 December 1963, there were at least seven shootings along the border resulting in three Indonesians deaths. On 7 December 1963, an Indonesian Tupolev Tu-16 bomber flew over Tawau bay and bombed the town twice.[21]
By mid-December 1963, Indonesian had sent a commando unit consisting of 128 volunteers and 35 regular soldiers to Sebatik.[19] Their aim was to take Kalabakan, then invade Tawau and Sandakan.[19] On 29 December 1963, the Indonesian unit attacked the 3rd Royal Malay Regiment unit.[19] The Indonesians managed to throw several grenades into the totally unprepared Malay Regiment's sleeping quarters.[19] The attack resulted in eight Malay soldiers killed and nineteen wounded.[18] Malaysian armed police eventually drove the attackers north after a two-hour battle.[18]
In 1964, the situation remained tense in Tawau. A group of eight Indonesians were detained while trying to poison the water supply of the town. On 12 May 1964, there was a bombing attempt on the Kong Fah cinema.[22][23] At the end of January 1965, a night time curfew was imposed in Tawau to prevent attackers from contacting the approximate 16,000 Indonesians living there. By the end of February 1965, 96 of the 128 Indonesian volunteers had been killed or captured, around 20 successfully retreated to Indonesia, and 12 remained at large.[18] On 28 June 1965, an attempt by Indonesian troops to invade eastern Sebatik was repelled by a heavy bombardment by Australian destroyer HMAS Yarra.[24][25] In August 1965, an unknown assailant made an attempt to blow up a high-tension electricity pylon while in September 1965, a logging truck was destroyed by a land mine.[26] The confrontation largely ended 12 August 1966, and in December there was a complete ceasefire in Tawau.[27]
Government and International relations[edit]
Indonesia has a consulate in Tawau[28] and the town has twin town arrangements with Zhangping, China[29] and Pare-Pare, Indonesia.[30]
There are two members of parliament (MPs) representing the two parliamentary constituencies in the district: Tawau (P.190) and Kalabakan (P.191). The area is represented by six members of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly representing the districts of: Balung; Apas; Sri Tanjung; Merotai; Tanjung Batu; and Sebatik.[31]
The town is administered by the Tawau Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Tawau). As of 2016, the President of Tawau Municipal Council is Alijus Sipil[32] who take over from Datuk Ismail Mayakob after serving for six years. The area under the jurisdiction of the Tawau District is the 2,510-hectare (25.1 km2) town area, 3,075-hectare (30.75 km2) surrounding populated area, 568,515 hectares (5,685.15 km2) of rural land and 38,406 hectares (384.06 km2) of adjacent sea area .[33]
Security[edit]
Today, Tawau is one of the six districts that involved in the eastern Sabah sea curfew that have been enforced since 19 July by the Malaysian government to repelling any attacks from militant groups in the Southern Philippines.[34]
Geography[edit]
Tawau is on the south-east coast of Sabah surround by the Sulu Sea in the east, Celebes Sea to the south and shares a border with East Kalimantan (now North Kalimantan).[33][35][36] The town is approximately 1,904 kilometres from the Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur and is 540 kilometres south-east of Kota Kinabalu.[37] The main town area is divided into three sections named Sabindo, Fajar and Tawau Lama (Old Tawau).[38] Sabindo is a plaza, Fajar is a commercial area while Tawau Lama is the original part of Tawau. Almost 70% of the area surrounding Tawau is either high hills or mountainous.[39]
Climate[edit]
Tawau has a tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification. The climate is relatively hot and wet with average shade temperature about 26 °C (79 °F), with 29 °C (84 °F) at noon and falling to around 23 °C (73 °F) at night. The town sees precipitation throughout the year, with a tendency for November, December and January to be the wettest months, and February and March become the driest months. Tawau mean rainfall varies from 1800 mm to 2500 mm.[40][41]
| [hide]Climate data for Tawau | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 31.6 (88.9) | 31.4 (88.5) | 31.9 (89.4) | 32.3 (90.1) | 32.4 (90.3) | 31.8 (89.2) | 31.3 (88.3) | 31.5 (88.7) | 31.7 (89.1) | 31.9 (89.4) | 32.0 (89.6) | 31.9 (89.4) | 31.8 (89.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.1 (79) | 26.1 (79) | 26.6 (79.9) | 27.0 (80.6) | 27.2 (81) | 26.9 (80.4) | 26.4 (79.5) | 26.6 (79.9) | 26.5 (79.7) | 26.7 (80.1) | 26.7 (80.1) | 26.3 (79.3) | 26.6 (79.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 22.4 (72.3) | 22.3 (72.1) | 22.6 (72.7) | 23.1 (73.6) | 23.5 (74.3) | 23.3 (73.9) | 22.8 (73) | 22.9 (73.2) | 22.7 (72.9) | 23.0 (73.4) | 23.0 (73.4) | 22.6 (72.7) | 22.8 (73) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 138.3 (5.445) | 101.8 (4.008) | 100.5 (3.957) | 89.8 (3.535) | 126.3 (4.972) | 162.2 (6.386) | 207.3 (8.161) | 201.6 (7.937) | 178.7 (7.035) | 170.5 (6.713) | 150.3 (5.917) | 135.5 (5.335) | 1,762.8 (69.402) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 13 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 146 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 182.5 | 183.8 | 216.5 | 222.6 | 231.1 | 191.6 | 216.2 | 218.9 | 198.3 | 198.1 | 193.3 | 194.0 | 2,446.9 |
| Source: NOAA[42] | |||||||||||||
Demography[edit]
Ethnicity and religion[edit]
The Malaysian Census 2010 Report indicates that the whole Tawau municipality area has a total population of 397,673.[2][note 2] The town population today is a mixture of many different races and ethnicities. Non-Malaysian citizens form the majority of the town population with 164,729 people. Malaysian citizens in the area were reported divided into Bumiputras (Racially divided among Ethnic Malays (Cocos Malays, Buginese people and minorities of Javanese people), Bajau/Suluk, Kadazan-Dusun and Murut including (Tidong) sub-ethnic group) (134,456), Chinese (40,061), Indian (833) and others (mostly non-citizens) (6,153).[2]
The non-Malaysian citizens are mostly from Indonesia.[43] The Malaysian Chinese, like other places in Sabah, are mostly Hakkas who arrived after British rule ended. Their original settlements are around Apas Road which was originally an agricultural field.[44][45] The Bajau, Suluk and Malays are mostly Muslims. Kadazan-Dusuns and Muruts mainly practice Christianity though some of them are Muslim. Malaysian Chinese are mainly Buddhists though some are Taoist or Christians. There is a small number of Hindus, Sikhs, Animists, and secularists in the town.
The majority of non-citizens are Muslims, though some are Christian Indonesian who are mainly ethnic Florenese and Timorese that arrived since the 1950s.[46][47] A small number of Pakistanis also in the town, mainly working as shop or restaurant owners. Most non-citizens work and live at the plantation industry. Some of the migrant workers have been naturalised as a Malaysian citizens, however there are still many who live without proper documentation as illegal immigrants in the town with their own unlawful settlement.[43][46]
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