Sandakan. Chinese Kampong Sim Sim

28th Oct


Kampong Sim Sim

Never in my imagination  had I believe a large Chinese community living in houses built on stilts, exactly like a sea village of the Malays. The houses are lined up in need rows and connected by alleyways. You can see the sea water between houses. Some houses are rebuilt and some alleyways are now concreted. Google map of Kampong Sim Sim. The Chinese occupy mainly the northern village.

The houses in Kampong Sim Sim come with traditional wall pasting especially on main doors.

I spoke to an elderly Chinese in his 60s. He is the 3rd generation Chinese immigrants. He moved here in the 70s. He said in the 60s, this kampong was built for the indigenous people. But the take up rate was not encouraging and the Chinese were offered. According to him about half the residence in Kampong Sim Sim are Chinese. Since then many Chinese homes were renovated and enlarged. Some converted their houses to restaurants. Today, there are many seafood restaurants.