KUNDASANG
Kundasang
is 6KM (4miles) from the Kinabalu Park HQ, renowned for temperate vegetables. A
long row of wooden stalls” gerai” bustling with vegetable whole –sellers. Pickup
trucks fully laden with vegetables from farms around the valley deliver and
unload their goods at the stalls. Bulk –buyers come from all over Sabah, even
Sarawak and Brunei .Passing travelers also stop to purchase. Nearby are a few
rows of shops, seemingly sleepy except on Fridays, the weekly Tamu, market day.
KUNDASANG WAR MEMORIAL AND GARDENS
It is like
a fort on a hill, located immediately behind the rows of shops.
Major
G.S.Carter D.S.O (Toby Carter) a New Zealander employed with Shell Oil Co (Borneo)
initiated the building of the Memorial to remember the 2428 Australian and
British prisoners of war who died during World War 2 at Sandakan POW Camp, the
3 infamous forced death marches from Sandakan to Ranau and as tribute to the
many local people who risked their lives to help the prisoners of war. Only 6
Australians survived to tell the horror. There were no English survivors.
The “Fort
Like “design of the Memorial was by local resident architect, J.C Robinson. It
has 4 interlocking but separate Gardens to represent the homelands of those who
died: an Australian Garden, a formal English Garden of roses, a Borneo Garden
with wild flowers of Kinabalu and at the top level is the “Contemplation Garden”
with a reflection pool and pergola.
To
commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the end of WW2, the memorial was
and beautifully restored in 2005 privately. The gardens are now replanted with flowers,
roses and rare orchids including the much sought and valuable Rothchilds
slipper orchids. ANZAC Memorial Service and private memorial services are
welcoming with prior arrangements. The memorial is open to visitors with
minimal entrance fee charged.
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