page_title: Sandakan
section_title: Culture and leisure
hierarchical_section_title: Sandakan / Culture and leisure
caption_attribution_description: English: Sandakan Memorial Park; Obelisk, Frontside
context_page_description: Sandakan formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest town in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and east coast of the state in the administrative centre of Sandakan Division and was the former capital of British North Borneo. The town has an estimated population of 157,330 while the surrounding municipal area has a total population of 396,290.
  Before the founding of Sandakan, Sulu Archipelago was the source of dispute between Spain and the Sultanate of Sulu for economic dominance in the region. By 1864, Spain had blockaded the Sultanate possessions in the Sulu Archipelago. The Sultanate of Sulu awarded a German consular service ex-member a piece of land in the Sandakan Bay to seek protection from Germany. In 1878, the Sultanate sold north-eastern Borneo to an Austro-Hungarian consul who later left the territory to a British colonial merchant. The German presence over the area raised concern among the British.
context_section_description: Several cultural venues are located in Sandakan. The Sandakan Heritage Museum, situated at the Lebuh Empat Road, is the main museum of Sandakan. The museum is located on the right-hand side of the ground and on the first floor of the Wisma Warisan Building which is next to the municipal building. Besides that, a cultural festival known as Sandakan Festival is celebrated once a year in the town, after having been introduced in 2000 by the Sandakan Municipal Council.
  Another museum in Sandakan is the Agnes Keith House which is located on top of the hill along Istana Street. The house is known as the former home to Harry Keith and his wife Agnes Newton Keith. Other historical attractions include the Chartered Company Memorial, Chong Tain Vun Memorial, Japanese Bunker, Malaysia Fountain, Marian Hill, Mill Hill Dam, North Borneo Scout Movement Memorial, Sandakan Japanese Cemetery, Sandakan Liberation Monument, Sandakan Massacre Memorial, Sandakan Memorial Park, Sandakan War Memorial and the William Pryer Memorial. The oldest religious buildings are the St. Mary's Cathedral, Parish of St. Michael's and All Angels, the Sam Sing Kung Temple and the Jamek Mosque, which was opened by a Muslim cloth merchant from India, known as Damsah, in 1890.
  A number of leisure spots and conservation areas are available around Sandakan. The Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary is a place where orphaned or injured orangutans are brought to be rehabilitated to return to forest life. Established in 1964, it is one of only four orangutan sanctuaries in the world. Other conservation areas are the Malaysian Turtle Islands where many turtles lay their eggs on the islands. They cover an area of 1,740 hectares which includes the surrounding reefs and seas. The islands are also ideal for swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving.
  Another attraction is the Gomantong Caves, which is home to hundreds of thousands of swifts who build their nests high on cave walls and roofs. Other than swifts, the caves are also inhabited by millions of bats. Furthermore, the Sandakan Orchid House has a collection of rare orchids. Along the Labuk Road from Sandakan, there is a crocodile farm which houses about 1,000 crocodiles of various sizes.
  The main shopping area in Sandakan is the Harbour Mall. Launched in 2003, it is located in Sandakan's new central business district and built on a bay of reclaimed land. It is part of the Sandakan Harbour Square and considered as the first modern shopping mall in the town. In 2014, a new mall project with 341 units of store has been launched and will become the second main shopping destination for Sandakan once it gets finished.
  Rugby is very popular in Sandakan. Eddie Butler, a former Welsh Rugby Union captain described it as the "Limerick of the tropics". In 2008, the Borneo Eagles-Sabahans (a team which included a few professional Fijians) at the newly built Sandakan Rugby Club hosted a 10-a-side tournament for the eighth and last time. In 2009, the tournament was changed to seven-a-side.
  Other than rugby, a sports complex containing a badminton court, swimming pool, weightlifting room, hockey stadium, football stadium, cricket field, boxing facility and field archery is available in the town.
caption: Sandakan Memorial Park, the site where the Sandakan prisoner of war camp located.
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