Recently, a short video posted by a Facebook user in the Sandakankini group showed an almost deserted Sandakan market.
The person who took the video complained of economic slowdown and the terrible consequences on taxi drivers and bus operators.
Parti Warisan Sabah Batu Sapi deputy coordinator Shirley Chien said the situation has been going on for a long time.
“Cost of living is rising and business is so bad that many have closed shop or moved elsewhere since the GST (goods and services tax) was implemented.
“Unemployment is also very high because Sandakan has nothing to offer its people. So our youths move to big cities like Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and even to Australia.
“In the end, Sandakan, a once thriving town, is now an old folks home and will die slowly,” she told FMT.
Sandakan, which was once Sabah’s capital during British colonial rule, used to attract droves of tourists because of easy access to places such as the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary.
Sadly, nowadays, Chien said their numbers have dwindled drastically because of security concerns.
Sandakan restaurant manager Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, and Sarawakian Bernard Then, 39, were kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf gunmen from the Philippines in 2015.
Thien was freed after nearly six months in captivity after a ransom was reportedly paid but Then was beheaded by his captors after negotiations for his release failed.
“It is a sad state considering Sandakan was once known as the Little Hong Kong back in the 60s and 70s,” said Chien.
For 25-year old civil engineering graduate Mohd Asri Maklim, his hard work in university to earn his degree is wasted as he has to work as a technician in a local hotel with a salary way below what he expected when he graduated about a year ago.
Speaking to FMT, the Sandakan-born said he had no choice as he could not leave the town because he had to take care of his parents.
“I could have earned more if I moved to Kota Kinabalu. I know I should be thankful; at least, I have a job. Many of my friends are still unemployed and some are now working in fast food restaurants to repay their student loans,” he said.
The problem, he said, was the lack of opportunity in Sandakan and companies were reluctant to hire as they try to cope with slowing business activities.
In fact, he said, he was worried that the hotel would soon be considering cutbacks as the number of travellers decreased.
“I think I may have no other choice but to move to other cities soon. I hope it would not come to that though,” he said.
Former local grocer Kevin Lim said he was forced to close his shop last month after suffering losses for 13 months in a row.
The grocery store was opened by his parents in the 70s.
“Business was just not like it used to be. I don’t think it is because of GST alone. There are so many reasons, but mostly because there are not enough people to buy stuff anymore,” he said.
Lim added that he was thinking of moving to his father’s village in Tawau and restart the grocery business there.
“Otherwise, I may have to move to Kota Kinabalu and become a Uber driver,” he laughed bitterly.
When contacted by FMT, Sandakan Municipal Council president James Wong, however, remained upbeat about Sandakan’s future and its economic potential.
“I don’t know when the video at the market was taken but if you go to the market in Sandakan, in reality, it is crowded all the time. People go in and out, always crowded,” he said.
Wong admitted that since GST was implemented, many shops had shut down.
However, he said, at the same time there were just as many people opening new shops and applying for new business licences in Sandakan.
Some of them, he said, did not close their shops but opted to rebrand or change their business names.
“Next year, a new UTC (the federal government’s Urban Transformation Centre) will be opened in Sandakan and since it is a one-stop-centre for everything, everybody will come here.
“When there are more people here, then it would bring life back into the town centre,” he said.
Other than the UTC, Wong said the town board had carried out various development projects to provide comfort for the people as well as improve its image and cleanliness.
Over the years, he said the state government through the council had developed the district’s beaches, improved road connectivity and infrastructure, and installed streetlights and CCTVs to help curb crime.
Of the 900 squatters in the town area, he said the council had successfully demolished and removed 780 with locals relocated to council homes.
In the tourism industry, he said European and Chinese tourists were filling up seats on MAS and Air Asia flights.
“Sandakan people are offering their rooms and homes or apartments as accommodation through the AirBnB service. It is rubbish to say tourists have stopped coming in.
“Tourists continue to come here because the security in the district is very good. We have both marine police and the navy guarding our coasts,” he said.
He concluded that while Sandakan has its own problems such as unemployment, it is not unique only to the east coast town as other towns and cities are also experiencing the same problems nowadays.
However, he said it is not true that everything is just doom and gloom in Sandakan with no hope on the horizon.
“There are lots of things happening here and the council is actively addressing the problems the best we can,” he said.
GST, cost of living hamper business as consumers cut spending