Hello all,
Today we left the homestay (with the gorgeous local children waving goodbye to us) and after a quick look at the rice fields and the town of Nabalu we were on our way.
After an hour or so we reached the Mt Kinabalu headquarters. We left our bags and Ned took us on a walk of the botanic gardens. The Mt Kinabalu National Park is 753 square kilometres in area, and is home to over 5000 species of plant. We saw beautiful orchids and a pitcher plant, which is a jug shaped plant containing juices that dissolve insects and small animals that climb inside it. We are going to see even more amazing plants in the coming days. The forest in the gardens was lush and beautiful, and we welcomed the cooler conditions.
Mum and I had a light lunch with Ned and three others from the tour, and then we checked in to our lodge. The tour notes said that the accommodation was “basic”, but we’ve loved it so far. Very comfortable and everything we need provided. I think after camping for a month in Africa, everything else seems luxury in comparison!!
At 2.30, nine of us went to the Kundasang War Memorial. The visit was extraordinary, and very emotional. I felt embarrassed as an Australian that prior to visiting this memorial, I knew so little about the Australians held captive here during World War II. The next bit will be long ish, but you need to read it. I personally didn’t know about any of this, and I will be thinking of all of these men every Anzac Day now to make up for lost time.
In the early 1940s, the allies took control of Singapore from the Japanese. As a result, thousands of prisoners of war were moved to Sandakan in Sabah by the Japanese. They were then set to work building a military airstrip in Sandakan and held hostage in the Sandakan POW camp. Life started out ok here, but over time rations decreased and violence increased. The conditions became terrible.
In total there were 2434 prisoners at Sandakan. 1787 of the prisoners were Australian, and 641 were British. Only six would survive.
However, after the airstrip was bombed by the allies, the Japanese moved the 1066 POWs that were healthy enough on. Those too weak or sick to come were left behind to die. The Japanese had the “healthy” prisoners walk to Ranau, approximately 265km away, through dense jungle in the heat and unbearable conditions. Considering the fact that by this point most of them were so malnourished they weighed a mere 40kg, it was basically a walk to their deaths. That is why these three marches have been called the “Death Marches”.
Only six men survived the death marches, and all of them were Australian. This meant that from the Sandakan POW camp, there was a 99.75% death rate. Two of the men fled when an allied bomb went off and escaped. Along the way, many villagers helped the soldiers along their march by giving them food and even offering to hide them. However, the soldiers said no because they feared if caught, the Japanese would also punish and kill the locals. The locals were greatly effected during Japan’s three year occupation of Borneo, with 16% of the Saban population at the time dying due to the war.
After reading a lot of interesting yet heartbreaking information, we explored the gardens. There was an Australian section, a British section, a Borneo section and a contemplation section which had the names of all the soldiers that died.
Then we all went to watch a very interesting video about a group of nine current service men and women that followed the death march route in 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary. The video said that this was one of our worst war atrocities, yet it is hardly reported on.
After watching the video, Mum, Samantha and I hung around and read the many tributes and photos that have been left by families of those who died. At this point, Seeve Charuruks - the man that restored the memorial after it fell into disrepair by using his retirement savings - entered the room and spoke to us. He found three new photos left by relatives and with a soft smile said “I’ll have to frame these right away”. I managed to say “thank you for looking after the memorial” before tears pricked my eyes and my voice caught!! He then told us about three brothers who were all killed here. Their younger brother was just seven at the time so couldn’t enlist. His parents didn’t tell him the full details of his brothers’ fate, but they gave him some details before they died. When he was 80 he visited here and had such a shock reading about the suffering of the POWs, that he had a heartache at the memorial. Thankfully he survived.
All in all, Seeve spent 800,000 ringgits restoring the memorial (approximately $300,000 Australian). What an absolutely incredible man. I am overwhelmed by what I read and learned today, and overwhelmed by his kindness and generosity.
The local people here believe that the clouds surrounding Mt Kinabalu shroud the souls of the dead. The soldiers will definitely be in my thoughts over the next few days as we ascend the mountain. I’ve heard the trek is even harder than Everest Base Camp, but after what I read today, I think we have nothing to complain about.
I won’t be posting for at least 2-3 days now, as we will be climbing Mt Kinabalu. Send positive thoughts for no altitude sickness and so thunderstorms please!!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
Xoxox
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