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IN the late 1940s right up the late 60s, Tawau enjoyed a booming barter trade with Indonesia and to a lesser extent the Philippines.The traders brought in copra (dried coconut meat) and some crude rubber as well as smaller quantities of other local produce. These primary products were then shipped to Singapore for reprocessing.

 On their return trips, Tawau supplied them with mostly daily essentials. The copra and rubber were in the great demand in the world market boosted by first, the Korean War and then the reconstruction of the Japanse economy. The trade provided jobs to the local people, filled up the shipping holds for ships plying between Singapore and Tawau. The trade also helped greatly to rebuild the town devastated by Allied bombings during the 2nd world war. The traders from Indonesia and the Philippines use a different kinds of Marine craft to transport their commodities from Sulawesi in Indonesia, boats most commonly seen were the Pedagang type of boat called Pinisi sailing schooners. These graceful craft had one and sometimes two masts.

The large ones were capable of carrying nearly 10 tons of cargo and the smaller ones about 5 tons or less. In those days, there was a group of traders who financed the boat voyages known as ‘Towkay’ to enable them to purchase the goods from the country of origin and shipped it to Tawau.

So every morning, these financiers would gather at the wharf to await the boats’ arrivals. When they spotted the approaching boats on the horizon, the sense of expectation and excitement were almost palpable. As soon as the boat had arrived at the mooring and had dropped anchor, usually within hailing distance for the boatman and the traders lining up the wharf, a chorus will ring out: Siapa Towkay?’ back came from the Juragan (Captain) of the boat: Towkay Ah Chong (name fictitious). That’s it, the morning belongs to Ah Chong! The other’ will return to their shops to await better tiding nest time. At high season five or more boats will arrive each day. Meantime, Ah Chong will happily rush back to his shop to return with bales of empty gunny sacks and the inevitable tins of Marie biscuits for the crew. The Juragan then paddled in his dugout to the wharf landing to present landing his ship's papers for the clearance. Once the formalities were out of the way, he will return to his boat with the empty sacks, and of course the biscuits which were keenly awaited after a long voyage. After the refreshment, the crew will set to work putting the loose bulk copra into the sacks. Each sacks will hold roughly 100 katies (50kg) of copra tightly packed. The filled sacks will be put on deck and the boat will mouerve closer for the cargo to be off loaded by the menpower, sackful by sackful. The job of carrying out the off-loading will fall upon a team of wharf labourers hired by Towkay. The labourers would physically carry the sacks up a rickety wooden step right up to a waiting lorry to be transported to the warehouse. At low tide, the drop between the jetty and the boat could be as much as 15 feet. The labourers’ work was not only heavy but fraught with danger. While performing the job, every part of their thin wiry muscle was needed. If anything these people were the real heroes who maintained the smooth how of the trade so vital to the economy. The Philippines traders, on the other hand, used an entirely different type of sea-going craft called the ‘Kumpit” to carry out the trade with Sabah.

Comparatively, they brought in only a small quantity of copra and some dried seafood and almost no rubber. They came in mainly to buy a kind of mangrove bark called the ‘kulit Tengar’. They claimed the bark was used as a kind of additive to colour a brand of aerated water. They also purchased a great deal of daily essentials to bring home.