Special Events

                                                                Regatta Lepa

Every year in April there is a water festival held in Semporna, a small town in the easterncoast of Sabah , caled The Regatta Lepa, one of the major important events in our National Tourism Calender. ''Lepa'' means ''boat'' is believed to be originated from the Pa'alau Bajau people who live in Bum Bum Island and used by fishermen along the coast of Semporna. The unique lifestyle and festival is celebrated by the Bajau Laut ethnic community, the major dwellers in Semporna . The Bajau Laut people are seafers at heart and well known for their Lepa, which is the traditional single-mast saling boat used in their daily lives. The Regatta Lepa is not just a water festival, in fact the whole town of Semporna has a carnival atmosphere, what with the various concerts staged, and so many stalls set up to promote or sell products and services to the population, visitors and tourists that have certainly swelled manifold.



                                                    Sandakan Memorial

                                             

This site commemorates a tradegy and atrocity which stuck Sandakan between January and August 1945. The Memorial Park witnessed the death of opproximately 2400 Australian and Britsh  prisoners of war held by the Japanese in the Sandakan POW camp within the sight of Allied victory in the Pasific war. Situated about 11 km outside of Sandakan, the former site of the notorious WWII prisoner of war camp now locates the suburb of Taman Rimba. The clearly sign-posted Sandakan Memorial Park is well maintained and beautifully landscaped,which makes it ideal for solitary soul-searching strolls.The park also includes the small museum that serves as a memorial to the thousands of Australian and British who lost their lives in the hand of Japanese during WWII. The memory of WWII is emphasized by the rusting remains of an excavator and a generator and a boiler which still lie in their original positions near the steps leading up to a small Commemorative  Pavilion.

http://www.sabahtourism.com/sabah-malaysian-borneo/en/culture/16-regatta-lepa-semporna/