Bonding With Gaya Street: Behind the scenes (Part 4)

Here's some of the video footage from various contributors at the Bonding With Gaya Street event...

Scenes from an old-time barbershop at Gaya Street 

Jade Sisters perform at Revolusi Tikar at BWGS.

Photo exhibition by Victor Wah and Flanegan Bainon at Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) building at the end of Gaya Street.

Antique car exhibition and old photos at Lintasan Deasoka, Gaya Street.

On a personal note: I do apologize as I was unable to personally cover all these amazing events that were happening like Tikar Revolution, Wayang Free and some of the other programmes during this two-day event. In my defense, I was SO exhausted! :P

Celebration time!

 'Together Again' concert. We had a great time!

The awesome 1960s boy bands!

Tired (but happy) BWGS committee.

(Concert photos by Philip Lai, sourced from NBHE Bonding With Gaya Street FB Page)

Live performance by the Glasstears, one of KK (Jesselton's) popular bands in the 1960s. 

(Photo by Philip Lai, courtesy of NBHE Bonding With Gaya Street)

Bonding With Gaya Street was a challenging yet exhilarating experience, being involved the planning and organization of this event. All feedback from the public indicated that it did have a positive impact not only in reviving the memories and stories of Gaya Street's older generation but also introducing our local history to the Sabahan youth who were involved at every step of way in the organizing of this event.

(Photo by Philip Lai, courtesy of NBHE Bonding With Gaya Street)

For me, it was a personally enriching experience. These days when I walk down the pavements of Gaya Street, I appreciate it even more - the shopkeepers, the ambience, everything about Gaya Street. It makes me feel proud that in some small way, I am part of this community that has such rich and untold history. My hope is that this feeling of community pride and awareness that the event has rejuvenated will be carried on by the Gaya Street community as well as Sabahans who love their local history.

Wait a minute...

The Bonding With Gaya Street experience isn't over yet - remember that I mentioned a book of Gaya Street stories was being compiled by Tina Kisil and Susan Bansin? 

(Photo by Philip Lai, courtesy of NBHE Bonding With Gaya Street)

Everyone is eagerly waiting for the final production and publication! I'll keep everyone posted once this book is completed and hits the local bookstores. 

(Photo by Philip Lai, courtesy of NBHE Bonding With Gaya Street)

From what I have seen of its layout and text, it is AMAZING. Stay tuned, guys. 

No, it's not THAT huge - that one in this photo above is the mock-up version. LOL.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the amazing people who were involved in the Bonding With Gaya Street event: Justin Sunam Wong (Founder of NBHE), Datin Fazar Arif (BWGS Chairperson), Yee I Lann (BWGS Creative Director), Masley Yahya (BWGS Secretary), Paul Lajumin (BWGS Treasurer), Susan Bansin, Tina Kisil, Frank Faurillo, Natasha Sim, Nadira Ilana, Frisco Challing and Rosemary Chin, KK City Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir, Pn. Junainah dan Pn. Sally Ghani from City Hall, DBKK staff, Victor Wah, Mr and Mrs Ho of Sen Chong Wah, Mr Bartholomew Chua of Teo Seng, Ms Jennifer Linggi of Sabah Art Gallery, Shell Malaysia, HSBC, Petrosab Logistik Sdn Bhd, Seri Pelancungan, Sounds Tech Production, Asgardian School of Art, Pro Art, Sabah Cultural Board, RTM, Sabah Archives, The Sabah State Museum, Information Department, Tong Hing Supermarket, Cap Kuda Coffee Company, Mr David Ng, the Sabah Artists community, villagers of Kampung Tinangol, Arkitrek, Camp Borneo, Anne Baltazar and June Rubis, Atama, Datuk Peter Pragas, Ruby Tuesday, Mega Boogie, Tom Rongitom, Caroline Manson, Susan Chong Hartley, Celine Daya Vun, Jefferi Chang and Heritage Sabah group, Caroline Rodriguez and family, Bridget Yong-Stephens, Sierra Nevada, Ashley and Deanna, Bandwidth magazine, all media partners, sponsors and everyone who participated and helped to make the event a success.




Sincerely,

Richard Nelson Sokial
The Sabah Architectural Heritage Blog

Bonding With Gaya Street: Behind the scenes (Part 3)

Back on Gaya Street...

One of the interesting ideas we had for BWGS was to recreate the ambience of early Gaya Street by
reinstating an original landmark of the street - The WWI War Memorial - to its original location. 

The original War Memorial was unveiled in 1923 on Gaya Street to commemorate soldiers who perished in World War I, but for reasons unknown the monument was relocated to the front of DBKK City Hall in the 1970s. Will elaborate more on this War Memorial in a future post.

Old photo of the War Memorial unveiled on Bond Street in 1923.

Arkitrek volunteers, headed by their intern Rachel Lok had measured and designed a full-scale replica of the War Memorial, based on the original which is now located in front of DBKK (City Hall).

(Photo by Tina Kisil - Image sourced from NBHE Bonding With Gaya Street blog)

The replica consisted of bamboo latticed panels woven by local Rungus people in Kudat and brought down to KK by lorry, where it was reassembled by BWGS volunteers on a wooden frame and placed onto its original site in the middle of Gaya Street. 

(Image sourced from NBHE Bonding With Gaya Street blog)

 On paper, I wasn't too convinced but when I saw the final product, it was BEAUTIFUL.

Me and NBHE founder Justin Sunam Wong posing in front of the War Memorial replica - designed by Arkitrek for BWGS.

Meanwhile...

(Photo by Terence Tsen - Image sourced from NBHE Bonding With Gaya Street)

Local artists headed by I-Lann also did their bit to create a festive atmosphere for BWGS by making colourful sunshades - much to the delight of some shopkeepers who were happy to have these eye-catching additions hanging in front of their shops!

The Atkinson Clock Tower exhibition for Bonding With Gaya Street

The BWGS committee had approached Hotel Sixty3 to be the venue of the ACT Exhibition. A bit of backstory - the hotel's atrium was initially supposed to be the venue for the entire BWGS exhibition, but when our plans changed to bring the majority of exhibits out onto the street, the beautiful atrium at Sixty3 - perfect for exhibitions - would have been wasted.

Enter the suggestion of having an ACT exhibit in the atrium.

Working with the most excellent Frank Faurillo - one of Kota Kinabalu's pioneers in Graphic Design. 

He designed our vertical buntings for the ACT Exhibition for BWGS at Hotel Sixty3.

As the de-facto poster child for the Save Our Heritage - Atkinson Clock Tower campaign, I was asked by the NBHE committee to curate an exhibition on the ACT. It was a daunting task - considering that we didn't have much time (and at that time, we had ZERO budget), I had to rope in Jeffery Chang and the members of the Heritage Sabah (HS) group to assist me. Ultimately, it was a chance for the HS group to show the public that:

1) Heritage Sabah IS genuinely promoting awareness of the importance of the Atkinson Clock Tower - and not some puppet of Opposition political parties as certain detractors have suggested...

2) to show people WHY the Heritage Sabah group is fighting to save the Atkinson Clock Tower (ACT) hillside from that 16-storey shopping mall that Sabah Housing and Town Development Authority (SHTDA) is trying to build... However, we decided not to display any controversial stuff (much to Jefferi's chagrin :D) cos our objective for the exhibition was primarily to highlight the importance of ACT's historical existence, located just a stone's throw from Gaya Street. 

Anyone with common sense will take one look at the wonderful photos of ACT that we put on display and wonder why on earth would someone in their right mind want to spoil this pristine area by putting up yet another useless shopping mall in this green lung of KK city. But I digress.

Aaanyway...

In preparation for the exhibition, I took a detailed measurement of Hotel Sixty3's atrium and generated a 3D simulation of what the exhibition space would look like. Hotel Sixty3 was amazingly supportive - and when I asked them what they wanted to contribute to the exhibition (cos they offered), Ms. Lisa Ambrose (the hotel's General Manager) replied "whatever you need".

So we asked for a huge 8' x 48' vertical bunting depicting the Atkinson Clock Tower as the centerpiece of the ACT exhibit. Lisa went one step further and suggested to do a photo composite of various Gaya Street photos to produce a graphic mural of the ACT. It was a fantastic suggestion - and we went with it!

The owner of Cap Kuda Coffee Company lent us one of the original North Borneo railway sleepers - estimated to be at least 100 years old! 

It fit in perfectly with one of our exhibit images showing a North Borneo train stopping at the foot of the Atkinson Clock Tower while labourers transported bananas off the cargo hold.

(Thank you Caroline Rodriguez for bringing the real bananas :D)

A Keningau-based businessman donated a beautiful wooden plaque of the Atkinson Clock Tower, which we used as a main feature for the exhibition. However, the plaque went missing after our ACT exhibition wrapped up :( whoever took it, give it back please.

Heritage Sabah volunteers and supporters pulled out all the stops and worked around the clock to put up the ACT Exhibition, taking turns to put in a few hours each after work to cut and paste text displays, adjust and arrange the exhibits.

 Jefferi and Azian from Heritage Sabah group painstakingly adjusting the nylon strings used to hang the ACT displays.

NBHE Founder Justin came to Hotel Sixty3 just after midnight and chipped in to help too. Thanks Justin!

The end result:

This fantastic time-lapse video was painstakingly done by Jefferi Chang (Heritage Sabah) and edited for the ACT Exhibition for BWGS. Thanks for the awesome work Jefferi!

Veteran shutterbug Victor Wah relives his memories as a clock winder for the Atkinson Clock Tower in one of the Gaya Street story-telling sessions. He also contributed some of his personal photos to the ACT Exhibition at Hotel Sixty3.

On the day of the event itself, everyone involved was excited to see the public response. 

Great job and kudos to everyone!

Sincerely,

Richard Nelson Sokial

The Sabah Architectural Heritage Blog

Bonding With Gaya Street: Behind the scenes (Part 2)

Everyone involved in the recent BWGS event worked really hard; hardcore volunteers like Caroline Manson and Natasha Sim were practically living inside Sen Chong Wah's little red booth, helping to collect and scan photos and documents brought in by the elder folks who came to work in Jesselton (now known as Kota Kinabalu) and ended up living and raising their families on Gaya Street.

From left to right: BWGS Volunteers - Natasha Sim, Caroline Manson, book researchers Susan Bansin and Tina Kisil. 

It's not an exaggeration to say that almost every Sabah-born local residing on the West Coast has an affinity with the famous Gaya Street - whether directly due to living or working there, or because of extended family links.

A nice sketch of Gaya Street by Edmond Liew

(Image courtesy of NBHE Bonding With Gaya Street)

Gaya Street is the oldest and most established stretch of mixed development in the heart of Kota Kinabalu city, a place of commerce and community. A popular Sunday Market is held there every week, where the streets are closed off from traffic and locals from as far as Ranau and Tamparuli come down to this stretch of 1950s and 1970s shop rows to sell everything from cute puppies to plastic plates.

The BWGS committee busy putting the exhibits together.

There were days leading towards the launch of the event that Sen Chong Wah was packed with noisy and chatty committee members of BWGS who sometimes took up half of the tables at the coffee shop! Mr. Ho, the owner of Sen Chong Wah got a bit annoyed with us in the beginning but after a while he got used to it...hahaha. 

We had cake! Wooo! Our BWGS Treasurer Paul Lajumin from Hyatt Regency Kinabalu brought a durian cake to the booth, much to the delight of the BWGS committee. (Note that throughout that week, poor Masley had that phone permanently attached to her ear, dealing with sponsors and stuff.)

Independent film-maker Nadira Ilana put together some Youtube teasers encouraging the public to support the BWGS event.

'Sharikat Eng Leong' 

...one of the pioneer shops that catered to the fashionable crowd of Jesselton since the early 1950s.

Tom Rungitom, a Sabahan blogger with BorneoColours.com - also volunteered to be in the BWGS committee and was very, very helpful in terms of technical support and other miscellanous stuff. 

He went above and beyond the call of duty to help out with pretty much every BWGS event that was happening along the entire street!

Also, the two of us went bonkers - buying vintage cufflinks at Sharikat Eng Leong.

Insanity!

Why the excitement over a pair of cufflinks? 

Check THIS out.

I did some online searching and discovered that SHIELD'S FIFTH AVENUE was once a high-end men's jewelry store in New York during the early 1940s-1960s. HOLY CRAP.

Shield's Fifth Avenue store in New York city was located at 302 5th Ave. near 31st St. from the late 1940s till 1957/58.

The business closed down in the late 1960s. By then, it had exported many of its items worldwide, including to Asia - and even to North Borneo!

Shield's Jewelry Print Ad from the 1950s.

From New York...

...to North Borneo...

Imagine the journey...

...it took to get these jewelry items from United States to North Borneo in the 1950s-1960s.

As it turns out...

Tom and I had both bought ourselves some pieces of North Borneo - and Gaya Street's history.

These cufflinks are at least 40-50 years old. You can't even FIND these anymore.

LOL.

Sadly, Sharikat Eng Leong will close down permanently in 2012. Word on the street is that a trendy upscale restaurant will replace its current business.

It's gutting that yet another piece of Gaya Street history will disappear even before other young Sabahans can get the chance to know and appreciate its history, but that's why heritage has to be preserved while it can - because its longevity is fleeting.

I hope that the new business owners will acknowledge the historical significance of Eng Leong's existence since 1951 - and honour its memory by having a modern yet tasteful interior design that speaks to the heritage of this original shop on Gaya Street.

News of Sharikat Eng Leong's imminent foreclosure, however, did not deter the BWGS committee from their objective. We even did a fashion photoshoot for Bandwidth magazine featuring Gaya Street to promote the BWGS event.