(May 2026, Sabah, Malaysia) I have written innumerable stories about Sabah, Malaysia since my first visit in the early 1990s. The former British North Borneo is very beautiful and enriched with a stunning variety of plants and animals. The State has inspired many people to write about it. But my knowledge of the state is miniscule when compared with Satnoheadsot (Sat) (right) who was our local guide on a recent trip with Hisyam Azmi, Marketing Manager at Sabah Trade & Tourism Office Singapore (STTOS).

Hisyam’s job is to promote business in Sabah as well as tourism. On this trip his focus was on the coffee region around Tenom, in the south. Earlier stories you can read Here, Here, and Here.

Sat began telling us stories of his adventures in Sabah almost from the moment we got into the minivan in Kota Kinabalu for our trip south to Tenom – the coffee capital of the Malaysian state. 

Yit Foh Coffee Store on site

When I was working on articles I sent Sat a WhatsApp’s message. 

Sat replied: “I’m on my first day of expedition to the burial caves.”

I asked, “Where are the burial caves?”

“This is in Pensiangan district. 3 days walk to arrive at the village.”

I could imagine what an adventure that would be, and the local knowledge you would need to know about the ‘burial caves’ and how to get there. If you are looking for a guide, Sat could be your man.

Our drive to Tenom ran adjacent to the Sabah State Railway that starts at Tanjung Aru in Kota Kinabalu and travels 134k to Tenom.

I’ve never been on the train despite having it on my agenda on different visits. One time the railway line was washed out, so no go. Another time there was a problem with the engine. The train wasn’t running.  Those problems have been fixed and it runs regularly now. If you want to know more about it you could check out David Bowden’s book Great Railway Journeys in Asia. You can buy it on  Amazon.

Sat told me I wasn’t the only one who was put out by the random schedule of the railway. As we crisscrossed the Tenom region we bumped over the railway line at different points. Sat got Roslan to stop just off the highway near the track. Unfortunately the train wasn't there.

As we walked along the tracks Sat explained: “People living along the line used it for going shopping, getting goods to market and visiting friends and family. They got frustrated with the train being out of use. They came up with a solution. They made their own form of transportation that could run along the track. The innovative Sabahans created a vehicle similar to the old handcart but theirs attached a motorcycle to a platform with wheels that would run on the tracks. They moved along the tracks with ease. 

Of course, the authorities didn’t like it and banned them but couldn’t completely do away with them. 

Several times Sat has been hired to work for European film units in Sabah to do various programs. Often his job was to solve problems for them.

Working for a reality travel show the director had decided they wanted a watermelon fight to wrap up the series. Sat was tasked with getting the watermelons. “I went to farms where they grew watermelons. It was the beginning of the growing season but when I told the farmers what they would be used for they wouldn’t sell them to me. They felt that was wasteful and disrespected nature. I reported back to the director who was quite upset that I couldn’t get any watermelons. He really wanted the watermelon fight. They would be hurled at two opposing teams by catapult. The filming continued and a couple of weeks later he told me to return to the farm and see if I could get the watermelons. ‘Offer them more money’ I was instructed. 

AI generated picture

“Reluctantly I returned to the farms, and the farmers were just as adamant. They had to take care of nature or it wouldn’t take care of them. Increased money didn’t change their minds. I looked out at the fields where the melons were now in their infancy. But none of them would be going with me. Once again, I returned to the director to face his displeasure, which was considerable. I was supposed to be the one to solve problems and I wasn’t doing that.

“The shooting continued and now it was getting close to a wrap. The director was desperate to get the watermelon fight in. He was counting on it, so he ordered me to find the watermelons. I had no desire to face the farmers again as they had been very clear that they weren’t about to sell me any watermelons.

“The watermelons were growing and were well along when I arrived the third time. As I walked through the field, I noticed that there were several watermelons that had been taken off the vine and were laying on the ground. I asked why that was. The farmer explained: ‘We have to take some off the vine to provide more room for the others to grow bigger.’ ‘What do you do with those,” I asked about the runts. ‘Nothing.’ There was my answer. I was able to buy them, and, overjoyed, I took them back to the director who happily got his watermelon fight in the show.”

Ingenuity was required to get Sat and his clients the shots they wanted for a documentary on orangutans. “The director was doing a film on how the orangutans lived during the monsoon season.  He asked when would be the best time to visit Sabah.  He was told November to January when he was guaranteed to get rain. From the time he arrived there wasn’t a drop of rain. This went on and on – and the client’s time was running out. He was filming a mother with her baby, and while he got some good footage, he didn’t get the shot he wanted – the rainforest in the rain. Everyday we anxiously waited for rain, and unbelievably in Sabah there was none. With just a few days left in his trip I rigged up a pump and pipes and I was able to spray the orangutans nest with water. It wasn’t real, but it looked good on camera and the director got his shots."

Sabah is a land of stories and a great place to find your own.

ORDER HERE:  fcowanmedia@gmail.com : Or go to Amazon: The Orange Sofa: Unicorn Eyes: Walking Home:    Singapore Circuit Breaker.  Zero Visibility - The Rescue of the Thai Football Team trapped in the cave in Northern Thailand