About
Labuan
A
historical Perspective
- 1846 - British declared Labuan as a colony
- 1912 - Labuan a Striats settlement(together
with Singapore, Malacca and Penang)
- 1942 - Japanese invaded Labuan
- 1945 - Japanese surrended
- 1963 - Britain gave up Labuan with Sabah
& Sarawak
- 1984 - Labuan handed to Federal Goverment
of Malaysia by Sabah Government
- 1990 - Labuan established as International
Offshore Financial Cntre(IOFC)
Labuan
Island is situated off the northwest coast of Borneo, north of Brunei Bay
and also faces the South ChinaSea. It is also situated 71Km of Kota Kinabalu
(KK) and 8Km away from Menumbok, a small fishing town of Sabah. Labuan comprises
of an island itself with triangle-shaped and six other smaller island which
are Pulau Rusukan Kecil & Besar, Pulau Burung, Pulau Kuraman, Pulau Papan
and Pulau Daat. It's location is also in the middle of the Asia-Pacific region.
Labuan derives its name from the word "pelabohan/labohan" meaning
anchorage.
This is a very accessible island. It is well
connected by sea and air. Malaysia Airlines (MAS) & Air Asia flies daily
from Kuala Lumpur, KK , Kuching and Brunei to this island. KK serves as an
international gateway for Labuan with its regular flights daily.
High speed, comfortable and air-conditioned
ferries ply daily to and from KK and Brunei. The trip from KK each way takes
about 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours depending types of ferries running and about
an hour trip from Brunei.
One can also take a ferry from Labuan which
can accommodate cars and trucks to Menumbok. This is the most economical way
to travel and the journey takes about 3 hours. It is also the trade route
between Labuan and the mainland.
The
Chimney
During the early days, because of the location
of Labuan on the South China sea and coal deposits, the British planned to
make here a re-fuelling station for steamships. Coal mining started in year
1846 and today the only chimney left is on the North part of this island.
Situated on a rise at Tanjung Kubong, this red brick edifice is what remains
of Labuan’s coal mining industry which began operations in 1846. In its
heyday, a busy settlement flourished around the mine and a railway was built
to transport coal and passengers to the town of Victoria. The railway followed
the route of what is now Jalan Pohon. The coal was not of a superior quality.
One manager, Motley, claimed to have found fossilised coconuts and winged
dipterocarp seeds in it and that it was not real coal but bituminised driftwood.
Geographical Information
Click picture to enlarge it
Location
Air Distances from Aean cities
Area
- Total area(Land and Water):358.2sq km
- Total Land area is 92 sq km(inclusive all
seven islands) - Pulau Labuan, Pulau Papan, Pulau Daat, Pulau Rusukan Kecil,
Pulau Rusukan Besar, Pulau Kuraman and Pulau Burong.
Topography
- Most area are flat with undulating hills
in North West
- The higest point is 84 m above sea level
- Main river: Kina Benuwa(4 km in length)
Climate
- Tropical, warm anf humid throughout the year
- Day temperature averaging 30'C
- 2 seasonal monsoon period(rainy season) ie:
April to June and September to December
- Scattered rainfall with average 38.443 mm
per year
Population
- 54,000(census 1991)
- Estimated 60,000 people(1995) of which 60%
are Malays, 30% Chinese and other 10%
Language
- The national language is Malay but English
is widely spoken
Religion
- The official religion of Malaysia is Islam,
but there is freedom of worship
Infrastructure Facilities
Road Network
- Labuan island is served by
a good network of road. The present network comprises roads which link the
town centre with industrial and residential areas. All points on the island
is accessible by road.
- Roads on the island are of
two types:
- Bituminous Sealed Road(106)miles)
- Concrete Road(Manly for kampung/village
roads)
- Traveling time
- From the town area to Kiamsam(South
west tip of the island(20 minutes)
- Around the whole island(60-90
minutes)
- The island is served by buses
and taxis. However, the schedule of both forms of trasport is erratic and
hence they are not popular modes of transportation for the locals. Private
vehicles are the most popular means of transportation in Labuan. Car ownership
rate in Labuan is the highest in Malaysia.
Air Linkages and Airport facilites
- Labuan is accessible by air
from international destinations via Kuala Lumpur(daily flight), Kota Kinabalu
International Airport(seven times daily) and Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Darussalam(twice daily)
- Labuan plans to have direct
flights to limited international destinations mainly major Asian cities.
Approval has been obtained for direct flight to Hong Kong(waiting for suitable
slot time in Hong Kong)
Sea transportation facilities
- Labuan was a very thriving
trading port in the East Malaysia Regionmainly as a barter trade centre
- The present port is one of
the best national port in this region with deep water and protected weather
port
- Ferry services are available
daily to Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam with an average travelling
time of 2 hours.
Water Supply
- Water supply for Labuan mainly
comes from mainland of Sabah by submarine pipeline
- Two reservoirs on Labuan
island - Bukit Kuda and Sungai Pagar provide back-up support to the island
needs
Power Supply
- The power supply for Labuan
is provided by Sabah Electricity Board
- The power is obtained from
the 111 megawatt power plant in Ranca-Ranca
- The present transformer capacity
is able to produce 30 MVA(20 megawatt)
- Due to power excess, some
of Labuan's electrical power supply is being supplied to the mainland of
Sabah
Telecommunication Facilites
- Presently, Labuan is equipped
with 2 computerised exchanges with capacity of 16,000 lines with automatic
dialing facilites to 217 countries including International Toll Free Services
to Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Unted Kingdom, the Netherlands and USA
- Syarikat Telekom Malaysia has constructed
two ground satellites and a submarine fibre optic network connecting Labuan
to the mainland of Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia costing RM535
million
Medical Facilites
- A new hospital complex based on nuclues concept
with 109 bed and equipped with modern facilities was completed and already
in operation June this year
- There are also 11 private clinics and 2 dental
clinics to supplement the government medicals facilites
International Standard Hotels
- Currently there 24 hotels with approximately
1,000 rooms, mainly budget hotels
- 3 international standard hotels in operation
are
- Manikar Beach Resort
- Tiara Labuan with service apartments
- Sheraton Labuan
- Waterfront Financial Hotel
Financial Park Labuan (IOFC, Shopping Complex
& Apartment)
On
6 November 1989, Labuan was declared an International Offshore Financial Centre
(IOFC) and officially commenced business as an IOFC on 1st October 1990. this
makes Labuan, Malaysia's International Offshore Financial Centre. Since then,
it has attracted a good number of reputable Offshore banks, Trust and Insurance
Companies. The characteristic of an IOFC include no tax or low tax on earnings
from offshore transactions and business activities. These centres exercise
a high degree of secrecy on the affairs of their clients. There is usually
no foreign exchange control and no restriction on the transfer of funds. the
basic business here are deposit taking in any foreign currency, lending to
non-residents in a foreign currency, dealing in foreign exchange both spot
and forward.
Labuan has a population number estimated at
75,000 as of 1999. It is made up of inhabitants coming from all walks of life
as well as different regions around the world. Being duty free port, hotel
tariffs and retail goods are all exempted from the government duties. Visitors
with more than 24 hours stay are exempted from paying duties for liquors or
wine (1 litre) and tobacco (200 cigarettes). Modern shopping centres have
wide range of locally and imported goods. Every end of the year, Labuan hosts
a month long shopping carnival with attractive discounts and cultural show.
A variety of hotels ranging from world class
to medium and lower range accommodation can be found here. Service apartment
are also available.
First
I would like to welcome you all to my simple site, yes, this site is created by me.
My name is Joe. I'm from Labuan. I'm married and have
wonderful wife. My Web site created in early 2001 and since then I have often
considered making major site changes to make it "flashier" but I
have opted not to do this in an effort to keep my site accessible to everyone.
It's nice to visit sites with tons of fancy graphics and lots of WOW factor,
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all of this, once again thank you for visiting my site and for your interest
in finding out more about me. Please feel free to email to
Joe.