Sabah This Week · Issue #5 · 30 July 2026

Sabah This Week #5 — 30 Jul–12 Aug 2026

🌿 Sabah This Week

Issue #5 · 30 Jul–12 Aug 2026

Welcome back to Sabah This Week — what’s on, what’s changed, and what’s worth your weekend, every Thursday.

You’ll be seeing more of us: we’ve started posting on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. The newsletter is still where the full picture lands, and I’m going to keep making it better — free, always. This week: Bon Odori and Tawau’s international culture festival both fall on 1 August, there are two runs on the 2nd, and there are fresh diesel prices in the Toolkit below.

— Daniel

This Week & The Week Ahead

Bon Odori and a mochi run, same evening at Padang Merdeka KK’s turn at the Japanese summer classic — lanterns, yukata, taiko — with a fun run bolted on the front. The biggest thing happening this weekend. · Sat 1 Aug, from 5PM · Padang Merdeka, Kota Kinabalu

Tawau’s international culture festival hits its 11th year Performers from around the region take over the town square for the evening. Worth the drive east if you’re anywhere near. · Sat 1 Aug, 7PM · Dataran Majlis Perbandaran Tawau

OHANA Run 2026 takes over Likas on Sunday morning A family fun-run at the Likas sports complex, flag-off 6AM — the easy one to enter if you’ve been meaning to start. Bring the dog; they’re allowed. · Sun 2 Aug, 6AM · Kompleks Sukan Likas, Kota Kinabalu

Two days of TVET at SICC, nine to nine Skills training, trade courses and the institutions that run them, all under one roof. Useful if there’s a school-leaver in the house deciding what happens next. · 31 Jul–1 Aug, 9AM–9PM · Sabah International Convention Centre

A three-day character-design workshop, drawn from Borneo Ethan Lo of Vox Art Studio runs it in Krita — anatomy, colour, workflow — and you leave with your own character concept sheet. Starts today; bring a Windows laptop and a charger. · 30 Jul–1 Aug (Thu–Sat), 9AM–5PM · Aras 13, Wisma Bandaraya, Kota Kinabalu

Run For Future, over in Penampang A charity run for the early risers, off from the Penampang council grounds. · Sun 2 Aug · Dewan MPP, Majlis Perbandaran Penampang

Kinabalu Speech Cup 2026 · 第四届神山健言盃 The fourth annual Chinese-language speech competition, run by the KK speech club — a full day of it at City Mall. · Sat 1 Aug, 10AM–6:30PM · City Mall, Kota Kinabalu

Aesthetic medicine workshop, two days at EWA A trade workshop for practitioners rather than a public event — worth knowing about if you work in the field. · 30–31 Jul · EWA Auditorium, Kota Kinabalu

HRD-claimable seminar on longevity and regenerative medicine Eight CPD points across two mornings, hybrid format. Claimable if your employer is registered with HRD Corp. · 30–31 Jul, 8:30AM–1PM · EWA Auditorium, Kota Kinabalu

Day Party: R&B Edition with Irwan An afternoon-into-evening R&B set — done by eight, so it won’t eat the whole Saturday. · Sat 1 Aug, 2–8PM · Kota Kinabalu

Riftbound Nexus Night at 1Borneo The weekly Sunday card-game meetup at Tabletop Arena. RM35 to enter, best-of-one Swiss. · Sun 2 Aug, 1–4PM · Tabletop Arena, 1Borneo Hypermall

Got an event we should feature? Submit it here →

Save the date

13th International MSS Scientific Congress 14–16 Aug · Sabah International Convention Centre, Kota Kinabalu
Star Karnival Cuti-Cuti Malaysia 2026 14–16 Aug · Imago Shopping Mall, Kota Kinabalu
eSportniac Carnival 2026: Cup of Legends MLBB 15–16 Aug · 4th Palm Square, Centre Point Sabah
Merdeka Fest Art & Craft Workshop Sat 15 Aug, 9AM · Monaco Boutique Hotel, Jalan Kampung Air 2, Kota Kinabalu
Tropical Forestry 2026 Conference 18–20 Aug · Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu

The Sabah Roundup

Sabah, Sarawak begin phased rollout of new Malaysian passport.
The new passport is arriving here in phases. If yours expires this year, check the timing before you book anything. (The Star)

RM66 million for Sabah slope repairs.
The money goes to slopes on the Penampang–Tambunan–Keningau route. If that’s your drive to the interior, expect works now and fewer landslides later. (Daily Express)

The teacher who built a hostel so children could keep learning.
Lissuzianah Lawrence and 15 of her students at SMK Kanibungan in Pitas spent seven months mixing cement and laying bricks, because kids from villages 100km away had nowhere to stay. Worth five minutes of your morning. (Free Malaysia Today)

Malaysia-born woman denied citizenship while Sabah still awaits justice over Project IC.
A commentary on how citizenship gets decided here, and the shadow Project IC still casts. Opinion rather than reporting — but a clear-eyed one. (Jesselton Times)

JKR Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak team up to fix project delays.
The three works departments are pooling effort on stalled projects. Relevant if you’ve been waiting years on a road or a school in your area. (The Sun)

Hospital director transferred to JKN Sabah after sexual harassment cases.
The director at the centre of the allegations has been moved to the state health department while the case runs its course. (CodeBlue)

Sabah’s grazing areas cannot remain idle.
Only 45 of the state’s 140 gazetted grazing areas are actually in use — part of why local beef stays dearer than it should. (Daily Express)

5,000 take part in Malaysia-China Friendship Run.
Five thousand runners turned out in KK for the run marking 52 years of ties. If the roads were odd last weekend, that was why. (Daily Express)

‘Sabah-made’ racks up RM95.9mil in export potential.
The state’s own-brand push has turned into real export numbers. Something to watch if you make anything here. (The Star)

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturing visits new State Secretary.
A courtesy call on Zainudin Aman. A small item, but it’s where industry policy usually starts. (Daily Express)

Former US Coast Guard cutter to strengthen security in Sabah waters.
The ex-USCGC Steadfast joins the fleet as KM Bendahara — a sizeable addition to patrols in Sabah’s waters. (The Star)

Water-Energy-Food nexus: Sabah perspective.
An academic look at how the state’s water, power and food supply pull against each other. Dry title, genuinely local subject. (Daily Express)

Aiding Sabah Duchenne care.
A fundraiser tied to Expedition Mount Kinabalu is putting money toward Duchenne muscular dystrophy care in the state. (Daily Express)

Sabah’s green economy gains momentum: CEO.
HSBC’s chief executive reckons the state’s natural assets are a real edge as green financing grows. Worth reading for where the money thinks it’s going. (Daily Express)

Govt reviewing diesel subsidy mechanism in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.
Putrajaya is reworking how BUDI Diesel applies here after complaints the peninsula’s model doesn’t fit. The 200-litre quota at RM2.10 is what’s under review — this week’s actual pump prices are in the Toolkit below. (Free Malaysia Today)

Sabah can profit from biochar: Expert.
The case for turning agricultural waste into biochar and selling it, rather than burning it off. (Daily Express)

Did You Know?

The Rafflesia blooms in Sabah’s rainforests and can open to nearly a metre across — one of the largest single flowers on earth. (The outright record belongs to its Sumatran cousin, Rafflesia arnoldii.) Poring and the Crocker Range are the usual places to catch one in bloom.

Article Highlights from SabahGuide

Fresh reads from our main site, sabahguide.com

Sabah’s must-try local dishes. From tuaran mee to hinava — the plates every visitor (and local) should know.

Spotlight: Welcome Seafood, Asia City

The one you book when the group is big and nobody can agree on anything. Started in Penampang in 2005, opened the city-centre branch in 2010, and still the default for a proper Sabah seafood sit-down — ‘Kam Hiong’ crab, wet butter tiger prawns, steamed sea snail. Order more than you think you need.

Lot G 18, Ground Floor, Kompleks Asia City, Phase 2A, Jalan Asia City, 88300 Kota Kinabalu.

We’re building: The Sabah Toolkit

Free, practical tools for everyday Sabah life. First three on the workbench:

Sabah Holiday & Long-Weekend Planner — every Sabah public holiday for the year (Kaamatan, Governor’s Birthday, Good Friday — the ones the Peninsula doesn’t get) plus the smartest long-weekend combos.
Budi Diesel Checker — find out in seconds if you qualify for subsidised RM2.10 diesel, and what you’ll actually pay.
KK Take-Home Pay Calculator — EPF, SOCSO and PCB sorted, so you know what really lands in your account.

Which would you use first — or what tool do you wish existed? Hit reply and tell me — your vote shapes what ships first.

Quotables

“Laut mana yang tidak berombak, bumi mana yang tidak ditimpa hujan.” No sea without waves, no land without rain — nobody gets through untouched. — Malay proverb

Over to you

What’s the one thing about living in Sabah you wish someone had told you earlier? — hit reply; best answers get a shout-out next week.

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