Sabah This Week · Issue #8 · 20 August 2026

Sabah This Week #8 — 20 Aug–2 Sept 2026

🌿 Sabah This Week

Issue #8 · 20 Aug–2 Sept 2026

The flags are up. From here to the end of the month everything in Sabah has “Merdeka” or “Sabah Day” in front of it — and for once that isn’t just marketing, because 31 August means two different things here.

This fortnight: a marathon that starts at midnight, a run flagging off in all 31 districts at the same minute, three days of tamu at Riverson, and the last day to get into the ultra around Kinabalu. — Daniel

This Week & Weekend

Sabah Agro Expo 2026 at SICC Free entry, 200 booths, and it runs till 9 at night Sabah Agro Expo takes over SICC for three days with more than 200 booths, and organisers expect north of 50,000 people through the doors. Free to get in, 10AM to 9PM daily. · 21–23 Aug · Sabah International Convention Centre

Makers and Mavens Market at The Walk, Riverson The Riverson weekend market, with a Merdeka coat of paint Makers & Mavens is back at The Walk @ Riverson for the weekend, pulling in the city’s local makers and turning the walkway into the hangout. This one is badged as the Merdeka Special. · 22–23 Aug · The Walk @ Riverson, Sembulan

Tawau Marathon 2026 A full marathon that flags off at midnight Tawau Marathon’s third edition runs four distances, from a 5km fun run up to the full 42.2km — and the full marathon starts at 12 midnight, with the half at 2AM and the 10km at 5:15AM. Around 3,000 runners are expected, all starting and finishing at Kompleks Sukan Tawau. · Sun 23 Aug · Tawau Sports Complex

The Most Beautiful Trail ultra at Kundasang Today is the last day to get into the Kinabalu ultra The Most Beautiful Trail circles the base of Mount Kinabalu, and its 100km category is a genuine qualifier for the Western States 100 in the US. Normal registration has already closed — late entries shut on 20 August, and late entrants are not guaranteed a finisher shirt or medal. · 29–30 Aug · Kundasang

3108 Run Sabah Day 2026 All 31 districts flag off at the same minute The 3108 Run is billed as the first time every district in Sabah, plus Labuan, starts together — 7AM sharp on Sabah Day. Entry is RM65 with a jersey and finisher medal. Worth knowing before you sign up: the organiser says the actual flag-off points will only be announced closer to the day. · Mon 31 Aug, 7AM · statewide

Urban Tamu Merdeka Celebration at The Walk, Riverson Three days of tamu, indoors, for Merdeka Urban Tamu is running a three-day Merdeka celebration at The Walk @ Riverson, taking the old community-tamu idea and dropping it into the middle of the city. · 29–31 Aug · The Walk @ Riverson

Solo, 2v2, or bring the whole crew The Annual Street Dance Competition is back at Centre Point, running all three formats over two days from 11AM. It sits inside the mall’s month-long anniversary carnival on the same floor. · 22–23 Aug, from 11AM · Palm Square, 4th Floor, Centre Point Sabah

Sixteen films about land, water and who gets to tell the story Pesta Tingu Wayang brings FreedomFilmFest to the Sabah Art Gallery for a weekend of indigenous cinema and conversation. Friday runs into the evening; Saturday goes all day. · Fri 21 Aug 5–10:30PM, Sat 22 Aug 11AM–10:30PM · Sabah Art Gallery

A 6AM start at the KDCA car park Maryland Fun Run flags off at 6AM from the KDCA car park in Penampang — open to all ages, with a finisher medal. · Sat 22 Aug, flag-off 6AM · KDCA Car Park, Penampang

Sabah Day, the version you can eat SICC is putting on a Sabah Day Tamu — fresh local produce, traditional delicacies, handcrafted things and homegrown products, all in one hall. · Mon 31 Aug · Sabah International Convention Centre

Merdeka morning with the kids, done by 2.30 Sutera Harbour Marina & Country Club runs a Merdeka family day from 9AM to 2.30PM, built around a children’s colouring competition. · Sat 29 Aug, 9AM–2.30PM · Sutera Harbour Marina & Country Club

A month of events, and it starts this fortnight Sabah Fest 2026 opens on 29 August and runs to 29 September, marking Sabah Tourism Board’s 50th year. It kicks off at the Tourism Board building in KK before travelling to Sandakan, Tawau, Kudat and Kuala Lumpur. · 29 Aug – 29 Sep · statewide + Kuala Lumpur

The first one since 2018 — and only the virtual run is still open Wisma Merdeka Charity Run 3.0 is the third edition after 2016 and 2018, with the MCO accounting for the gap. Physical entries have closed; the virtual run is the only way in now, and proceeds go to the Sabah Society for the Deaf. · Sun 23 Aug, 6AM · Sabah Society for the Deaf, Bukit Padang

Nineteen categories, and the winners go to Kedah Mr. Sabah 2026 runs 19 categories across bodybuilding and physique at Kadamaian Square Hall, and the winners go through to Mr. Malaysia in Alor Setar in October. Kota Belud is hosting for the first time. · Sat 22 Aug — one report has it running into Sunday too · Kadamaian Square Hall, Taginambur, Kota Belud

FYP night, east-coast edition Malam FYP Timur takes over SICC for a Friday night, Sabah edition. · Fri 28 Aug · Sabah International Convention Centre

A youth conference starting on Sabah Day East Malaysia FSY gathers young people from across the region at Ming Garden Hotel, starting on 31 August. · Mon 31 Aug · Ming Garden Hotel, Kota Kinabalu

Lunch, for Sabah Day SICC follows its 1 August National Day and Sabah Day flag-off ceremony with a Sabah Day Luncheon on the day itself. · Mon 31 Aug · Sabah International Convention Centre

The conference about what Sabah’s interior is actually planted with BFC Conference 2026 sits down on designing sustainable industrial tree plantation systems and landscapes — a niche subject that happens to cover a very large share of this state’s land. · Thu 20 Aug · Sabah International Convention Centre

A Thai monk on the heart of Buddhism Jaokhun Chaiwat Panyabowonrat gives a dharma talk on the Triple Gem, 8PM to 9:30PM. · Tue 1 Sept, 8–9:30PM · Jalan Alamesra, Kota Kinabalu

Trade, investment and halal, back at SICC The 3rd BIMP-EAGA Trade, Investment & Halal Industry Conference runs at SICC, immediately ahead of the Sabah International Expo at the same venue. · Wed 2 Sept · Sabah International Convention Centre

A dharma gathering in Papar 慈航法会 runs from 3PM on the Sunday. · Sun 30 Aug, 3PM · Papar

Five days of spinal therapy training The Long-method spinal therapy course runs its Sabah leg from 28 August through to 1 September. · 28 Aug – 1 Sept · Kota Kinabalu

Save the date

11th Sabah International Expo Fri 4 Sept · Sabah International Convention Centre
Decorative Gold Plating Course Sat 5 Sept · Sabah International Convention Centre
Sabah Moto Day Sun 6 Sept · Tawau Hills Park
Sabah Motor Day 9.0 Sun 6 Sept · Sabah
ARTDO International World Conference — Reimagining Human Capital Sun 6 Sept · Hilton Kota Kinabalu
Gamuda AI Academy Sabah — Cohort 5 Mon 7 Sept · Kota Kinabalu
Borneo Empowerment in Standards & Transformation Conference 2026 Tue 8 Sept · Sabah International Convention Centre
8th IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Engineering & Technology Wed 9 Sept · Sabah International Convention Centre
Intervarsity Surgical Quiz 2026 Wed 9 Sept · Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, UMS

Got an event we should feature? Submit it here →

The Sabah Roundup

KK’s hotel water is back on.
Fourteen city-centre hotels spent a week on tankers and reserve tanks after pipe repairs near Suria Sabah, with guests cancelling and cutting stays short (Malay Mail). Supply was returning to normal by 14 August, once several damaged pipes were repaired (The Star).

If you’re flying to KL, RM900 return is now normal.
One-way Sabah–Kuala Lumpur fares are averaging over RM450, putting a return trip at RM800–900 — which lands hardest on the students and families who have to make the trip rather than choose to (Daily Express).

The Sabah Heart Centre won’t be treating anyone until 2029.
The building should be finished around the third quarter of 2027, and the centre operational roughly 24 months after that (New Straits Times).

Applications close Sunday for a Sabah women’s leadership programme.
Tunas Srikandi takes 40 Sabah women aged 18 to 30 through five days of training and three months of mentoring, and applications close on 23 August (Daily Express).

RM100 million of a new SME financing pot is ring-fenced for East Malaysia.
An MoU between MDCC and MoneySave sets up a RM300 million SME financing push over three years, with RM100 million earmarked for East Malaysia and collateral-free financing of up to RM25 million per business (Daily Express).

Sabah’s forest cover is still well above the national average — and the funding kept coming.
The state received RM30.7 million in federal conservation funding this year, taking the total since 2019 to RM157 million, against forest cover of 62.5% versus a national average of 54.4% (Daily Express).

Sandakan is getting a car-boot night market.
Twenty lots at Lorong Harbour Square, next to The Elopura Hotel, every Saturday from 4PM to midnight, starting 5 September — traders and young people selling straight out of their own vehicles (Daily Express).

Ranau Hospital is finally getting its transformer fixed — which means air-conditioned wards.
RM1.279 million was approved for the 50-year-old hospital: the leaking triage counter, the broken canteen, the electrical transformer, four new ambulances, and equipment including a portable ventilator and an ECG machine (Daily Express).

Malaysia and Indonesia are sharing hotspot data before the haze arrives.
The two countries agreed to share hotspot monitoring data and open airspace for cloud-seeding, with a dry spell already raising fire risk (The Star).

There’s a new mural in town, and it’s about Sabah and Australia.
The ‘Australia Place’ mural at Wisma Intiutama marks decades of Sabah–Australia ties, unveiled on the eve of Sandakan Day (Bernama).

Did You Know?

31 August carries two meanings here. Constitutionally, what British North Borneo got on that date in 1963 was self-government — declared by Governor Sir William Goode in Jesselton three days earlier. Full independence came on 16 September, when North Borneo joined Malaya, Singapore and Sarawak to form Malaysia. Plenty of Sabahans call 31 August independence regardless, and you’ll see the word used both ways over the next fortnight. The state government gazetted the date as Sabah Day in 2021.

Article Highlights from SabahGuide

Fresh reads from our main site, sabahguide.com

Things to do in Sabah. A running list of experiences worth your weekend.

Heads up: Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday falls on Tue 25 Aug — Mawlid al-Nabi.

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

“Bumi mana yang tidak ditimpa hujan.” There is no land that is never touched by rain — everyone faces trouble sometime. — Malay proverb

Over to you

How does your family mark 31 August — Merdeka, Sabah Day, both, or neither? Hit reply; best answers get a shout-out next week.

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